Is this a secret you can do with credit cards to raise credit score?

hmm: Is this a secret you can do with credit cards to raise credit score?
They recently bought a microwave for $ 1000 on credit. They have way more than that though and when the bill came, they only paid $ 970 on purpose. I asked them why they didn’t pay it off in full and they said that they paid it with $ 30 short because there is barely any interest to that low sum of cash as opposed to only paying $ 600 where the interest would be equal to a lot more money for a sum of $ 400 as opposed to $ 30.

They said that “We just left $ 30 for the them to play around with and because we pay a little amount of interest on purpose, it makes them happy and they raise the credit score.”

So I asked what makes them so sure that that happens and they said that it’s experience after working with credit cards for 30+ years.
my parents*

Answers and Views:

Answer by Reena
They are wrong…. the credit card company has no influence over the credit bureaus and the credit scores.

So, leaving $ 30 on the card to give the credit card company a morsel of interest does not do anything towards their credit score.

What matters is that all payments are made on time, that not too much of the credit line is used in a billing cycle and that they (your parents) have a lot of “unused” credit versus maxed out cards and of course that they had these credit cards for a long time.

But you won’t be able to convince them….. they have 30 years of “experience” and that is how they see it.

Answer by StephenWeinstein
It is not a secret, and it is not true. The amount of interest paid does not now, and has never, affected credit scores. Credit scores are affected by how much money is owed, by whether you paid on time, and various other things, but never by whether interest was paid or did not did to be paid. The only time that interest has any effect is when it needs to be paid, but does not get paid, and that lowers the score. Interest never raises the score.

The only secret here is that your parents have been wrong for 30 years and still do not know it.

Answer by Caveat Emptor
“They” are wrong. This is an old myth. Carrying a balance does not “build credit” faster. It’s your payment history that is the most important – not carrying a balance from month to month.