From what I gather all (most) companies, except Amex (just cant figure out Amex - they are still showing my December balance even though I havent used the card at all this year), reports on your statement cutoff date. Therefore, if you pay your balance in full a day before the cut off date (on the CC site) then your utilization will be lower. Unfortunately most of the cards that I use on a day to day basis are Visa Signature, Amex Premier or World MC - therefore the reported limit on these cards is high balance, not the credit card limit. For example, my Marriott Rewards card has a $35k limit, but on any given month when I travel I may run and therefore report $3-5k which is at or "full utilization" on the card or an artifically high utitlization even though I generally pay my credit card balances (except for a life of loan zero % deal) in full on each due date.