does not using a credit card after so long affect your credit too though?

Question

Or what about having a card and never activated it?...

If a revoling line of credit is paid. off.. doesnt that help your credit and at the same time if i closed the account after its paid for... it will still lower my credit?.... wow this stuff is confusing lol.

Answer 1

A card that is never activated is still considered an active account. If that card comes with annual fees you will still be expect to pay the fees.

A credit card that is paid off, or paid down to 25% or less of the credit limit, will have a positive impact on your scores.

Closing a credit card will hurt your scores since it lowers your overall utilization. You shouldn't close cards unless you are paying an annual fee that they won't waive, if you have limited credit and/or credit history or if you cannot control your spending.

You should try to use your cards at least once every 6 months, or so, to keep them active. You don't need to make large purchases on them, buying a cup of coffee from Starbucks, a tank of gas, a pair of socks, etc., will keep them active. Then pay in full when you get the statement.
If you fully stop using the cards not only will the scoring models eventually stop taking them into account but the creditors will close them and they will report as being closed by credit granter. Being closed by credit granter won't hurt your scores but may be looked at negatively by an underwriter.

Having a positive payment history helps your scores also. But save creating a payment history for the credit card accounts that give you a 0% interest promo for 6 or 12 months. That way you can create a positive payment history on their dime.

Major credit cards, kept in good standing, have the most impact on raising your scores.
Store cards help though not as much as major cards.
Some installment loans can actually hurt scores, until the loan is paid down or off. (over utilization)

Answer 2

Well! That is a lot to answer! First I wouldn't close the account just because you paid it off. Doing that will make your score go down.There is a great website that explains a lot of this in simple english and I'll post it below.

You would be particularly interested in the "how credit scoring works" section.

I know this site deals with credit repair, but if you read all of it you will see that having to repair your credit first requires that you know how the system works!

I used this site and got my credit score from 485 to 720 in a little over a year with the help of this site!

Answer 3

its better to keep the account open..it shows a past history..where as if you close it and last month you were 30 days late..that is the last reporting they will have on that card..the rest no it doesnt for not using it...no on the activation its still a current account....and having revolving credit paid off is a good thing..

Answer 4

i might pay it off appropriate away, and then to construct up your credit, merely spend approximately one hundred money on your mastercard, write down all the failings you purchase, do no longer bypass to plenty over, possibly a splash. Then, on the top of the month merely repay the one hundred money, then do all of it over returned.