What happen if I receive a credit card and never activate it? Is that affect my credit?

Answer 1

Yes, it shows as an open account. If you don't use it you don't benefit from setting up a credit history; and if it has a high credit limit, it will lower your rating. Rating companies don't like to see access to possible debt.

Answer 2

Activating a card has ABSOLUTLY NOTHING to do with your credit report. If you have a Credit Card the acct is open. Even if you don't activate it you still have an acct. You cannot use the card without activation, but that is where activating a card affecting you ends. If you do not want the acct close it. Some Credit Card companies will close accts after certain periods of inactivity, but don't count on it. Unused credit WILL affect your credit report and score. It affects your Debt-to-Income ratio, whether or not you use the card doesn't matter. ANY open acct is Potential debt, and will effect your credit worthiness. Any acct you don't use you should close, however it is also bad to have "young" accts. "BT Surfing" can negatively affect your credit as well. BT Surfing is when you have a balance and transfer it to another acct, when the intro 0% runs out, transfer to another card, close the card, and repeat, etc. Credit Card companies can see this very easily on your credit report, and it make you a non-profitable acct, and a lot of the time they will low-ball the Line of Credit to you. Like wanted to transfer $10,000 from your current acct to the new one, if you are a BT Surfer you may only get a Line of Credit of $3,000, so the company can limit their loss. They know you are just going to transfer it again in a year, so why should let let you take advantage of them? It is best to have older accts on your credit report, and to utilize less than 50% of the Line of Credit, but at the same time you use them on a consistent basis.

Answer 3

If you sent in an application, this will affect your score because the credit card company made an inquiry, but this will only affect your score for a few months. If you were sent a credit card in the mail without sending in an application, check your credit report because you may be a victim of identity theft. Why wouldn't you activate a credit card you took the time to apply for? You should call the issuer and tell them to close your account and explain your reasoning.

Answer 4

it will not even show up on your credit report until you use it.

Answer 5

yes