Using a Secured Credit Card to Rebuild Your Credit the Right Way
January 31st, 2012 Filed under: Secured Credit Card — Credit Card Author>One of the top strategies of many individuals and credit repair companies is to use secured credit cards to repair credit and low FICO scores in addition to laying a foundation that new accounts can be built on. However just getting one of these cards is not enough to quickly boost your scores and help you out, you need to know how to use it the right way to get the most out of it.
How To Use a Secured Credit Card to Rebuild Your Credit
First when you get your card be sure to use it on occasions. Your credit report will list any and all your active accounts last active date and if you never use the card there will be no activity to show and your scores will not rise as much as they could.
When you are using your card to purchase items make sure that the total balance on the card never exceeds 45-50% of the total limit. Once you cross over this number your scores start to drop. In fact to be safe keep the balance to limit ratio at 30% or lower. Or better yet pay it off in full each month and you will not have to worry about this.
You also want to be sure you never send in a late payment or the positive effects the card is having on your FICO score will be quickly erased. By late I mean 30 days or more late. While you can get away with a few days late you will get charged a late fee by the lender. In order to make sure you do not ever pay late I always tell people to sign up for auto pay with the lender. While not all secured credit card issuers offer this service to their customers many of the do so take advantage of it and safe guard your FICO score!
