Found Out How Long You Can Sock Drawer Any BOFA Accounts

[plasticguy]

Emailed BOFA because I wanted to know their in-activity policy and this was their reply. Please be aware that in order for us to close and account due lack of use, you need the card to be unused for at least 6 months without any kind of transactions. We hope you find this information useful. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you online. Should you have any other further inquiries, please e-mail us again. Thank you for choosing Bank of America. We value your business and look forward to serving your banking needs.

[smallfry]

If I wanted to keep the card and credit limit intact I wouldn't go 6 months. Maybe 2-3 tops. 

[MidnightVoice]

6 months to a year is typical in my limited experience.  I make sure every one of my cards is used every month - utilities, charitable deductions etc.  The exception is our one and only store card, but that still gets used every couple of months

[Anonymous]

Now, the key question would be….

How long (months) do you continue showing zero (0) balance on your credit report  before FICO no longer counts or uses the account credit limit for scoring purposes??

[jforsyth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Now, the key question would be….

How long (months) do you continue showing zero (0) balance on your credit report  before FICO no longer counts or uses the account credit limit for scoring purposes??

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Why would they do this?

What if you just PIF every month? Nobody should be penalized for that...

[Anonymous]

After a certain period of time FICO classifies a continuous zero account as an inactive account and no longer uses inactive accounts in scoring purposes.

It is my understanding this account will continue to be scored for “History” purposes only.

[sycotik]

If that is true then I am in a world of hurt.  I pay off all of my credit cards (except the same one which i let post a $5 balance) every month.  Are you sure about this?

[MidnightVoice]

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@sycotik wrote:

If that is true then I am in a world of hurt.  I pay off all of my credit cards (except the same one which i let post a $5 balance) every month.  Are you sure about this?

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IDo you mean you pay off your cards before the statement date so that they appear as zero balance?

[jforsyth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

After a certain period of time FICO classifies a continuous zero account as an inactive account and no longer uses inactive accounts in scoring purposes.

It is my understanding this account will continue to be scored for “History” purposes only.

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Are you sure?

Can anyone else comment on this?

I just don't see how a scoring system designed to determine reliability would penalize you for paying in full every time....

[MidnightVoice]

Your CCC knows if you use a card even if you PIF before the statement date and it reports a zero balance to the CRAs every month for years.  They will be happy

I have no idea if FICO starts ignoring cards that constantly have a zero balance - I tend to doubt it, but I have been wrong before