Yes, zero utilization is bad. You want a small (nonzero) utilization, probably under 10%. Maybe under 5% is ideal, but I think as long as you're under 10% or so it doesn't make much difference.

Please allow me to quote myself, from earlier in this thread:

I have read some posts of the 850 chasers on credit boards that they allow only 2-3 cards report each month, with about 2-3% per card that reports. They rotate which cards are allowed to have a statement cut.

In my view, you want some high credit balances on your report too (on recon the score is only a piece, and the analysts often look for signs you can handle significant balances), so after a round of apps I'll let the statements post, and shoot for clean statements (cashflow permitting) as the next round approaches.

I checked my equifax yesterday, my discover more card still shows a balance of 3xxx from my sept statement with a reporting month of Oct 2012 even though I paid it off well before statement close date. Statement closed for sept on october 2nd. New statement began oct 6th. Paid full balance oct 8th. To me it looks like they report a month behind. Or at least not on the close date

...Isn't Oct 8 later than Oct 2? So you paid after the statement cut, not before?

Very true but nov 2 cut and still no update. Checked equifax on nov 30... Said oct 2012 as last update

You would need to read the fine print VERY CAREFULLY to fully understand what exactly is entailed. If additional fee is disclosed in the fine print, it is not dishonest. It is The Consumer's Responsibility to understand what s/he is getting into, not the bank's responsibility.

Maximum of 2 cards reporting a balance for optimal score. Three or more impacts the score negatively.

High Balance(for revolvers) is the highest statement closing amount that one lets to report out of all the statements that have been cut till date. If you manually request to change statement dates, or sometimes some lenders update to CRAs mid cycle, then they may report the account balance at that snapshot as high balance even though you might pay it off by the time the statement actually cuts.

E.g Credit Limit = $10,000.

Month1/Statement Cycle1: You spend $3000 on this card and do not make any payment before statement cuts. Balance Reported to CRA = 3000, High Balance = 3000
Month2/Statement Cycle2: You spend $5000 on this card, but pay off $4,990 before statement cuts. Balance Reported to CRA = 10, High Balance = 3000

Always a good idea to request CLI on cards that were maxed out/had a high balance compared to the Credit Limit in the past to make it look like you never reached high utilization.

This makes common sense but I've never seen a definitive reference that shows how much impact this really has on a FICO score. It would be great if you could share something to read up more on this particular issue.

"High Balance" has no effect on FICO score. A while ago forum user RewardTraveler posted an official source that list factors. Previously discussed in this post

High balance to credit limit ratio may matter during manual reviews as they can catch it if it happened within the last 2 years. Getting a CLI can offset that one bad spot in the credit report even though it doesn't have any effect on FICO score.

Ye another example
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April 2012, You had CL = $5000 on a card. Say High Balance was $4000 by this time. Risky behavior since it shows you used 80% utilization at some point in the past.
May, June July you have been paying off diligently before statement cuts so that balance reported has been $0 for the last 3 months. But remember High Balance field is still $4000, so your max utilization on this card historically still = 80%
August you got a Credit Limit increase on this to $10,000. You still pay off balances before statement cuts but now it looks like historical max utilization = 40%. (4000/10000)

I find that when I really rack up the charges on any given card, they usually respond by increasing my credit line. Of course I pay in full at the end of the month, and often, now that I'm a points and miles freak, I pay mid-month to keep the utilization down.

HOWEVER-- here's a data point on my new Barclay's card... this was my first billing cycle with the card. I paid in full before the due date but after the statement closed, and they still auto-deducted the full amount of the statement. So I double paid and have a negative balance on the card right now. I called CS yesterday and (foreign based rep) said the computer will not recognize the earlier payment and reset my amount due to zero. HUH???? I'm glad it was just a piddly amount.

I've noticed this once or twice too -- some of the banks (I think it was Barclays for me too) have stupid computer systems that don't adjust the autopay correctly to account for previous manual payments. Most of the banks handle this correctly, but check before assuming that's the case. Sometimes you have to cancel the next autopay to prevent getting charged twice.

If you set your account to auto-pay, it will still execute regardless what your balance may be after the statement close date. This is how banks work - the software is not designed to check actual balance by due date then to process the auto-pay payment. Citi would run the auto-pay thru even if your current balance has dropped down to 0 or negative but it would still process the auto-pay with the balance at statement close date. The overpayment would rectify itself automatically by the 2nd billing cycle - either you have put charges on the card, therefore used up the credit balance, or you have a credit balance, therefore no payment due.

On the other hand, if your payment is manually entered, scheduled by yourself - then some banks' software would compare the outstanding balance at payment date and the scheduled payment amount - if the outstanding balance is lower than the scheduled payment it would adjust the payment to the outstanding balance Both AMEX and Chase do it this way on MANUALLY scheduled payments by you. AMEX would even send you an email to inform you such.

Thanks Happy.

By "manually", do you mean to schedule it myself on the computer? I'm still new to the juggling game but I am racking up some huge cc charges. If they all double pay, well... that will not be good!

I have all my cc's set to autopay, then I obsessively view them on line to see how many points I'm racking up. If I run up a big charge, I pay it down the next day (or whenever it posts, usually it's in pending for a few days). All this is usually happening before the statement close date. Of course, I can make sure that it all happens before the close date, too. Does this mean I'm ok and won't get double charged?

I see with the Barclay's double payment, I actually did an online payment on the same day it was scheduled to autopay. Now that you've pointed it out, it makes sense that it paid twice. Both the manual and the autopay must have posted at the same time-- midnight or whenever.

Correct. At the "Pay Credit" screen, you have several options to choose how to pay the outstanding balance - statement balance (the previous statement), current balance, other amount (specified by yourself - but it cannot be higher than what the current balance is. Banks do NOT allow you to overpay.)

This means the CC companies "pull" the payments from your bank accounts instead of you "push" the payments from your bank accounts via Bill Pay function from your bank accounts.

Auto Pay always takes the balance at the statement close. If you make payment that is posted a few days before statement closing date, it naturally reduces the outstanding amount by statement close. If you must do mid-cycle payment, you should leave at lease enough time for the bank to process the payment and POST it to the account BEFORE Statement Closing Date.

First of all, you are not "double-charged." The doubled payment would just be a credit on your card. You are not charged for anything. You can either use future purchases to offset the credit or you can ask for a refund check - but be very careful to understand how each bank operates when you request a refund check on credit balance resulted from overpayment. Chase for example, would then charge you finance charge if you request the refund check in mid-cycle on a credit balance resulted from overpayment, instead of a NORMAL Refund of returned goods. No idea how Barclays operates. In general Banks do NOT like people overpay and then ask for refund - it just looks too much like the person is laundering money.

Personally I NEVER do Auto-Pay. There are a few reasons that I dont like Auto Pay.
1) I like to CONTROL how much and when I pay the cards. It is important because we travel international a lot, often away for more than one billing cycle. Auto Pay takes away this ability.

Also, if you do the payment manually from the CC site, it prevents any duplicate payment because even if you forgot you have done so and tried to schedule a payment again, the site would NOT let you. Instead it reminds you that you have already had a scheduled payment in place. Unless you have more outstanding amount than the initial scheduled payment, then the site would only let you schedule the difference between the outstanding balance and the already in place scheduled payment.

2) I would like to make sure all the charges are correct before I make a payment. Auto-Pay tends to put a person on auto-pilot and when one is busy one could easily let the checking of details fall to wayside, thinking since Auto-Pay would take care of the payment, one does not need to look at it now... thus starts a slippery slope.

Again, if you set your account on Auto Pay, the payment you sends from your bank is NOT going to make the Auto Pay go away. It will still run thru.