Forgot to use credit card for the month 😔

[Anonymous]

So, I have 3 cards that I have been using monthly and paying off while allowing one to report a 5% balance. This month I forgot to use one and the payment due date is tonight. My question is... If my last statement balance for the card was $0 and I didn't use it this month or make a payment, what gets reported to the bureaus on my close date? ND? I want the green dot🧶! 😫

[AllZero]

@Anonymous  you should get a green dot. Even ND will score you positive and not negative.

[Anonymous]

Anything other than a negative entry on a month is considered "paid as agreed" so nothing to worry about.  Green checks/dots/OKs don't add any boost to your score(s).

[Anonymous]

Thank you! Whew, that's great to hear. I was under the impression that I had to charge and pay off something small on every card every month in order to get a green dot. They aren't rewards cards or anything so that's really the only reason I use them so diligently. 🤦🏾‍♀️

[Anonymous]

No, you do not need to use every card every cycle.  It is recommended that you don't go 6+ months without using a card as it could result in card closure depending on the lender.  If you skip a month or two nothing adverse can come of it.

[Anonymous]

So as long as it's not a negative, I'm still building positive payment history?

[Anonymous]

Yup.  Whether you use a card 4 months out of the year or 12 months out of the year as long as all of your payments are made on time the end result at the end of the year is exactly the same... an account paid as agreed, which is viewed positively by both a human being looking at your report and the Fico scoring algorithm.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous @AllZero 

Thank you!🤗

[Ficoproblems247]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So as long as it's not a negative, I'm still building positive payment history?

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To go even a step further with what you are asking, even if that card did not report that month it would still be considered by the algorithms to be the same as your green dot. Every once in a while the data doesn't make it from the bank to the bureau and there may be a missing month of reporting. Basically the algorithm looks at the age of the account, balance, credit limit, and looks for any negatives reported. If for some reason you ever came up with a month with a gray dot that said "no data" it would make no difference in the way your positive payment history was viewed over a green dot. It's either "RED DOT," or "NO RED DOT." 

[Anonymous]

@Ficoproblems247 

Thank you! 🤗