Are charge cards considered credit cards?

[pizzadude]

Many people prefer charge cards for this exact reason, that balances aren't included in FICO revolving utilization.

[Settemio]

My Visa signature DOES NOT show a credit limit on any of the three reports. I actually called the bank yesterday because I was wondering why, they said that becuase I have the ability to go over the limit, the limit doenst post to the CAs.

[cashnocredit]

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@pizzadude wrote:
Many people prefer charge cards for this exact reason, that balances aren't included in FICO revolving utilization.

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Yep and as a result I, like many that pif, use charge cards in preference to CCs.

[HiLine]

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@pizzadude wrote:

Yes, both credit cards and charge cards are considered to be revolving credit.    However FICO scoring doesn't include the balance on charge cards in your revolving utilization calculations.

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I'm still trying to wrap my head around this terminology. Is "revolving credit" the same as "revolver"? I thought revolver=credit card, and <> charge card....

[sjt]

Revolving line and revolver are the same.

[Dreamwalker]

Revolving credit and revolver are both terms for credit cards.

You can think of it either like the gun or there's a dictionary definition. With the gun analogy, to empty the gun you use six or so bullets, each making the chamber lighter. With a credit card (from this definition), you load the card and make payments until it's payed off. Contrast that with a charge card, which is more like a laser gun that you charge up and then 'blast' at the end of the month.

Alternately, the dictionary definition:

3. To recur in cycles or at periodic intervals.

[HiLine]

I like that analogy!

So we seem to agree that

Credit cards = revolving accounts = revolvers

Charge cards <> revolvers

Is there a common term for credit cards and charge cards?

[bigblue7722]

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@Drew wrote:

I was looking at the FICO algorithm and comparing it to my current credit profile.  I see that FICO is more forgiving on thin credit files with 6+ credit cards versus 3-5.  I, however, only have 5 credit cards and 4 charge cards.  Are charge cards considered credit cards according to FICO or are they not taken into consideration?

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What do you mean by more forgiving on thin credit files if you have 6+ cards?

[Drew]

Overall scores appear to be higher according to FICO with 6+ credit cards.

[Drew]

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

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@Drew wrote:

I was looking at the FICO algorithm and comparing it to my current credit profile.  I see that FICO is more forgiving on thin credit files with 6+ credit cards versus 3-5.  I, however, only have 5 credit cards and 4 charge cards.  Are charge cards considered credit cards according to FICO or are they not taken into consideration?

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What do you mean by more forgiving on thin credit files if you have 6+ cards?

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There is a FICO score spreadsheet that simulates how FICO is affected by aging of accounts, opening of new accounts, etc.  This speadsheet indicates that 3-5 credit cards has a lower starting score than 6+ credit cards on the FICO algorithm.  I'm not sure if that is 100% accurate though.

That brings me back to my original question:  are store cards considered credit cards according to this model?  Currently, I only have 5 actual credit cards (two of which are Visa Signature that report credit limits) and 4-5 store cards.  Should I be applying for another credit card?