Should I Use A Store Card Just To Create Activity On It?

[Anonymous]

I have a few questions about how to best manage a credit card that I have only because I could use the shopping cart trick to get it.

I got the Overstock.com store card about a month ago. I had bought from Overstock.com several years ago, and I thought the card might be of occasional use. That was secondary, of course, to my main goal of increasing my total available credit without a hard pull.

I made one small purchase and paid the entire statement balance as soon as I received the statement. A few days later they reported to the credit bureaus. So I’m happy.

However, I doubt I’ll actually use the card as much as I thought I might. Virtually everything I considered buying on the site is available elsewhere for less (often substantially less) — to such an extent that it doesn’t seem to make much sense to even check them anymore. I quite literally may never use the card again.

My question is, will Comenity/Overstock continue to report to the bureaus each month if there’s no activity on the account? (I realize they aren’t required to — I’m just asking if it’s their practice to.)

Would it really make much difference if they don’t continue to report now that they’ve reported once?

If they don’t report monthly because there is no activity, but then I buy something in, say, six months and they do report again at that point, will all of those non-reporting months “catch up” and show as “paid as agreed” on my credit reports? Or will they show as “no information” or something similar?

Thanks. I’m just wondering if I should pay a bit more from them for something I was going to buy elsewhere just to keep them reporting.

[Chris679]

It will show as paid as agreed whether you use it or not. Not a bad idea to use it once a year or so so they don't close it due to inactivity.

[Anonymous]

---

@Chris679 wrote:
It will show as paid as agreed whether you use it or not. Not a bad idea to use it once a year or so so they don't close it due to inactivity.

---

Thanks! That was the answer I was hoping for.

[gdale6]

Comenity will not update the CRA if there is no activity in a month and they wont until you use the card again. It really isnt a big deal and as already stated use the card every once in awhile to keep it active, I recommend every 3-6 months.

[StartingOver10]

---

@gdale6 wrote:

Comenity will not update the CRA if there is no activity in a month and they wont until you use the card again. It really isnt a big deal and as already stated use the card every once in awhile to keep it active, I recommend every 3-6 months.

---

gdale6, could that be specific to the card you have from Comenity^^^?   I ask that because I have a Dressbarn Comenity card for several years and use it 3 x's per year more or less and Comenity reports every month whether I have a balance or not. 

[Dalmus]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
{snip}

I made one small purchase and paid the entire statement balance as soon as I received the statement. A few days later they reported to the credit bureaus. So I’m happy.

However, I doubt I’ll actually use the card as much as I thought I might. Virtually everything I considered buying on the site is available elsewhere for less (often substantially less) — to such an extent that it doesn’t seem to make much sense to even check them anymore. I quite literally may never use the card again.

My question is, will Comenity/Overstock continue to report to the bureaus each month if there’s no activity on the account? (I realize they aren’t required to — I’m just asking if it’s their practice to.)

Would it really make much difference if they don’t continue to report now that they’ve reported once?

{snip}

---

 The highlighted reason is why I actually have Applicant's Remorese over the Overstock card.  AND the HSN card, for that matter.  Every 5-6 months, I make the smallest purchase I can just to keep the card active, and then I go and look on Amazon and see that I could buy the exact same thing for 20-50% less, PLUS earn a 5% statement credit.  The combined $3,800 in credit keeps me keeping them active until I get my major card limits up a little more.

 Some Comenity cards will update monthly or every other month whether or not you have activity...  I've noticed that Overstock is one that, for me, won't update unless their's activity.

[UncleB]

With my two store cards I make a point to use each of them a couple of times a year (roughly every six months, but I don't count down the weeks).  They are my oldest accounts, and I want them to stay open.

As for the updating, if you're at a zero balance does it really matter if it's updating each month? 

The only time I would actually be concerned with an update is after I make the payment to get it back to zero - then I definitely want it to 'update' to reflect that it's once again PIF, but that doesn't seem to be an issue with Comenity (they seem to reliably update when there's activity).  Other than that, if it updates monthly (or just when used) really shouldn't make a difference. 

Just my 2¢.