The Master $2 reporting "trick" explained

[Kat58]

Weirdness.

[mendelssohn]

 

 

ok. what card do i keep $2 on?

If your cards are all maxed out, focus on paying them off first.

lol. seriously?

 

paid them off today. ill put $2 on one.

Depending on how long your cards were maxed out, it may take a few months to get rebucketed. You will still obviously see a huge jump going from maxed out to this as soon as your cards report.

[blackdoubler]

we'll know the 16th of next month i bet.

[Elephant789]

So your saying to do this, just charge 2 dollars on one account . Leave that account alone and pay at end of billing cycle ?

[CreditNewb15]

Each of your cards cuts a statement on a certain date each month.

Pay off all your cards so that when the statement cuts for each card, the balance reported to the CRAs will be $0,

 

Except on one card. Make sure when the statement cuts for just one card, the balance reported to the CRAs will be $2.

 

 

 

Cap One: $0

AMEX: $0

Barclays: $0

Citi: $0

Discover: $0

Chase: $0

PNC: $2

Edited September 20, 2016 by CreditNewb15

[chrishillson]

I let everything report $0 and my score dropped 16 points.

 

My Experian FICO 8 was 763 last month

760 after an inquiry

754 after a new account reported

738 after the $2 account went to $0

[Imma make it rain trick]

I'm closing in on having zero debt. I have clean reports just used a BT to access cash for a new home purchase (remodel). About to do a refinance and want to eek out every FICO point I can get for it. I hope I can get this to post by the time I start to refinance in December. I'll have ample cash to keep the cards all at zero and just my Sallie Mae at $2. Right now my FICO stands at 725 EXP, 738 EQ, 759 TU. My mortgage fico actually is about the same except for Experian which is at 714. My guru doing the refi said he needs the middle number to be at 760 or above and I'll get the best rate he can get with low out of pocket.

 

Hoping to report back my 2$ trick numbers very soon.

[mendelssohn]

I'd like to clarify a few things since there seems to be some confusion, from lack of reading mainly, as to how and why the $2 trick works, and for whom it works best.

 

1. $2 was chosen because it is the easiest way to ensure that you get the most points from FICO for utilization. MOST cards report $2 and credit lower balances to $0. Yes, there are exceptions. Read the thread. Having the lowest utilization reporting that is possible above $0 ensures that you will get the most points from FICO without having to do your own guesswork to find out where the actual threshold is. This varies from person to person, and will be somewhere below the 1% mark. If you say that it is 0% for you, you're not doing it correctly.

 

2. This works best on young, clean profiles. If you are already in super prime territory with your FICOs, your threshold is probably much higher, especially if you have an 8-10+ AAOA.

 

3. Bob Wang was not an salamander. Although he no longer posts here, people should go back and read his old posts and threads. We have a lot of highly intelligent people on this board, but I still hold Bob on a level higher than anyone else. His scientific contributions to CB are unmatched, and his work on this method to maximize utilization is still highly valuable.

[Gottahaveit609]

So are we letting $2 dollars report on all credit cards ? Or paying all down to zero except one and letting the one credit card report $2.

[mendelssohn]

So are we letting $2 dollars report on all credit cards ? Or paying all down to zero except one and letting the one credit card report $2.

Read the first post.

[Gottahaveit609]

Duh lol just saw it. Thank you

 

 

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[DiegoC]

Hey Mendels

 

Got a question....

 

I left a Amex Personal Gold charge card with a balance and all my other cards at 0 and my score dropped like 10 points and the Utilization shows at 0%. Overall I have 200k in revolving credit and the Amex has $1000 so it should of showed atleast 1% .

 

being the Amex Gold is a charge card and doesnt report like a revolving credit card does that card count as Utilization?

 

Thanks

Dc

 

 

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[mendelssohn]

Use a CC, not a charge card.

[DiegoC]

As I was replying I was going to ask you then it means I can leave a balance on this card, but how dumb of me, its a charge card so it has to be paid off.

 

So i dont have to worry if charge cards report a balance.

 

Thanks

Dc

 

 

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[mendelssohn]

As I was replying I was going to ask you then it means I can leave a balance on this card, but how dumb of me, its a charge card so it has to be paid off.

 

So i dont have to worry if charge cards report a balance.

 

Thanks

Dc

 

 

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Charge cards do count in individual utilization in EQ 04, and I believe the high balance is used as the CL. I can't recall if other scoring models count it this way or not. Cashnocredit has more detail on charge cards than anyone.

 

In other scoring models, it counts in overall utilization but not individual utilization.

[DiegoC]

I will be going for a mortgage next year so i will keep that in mind.

 

So the best cards to leave at $2.00 is the Chase Cards?

 

 

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[mendelssohn]

No. Don't use Chase.

[illusemycreditcard]

I will be going for a mortgage next year so i will keep that in mind.

 

So the best cards to leave at $2.00 is the Chase Cards?

Chase automatically reports your balance as $0 when you PIF, so using them is not necessarily a good idea. Discover will report on statement generation and then again anytime upon request, so if you have a Discover card that's a soiid option. They will forgive any figure up to and including $2.00, however, so you will need to leave at least $2.01.

 

I think Chase stopped forgiving small balances 2-3 years ago, so the specific $2 figure does not apply.

[DiegoC]

Just got a Discover so that would be great...

 

So lets say I forget to pay off by the cut date, I pay a couple of days later and leave at 2.01 then i call them and ask them to report my new balance to the credit bureau?

 

Thanks

 

 

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[illusemycreditcard]

So lets say I forget to pay off by the cut date, I pay a couple of days later and leave at 2.01 then i call them and ask them to report my new balance to the credit bureau?

 

 

The small balance forgiveness, to my knowledge, is calculated when the statement cuts and only when the statement cuts. You should be able to get Discover to report any amount, including $0.01-2.00 as well as $0.00 and $2.01+.

[DiegoC]

Yeah but what i read here the best card is a Discovery because they report if you call and request.

 

So for an example...

 

My Discover card statement cut is on the 1st and my statement cuts lets say with a balance of $1000. They report by the 5th my $1000 balance. On the 6th i make a payment and leave a remaining balance of $2.01 If I call Discover and tell them to report my new balance of $2.01 they will and it would reflect in my credit report that same month the new balance, is that correct?

 

 

 

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Edited February 4, 2017 by DiegoC

[mendelssohn]

Yeah but what i read here the best card is a Discovery because they report if you call and request.

 

So for an example...

 

My Discover card statement cut is on the 1st and my statement cuts lets say with a balance of $1000. They report by the 5th my $1000 balance. On the 6th i make a payment and leave a remaining balance of $2.01 If I call Discover and tell them to report my new balance of $2.01 they will and it would reflect in my credit report that same month the new balance, is that correct?

 

 

 

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Where did you read that? Not here.

 

Pick a non-Discover or Chase CC.

[illusemycreditcard]

Yeah but what i read here the best card is a Discovery because they report if you call and request.

There are other creditors that will do this. I have had Capital One update mid-cycle, but I've heard that this no longer works. If I'm remembering correctly Citi still reports mid-cycle on request, and Bank of America recently reported mid-cycle on one of my accounts due to a minor address correction.

 

My Discover card statement cut is on the 1st and my statement cuts lets say with a balance of $1000. They report by the 5th my $1000 balance. On the 6th i make a payment and leave a remaining balance of $2.01 If I call Discover and tell them to report my new balance of $2.01 they will and it would reflect in my credit report that same month the new balance, is that correct?

This is more or less correct. What I am suggesting is that you do not need to pay it down to $2.01 or above. If you pay it down to $0.01, they will report $0.01. The small balance credit is only when the statement cuts.

 

They will not change your old reported information, but you will have an additional update showing the current amount:

• OCT 1 - $A
• NOV 1 - $B
• DEC 1 - $C
• JAN 1 - $1000
• JAN 5 - $2.01
• FEB 1 - $X
• MAR 1 - $Y

You do not need to wait until you see the amount on your reports. You have your statement cut on the 1st and then immediately pay it down to some other figure and have them report again. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion take a while to receive the information and update your reports.

[DiegoC]

Mendels

 

Dont get annoyed but I want to understand this clearly...

 

Discover will report on statement generation and then again anytime upon request, so if you have a Discover card that's a soiid option.

 

So what does it mean when "upon request"

 

Thanks

Dc

 

 

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[mendelssohn]

You are overthinking this.

 

Get a non-Discover or Chase CC and let $2 report.