How to Use Your Cable Bill to Build Credit

Cable companies aren’t in the habit of reporting your payments to the credit bureaus, at least when it comes to your traditional credit reports. But if that’s something you want, there is a way to get those monthly bills to help your credit score.

Simply put, consider paying for cable with your credit card.

Unlike cable providers, credit card issuers do generally report to the major credit reporting agencies, so using your plastic to pay for a bill that you’re already in the habit of covering from month to month can help you build a payment history, the single biggest factor in establishing credit scores.

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Of course, for this strategy to work, you have to pay that credit card off on time and, ideally, in full. Otherwise, it will have the opposite effect on your score and you’ll wind up paying interest just to watch your favorite television shows.

To make sure you don’t miss a payment, sign up for alerts or, even, set your credit card bill to auto-pay. You could also pay the charge off via a linked debit card account as soon as it’s processed if you’re worried about winding up with a big balance (which could affect your credit utilization, another major factor of credit scores) at the end of the month.

A Few More Tips & Tricks

There’s a chance that your provider will charge a fee for paying by credit card, so be sure to check that there’s no extra charge before using this method. And, if you do set that credit card to auto-pay, monitor your monthly cable statements. You don’t want to miss a new fee or billing error and wind up paying more than you owe or intended.

Rewards credit cards can earn you some points, miles or cash back, so if you have one in your wallet, you might want to use that particular piece of plastic to pay your cable bill. If your credit is on the brink and you don’t have any credit cards, you can consider applying for (and then using) a secured credit card, which is designed specifically to help people build credit. (You can learn more about the best secured credit cards in America here.)

A Quick Reminder

Unpaid cable bills can damage your credit, even when they’re not being covered by a credit card. Accounts that go unpaid long enough can wind up in collections, which will hurt your scores. (You can see how any collections accounts may be affecting your credit by viewing your free credit score, updated every 14 days, on Credit.com.)

If your credit is in rough shape, due to an collection account or other payment history troubles, you may be able to improve your scores by paying delinquent accounts, addressing high credit card balances and disputing any errors that may be weighing them down. And remember, you can build good credit in the long term by making all loan payments on time, keeping debt levels low and adding to the mix of accounts you have, as your score and wallet can handle it.

More on Credit Reports & Credit Scores:

• The Credit.com Credit Reports Learning Center
• How to Get Your Free Annual Credit Report
• How Credit Impacts Your Day-to-Day Life

Image: Ivanko_Brnjakovic

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Source: credit.com