This should give heart to any newcomer. Even somebody who's been on the board for a long time can ask a dumb question. Here's mine: WHAT'S THE POINT OF GAS CARDS? 1) Do they help your FICO score with respect to "credit mix"? 2) Why wouldn't you rather buy gasoline with, say, a rewards VISA or MasterCard? 3) Doesn't the presence of several of these gas cards actually drag down ones credit rating due to "too many bankcard charge accounts"? As I write this, I'm thinking, hmm, well, if I had a company with a fleet of cars I might be more wililng to trust an employee with my Shell card than with my Chase Stockback Card, so there's an advantage. But I don't own a company fleet or even a teenager who needs to fill up dad's car. So what's the advantage for a consumer like me? Doc
I know it. I have a chevron card I have never used. I have a toyrus chase and a goldpoints mbna. What is the point. chevron also does not report on my credit reports so it just sits in a drawer collecting dust.
I think the puprose is to charge gas on one.. but ya never know. i hear lots of gas stations are serving snacks and coffee these days. my dad says the old service stations, eg: gas station and mechanic on duty are gone. well we have one here, right up on Chagrin and 271
You know... that's how my Texaco and Chevron cards got charged off. I would not have saved money during the week to buy lunch, so I'd just visit a gas station and buy subs, drinks, and cookies at the "Shop-and-Snack" associated with these stations. And I didn't even own a freakin' car...
I heard the story of a guy that got stranded while on a vacation and didn't have enough cash on him for a repair... charged $1000 repair on his gas card. Just applied and got approved for one, it's on the way They better report it on the CBs!!!
I've wondered the same thing myself as I have been kicking around the idea of applying for a gas card myself. Something tells me they count just like any old credit card, but I guess only FICO knows for sure. What about the Target guest card? Would that improve my "credit mix"?
From what I've read in the past (but who really knows, since FI hides their algorithms) gas cards improve the "mix". E.g., it's better to have a gas card, a store card, a VISA and an MC, than to have two VISAs and two MCs. I doubt that it's a very big influence, but if you're obsessive... Otherwise, it's just dependent on the deal you get. The only time I had a gas card was when my dad gave me one for college. And he worked for Exxon, so guess which one it was? Oh, and yeah, if you have one card from every major gasoline provider, you're going to take a hit for "too many cards" that's bigger than anything you gain for diversity of the mix. So pick one and stick with it.
Stay away from gas cards; they cause accidents. 0122 Auto Insurance Reason Code Number of Vehicle Related Accounts Reported in Last 12 Months What information is this message derived from? Vehicle related accounts refer to tire dealers, auto parts stores, service stations, and new and used car lots, truck and farm equipment dealers. A vehicle related account is considered open if it has been reported in the last 12 months and has no closed narrative indicators. Installment type accounts must have a balance greater than $0 to be considered open. How does this affect my insurance risk score? Insurance industry research shows that consumers who have accounts with vehicle related retailers have more insurance losses. What can I do to improve this aspect of my score? Consider closing these types of accounts and utilize another form of payment such as a bankcard. Bankcards often have lower finance charges and therefore can be a less expensive source to purchase goods and services. Open new accounts only when really needed. You have been warned. wajaba
ChoicePoint, actually. They have a sample report on Equifax's site, and two reason codes they listed for this particular report were "# OF VEHICLE RELATED ACCOUNTS REPORTED IN LAST 12 MONTHS" and "% OF VEHICLE RELATED ACCOUNTS TO TOTAL ACCOUNTS REPORTED IN LAST 12 MOS." The "...more info" links beside each one went into a little more detail. Unlike the Score Power report with the Beacon score, however, I don't think these folks list the top positive factors behind your score. wajaba
Wajaba, that is amazing information. Sheeshus, so we may be paying higher insurance premiums because we have a raft of gas cards. I mean between us we've got a trunkload of them -- Exxon, Phillips, BP, Texaco, Chevron, it's crazy. So given what you've come across, it might make sense to have one gas card open (for "credit mix" that we never use -- or use once a year to keep it open) and that's it. I'm saving this bit of information to the "credit tips" folder on the hard drive. This seems like another incredible way the insurance companies quietly rip us off "scientifically" through silly statistics. I was trained in the social sciences, and one of the hallmark things we're taught to remember is that "CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION." The example I enjoy most is this one: There is a statistically significant worldwide CORRELATION between outside temperature and ice cream production. Therefore, the sun CAUSES milk to freeze. This is how the insurance industry plays with stats -- they look for convenient correlations without thinking about the correlate confounding variables. This sucks. Doc
Well if you think that's funny, FunkSoulBrother, let me lay a few of my best kneeslappers on you: 1) I HAD A DILARDS CARD BUT I NAVER EV3N WENT 2 DILARDS HAHAHA LOL ROTFL1!11!1! WTF LOL 2) ON3 TIEM I RAN OVAR MY VISA CARD WIT MY LAWNMOWER AND I DIDNT 3VEN KNOW WUT HAPENED G3T OV3R UR HEHEHEHEHA LOL ROTFL!!11!1! OMG 3) AFT3R I APLEID FOR A DISCOV3R CARD LOL I ALSO APLEID FOR A DIENRS CLUB CARD LOL AND TH3N I APLEID FOR SOME OTHAR CR3DIT AND THEN THEY TURNAD M3 DOWN ROTFL AND I DIDNT KNOW WUT HAP3N3D B/C AT TEH TIEM I HAD NO IEDA WUT A CREDIT SCOR3 EV3N WAS LOL HAHAH3HA LMAO HAHA!!1! WTF LOL I'll bet you're in stitches now. Doc
Doc....y0u nead to wurk on your speling!!!! I like the reply.to...what is the purpose of gas cards? I think the puprose is to charge gas on one.....hahahaha
Re: Re: What is the purpose of gas cards? Doc, One of my only neg reasons on my credit score is "too many Credit Cards" - I would think that closing some of the cards could help your score. (preferably the newer cards so as to not hurt the ave length of time factor) Regards, JohnM
Re: Re: What is the purpose of gas cards? Seriously, though, what I heard is that when you're trying to obtain credit or rebuild credit a "gas card" is typically easy to obtain. I'm can't drive (due to brain injury) so a "gas card" wouldn't be of use.
Re: Re: What is the purpose of gas cards? Good point, I can definitely see it as an item for rebuilding credit. LOL, yeah I know, I just reread that and can see that it was a pointless and failed attempt at humor. I should really try to avoid posting to the board when falling asleep at the computer. Doc
Re: Re: What is the purpose of gas cards? Did I read the part of this thread correctly where it said that having GAS CARDS report to the CRAs are a negative insurance factor?! I am usually pretty calm and resigned to FICO being arbitrary but this is really too much. On one hand there is the pressure for keeping a "credit mix" for FICO purposes and now it seems that you may be penalized for your noncobranded gas cards.
Re: Re: What is the purpose of gas cards? Mandy, yes! The way I'm beginning to understand it is this way -- it's good to have a gas card (perhaps) for "credit mix" -- but if the balance is greater than $0 it can count negatively against the special ChoicePoint insurance score. Doc
Re: Re: What is the purpose of gas cards? From the ChoicePoint website-- Insurance industry research shows that consumers who maintain open accounts with vehicle related retail outlets have more insurance losses. To me this reads that even if you maintain a zero balance, if the acct is OPEN, then you're considered a risk. And does this statement cover those tire company cards like Kelly tire, etc. b/c they're "vehicle related"? I guess I can take comfort in the mention that this type of card is evaluated in the context of percentage of overall credit. This is really too much though!
