topic Re: Credit card as a check card. in Credit Cards

Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:47:36 GMT

First the basic details.

I have one credit card. It has a $2000 limit.

I use the credit card for almost all of my monthly purchases and bills except for car payments, auto insurance, rent, and utilities.

Is it smart to use it up to near the limit every month if I pay it off before the payments are even due? I get a reward point for every dollar spent with the card and then paid.

Should I request a higher limit so that I am not near the limit once a month, or does it matter?

Re: Credit card as a check card.

haulingthescoreup — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:51:46 GMT

That's a great way to use a CC! Do make sure that you're very familiar with their posting patterns and requirements, so that you can always pay when you want.

Who issued the card, and how long have you had it? Different companies vary in whether they'll honor customer-initiated CLI requests. Some will only do so with a hard inquiry, so if you can tell us more, it would help.

And of course, they're all a little nuts these days.

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:22:36 GMT

Hello thomas, welcome to the forums!

I agree with Hauling. You can rack up some serious cash back when you use a CC as your debit card (assuming PIF of course).

To answer your question, using up to the limit doesn't really matter for scoring purposes UNLESS you accidentally forget to PIF by the time they report the balance to the CRAs (usually around the time the statement cuts). If you were to let a $1900 balance report on your $2000, you would probably get dinged quite a few points until it reports a lower balance.

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:18:55 GMT

make sure you pay it down below 30% if not 10% before your statement date and the rest before due for best credit results. Depending how long you have had the card i would suggest getting one or two more(i would suggest 1 year history) I recently got a 5k limit with chase and usbank with a 14 month history my self

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:44:15 GMT

This is the first of the two permissible purposes I've established for using CC's in our household. The second was for 0% BT offers to help finance our Son's adoption. If you're not in the market for credit (I'm not) don't worry about the affect on your scores, just take advantage of the money back. If you are worried about your scores, pay most or all of the balance a few days before the statement cuts and it won't hurt you at all.

Krystofur

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:46:54 GMT

I have the card through USAA. I have had it for about two years now. I initially had a $500 limit.

If it is any value to anyone, USAA is awesome for my credit card, banking, and setting up my IRA. I don't know what their rules are as far as nonmilitary people, but I highly recommend them

Re: Credit card as a check card.

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:59:49 GMT

USAA, huh? *purrs* Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em. Wait till you've been with them 28 years. They're great.

I don't know how much posting there has been here about customer-initiated CLI's from USAA. I accidentally accepted a $30K CL from their luv button late one night while buzzed on asthma meds. Several months later, they took off the luv button.

USAA is all about your history with them and the number of products you have. For both of these, the more, the better. I thought it was pretty funny that they offered me a HELOC with an EQ score of 651, and after everything was signed and overnighted back, and the $50K CL showed up on my screen, they scolded me gently for my low score.

That was a year and half ago, and before the current melt-down, so I'm sure that they're tighter now. Do you have access to a full report from Equifax? I think they soft me every 3 months or so. If they're softing you, they'll be able to tell you over the phone if you can have a CLI, I'm sure. And they just softed me for my inadvertant CLI, although again, that was back in the day.

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:54:30 GMT

What the heck is a 'luv' button?

I'm all about USAA (ins, car loan, cc, ckg) but I don't think I ever saw a 'luv' button.

Man, does this mean they weren't showing me the luv?

Re: Credit card as a check card.

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:12:47 GMT

Sorry; it's forums slang for a link on your website that allows you to request a CLI. USAA used to have one, but a year ago (I think) it quietly vanished. For the life of me, I can't remember where it used to be.

Bank of America has theirs on the column on the left. Chase's is under its Customer Service tab. Citi's is under the Manage My Account tab (if you have to fill out a form, it's a hard inquiry.)

A lot of banks have removed their luv buttons, preferring to make you sweat it out over the phone with a CSR.

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:45:59 GMT

To the Original Poster: You remind me of myself when I got my first credit card! I used it exclusively for several years and now its my highest credit limit (CL). I definitely feel rewarded for my loyalty and good standing. Sounds like you are too with those rewards points. Don't see anything wrong myself, though I'm no expert, just another consumer like yourself. Just my 2 cents - I have never had it happen to me, but a friend of mine had his credit card # stolen by an employee of a local merchant. I think if the business is well-established or you've done business there before there is less of a resk, but just be aware when you're in a new place to note anything unusual they do (like copying the card, etc) and keep an eye on your credit reports via one of the many monitoring services here to **bleep** anything in the bud.

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:06:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
To the Original Poster: You remind me of myself when I got my first credit card! I used it exclusively for several years and now its my highest credit limit (CL). I definitely feel rewarded for my loyalty and good standing. Sounds like you are too with those rewards points. Don't see anything wrong myself, though I'm no expert, just another consumer like yourself. Just my 2 cents - I have never had it happen to me, but a friend of mine had his credit card # stolen by an employee of a local merchant. I think if the business is well-established or you've done business there before there is less of a resk, but just be aware when you're in a new place to note anything unusual they do (like copying the card, etc) and keep an eye on your credit reports via one of the many monitoring services here to **bleep** anything in the bud.

Boy if I ever have my number stolen I would rather it be a cc than my debit card. I don't use a card in fast food lines because you can not see what they are doing in some drive thrus. BTW I use my cc card on every wed to buy groceries and pay it off on friday....rotating between each card....that way everyone gets my luv and hopefully I get some back! A couple of our cards have already bumped our CL's.

Re: Credit card as a check card.

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:32:31 GMT

A whole lot of debit cards had to be closed and reissued in our town two years ago. Several waiters/ waitresses (cannot type "waitpersons", even if I am a rabid feminist) worked together to steal info from debit cards and they started draining accounts. The banks and CU's involved figured it out pretty quickly and reissued cards, but it was the week that spring break began for our local huge state university. Lots of drama from young, pale East Tennesseeans down in Daytona and Cancun when their plastic stopped working.

I only use my debit card to print cash out of the ATM machine and to make occasional liquid purchases from merchants who might be targeted by CC issuers.

Re: Credit card as a check card.

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:45:08 GMT

I put all bills, with the exception of my car payment, and purchases on rewards cards. I rarely use my debit card.