topic Re: paid cc in full, will this hurt my fico score? in Credit Cards

paid cc in full, will this hurt my fico score?

treschic — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:54:34 GMT

i remember reading that for max score increase,you should carry a small balance on your credit cards, i accidently paid both of my cc in full, one is showing a negative balance, because i mistankenly overpaid, and the other is a 0 balance. what difference in points has anyone noticed when they paid their cc down to 0 vs carrying a 1-9% balance?

Re: paid cc in full, will this hurt my fico score?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:11:45 GMT

Reporting a balance and carrying a balance are 2 different things-

Most people are rewarded for allowing a small balance to report-

When I zeroed out all my revolving accounts- it cost me 20 points.

angiepharm wrote:

i remember reading that for max score increase,you should carry a small balance on your credit cards, i accidently paid both of my cc in full, one is showing a negative balance, because i mistankenly overpaid, and the other is a 0 balance. what difference in points has anyone noticed when they paid their cc down to 0 vs carrying a 1-9% balance?

Re: paid cc in full, will this hurt my fico score?

Scamp — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:21:29 GMT

angiepharm wrote:
i remember reading that for max score increase,you should carry a small balance on your credit cards, i accidently paid both of my cc in full, one is showing a negative balance, because i mistankenly overpaid, and the other is a 0 balance. what difference in points has anyone noticed when they paid their cc down to 0 vs carrying a 1-9% balance?

Have both accounts reported the paid-off balances to the CRAs already? If not, you might try putting a teensy balance back on one of them by charging a cup of coffee to it, or something, and let that report instead of the 0, to avoid the all-zero point hit Timothy mentioned.

Re: paid cc in full, will this hurt my fico score?

treschic — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:53:35 GMT

thanks for the responses. i know that carrying a balance and reporting a balance are different. i guess i should've provided more detail in my question. one of the cards is hsbc, so, no they haven't reported yet,but i know that they report what balance you had on the last day of the month, which would be 0. and the same for the other card.

Re: paid cc in full, will this hurt my fico score?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:35:59 GMT

angie,

I think it depends on the bureau involved and the bucket involved. Some members have claimed they have had a score increase despite all accounts showing a 0 balance. Most members have claimed a 10-20 point hit for not having a revolving account reporting a balance.

Unless you are applying for a loan in the near future you shouldn't worry about this at all. No company is going to soft you, see that you have no balances and worry about your account with them.

If you do want a loan soon, put a small charge on a card that is likely to report soon (one with a statement date coming up) and that will solve your temporary problem.