Online buyers without a credit card or who choose not to use one have Bill Me Later as an option at some of the most popular shopping portals, such as eBay and Amazon. It works like a credit card but you pay with a line of credit which they dub "buying power." Using this service hurts your score, but cannot help you build credit.
Identification
Your Bill-Me-Later balance does not show up your credit report, according to the Consumerist. This service runs a hard inquiry, however, so it will do five or fewer points damage to your score. The Bill Me Later website claims that it only runs a hard inquiry once and subsequent checks on your score, usually for a increase in your buying power, count as a review. The major credit bureaus disregard account reviews when calculating your credit score.
Default on Bill-Me-Later Balance
As with any bill, Bill Me Later can send a delinquent account to an outside collections agency or more likely, its in-house collection agency. Once your account goes to a collection agency, your balance will show up on your credit report. This can only further harm your credit score and Bill Me Later can add charges to the account related to collecting the outstanding balance.
Benefit of Not Appearing on Report
You probably would not want a Bill Me Later balance on your credit report because your spending limit is often close to your purchase, which could hurt your debt-to-credit utilization ratio. Financial experts, such as Kiplinger Personal Finance, suggest using no more than 30 percent of your total available credit limit to maximize your score.
Tip
Asking for a credit limit increase on your Bill Me Later account does not harm your score nor report to the credit bureaus. Instead of a hard pull, Bill Me Later looks at your initial credit score and your payment history with the company. As long as you pay your bill before making a new purchase you should receive an automatic limit increase.
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