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Oh good, sounds like you know what you're doing! Hopefully you keep making small payments, e.g. $5 monthly fees on each card. If you leave a card unused for a l
by SatvikBeri 14y ago
Oh good, sounds like you know what you're doing! Hopefully you keep making small payments, e.g. $5 monthly fees on each card. If you leave a card unused for a long time that can lead to some nastiness and a sudden drop in your credit score later. The reason is basically that accounts with much higher credit lines than they actually use are high risk because they have a small chance of a major default.
Source: I used to work in a credit cards division at a major bank.
- bti 14y agoWhat do most banks consider "a long time" to be? I have a number of cards that I rotate usage on. I may go as long as 3 months before charging something on it.
- bsims 14y agoCredit histories go as far back as 7 years, so in terms of 3 and 6 months, it is a relatively short time. This is also why it is a challenge for many young adults to receive fair credit scores. Also, you should at least be charging one thing per credit card so they are still remaining active. As dumb as it may sound, it is actually better for your credit score if you have around $5-$10 on your statement on any given month which achieves a higher credit score vs. paying it off entirely. This is illogical because most smart people just set it up for auto pay and pay it off entirely. Hope that helps.
- SatvikBeri 14y agoThe shortest I've seen is 6 months. I don't have tons of finance experience though, other banks may do it differently.