This post originally appeared October 5, 2017 on CreditCards.com as “‘Q&A: How credit utilization is calculated in a married couple’s scores”
By Barry Paperno
Dear Speaking of Credit,
How is the credit utilization part of a credit score calculated when a married couple has some credit cards in both names and some in individual names? – Dorothy
Dear Dorothy,
Without realizing it, you’ve provided me with the opportunity to explain not only how a married couple’s credit information makes its way to each spouse’s credit reports and impacts their credit scores, but also to show how easy it can be to raise one or both credit scores when credit card accounts aren’t currently being reported in both spouses’ names.