 TITLE: How Important Is Credit Card Utilization to Your Credit Score? CONTENT: Credit card utilization refers to the relationship between your credit card's balance and credit limit as they appear on your credit report. That's an important distinction from your card's current balance, as card issuers generally report the balance to the credit bureaus around the end of your billing period. As a result, even if you pay your bill in full every month, you could still have a high utilization rate.\nYou can calculate your credit card utilization ratio by dividing the credit card balance appearing on your credit report by the card's credit limit. Then multiply by 100 to see the result as a percentage.\nFor example, if your card has a balance of $1,000 and limit of $5,000, then 1,000 \/ 5,000 = 0.2. Multiply by 100, and you get 20%.\nYou can review a free copy of your Experian credit report online. When you log in, Experian will do the calculations for you and show your overall utilization rate and the utilization rate for each of your credit cards—both are factors in your credit scores.\nDepending on the scoring model, the utilization rate of other types of revolving accounts, such as personal lines of credit, may also be included. END