Credit utilization
Updated
Credit utilization is the ratio of a reported revolving balance to the credit limit on that tradeline. An aggregate utilization adds the reported balances and divides by the sum of the limits. The word “reported” is the whole distinction. A payment you made after the issuer sent the balance does not change the ratio already in the file.
On many cards the reported balance is the balance as of the statement closing date. That is common practice, not a statute that binds every issuer. The balance a scoring model uses is the one in the credit file, which you can see on the report.
FICO describes “amounts owed” as about 30 percent of a FICO Score. Utilization is one part of that category, along with how many accounts carry balances and how large the balances are. The category weight is not a rule that utilization must stay under 30 percent. Lower reported utilization is generally treated more gently than higher utilization. This reference does not convert a ratio into a point change, because the rest of the file is part of the score.