Very 1st Visa Reward Card in 7 years

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Paying off your balance due BEFORE the due date is absolutely what you must do to avoid late charges and lower your FICO score. 

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You only have to pay off your minimum balance by the due date. You don't have to pay your entire balance off. Assuming she has a $500 credit line with a $124 balance, I'd warrant a guess that the minimum balance is something around $35. As long as you pay your minimum balance off by the due date, your payment is made on time.

I suppose some awful credit card somewhere might make you pay your entire balance off every due date, but it's not really a credit card at that point, it's a charge card.

[-Cain-]

Correct, the minimum will suffice to stay current.

[Anonymous]

Just got off the phone with BofA and they said it is better that I pay the balance off in full before the statement closing date. They also mentioned that they do report customers as "paid in full customers" to the three major CRA's to show them that we are utilizing our credit card, however, paying in full, so that we do build positive FICO scores. Make sense? lol

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just got off the phone with BofA and they said it is better that I pay the balance off in full before the statement closing date. They also mentioned that they do report customers as "paid in full customers" to the three major CRA's to show them that we are utilizing our credit card, however, paying in full, so that we do build positive FICO scores. Make sense? lol

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I've never seen such a thing as a 'paid in full' customer on my report. I'll see a $0 balance, and the most recent payment made, but nothing about it being paid in full. I guess they can reverse engineer it from that, but I don't think it's something the system tracks.

Ultimately, it's your decision what you do with your credit. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for the next.  But from the general experience people have had, reporting a low balance on ONE card has given them a better score than reporting a zero balance (or too high of a balance). Remeber, having a zero balance is going to hurt you less than having a high balance - so if anything, err on the side of caution, in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and the rep also said  that I will incurr late fees 20.40% if I allow a balance to roll over after the statement closing date. He explained in greater detail but again Im very new to this so I wont dare try to reiterate what he just explained over the phone. Haha. Anyhow, I'll pay off my balance now and just wait until I need to spike it up for what ever reasons near future. Although, I would love to buy a home in 2012, not sure if that will happen though. My agent advised me to try and apply for a Gas card and charge it once a month. However, I tried to apply and the declined me. Guess I need to allow more time for my BofA to work??

[-Cain-]

Hmm, paying in full isn't bad, but I think I'd still prefer to leave the small balance we've been talking about. Manual reviews for credit down the line would probably see use even if PIF, but a computer may reject an app for not showing usage.

[-Cain-]

Everyone's situation may/will differ, but I do the scenario I spoke on every month with my BofA card and I've yet to pay them any interest. Ultimately, it is your card and account, so you'll make the best choice for yourself.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yes, and the rep also said  that I will incurr late fees 20.40% if I allow a balance to roll over after the statement closing date. He explained in greater detail but again Im very new to this so I wont dare try to reiterate what he just explained over the phone. Haha. Anyhow, I'll pay off my balance now and just wait until I need to spike it up for what ever reasons near future. Although, I would love to buy a home in 2012, not sure if that will happen though. My agent advised me to try and apply for a Gas card and charge it once a month. However, I tried to apply and the declined me. Guess I need to allow more time for my BofA to work??

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It doesn't matter if you have a gas card. I think he was only recommending that because generally a) it's better to have 2-3 cards than only 1 and b) store/gas cards are easier to get approved for.

I personally like the Walmart store card since I can now get my freen TransUnion FICO score from it every month. I don't shop there that often, but $0 annual fee + free score every month = profit.

But if you're going to be applying for a mortgage, you'll want to avoid adding any new credit close to the application date. It might not be a problem if you already have a good score and strong credit history, but with a thin credit file (or anything bad on your report), you really want to try to have yourself look as low-risk as possible.

In any case, if you only have one card right now, it might be worth adding a second one in. But I don't have any hard numbers to back that up with.

[-Cain-]

I believe a mix of credit helps for max FICO scoring. A CC along with an installment loan would give variety. I agree you shouldn't app for too much right before a mortgage though.

[Anonymous]

You are right Andy. I just started using the BofA Rewards in November this year. When should I try and apply for another  card?? I think my score is around the 500 range as of September 2011. What do you all suggest I do in terms of monitoring my score to see how I'm doing etc?? Should I sign up for the SW? I know that we can only request a free copy of our report once a year correct?