@Fitzgibbons wrote:
So, this happened a while back. I had been (am still) working on repairing my credit. In order to do that, I signed up for the First National Bank of Omaha secured card with a $500 line of credit.
I only used the card to pay for gas, and one month I ended up not driving, and didn't use the card (i live in a major city, was just taking public trans). I checked my credit score that next month and my score dropped for not using the card. This is all off of memory, but I believe it was the Fico Score Card 8 that dropped, and the line of reasoning behind it was something like "improper use of revolving credit.".... it was clear that it was because I didn't use the card that month. Only other debt i had at the time was my mortgage, and it was paid on time as usual (all my payments are automatic).
How can this be? Can they really drop my scores for not using a card?
I was just approved for 2 rewards cards, and would like to only use those from here and out, and forget about the First National Omaha Card.... but I'm worried it will negatively affect my credit score/report again. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? I don't want to cancel the card, it's been upgraded to a regular credit card, my deposit has been returned, and I don't want to affect the average age of my credit history any. I could use some advice on this one.
Well, sometimes when there is no logical reason, the systems will make one up that sounds plausible.
The score may go up and may go down from month to month. Once the score is above a certain point, the score becomes slightly less important. Some peoplke argue that it's 670, others 700 or perhaps 740, but a few points shouldn't drive you to close an account unless you're absolutely required for a mortgage or something.
Every time my score drops by a few points, by continuing to stay the course, the score inevitably jumps by more points than it fell.
Preserving the AAoA can be a good thing, so since the FNBO card is unsecured, as long as you can get the annual fee waived long-term, keeping the FNBO card could be actually to be your benefit. Most cards can be kept active and show a "balance" with as low as $2, and the scoring model doesn't seem to care much for the amount of the balance, only focusing on the fact that the minimum payment was paid by the due date.
If you pay the statement balance by the due date, most cards have a grace period, so you can enjoy the grace, earn some rewards, and every month demonstrate responsible use of credit. I pay anything I can pay with a credit card without incurring extra fees.
I was going to garden... Honest!
