Many don’t have a choice, especially in the US. Without playing the credit game you end up paying significantly more in loan interest for things like a house or car or can’t even get a loan. One of the easiest ways to keep a good credit score is to have a credit card you’ve had forever and that you consistently use and pay off.
It’s a goodbye screwed up system
BertramDitore@lemmy.zip 22 hours ago
Debit cards usually don’t offer cashback, perks, or robust fraud protections, and do nothing for your credit score. That last one is the important bit. I used to use my debit card exclusively, and could never get approved for any kind of loan. Once I started using credit cards the way I described in my other comment, my credit score jumped waaaaaay up and I started getting approved for everything.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
So it sounds like the solution to increasing the score tracking how good you are at paying bills when they are due is to pay bills when they are due?
BertramDitore@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
I pay my bills on time every month. That’s only one factor for your credit score. Another big part of your score is credit utilization, or the amount of credit you use vs. how much credit you have available to you. So paying off my cards the way I described is how I keep my usage percentage at a minimum. I’ve seen big increases to my score since I started paying closer attention to that factor.
My checking account pays excellent interest, but my monthly cashback from my credit cards is always more.
I’m curious why you seem so opposed to some people choosing to use their credit cards this way? Your implication by bringing up debit cards and due dates is that we’re somehow not being responsible with our money, but that’s just not the case. I’m not attacking you, just curious why it seems to bug you?
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
What I’m seeing in this post is that people want a good score that is supposed to reflect their ability to pay bills on time without explicitly paying bills on time. Simple tracking one’s spending and paying off credit card statements and they come in is a great way to build credit, but it does require a minimal amount of fiscal responsibility in the form of tracking one’s own spending habits over the course of a single month.
ryathal@sh.itjust.works 21 hours ago
My debit card gives me a better interest rate on checking and savings which is way better than points or cash back. The only difference in fraud protection is the money may not be immediately available that was fraudulent, which can be a problem. Credit can be a problem until you get a mortgage though without credit cards.
thaklor@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Keep the money in your bank account with interest, then pay the credit card in full every month. You get both benefits.
JandroDelSol@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
To be fair, high yield checking accounts sometimes require you to actually use the debit card
ryathal@sh.itjust.works 18 hours ago
The rate depends on debit card use.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Oh sure, you get up votes when you say it