Can a credit card sit with no balance still help raise your credit score?

My largest credit card is raising my interest rate in 3 months. It's going to go from 15% to 22%. I called to contest this and they said with the times 7/10 customers rates are going up or something. I would like to pay this card off, and lock it away so I don't spend anything on the card. I know spending on it and paying it off every month would be the best way, but I don't even want to take the chance with this outrageous interest rate. I was wondering if I lock it away, and just leave the account open, and not spend on the card at all, would that help my credit score, or will it have no effect on it. If there's no effect, I will just close the account. I'm 19 and just started establishing my credit not too long ago, so I know my rates will not be great, but I don't want to ruin my credit and I don't think 22% is really acceptable to me. It was 15% and that's a big difference. Thanks in advance and I will appreciate any knowledgable answers about this! Also, if anyone has any helpful tips for me, feel free to share...nicely!

Public Comments

1. no, needs to be used to raise credit score, make small purchases you can pay off easily then every 8 months call them and ask them to lower your interest raise.
2. I did the same thing and they cancelled the account because of no activity. You actually have to spend some and pay off in full to get good credit scores.
3. I'd spend on it and pay in full, keep no balance month to month. Even just instead of cash or debit - put it on the card then put the cash on the card same day. No interest applied, but you are using it! My Visa is with my bank, so I have 2 accounts - can go online and transfer funds straight from chequing to Visa. Yay!
4. Paying off the account and closing it will hurt your credit score since about 30% of your score is based on available credit. Closing the account deducts the credit limit from your total available credit limit, lowering your available credit amount. The best thing to do is pay off the account and then use it infrequently (say once a quarter) for a small purchase that you pay off when you get the bill. If you allow teh card to sit idle, even though open, eventually, the credit card company will close the account due to inactivity. Using it quarterly for a small, paid-off purchase avoids this and interest charges.
5. If you are worried about maintaining a credit score, then pay it off and use it for one purchase every month or so, that you will pay off. If you want to avoid the issue of debt and just pay cash, then don't worry about it and close the card. .
6. This is an opinion because the actual FICO formula is not public. The link below will show you what FICO uses but it's not the whole picture. Obviously how much open credit you have can work against you though it may not help you. None of that is in the explanation given by FICO. It seems maintaining a record with a creditor raises a score. They seem to drop off after they have been closed for a while. So, I would say maintain the card, make a small purchase every year and pay it off over time. The .50 cent or $1.00 minimum interest rate they hit you with is worth it because it will create a record of payments that a single payoff won't do. Next, look for a deal before this new credit card legislation out of Congress goes into effect, so you can find a lower interest rate card. Soon it will be very difficult for those under 21 to get a credit card, so get going.
7. keeping the account open with a zero balance will probably help your score. the issuer could choose to cancel the card, tho. if you have or can get another card with a low(er) interest rate, use that.
8. Do not close the card cause it lower you available credit line. You also can use this service to pre-estimate future scores for different scenarios of credit card payments. - creditreport.fateback.com