best credit card to increase credit rating?
Hi,
I’ve heard about good habits to increase my credit rating. I’m just wondering if there is a specific credit card to have to build good credit – i.e. they frequently report to the credit agencies etc… Is Bank of America or chase freedom any good as these are the only 2 cards I have?
Thank you very much for your help.
It used to be that Capital One didn’t report your full credit line amount to the credit reporting agencies. Instead they would report your balance as your available credit, so it would look like you had utilized 100% of your line of credit through them, which hurt your FICO score. However, Capital One doesn’t do that any more.
So all credit cards are about equally good for building your credit; the important thing is to use them properly. My strategy is to funnel all/most of my normal spending through rewards credit cards and then pay the balance in full and on time every month. That way I build a clean credit history, avoid interest, and earn rewards.
If you’re interested in knowing which rewards card will pay you the most for your normal spending profile, you can use this rewards calculator:
http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/
If you’re interested in knowing the details of how your FICO score is calculated, see the June 30th posting at http://www.uthunk.com/ .