Paying Back Credit card Balance In Small Chunks Does Not Help Credit Score

Contributed by mm | October 2, 2006 3:54 PM PST

It is actually news to me that whether to pay back credit card balance in one shot or via multiple small paybacks over time does nothing on one's credit score.

From Bankrate:

With an established credit history, paying off the balances as soon as you're able to doesn't hurt your credit score, and paying them down over a few months doesn't help your credit score. If you're planning on applying for credit in the near future, then having the debts paid off helps because it lowers the overall ratio of debt outstanding to credit lines available.

Micromanaging your credit score between now and the next time you plan to borrow isn't necessary, if in either case you'll have these debts paid off by then. The bigger decision is to save on the finance charges, and that points to paying off the balances sooner rather than later.

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