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What do you do?  Let $2 report on a single credit card.  All of your other cards should report $0, which means you must pay them to $0 before the statements close.

Why $2?  Because you want the lowest amount possible to report that is greater than $0.  $2 is the most reliable number to use that will generally report and not be credited to $0.

Does this work with any cards? Do not do this with Chase, Discover or charge cards.  Chase often updates mid cycle if you pay a balance to $0, leaving you with nothing reporting.  If you want to use Discover, you need to use $3 because they will credit $2 to $0.  Charge cards are counted much differently for utilization, and it varies by scoring model.

But MyFico and CreditKarma say that my utilization is 0%.  Credit Karma is a FAKO, and although even MF will give you this number as a percentage, it is calculated as a ratio by FICO.  $2 counts as usage.

What is the goal of the $2 trick?
  The goal is to get the most points possible out of FICO for the utilization portion of your scores AND to maintain it all the time.  The "all the time" part is the reason you don't use Chase cards.


More Detailed Explanation At CreditBoards

https://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=544017

$2 Trick Will Not Work With A Charge Card https://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=557648


Author Topic: $2 trick to increase FICO score.  (Read 113299 times)

Offline ckmk47

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #360 on: April 06, 2016, 11:57:33 PM »
My son's Amex Everyday card didn't let him pay more than the total of last month's bill.
But by now he charged a lot during this month.  How can we pay this?
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Offline noturbizniss

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #361 on: April 07, 2016, 12:20:24 AM »
My son's Amex Everyday card didn't let him pay more than the total of last month's bill.
But by now he charged a lot during this month.  How can we pay this?
Push a payment from your bank. Also sometimes you can pay that amount again  the next day
READ THE DARN WIKI!!!!

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Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #362 on: April 07, 2016, 02:45:45 AM »
No need to reinvent the wheel.  Just use the same card, and use a non-Chase card.
Not trying to reinvent the wheel at all. It's just that most of my cards are Chase, and with Amex I only have charge cards. I am an authorized user on a Blue from American Express but hardly use it. I mostly spend on my Chase Freedom.
So I was thinking this might be a workaround. Unless I don't know everything and there's another reason why not to use Chase. If it's only the reporting mid-cycle that's an issue, I'm now thinking of making sure to pay in full only AFTER new charges are posted so that it's technically never $0, so hopefully not reported again.
I'm definitely not an expert and am not pretending that I am. I was actually waiting for YOUR input. Thanks in advance for clarifying more.

Offline Mendelssohn

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #363 on: April 07, 2016, 10:13:24 AM »
Not trying to reinvent the wheel at all. It's just that most of my cards are Chase, and with Amex I only have charge cards. I am an authorized user on a Blue from American Express but hardly use it. I mostly spend on my Chase Freedom.
So I was thinking this might be a workaround. Unless I don't know everything and there's another reason why not to use Chase. If it's only the reporting mid-cycle that's an issue, I'm now thinking of making sure to pay in full only AFTER new charges are posted so that it's technically never $0, so hopefully not reported again.
I'm definitely not an expert and am not pretending that I am. I was actually waiting for YOUR input. Thanks in advance for clarifying more.

My advice:
1. diversify
2. not Chase

Offline deltastubs

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #364 on: April 07, 2016, 01:07:46 PM »
Sounds strange. FICO or FAKO?

Both and all, to be fair though, i was maxing out cards in nov, dec, jan, and then feb and mar all balances at a buck and change, and it jumped 160, all part of the plan, bec i knew i needed to apply for cards in march, and got approved for 7/8 so not bad!

Offline deltastubs

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #365 on: April 07, 2016, 01:08:50 PM »
Why no chase , i do this with chase it works, why are we anti 2$ w chase??

Offline Mendelssohn

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #366 on: April 07, 2016, 02:56:04 PM »
Why no chase , i do this with chase it works, why are we anti 2$ w chase??

Read the thread.

Offline PillanSmye

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #367 on: April 09, 2016, 01:45:11 AM »

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #368 on: April 11, 2016, 10:55:48 AM »
"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline yochiek93

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #369 on: April 11, 2016, 10:56:40 AM »
All 25 pages?
Is it really that hard?

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #370 on: April 11, 2016, 11:05:24 AM »
Is it really that hard?
More like painful seeing the same questions over and over.
"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline AJK

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #371 on: April 11, 2016, 11:06:00 AM »
All 25 pages?
No, of course not. Instead, just burden the folks here who not only read the thread, but have previously answered that exact question. Multiple times. That way, you personally won't have to expend any effort  and can simply exploit theirs. Seems about right to me.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline yochiek93

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #372 on: April 11, 2016, 11:06:49 AM »
More like painful seeing the same questions over and over.
That's because nobody reads all they do is ask the same question over and over again

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #373 on: April 11, 2016, 11:13:45 AM »
No, of course not. Instead, just burden the folks here who not only read the thread, but have previously answered that exact question. Multiple times. That way, you personally won't have to expend any effort  and can simply exploit theirs. Seems about right to me.
Maybe add the answer to the wiki then you can just say read the wiki which would be helpful.

"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline AJK

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #374 on: April 11, 2016, 11:15:52 AM »
As if the types of people that ask that type of question read Wikis. LOL.
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Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #375 on: April 11, 2016, 11:18:30 AM »
As if the types of people that ask that type of question read Wikis. LOL.
I will read it. So you would at least help one person.

I use Chase all the time and it works so that is why I am confused.
"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline Mendelssohn

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #376 on: April 11, 2016, 11:46:50 AM »

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #377 on: April 11, 2016, 11:59:38 AM »
OK I read the whole thread. Maybe my reading comprehension needs improving because I failed to see were it said Chase does not work.
"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline yochiek93

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #378 on: April 11, 2016, 12:20:10 PM »
OK I read the whole thread. Maybe my reading comprehension needs improving because I failed to see were it said Chase does not work.
here is one of the many places it says not to use chase http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=49416.msg1451523#msg1451523

Offline Mendelssohn

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #379 on: April 11, 2016, 12:33:47 PM »
OK I read the whole thread. Maybe my reading comprehension needs improving because I failed to see were it said Chase does not work.

Are you aware of what Chase commonly does if you pay in full your balance after the statement closes?

Is there any reason you can't use a non-Chase card?   ::)