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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 113295 times)

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #400 on: April 11, 2016, 02:44:14 PM »
Trailing interest is the amount of interest that accrues between when a credit card bill is sent, and when payment is received. Also called "residual interest," It applies only when you carry a balance on your credit card.
"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #401 on: April 11, 2016, 02:45:12 PM »
When you are using Chase cards you have to be careful because most of the time (not all the time) when paying off mid-cycle it will report to the CRA's. This stops the trick as you no longer have $2 reporting.
Even if the new balance is not $0? Experience? I never checked that detail on my report mid-cycle so I don't know from experience.

Offline Mendelssohn

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #402 on: April 11, 2016, 02:47:36 PM »
Excuse me?

Since you don't think it's important, move along.

This is helpful to many people.

Just because you don't think it's valuable doesn't mean it's OK to poison the topic for others.

Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #403 on: April 11, 2016, 02:48:01 PM »
Trailing interest is the amount of interest that accrues between when a credit card bill is sent, and when payment is received. Also called "residual interest," It applies only when you carry a balance on your credit card.
So I guess this doesn't apply to me. Because I DO have a balance but I don't CARRY a balance since I make sure to fully pay the amount that was on the previous statement. Am I missing something?

Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #404 on: April 11, 2016, 02:49:18 PM »
Since you don't think it's important, move along.

This is helpful to many people.

Just because you don't think it's valuable doesn't mean it's OK to poison the topic for others.
With almost every topic on this forum there are some who don't think it's worth their time, while others really gain from reading it. Keep it up on your end.

Offline Cappy

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #405 on: April 11, 2016, 02:56:00 PM »
So I guess this doesn't apply to me. Because I DO have a balance but I don't CARRY a balance since I make sure to fully pay the amount that was on the previous statement. Am I missing something?

If you PIF, you will not pay interest.

Having the balance reported and the effects to your Fico is another story.


Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #406 on: April 11, 2016, 02:58:28 PM »
Since you don't think it's important, move along.

This is helpful to many people.

Just because you don't think it's valuable doesn't mean it's OK to poison the topic for others.
This can be and is important for some. It is important for them to know the true value of this. If all you are doing is churning CC's then there time is better spent on other things. I am just letting them know the facts.
"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #407 on: April 11, 2016, 02:59:00 PM »
So I guess this doesn't apply to me. Because I DO have a balance but I don't CARRY a balance since I make sure to fully pay the amount that was on the previous statement. Am I missing something?
No.
"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 #408 on: April 11, 2016, 02:59:55 PM »
With many issuers, if you have a balance after the statement and put new charges on the card, you will be charged interest on the new purchases.

Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #409 on: April 11, 2016, 03:01:23 PM »
If you PIF, you will not pay interest.

Having the balance reported and the effects to your Fico is another story.
I just got confused because I'm not bringing my balance to $0, but I AM paying in full.

Offline Mendelssohn

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #410 on: April 11, 2016, 03:03:01 PM »
This can be and is important for some. It is important for them to know the true value of this. If all you are doing is churning CC's then there time is better spent on other things. I am just letting them know the facts.

People can decide for themselves. Keeping ultra low utilization can help when speaking to an UW. It is more than just scores, but you know that.

Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #411 on: April 11, 2016, 03:03:35 PM »
With many issuers, if you have a balance after the statement and put new charges on the card, you will be charged interest on the new purchases.
Don't they have a grace period until the next due date? And they do give you time to pay that balance in full, don't they? From what you're saying it's possible to pay interest even on new charges, and even before the statement closes, and even if they'll be paid in full?

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #412 on: April 11, 2016, 03:04:11 PM »
People can decide for themselves.
That sounds like a winner.
"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 #413 on: April 11, 2016, 03:07:38 PM »
Don't they have a grace period until the next due date? And they do give you time to pay that balance in full, don't they? From what you're saying it's possible to pay interest even on new charges, and even before the statement closes, and even if they'll be paid in full?

The grace period is on the statement balance, not new purchases.

This practice varies by issuer.

This is the reason I always PIF before using cards again though.

Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #414 on: April 11, 2016, 03:12:02 PM »
The grace period is on the statement balance, not new purchases.

This practice varies by issuer.

This is the reason I always PIF before using cards again though.
But from what I knew, the loss of the grace period on new purchases is only if you carry a balance. So that should mean that it doesn't apply only if part of the statement balance was NOT from new charges.
Fact is I don't pay interest, and never did. And even before I started doing the trick I didn't hold off on using my card until paid in full. I would just use the card as usual and pay off the balance by the due date.
You did say "with many issuers" so maybe you're referring to a card issuer I don't deal with.
Thanks

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #415 on: April 11, 2016, 03:22:35 PM »
With many issuers, if you have a balance after the statement and put new charges on the card, you will be charged interest on the new purchases.
Does any of the majors do this if you PIF each statement?
"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 #416 on: April 11, 2016, 03:23:47 PM »
BOA and also IIRC Citi. I'm not sure which others.

Offline JTZ

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #417 on: April 11, 2016, 03:39:59 PM »
BOA and also IIRC Citi. I'm not sure which others.
BOA has never charged me interest on new charges when PIF each month. Maybe it is card specific?
"LESS IS MORE" It is the cumulative effect that kills deals!!! How many times do I have to say this?  >:(

Offline newdealseeker

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #418 on: April 11, 2016, 03:51:05 PM »
BOA and also IIRC Citi. I'm not sure which others.
Interesting, because at some point I used to use my BoA card as my everyday card until they changed the rewards program. (They used to give me 1.5% cash back + an extra 25% at redemption=1.87)
I never paid interest before. If they would then I would've had to stop using my card every month after statement closes and first pay in full before charging anything. But I don't think I ever did that. I definitely didn't pay attention to it. I just made sure not to miss the due date. Maybe that's something new? I haven't used that card since end of Oct when they changed the program.

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Re: $2 trick to increase FICO score.
« Reply #419 on: April 11, 2016, 04:12:50 PM »
With many issuers, if you have a balance after the statement and put new charges on the card, you will be charged interest on the new purchases.

Card closes with $100 balance. Charge another $50. Pay off original $100.

You're saying bank will charge interest on the $50?

This would be news to me.
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