Recently I went to the bank to open a checking account for my company, Creative Ape. The guy setting me up said I had excellent credit and that I could qualify easily for a small business loan or home loan.
"Really?" I said. "No kidding."
I had always thought my credit was kind of mediocre. There were some big scabs from the college years and a lot of late payments, followed by the last ten years of what has been essentially non-usage. Debit and debit only has been my purchasing strategy.
Meanwhile, I've been trying to take concrete steps toward the organization of my sloppy life and one of my tasks was to cancel all dormant credit cards and open just one card with a better frequent flier mile scheme. I discovered there were still a lot of cards which were still active (although there was never any activity on them and they never sent statements and I never called that 800 number on the sticker on the back when the new ones came in the mail). I get a lot of mail from the different companies and often it was difficult to determine if it was a new card coming for an old account or if it was just a promotional thing or what. And who wants to read all of that fine print?
So in the end I cancelled about seven cards that had been dormant for 3 to 10 years. And each customer service representative stuck to the script and asked why I was leaving, especially when I had such excellent credit?
Because this is the data: I've had all of these cards for a significant amount of time and I'm not carrying a balance on any of them and I have no late payments on them.
Well duh. I haven't been using them.
But does the credit bureau know this?
Anyway, maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like my lazy, totally irresponsible behavior has sculpted my scabby credit into something smooth and firm and toned and reliable.
Maybe this fuzzy logic can work in my favor for a change.
Go figure.
6 comments:
Thank you for this happy and life-affirming story of good credit. One of my favorite Chris Rock stories came from a time when he was being interviewed on The View--on Valentine's Day, yet--and one of the hosts asked him, "What's the most romantic thing you've ever done for your wife?" He said, "The most romantic thing I ever did for her was clear her credit." (You have to supply your own Chris Rock voice.) I confess that I identified with this romantic gesture, the historian having accomplished a similar feat of gallantry when he married me. Anyhow, good job for managing, however inadvertently, to have or stumble into good credit. Well done, I say.
Reminds me of my commendable driving record - no accidents or violations in 15 years because, well, I've hardly driven in the last 15 years.
And a lot of people over here get their license upgraded to "gold" which means a longer period of validity and better insurance rates, simply by never driving.
When I called to cancel a CC because they raised our rate, I told them why, and asked, if we had no balance and no late payments, why they would keep raising our rate. "Because you're not using the card?" Such is the logic of CC companies. So I told him we were cancelling and he countered with an incredibly low interest rate that he said they would never raise. Unless we sent in a late payment.
Just FYI, MB and I have good credit. But of the two, I have the better credit. Why? Because I actually had a credit card in college that I used to buy books and I paid it off every month.
And that deadbeat roommate of MB's didn't help him much either.
What's with the mask?
I am studying to be a doctor.
Cryptomeria allergy?
Post a Comment