THIS MONTH I AM GOING TO CHEAT TO GET A HIGHER F.I.C.O. I over paid my DISCOVERCARD so my MAY 27, 2001 bill says "credit balance do not pay" But there is always the chance that I was not kidding... THE PERSON PROCESSING THE CHECKS SAYS OH...HERE IS "GEORGE'S" PAYMENT...I WILL PUSH THIS BUTTON TO SEND CREDIT REPORT INFO...WAIT TWO MINUTES...NOW I WILL POST HIS PAYMENT.
Funny you should post that. My Providian mastercard has been at a zero balance for almost two months now. Out of the blue last week, buy.com decided they owed me a $30 credit for a gift certificate I bought someone for Christmas. I guess the person must have never used it. I wanted to know how Providian would report a credit balance so I'm going to leave the $30 credit balance on through one reporting period. I wonder if they'll report a zero balance or a -$30 balance?
Have 12 accounts with free online payment, since almost all creditors report your balance at closing time. FICO score is 30% of balances owed, it is a wise decision to pay early if able to reflect lower balances. It is just playing the game when you know the rules. I wouldn't call it cheating.
You could let your balances sit at 0 for a month and see what your score is at that time. Or you could send in partial payments just before closing to keep your balances lower. Or you could pay it off right before closing... All would help.
As far as the credit balance issue, I had a credit on my Providian account for a couple months. It was reported to the bureaus as a $0 balance.
If you have a credit balance for 3-6 months, the cc company will mail you a refund. Best regards, Sam
SEARS MAILED MINE A FEW WEEKS AFTER THE STATEMENT CLOSED WITH-OUT ASKING!!! I WANTED TO DO A PURCHASE THAT WAS MORE THAN THE LIMIT...AT THE TIME EARLY 1980'S I DIDN'T KNOW THE SALE WOULD BE DENIED EVEN THOUGH THEY OWED ME >$400!!!! SEARS LOST THE SALE...THEY SAID THEY CAN'T CONSIDER THE CREDIT BALANCE IN THE PURCHASE...BUT I COULD "APPLY" FOR A CREDIT LINE INCREASE!!! I LEFT WITH-OUT THE INCREASE AND WITH-OUT THE MERCHANDISE!!!