Do the type of purchases made on a credit card have any beneficial affect on your credit score?

Question

I'll give an example. Say I use my credit card for necessities like family groceries and gasoline, as opposed to non-necessities like games, jewelery, or new room furniture. Does this have any effect on my credit score, or no?

Answer 1

Nope, not at all ;)

Answer 2

Your score can be lowered considerably if they see patterns of consumption that are objectuionable to society

say you have a charge from an escort service and a hotel room the same day

or if you charge a lot of boose to your card

people will be worried that you are becoming an alcoholic and will be a less reliable risk

thus lowering your score

or in the case of escorts

this would be deemed as high risk behaviour

Answer 3

It can. Credit issuers sometimes examine the profile of purchases to add "flavor" to the credit assessment they make of you. Exactly what constitute positive and negative patterns are kind of a trade secret, so it would be hard to assess what effect, if any, your pattern has. It would be minor, though, compared to other factors.

Answer 4

Absolutely none...the only thing that affects your credit score is timely (or late) payments.

Answer 5

Man some of these answers are so bad it hurts to read them.

The credit bureaus are only reporting agency's and only report what is reported to them, they have no way of knowing what you bought on your credit card and could care less.

The only things that affect your score like some others have pointed out are your utilization and your payment history, as long as you keep your balance below 30% of your credit limit and pay on time you will be fine.

Answer 6

I would think if you had to finance food that it's worse.  I read something about how frivolous purchases affect getting more credit, but I highly doubt that.

Answer 7

No, the type of purchase is meaningless.

All that matters is your utilization (how much of your available limit) you use, how much you pay and if you pay on time.

Answer 8

I have heard gambling has a big negative affect. I don't think the other items will hurt or help. The big issue is that you pay them completely every month. Credit card companies actually prefer that you do not pay the balance every month, because they want the interest.  But if you do pay every month, they know they cannot lose on you. I use my credit card for gas and groceries plus a few larger purchases. I always pay 100% every month, and I have a very high score.

Answer 9

Not for your score.  The credit cards do not list the purchases made to the repositories.  What they do  record is  that it is a revolving line, when it was opened, when it was last used (purchase or payment) what the credit limit is, what your balance is, the account number and how many payments were made.

The score is based on the ration between what is used (your balance) and what can be used (your limit) and how many late payments- more then 30 days.

A major purchase account or using a majority of your credit line will lower your score.  By maintain 10-25% of the balance on your card consecutively for 6 months will keep your score higher.  If you use the card on already budgeted items then pay the card off at the end of the month, then you will maintain a higher score.  

It isn't what you buy, it is how you pay that affects your score.  

Please remember that if you pay off the entirely before 30 days, you will not have to pay interest. The repository will show that you made a payment and the account is active.  If you do that every month then you will have a high score.  If you do that with 3 cards then your score will remain high.  Leaving a balance on grocery items means you are paying interest on food, not a good idea.