If you pay the full balance on your credit card each month do you still…?
Question by dk: If you pay the full balance on your credit card each month do you still…?
If you pay the full balance on your credit card each month, does this help to build up good credit history or score?
Best answer:
Answer by message_board_ceo
You can’t pay off debt if you don’t have debt. According to FICO, the most effective way to raise your score is to pay debt. Chase, Discover, and MBNA (now BofFA) all confirmed this by advising me to charge a small amount and paying it ALMOST entirely (leaving a small $ 3-5 balance). This would show I was an extremely low credit risk, thereby boosting my FICO score.
So I tried this method using 3 sock drawer cards, each with a credit line in excess of $ 10k. I would buy a tank or two of gas, small grocery purchases, etc. under $ 100 on each per month, then pay off 95% of the balance. My score shot up from the low 700’s to 755 in a matter of 3-4 months. Mind you I had very little outstanding debt on any of my other cards. Don’t believe me? Try it, because it most definitely will improve your score.
One more thing, keeping a card with $ 0 balance, not using it for extensive periods of time used to be a good thing but is a big NO NO these days. Why? Because creditors are very freaked out by unconsumed lines of credit that are potential sitting ducks for turning into delinquent accounts. Furthermore, unused cards are having their credit lines slashed substantially, thereby reducing your available credit, which is a major factor in FICO’s score. Expect your score to take a nosedive when Chase or Amex decides to cut your unused 10k credit line in half because you didn’t even need $ 5k, so why should they give you $ 10k?
What do you think? Answer below!
Does it affect your credit score to close an account while still owing money on it?
Question by CaliGirl: Does it affect your credit score to close an account while still owing money on it?
I joined a DMP (debt management program) they are a great team and i am making a difference in lowering my debt little by little. However, i noticed on my credit report a couple days ago that many of those accounts that i have on the DMP are still “open”. I called and they advised me not to close them as this would affect my credit score- “having a credit card closed while still owing money”. But i figure if i am still making my payments on time does it really matter? Also, i thought it would help closing the account since my “open account” number would fall. Any advice??? Thank you!
Best answer:
Answer by mscarriem
The reason you want to leave the accounts open is your credit score is based 35% on credit available. If you close the account with a balance you now owe money on a credit account you can not use at all. They are correct in advising you to leave the accounts open. Once they are paid in full you could close them, but now you would have credit available which as I stated will elevate your score.
What do you think? Answer below!