How to increase FICO score with credit card utilization?

Can anyone give advice on how to increase my fico scores as they have been the same or decreasing over time. I do not have any current late payments or past due balances. There were past deliquencies that I had on my car loan but that was back in 2005. I only have 2 open cc accounts now, with limits of $700 and $750. I have been keeping the balances at ZERO monthly. Is that the right thing to do? Last month one of cc accounts posted with a balance of $150 but this month I got it back down to $0. I have a student loan account balance $20,434 on time always, and a car loan balance $649, 1 more payment left HOORAY!!, but currently on time. Current scores as of 2/2008 are TU-674, EXP-695, EQU-671 Prev Scores as of 1/2008 were TU-687, EXP-702, EQU-666 Does anyone know if the CC util is playing a role in the decreasing scores. And will my scores increase when I pay that last car payment to reflect a paid in full account? There were no other changes to my reports or accounts. Please help with some advice.

Public Comments

1. Just keep doing what you are doing.
2. You are already on the right track. You are using credit and paying the debt off correctly. Keeping accounts open even with a zero balance is helpful to credit scoring.
3. Here's the deal. The limits you have are too low in relation to the total debt that you have. Paying off the car will help. Another thing that would help would be to request for line increases on your cards. Right now, the total combined available credit that you could have at any time would be 1450. Getting them to at least $1000 each and making small purchases ($20/max) and paying them off on time every month will definitely help. The biggest dynamic that you can affect with your score is CC utilization. Credt line increases and maxed out cards represent opposite ends of the spectrum. The higher your limits, the better your score, while the higher the balance, the lower your score.
4. To improve your score with credit cards: * pay your balance in full every month. If one month you can't, at LEAST pay the minimum. * never miss a minimum payment * never carry a balance higher than about 35% of the credit limit * charge something small on every card periodically (like gas) then pay it off. This shows you are reliable with your debt. The delinquency is what is holding you back. Don't go delinquent on anything else, and your score will improve gradually.
5. Making more than 3 credit applications in one year will lower your fico score. Each application, especially if you do not take up an offer of credit lowers your fico. Applications for mobile phone accounts at various providers is a big contributer to this type of reductiuon in fico scores.
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