Paying in full, wait for the bill or pay off as and when?

collins74

Really interesting question.  I pay my card every few days and have it for rewards only.  I’ve kept track of my credit file and they recommend I use credit utilisation between 1 to 25% to improve my score with them.  I think paying when the statement arrives is better for your credit record as it will show a balance within a certain range that is then paid off.  Seems a bit ridiculous.

For the sake of it I prefer paying every few days as it helps budget more closely. 

Some of the logic of credit reference agencies is flawed.  I have a PCP deal for a car it’s 0% and secured on the car yet it is deemed as high risk!!

luvchocolate

M and S credit card paid in full by my bank when due. 

J_B

Mickey666 said:

 The only reason I can think of for making interim payments ahead of the monthly statement is if you're not good at budgeting.

Or, another reason .... that the CC folks won't give you a decent credit limit

born_again

collins74 said:

  I’ve kept track of my credit file and they recommend I use credit utilisation between 1 to 25% to improve my score with them.  I think paying when the statement arrives is better for your credit record as it will show a balance within a certain range that is then paid off.  Seems a bit ridiculous.

For the sake of it I prefer paying every few days as it helps budget more closely. 

You do realise that your credit score means nothing to a lender. It is only credit history (paying on time) that counts. 

collins74

Yes I do understand that credit scores provided by the credit ref agency are not used/seen by lenders. However my point is that if lenders use the same criteria as the credit ref agency in terms of utilisation, then this could mean you do not get accepted for certain types of credit?

I think the scores are used by the credit ref agencies as a sales/marketing tool.

[Deleted User]

collins74 said:

However my point is that if lenders use the same criteria as the credit ref agency in terms of utilisation, then this could mean you do not get accepted for certain types of credit?

They use very different criteria.  The CRAs apply a very blunt interpretation of spend, with no assessment of actual risk.

collins74

Yes the risk element is very much based on income and financial commitments but they never ask about savings.  Ok it’s impossible to verify easily but they only assess on part of a persons financial picture. 

Marvel1

Pay it in full when statement arrives, have done for last 20 years.

[Deleted User]

Pay when it suits YOU not alot of random people on a website. 

I usually schedule to pay just before the due date by Faster Payment but do sometimes pay when convenient (e.g. with the rest of my monthly bills) as credit interest rates are negligible now. 

Malkytheheed

collins74 said:

Really interesting question.  I pay my card every few days

Thats a bit mad. Think of the time and effort you are spending doing that everyday. Just set a DD and forget about it. If you want to budget there are many easy ways to do that without having to pay your CC every few days.