Will just "Buying a pack of gum" truly keep a credit card "active"?

[Anonymous]

I have a couple of cards that have no benefit at all to me, other than their credt limts keep my over all utilization % low. I have a Citi Double Cash and a BOA 1,2,3 card that I use daily for EVERYTHING (Still trying to figure out how to put my house payment on the Double Cash, LOL).

Anyways..... Is just buying "a pack of gum at the corner gas station" good enough to keep the rest of my cards alive? Or do they normally expect you to spend a ceratin amount? Or is just ANY activity, considered activity?

[gdale6]

It will keep the card active but may result in CLD over time as the line is not being used. I always put several hundred thru each card I have every 6 months that I dont use often so far this has kept the CL intact.

[K-in-Boston]

Good point about the CLD gdale6; that's almost never mentioned when this topic comes up.  Any activity is usually enough to keep an account active, the frequency is going to depend on the lender.  Are there any products offered by the other lenders that you may consider doing product changes to?  Otherwise, if age of accounts isn't a real concern it may be best to just get CLIs on your active cards to make up for the other lines and close them.

[Anonymous]

Yes, any transaction will keep a card active even if it's incredibly small.  If it involves a charge showing up on your account which will then require a payment, usage has been shown.  I'd go so far to say that a single penny transaction at a gas station or self checkout aisle would be enough to keep an account open, but as mentioned earlier creditors would have no reason to keep your credit limit high (if it is high) if you aren't running a decent amount of dollars through their product.

[DaveInAZ]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have a couple of cards that have no benefit at all to me, other than their credt limts keep my over all utilization % low. I have a Citi Double Cash and a BOA 1,2,3 card that I use daily for EVERYTHING (Still trying to figure out how to put my house payment on the Double Cash, LOL).

Anyways..... Is just buying "a pack of gum at the corner gas station" good enough to keep the rest of my cards alive? Or do they normally expect you to spend a ceratin amount? Or is just ANY activity, considered activity?

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I've been using Plastiq for my mortgage payment. They charge 2.5%, so on a 2% rewards card it will cost .5%, but they have promos that can give you occaisional fee free payments.

[Gmood1]

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@DaveInAZ wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have a couple of cards that have no benefit at all to me, other than their credt limts keep my over all utilization % low. I have a Citi Double Cash and a BOA 1,2,3 card that I use daily for EVERYTHING (Still trying to figure out how to put my house payment on the Double Cash, LOL).

Anyways..... Is just buying "a pack of gum at the corner gas station" good enough to keep the rest of my cards alive? Or do they normally expect you to spend a ceratin amount? Or is just ANY activity, considered activity?

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I've been using Plastiq for my mortgage payment. They charge 2.5%, so on a 2% rewards card it will cost .5%, but they have promos that can give you occaisional fee free payments.

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I do the same with the Citi DC paying a 1.75% fee. There's another company that does something similar https://www.tio.com . I haven't compared the fees.

[Anonymous]

I'm on board with you guys with the Plastiq / DC combo for my mortgage payment.  I did it the first time last month.  I've got a Citi DC CLI opportunity coming up in 3 months, so sending another $1400/mo through the card and bringing my spend to $3k+ for 3 cycles leading up to the CLI request I feel should give me the most favorable result.

[Gmood1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm on board with you guys with the Plastiq / DC combo for my mortgage payment.  I did it the first time last month.  I've got a Citi DC CLI opportunity coming up in 3 months, so sending another $1400/mo through the card and bringing my spend to $3k+ for 3 cycles leading up to the CLI request I feel should give me the most favorable result.

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I can only speak from my own experience. It has surely helped my CLIs with Citi. I have no doubts about that at all. $3k monthly spend is about average here as well.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand spending .5 percent on a mortgage payment over your rewards cash back.  If you want to get your utilization down then use that .5 percent to pay down your bill. 

[Anonymous]

pack of gum or any charge no matter the amount will count as activity, for sure.