 TITLE: How Do You Pay a Credit Card Bill? CONTENT: Will Carrying a Balance Affect My Credit Score?\n-----------------------------------------------\nWhile a late payment won't hurt your credit scores unless you're 30 or more days late, carrying a balance may have a more immediate impact. Whether it hurts your scores can depend on the balance amount relative to your available credit.\nThe important factor here is your credit utilization ratio, which measures the amount of available credit you're using. It's usually shown as a percentage that compares a card's balance against its credit limit. For example, if your credit card's limit is $200 and your balance is $100, your credit utilization ratio is 50%.\nYour utilization is an important credit scoring factor, and a lower utilization rate is best for your scores. A high utilization rate (above 30%) can start to do harm to your scores.\nOne potentially confusing point is that the important numbers here are the card's balance and credit limit as they appear on your credit report. These numbers come from when the credit card company sends an update to the credit bureaus, which will often happen around the end of your statement period.\nAs a result, the balance may be closer to your statement balance than your current balance if you check your account online. The arrangement means you can also have a high utilization rate even if you pay your bill in full each month. If you want to avoid this, you could pay down your balance throughout the month. END