Hi Everyone! I've opened several new lines over the past few months, made small purchases on each to get the R1 rating, and I'm ready for an evaluation. What's your take on usage of the cards to really drive up my score? Should I continue to make small purchases every few months while rotating the cards, or would I get the same result by using only one card all the time (the card with the highest line to make small purchases)? If I were to close an account would that raise my score? Thanks again. CardKid
I would make small purchases on different cards every month to get a better score. I've done this in the past few years and went from no credit and constant rejections to Platinum status and high fico. I think it is better to use more than one card to maintain a low balance / limit ratio.
Use all the cards. About half the time I leave a small balance. On Providian and Aria cards during the first year, leaving a small balance actually helps you get line increases with them. They're looking for profitable customers who pay on time. Profitable is part of the key to an equation of getting increases. Also, a bit of activity every month guarantees that you'll get the card activity reported each month to the bureaus. Keep your utilizations down and you'll do great on the FICo score too!
