Increase credit score - credit card

Ebe_Scrooge

mandy87w said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

mandy87w said:

I have a credit card with small balance remaining but I’m not due any amount to pay this month as paid off big amount earlier this month.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this.  Your statement will tell you how much to pay - either the minimum amount, or the full balance that shows on the statement.  Are you saying the statement shows zero balance, and the £20 you've spent will appear on next month's statement?

The best way to use a credit card is to use it for regular spending, and always clear the balance in full each time the statement comes through.  This means you won't pay any interest, and also builds up a favourable credit history.  It's your credit history that counts, the score is - as previous posters have said - utterly irrelevant.

Hi yes balance shows less than £X and this won’t show on until next statement but I cleared quite a lot earlier on this month.

Just to reiterate - if you pay anything less than the full statement balance then you'll be charged interest on the whole lot.  So if your statement arrives and it has an outstanding balance of £1000, then if you pay £1000 by the "payment due" date, you'll be charged no interest.  But if you only pay £999, you'll be charged interest on the full £1000 - not just the £1 that's remaining.

It's the way all credit cards work, and always has been - but it catches a lot of people out.

And, if your primary aim is to build up a good credit history, then you really should be paying off the full balance each month anyway.  Quite apart from the interest you'll save, full payments are always viewed more positively than partial payments by any lender who's looking at your file.