Can I use a prepaid credit card to pay my fico building credit card?

[Anonymous]

I hate credit cards, but need to build credit. I would like to have a prepaid credit card and a normal fico building credit card. No annual fee of course. Then I will spend up to my prepaid cards limit on the credit card and pay off the credit card every month with the amount on the prepaid. Genius or problems?

[Anonymous]

Yes, popular secured cards are from Discover and Capital One.  Neither have annual fees as of today.

You actually want THREE secured cards to build credit well.

If you mean "prepaid visa gift card", no, those don't report to the credit bureaus at all.  You need to get a CREDIT card, not a Visa debit or gift card.  Credit cards require applications.

[Artemis092]

Yep, you can set up prepaid cards to pay other credit card bills. Amex has a prepaid card that you can set up as an autopay.

[MakingProgress]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I hate credit cards, but need to build credit. I would like to have a prepaid credit card and a normal fico building credit card. No annual fee of course. Then I will spend up to my prepaid cards limit on the credit card and pay off the credit card every month with the amount on the prepaid. Genius or problems?

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Do you have a checking account?   If you do there is not point in getting a prepaid debit card, and having to worry about all the fees they charge.  Just use the credit cards and pay via your banks online bill pay. 

[Anonymous]

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@MakingProgress wrote:

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Do you have a checking account?   If you do there is no point in getting a prepaid debit card, and having to worry about all the fees they charge.  Just use the credit cards and pay via your banks online bill pay. 

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Good point about checking accounts.  Basic tools for even moderate prosperity necessarily include a checking account, a savings account, and a few credit cards.  The checking account will make the VISA prepaid card unnecessary.

Another point worth making is that, unless our OP is incredibly careful about the timing of her payments to her true credit card(s), her plan as described will result in her having an extremely high CC utilization.  The fact that she is paying her statements in full won't change that.  An ultrahigh CC utilization will result in a low FICO score and likely Adverse Action by the CC issuer.

What makes more sense is to use her true credit cards for a small purchase once a month, set auto-pay to pay in full, and then use a VISA debit card tied to her checking account for everything else.  The debit card approach is not right for everyone but it is certainly right for people who find credit cards and the risk of running up debt worrisome (as does our OP apparently).