What is credit utilisation ratio?
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In short: The percentage of your available credit you are using — total balances divided by total limits. Keeping utilisation below 30% on each card and overall usually helps credit scores; maxed-out cards hurt even if you pay on time.
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Reviewed by Kaiser Khan
Paying in full each month still shows utilisation on your statement date — some people pay down before reporting date to lower the figure.
Increasing limits without spending more lowers utilisation — but avoid temptation to borrow more.
See credit utilisation explained guide.
Primary source: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39
Part of our Banking & current accounts
This quick answer sits inside our wider banking & current accounts hub — with sub-guides, calculators and step-by-step explainers on the same topic.
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