Merchandise cards worth paying for to boost credit score?

[randaljon]

I been cruising the internet for Credit Repiar podcasts that I listen to at work. I got all pumped up after listening to a show talk about adding a sub-prime merchandise card to their credit. The high credit limit will boost a consumer's credit utilization, you just have to be able to accept all the high fees.

Is there any merchandise card that is worth the expense? Do any actually report to more than one bureau? I only ask because I am in the market to buy a new car this summer and could use a nice boost. I would be willing to pay some high fees in order to get a better loan.

Anyone know of a real worthwhile card? Or are they all scams?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Hi randallcred!

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@randallcred wrote:

I been cruising the internet for Credit Repiar podcasts that I listen to at work. I got all pumped up after listening to a show talk about adding a sub-prime merchandise card to their credit. The high credit limit will boost a consumer's credit utilization, you just have to be able to accept all the high fees.

Is there any merchandise card that is worth the expense? Do any actually report to more than one bureau? I only ask because I am in the market to buy a new car this summer and could use a nice boost. I would be willing to pay some high fees in order to get a better loan.

Anyone know of a real worthwhile card? Or are they all scams?

Thanks.

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My opinion? Nope. Not a single one of them is worth the outrageous, and largely unhelpful expense.

What those pay-for-tradeline issuers will never tell you is that the credit bureaus are constantly playing the whack-a-mole game with them. There's been an effort, in recent years, to exclude those types of tradelines, much to the aggravation of the people who have paid dearly for them.

And, they also neglect to tell you that even if it gets reported, and manages to boost your FICO score by adding additional credit line against balances that you're carrying, that real lenders aren't quite a dense as they'd have you think. Some lenders won't even lend to you if you have those types of tradelines, and some will look at them through the debt pyramiding lens. It's a lose-lose.

What they should tell you is that you don't need them. These types of tradelines don't "boost a consumer's credit utilization". The responsible use of *real* credit, low balances to limits, will help you to maximize the utilization points. It doesn't matter if your credit limit is $100 or $1,000,000-- the calculation of utilization is the same.

[randaljon]

Yeah the more research I do, I see your point. I will have to be patient and build up my Visa and Mastercard accounts.

I have also joined 2 credit unions and started 2 secured Visas. The credit Unions are very flexible with allowing you to add to credit limits.

[JoeBJay20]

There are no shortcuts to building a good credit history. it takes time, patience, and dliligence. As LilMirth stated, most of those pay-for-credit lines won't stay on your report long-term. Good financial decisions naturally breed good credit decisions, and paying for credit lines is a bad financial decision. Secured cards, of which you already have two, are a good start, and it's even better if they automatically go unsecured after some period of time. You should check with your bank/credit union to see if that is the case.