Does a credit card with a high interest rate hurt credit report?
Credit Card
Don Cowl asked:
I have had a card for 10 years. It has a high interest rate. I never paid any attention to it because I do not carry a balance. Will the plain fact alone that it has a high percentage hurt my credit?
Laura
I have had a card for 10 years. It has a high interest rate. I never paid any attention to it because I do not carry a balance. Will the plain fact alone that it has a high percentage hurt my credit?
Laura
July 11th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Billy
No, not at all. That isn’t reported to the bureaus. There are no interest rates shown on a credit report anywhere (car, mortgage etc).
July 13th, 2009 at 6:00 am
Ronald
No, only the balances you carry on an account are of any concern.
July 13th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Terry
Well everything is based off of your credit score. If your credit score wasn’t so great when you got the card then your interest rate was going to be a bit high. (Then again there are credit card companies that love to hand out high interest credit cards hoping people aren’t paying attention.) What you CAN do since you’ve been with them for 10years is call them and ask that they lower your interest rate. You can do that - I have.
Also, check your credit score on a regular basis. Hopefully this helps! =)
July 15th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Jeanette
I just completed a banking transaction which required the bank to review my credit report, so I had an opportunity to see my full report and asked a few questions.
First, your credit report goes back a long way. It would include all your past cards, both cancelled ones or just inactive ones. Now, if you had problems in the past, and therefore can only get a credit card now that carries a higher interest rate, this would show up. But like one of the other people had said, a card with high interest by itself would not hurt your credit rating.
My credit score you ask, 809.
Cheers
July 17th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Franklin
No the interest rate doesn’t matter. The three credit bureaus will have several guidelines that determine how that card effects your credit. Here are a few that are important.
1. Balance as a percentage of high credit. Try not to use more than 50% of your total revolving credit balance. (less is better)
2. Age of your cards. Don’t constantly close and open new cards.
3. Pay on time. (enough said) A mortgage will kill your credit if your late but a credit cards will also hurt it.
When I paid down my credit cards to zero from 80% maxed out my credit score went from a 650 to a 703 in one month.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Louise
NO Credit reports only show information such as the account name, the credit limit, payment history, high balances, and current balance. They could care less about the interest rate.