3. You have a short credit history.

[Anonymous]

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@athensguy wrote:
If you never use a credit card, it will eventually cease to count in scoring. If you are using it but paying it off prior to the statement cutting, you are not getting penalized for that. The only time you might be is if you are not showing any balances at all. You still don't have to pay any interest.

Getting a good credit score is part of fiscal responsibility these days, so if you are not working to make it look better, you're not being fiscally responsible.

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You are absolutely right but acknowledge that that system is broken. The fact is that if you use your card and when you get your bill at the end of the month you pay it in full, it will almost NEVER report a balance. Is that the same as you not using your credit? if so then its a broken system and unless you let a balance ride so that it gets reported at which point you owe finance charges, THEN it counts? that's bull.

Using your credit and paying it in full before you let it get out of hand and carry all kinds of fees, THAT is fiscally responsible use of credit and if you are punished for that, then the system is inherently flawed and made to actually serve those who are NOT responsible enough to pay what they use and carry a balance. I think that is wrong. If carrying a balance and not paying it when I should is working to be fiscally responsible, then yah I am not, as I pay my balances in full at the end of the month and this means that 9/10 times I will never have a balance reported.

**bleep** I am so fiscally irresponsible for spending only what I can afford and paying it off at the end of each month...I should be more responsible by letting it grow and carrying it month after month so it gets reported. this make any sense to you?

[athensguy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
You are absolutely right but acknowledge that that system is broken. The fact is that if you use your card and when you get your bill at the end of the month you pay it in full, it will almost NEVER report a balance. Is that the same as you not using your credit? if so then its a broken system and unless you let a balance ride so that it gets reported at which point you owe finance charges, THEN it counts? that's bull.

If you pay it off after you receive the statement, that card did report a balance on your credit reports. It reported the balance on your statement.

Using your credit and paying it in full before you let it get out of hand and carry all kinds of fees, THAT is fiscally responsible use of credit and if you are punished for that, then the system is inherently flawed and made to actually serve those who are NOT responsible enough to pay what they use and carry a balance. I think that is wrong. If carrying a balance and not paying it when I should is working to be fiscally responsible, then yah I am not, as I pay my balances in full at the end of the month and this means that 9/10 times I will never have a balance reported.

It looks like you carry a balance on your CR if a balance is recorded on your statement

**bleep** I am so fiscally irresponsible for spending only what I can afford and paying it off at the end of each month...I should be more responsible by letting it grow and carrying it month after month so it gets reported. this make any sense to you?

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Before you bash the system so much, you should figure out how it works. If you would like to continue complaining without learning, there are a plethora of anti-credit websites.

Anyway, unless you have very high util (possible to do and still not show balances, but unlikely if you have otherwise good credit), you're just optimizing your credit score by gaming the balances that report. If you have decent limits on your cards, your paid-in-full util will not generally cause enough of a drop in score to cause AA, especially if you've been doing it the same way the whole time.

[Anonymous]

I am not bashing anything. I know exactly how the system works and that's why you are having trouble with this because you apparently don't know that NO your statement balance is NOT reported unless its there for at least 30 days. There is a 30 day delay in reporting of all balances.

Simply put, if you get your bill at the end of the month and then pay it in full, it will report a 0 balance for you when it reports to the credit reporting agencies. So that's why they tell you that if you don't carry a balance, you are not really building a credit history overall but you will build great history with the creditor that you are doing business with.

Again, please don't make assumptions about what I know and don't know as I can bet you I know more than you can ever imagine. I know the law, I know the banking standard and I can give you details about how credit is handled that will make your head spin. I may be a new contributor on the forum but that doesn't mean I don't know what I am talking about. I have results to back up what I say.

What I can't understand is why you are so passionate about defending the system. Is it yours? If so, sorry for offending you.

[athensguy]

I can't decide if you're a troll or just very obtuse. I merely pointed out your mistaken statements in order to assist you. No reason to be so vitriolic. Have a nice day, and maybe you should pull a credit report to prove yourself wrong.

[Anonymous]

Guardian-  you are way off.  I agree with athensguy.

I pay of my Chase rewards in full every month (have it set to auto-pay balance).  When I pull my credit it matches off to my statement balance EVERY time.  Yes there is a lag, but it reports what the balance was 30 days ago when the statement was issued (whether I paid it or not).

[Anonymous]

You are speaking very matter of factly and the majority of what you are stating is completely false. Many of us monitor our credit very closely here and I can tell you for a fact that your observations are wayyyy off.

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Guardian wrote:
I am not bashing anything. I know exactly how the system works and that's why you are having trouble with this because you apparently don't know that NO your statement balance is NOT reported unless its there for at least 30 days. There is a 30 day delay in reporting of all balances.

Simply put, if you get your bill at the end of the month and then pay it in full, it will report a 0 balance for you when it reports to the credit reporting agencies. So that's why they tell you that if you don't carry a balance, you are not really building a credit history overall but you will build great history with the creditor that you are doing business with.

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[Anonymous]

What bank are you with that does not report statement balances?

I have:

AZFCU, Amex, Discover, Capone, CCCU, Juniper, Home Depot, Kay, Sears and WAMU and they all report statement balances if I PIF or not.  

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Guardian wrote:
I am not bashing anything. I know exactly how the system works and that's why you are having trouble with this because you apparently don't know that NO your statement balance is NOT reported unless its there for at least 30 days. There is a 30 day delay in reporting of all balances.

Simply put, if you get your bill at the end of the month and then pay it in full, it will report a 0 balance for you when it reports to the credit reporting agencies. So that's why they tell you that if you don't carry a balance, you are not really building a credit history overall but you will build great history with the creditor that you are doing business with.

Again, please don't make assumptions about what I know and don't know as I can bet you I know more than you can ever imagine. I know the law, I know the banking standard and I can give you details about how credit is handled that will make your head spin. I may be a new contributor on the forum but that doesn't mean I don't know what I am talking about. I have results to back up what I say.

What I can't understand is why you are so passionate about defending the system. Is it yours? If so, sorry for offending you.

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[haulingthescoreup]

Wow, that's some strange bank. HSBC/Orchard and AmEx do odd reporting, but nothing like what you're describing!

I can practically recite the activity on my accounts, and they don't do anything at all whatsoever like what you're describing.

[Anonymous]

I am neither and very glad to see that you can look up words in the dictionary to try and sound more intelligent than you have behaved. I am simply pointing out that what you said is inaccurate in my experience and it is for each to decide for themselves.

I have pulled my credit many times and that's why I know and been doing this for nearly 7 years since my BK and I have made myself quite familiar with the system and that's how I have managed to recover my scores back to the level they were with no dings before I had to declare BK.

You are the one who took the offensive tone when you didn't like what was being said and now getting all pompous by trying to turn this on me. I was simply sharing my experience as was everyone else until you decided to chime in by making personal criticisms, which were not constructive or they would have been gladly received. It seems you are trolling for arguments and I will not waste any more time allowing you bate me.

[Anonymous]

That may be the case and I appreciate that you have chosen to point out that I am wrong but I was simply sharing what my experience has been and that has NOT been the case for me except 2 (I have counted) 2 times in the last 3 years when I have paid in full and it has reported a balance and that was with HSBC.

I pull my credit every 3 months at the longest and sometimes every month as I have had to deal with attempts to fraudulently use my identity. I have a federal affidavit on file with all three bureaus that allows me to get reports every time there is a change, although I try not to pull it more than once a month.

I have speadsheets that track every item and the changes so I can see at single glance the changes within a month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year to see if things are going up, down, sideways or whatever the case may be. Anyway, I am not going to defend what I have said since it was in good spirit and intended to share not to offend those who think anyone who disagrees with them is a "troll" or "obtuse".