bdancer222 repliedIt won't hurt your credit but it won't help either. If you use the card and pay it in full every month you build a good payment history.

If you don't use the card for a year, it will probably be closed due to inactivity. Many credit card companies are closing accounts after much shorter inactive periods. You have to use the card every 3 months or so to keep it open.

Brenda M repliedthe card and its credit facility is already registered to your credit score from the time you first received the card.

as long as you either don't use the card or pay the card balance each and every month you use it; your credit score will not be touched ~ positively or negatively.

Not abusing what credit has been extended to you and registered to the bureau's is what is important.

Leaving them in the drawer doesn't hurt your credit score.

Its urban myth that the USE of a credit card increased your bureau score.

There are differences with prepaid credit card and people that are trying to re-establish bad credit . .. I'm speaking about the people that haven't damaged anything

WhoDoYouLove repliedYour credit rating includes length of credit so its okay to have the card but keep track of your credit report every three months by requesting a free copy from one of the three major credit reporting agencies. Make sure nobody is using your credit without your knowledge and check your report for inaccuracies.
Lenders look at length of time for credit cards as well as history of on-time payments. They also look at the amount of credit you use compared to the amount of credit available to you. If you max out your card and pay the bill in full that is worse than using a small amount of available credit and paying the bill in full.
So if you want a loan in the future for school or for a mortgage you want to keep a stellar credit rating!

Good luck!

Sophie B repliedif it's the only credit you have, it might hurt your credit score...
and if it's a store card, that you don't use it might get canceled.....

Credit score isn't going to be as big of a deal, in the near future, because lending institutions are going to go back to investigating credit history, and expecting bigger DPs on houses and cars....

constantly learning repliedNot using your credit card is great, it means your not in debt.

A credit card should only be an emergency purchase thing, I personally only use mine for online purchases and i pay it off within the same day using online banking.

In all honesty staying debt free is better than being offered a chance to increase your limit (if you ha vent needed to use it at the base limit why would you need to increase it)

Try to think of a credit card as a phone a friend (used only when desperate)

Hope this helps.

debijs replied~~If you want to build your credit score, then charge something on there and pay it off every month. This builds your score and shows responsibility.~~

pressedtofu repliedIt doesn't affect your credit negatively.

Some credit card companies will close your account though if you do not use your card after an extended period of time.

kjwsmommie repliedI've never had that hurt my credit score. I have a bunch of store cards that I had opened over the years in order to get the extra discount on items...used them once, paid it off and then never touched the cards again. Some of them still show up on my credit report, some close the account after a certain amount of inactivity. Like I said, it has never hurt my credit score.

I was told by a friend once...if it's the only card you have it is a good idea to use it every now and again so the account doesn't get closed on the creditors end.

Jolly Rancher repliedNo problem. But after a few years of inactivity, the credit card company is likely to deactivate.

johnwooo repliedno it doesn't, but if you can get a rewards card and use it only if you have money to pay it of the same month. That way you will have the incentive to use it.

[[ vampires ]] repliedyes because it depends when it expires