I'll leave the speculation on FICO's habits to others and deal in my reality...


one card, $7000 limit, paid off every month usually well before the bill is even due. only used for bill paying and the very rare purchase so at most the utilization is 1.3% on average at any given time and once in awhile as high as 7% if they catch it on the right day like last month when I had some work done on my truck.

I have just reached the 18th month of this behavior and my score recently passed 820 (when I was "like everyone else" with the multiple cards, etc. it was hanging around the 770 area with frequent oscillations up and down).

that's just how it's worked out for me.