NFCU "No Payment History" Question

[Anonymous]

I promise you, dear members, that I have search high and low for an answer to this question, and cannot find it for the life of me.

I got NFCU's cashRewards card in January. Since then, I have used it once or twice a billing cycle, for a few dollars, then after the charge posted, paid it off in full.

I do not want to carry a balance at all because I am trying the utilization game-- I have one card reporting a small balance every month, and NFCU isn't it.

I just checked myTU and EQ on CreditKarma and I still have no payment history showing for my NFCU account. I WANT payment history BADLY. Do I have to show a balance just to "earn" payment history? For the last three months, every statement I get shows activity (charged, then paid) and a $0.00 balance. I DO make payments... when will it show?

Just desperate to show my hard work here. Could it be that it's just too soon for it to show up on my reports? Last report from NFCU was on Feb 17 to TU and EQ.

Thanks in advance!

[bstone]

I believe you have to allow the balance to post to your bill for it to report to your credit.  So charge, let the bill generate, then PIF.

[Anonymous]

^^^ +1

Yep what he said!

[Scupra]

I don't ever let a bill generate on my NFCU Platinum and I still have payment history on creditkarma. I would think the issue is with creditkarma. I am willing to bet if you looked at a real report from either CRA it would show payment history. The only account I have that shows ND (no data) is my CLOC when I dont use it..

[Anonymous]

To the posters who say I must let a balance report: then how can I follow the oft-repeated advice of having zero balance in all cards except 1? are these strategies mutually exclusive?

I want to show good payment history, but I also want to keep my util (overall and individual) at my optimum level.

For example, my Barclays reports payment history despite The fact that I never allow a balance to post. Wondering if it was NFCU in particular.

I will check a direct report when possible; admittedly CK is unreliable.

[TRC_WA]

FICO has no month to month memory so the entire "let 1 card report a 1-9% balance with all the rest reporting $0" isn't something worth worrying about... unless you are about to buy a car or a house and want the best score possible. 

Some people here are totally OCD about it and it just isn't necessary.

I let a $1500 balance report on one of my cards and it dropped my EX 2 points...  hardly the credit destroying act that people make it out to be.  The cool thing is when I pay the statement at the end of the month and let it report with a $0 balance next month... I'll get the 2 points back.

Now I'm gonna go outside and enjoy the spring day rather than stress over 2 FICO points I lost this month.

[gdale6]

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@TRC_WA wrote:

FICO has no month to month memory so the entire "let 1 card report a 1-9% balance with all the rest reporting $0" isn't something worth worrying about... unless you are about to buy a car or a house and want the best score possible. 

Some people here are totally OCD about it and it just isn't necessary.

I let a $1500 balance report on one of my cards and it dropped my EX 2 points...  hardly the credit destroying act that people make it out to be.  The cool thing is when I pay the statement at the end of the month and let it report with a $0 balance next month... I'll get the 2 points back.

Now I'm gonna go outside and enjoy the spring day rather than stress over 2 FICO points I lost this month.

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The only time letting that 1500 report is when you have very little total credit available. Once you obtain multiple cards with a large amount of credit available it isnt a big deal letting a few cards report a balance or a larger balance report... 1500 out of 5K available isnt a good thing but that same 1500 with 80K available isnt a problem at all.

[Anonymous]

Ok, I understand about the "no memory" with regard to usage thing. But as it stands, I AM trying to maximize my score for a new auto purchase this summer. So I hope to not be so fixated on the score once that happens.

However, what DOES have memory is my payment history. And I don't see why, if I am making payments to a card every month, it won't report. If I don't carry a balance, it doesn't mean I haven't used the card and made payments. I suppose I'm just frustrated if that's the way the system works. 

To try and "jump start" NFCU into reporting my payment history, I will be allowing it to report a balance next statement and then just PIF. 

Thanks for the insight and advice, all!

[Scupra]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ok, I understand about the "no memory" with regard to usage thing. But as it stands, I AM trying to maximize my score for a new auto purchase this summer. So I hope to not be so fixated on the score once that happens.

However, what DOES have memory is my payment history. And I don't see why, if I am making payments to a card every month, it won't report. If I don't carry a balance, it doesn't mean I haven't used the card and made payments. I suppose I'm just frustrated if that's the way the system works. 

To try and "jump start" NFCU into reporting my payment history, I will be allowing it to report a balance next statement and then just PIF. 

Thanks for the insight and advice, all!

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Look at a real report and not CK

[Anonymous]

For the record, I purchased a TU report yesterday and the NFCU account has reported an "OK" in 2/2015's payment history. So it looks like we're good to go. I'm assuming it will continue to report, although I will periodically check.

Thank you all for the assistance as always.