Does apply for credit card but not activate them damages my credit rating? I like to collect credit cards.?

Question

Not my hobby, but my dad's. He loves all the cool designs and holograms the Credit Cards have. Personally I hate having him apply all these credit cards under my name cause I for one hate having my SSN flying all over the place.

Answer 1

Yes, every time you apply for a credit card it goes into that big system in the sky. You need some credit, but if you keep applying, it actually goes against you.

Answer 2

Interesting hobby. Without activating them it does no harm to you. Your score drops depending on how many times your credit is checked when you apply for these cards. If you're getting these at the rate of 4-5 a month then your score will drop. If you get one every month then shouldn't be a problem. But since you never use it, there shouldn't be any harm in doing so. Your credit report will be massive with a huge list of creditors but since you'll have no balance on any of them, won't matter either way. Just be sure and use at least one of them just so you can have some sort of credit going for you. Just be on the safe side, order a credit report and see what your score is. about 6-8 months later check it again and see where you are at. Also, once you get the card, call the company who issued it to you about 2 weeks later and close your account. even though it's not activated it's still listed as "open". once you close it there'll be no possibility of it coming back to haunt you and you can still keep the card. Personally, I'd get another hobby.

Answer 3

All the inquiries will hurt your score if you have more than say 1 or 2 per month. If you don't activate them I don't think they actually show up on your credit report as an open account, so you are just taking the hit of the inquiry without the benefit of the credit being counted in your history. If I was you I would tell Pop that he better like the idea of you living at home with him because if he doesn't quit screwing around with your credit you're never going to be able to get a loan to buy a house of your own.

Answer 4

Yes it is listed on your credit report as available credit and will effect you over all score.

Answer 5

Switch to baseball cards!

Credit cards will have impact each time you apply...not major impact, but some.

Answer 6

yes and no. everytime someone pulls your credit it dings your score. on the other hand, your ratio of outstanding debt : available credit drops, which helps your credit score

Answer 7

does not hurt but does not help either holdong on to cards wioth balances is not a great idea cancel the card all together and keep the card lol

Answer 8

if you dont active them they lower your credit score