1. Is it good for my credit score if I pay minimum (for the statements of your credit cards) every month?
The “balance/credit limit” rate of your credit cards’ statements will have some influence on your credit score. If you don’t pay off in full on purpose, this may have a positive impact on your credit score. But you will have to pay for the interests if you do so. I will do this to improve my credit score if my credit cards are still in the 0% APR period. 🙂
2. Does the credit cards’ balance transfer(BT) hurt my credit score?
The “use of credit” will impact your credit score. If you do lots of balance transfer and make your “use of credit” rate too high, this will have a negative impact on your credit score. But this is just a short-term impact and it will disappear after you pay off your balance transfer debt. The good thing about the balance transfer is that you can ask for an increase on your credit limit when you pay off a BT debt. The BT will be helpful for you to get a better credit limit.
3. Does it hurt my credit score if I don’t use a credit card for a long time?
No, this will not affect your credit report or credit score. But your credit card company will not be happy about this. 🙂
4. Does it hurt my credit score if I have too many bank accounts?
No, there is no info about the savings, checking, money market or CD accounts in your credit report.
5. Can I do a shop around for my housing loan and car loan?
Yes, if you have the same type of inquiries in 14 days. You will only see one inquiry in your credit report. Your credit score will not be affected when applying for a housing loan or car loan if your inquiries are done within 14 days.
6. Does the subsidiary card (credit card) help to build the credit history too?
Yes, the subsidiary card’s authorized user can build his/her credit history by using this subsidiary card, even you didn’t provide the authorized user’s SSN or ITIN number to the credit card company. ( He/she needs to have the SSN or ITIN for sure in order to build his/her credit history. )
7. My credit card’s credit limit is too low, how can I raise it?
Your annual salary / income will impact the credit limit you can get from the credit card companies. This is why the students can not get a very good credit limit from them. Some tips here: You can ask to do a big balance transfer when applying for a new credit card. This will help you to get a better credit limit of your new credit card. You can also call your credit card companies to ask for a credit limit increase. But they will refuse to give you an increase if you just use this credit card for 2 or 3 months.
8. Do the merchant credit cards help to improve my credit score too?
Sure, you can get a good credit score if there are plenty of info in your credit report (general credit cards from the banks, merchant credit cards, housing loan, car loan, etc).
9. My credit score and credit report are ruined by the collection company, what can I do to fix it?
There are some methods to fix your credit report and credit score.