Have 3 new cards, $0 balance. Do I have to actually use them to get them to report Payment History?

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone,

I'm wondering if empty cards that are active still report good payment history or if I'd need to spend on them and then pay it off to get payment history built up.

I don't need the credit, so if I can just sit on them, that'd be great, or if I have to use them, I was thinking I could use each one to pay a bill and then just log on and pay them off right after?

Thanks for the clarification!

[Zolomon]

If I’m not mistaken, cards are reported as either current or late 30/60/90/120/charge off. You don’t have to spend to keep them current, but I would put some spend on it occasionally so that your card issuers don’t close your accounts or reduce your limit.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the above post.  I'd recommend giving each of your cards a swipe at least once every 6 months to ensure it doesn't get closed down on you.  It will continue to report monthly and extend the life of your clean history account.

[Anonymous]

Yes, most will report monthly even without activity but you run the risk of lenders closing your card for inactivity, safe bet is to charge at least once every 6 months to avoid that. That said, if you truly want to build your credit profile as well as your history with those lenders, I would make regular charges and pay them off like a debit card (if you don't trust yourself to use credit), leave some charges to post to at least one of the cards every month to avoid the All Zero FICO score ding, as long as you pay this balance before due day, you won't pay any interest. Lastly if you want to take full advantage of credit cards while building your profile, charge everything on the cards based on whichever gives you the maximum rewards on each spending, let all charges post to statements, set your CC autopay to pay the full statement balance by due day, then sit back and enjoy the perks and rewards on your daily spending, just make sure you have enough funds in your payment account to cover auto payments every month.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 cards I'm AUTH on, 2 of them carry balances so I'm not sure the All ZERO FICO ding would apply to me.

As far as rewards, if I let a balance post, I would have to make sure the rewards outweigh the interest rate on the card, right? I'm assuming once it posts is when they tack on their interest?

Thanks for the advice @Zolomon @BrutalBodyShots @oldman87

I'll be sure to make a charge here and there on my cards so they don't end up closed for inactivity.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have 3 cards I'm AUTH on, 2 of them carry balances so I'm not sure the All ZERO FICO ding would apply to me.

As far as rewards, if I let a balance post, I would have to make sure the rewards outweigh the interest rate on the card, right? I'm assuming once it posts is when they tack on their interest?

@Anonymous for the advice @Zolomon @Anonymous @Anonymous

I'll be sure to make a charge here and there on my cards so they don't end up closed for inactivity.

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Absolutely not, predatory lenders like Credit One aside, most lenders gives you about 25 days of interest free grace period, this is why the "due day" is always about 25 days after the statement date, no interest if you pay the full statement balance on or before due day. This is one of the perks of using credit properly, depending on when the charges are made, you have between 25 to 55 days to pay for that charge before interest kicks in, instead of paying it off right away like a debit card, you get to keep your money in high yield savings during that period.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have 3 cards I'm AUTH on, 2 of them carry balances so I'm not sure the All ZERO FICO ding would apply to me.

As far as rewards, if I let a balance post, I would have to make sure the rewards outweigh the interest rate on the card, right? I'm assuming once it posts is when they tack on their interest?

@Anonymous for the advice @Zolomon @Anonymous @Anonymous

I'll be sure to make a charge here and there on my cards so they don't end up closed for inactivity.

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Absolutely not, predatory lenders like Credit One aside, most lenders gives you about 25 days of interest free grace period, this is why the "due day" is always about 25 days after the statement date, no interest if you pay the full statement balance on or before due day. This is one of the perks of using credit properly, depending on when the charges are made, you have between 25 to 55 days to pay for that charge before interest kicks in, instead of paying it off right away like a debit card, you get to keep your money in high yield savings during that period.

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Love those grace periods but must pay in full on or before due date way back... Starting out I had no idea of what a grace period even was but after watching some vids on YouTube before becoming a member here it finally clicked. ... And so I've used the grace periods a few times in the 5+ years of having credit... Also some good idea's for keeping your cards active charge a pack of bubble gum, tooth paste, etc...If you have a nice set of rewards cards use those to pay Gas or even to go food shopping things you'd spend cash on anyways but if your unsure of how utilization works just charge bubble gum or even tooth paste .