credit cards  Does card inactivity hurt credit score?  Leslie
McFaddenQuestionDear Credit Card Adviser, If you don't use your
credit card, does it increase your credit score as long as the
credit card company is reporting a zero balance? Some say you
should charge a balance of less than 20 percent to show
utilization. -- Vira  AnswerDear Vira, Thanks for asking this
question during our May 16 live chat on credit scores. Sorry we
didn't get to your question. It's a good one.  For those who
don't know, utilization is the debt-to-credit limit ratio on
revolving accounts such as credit cards. Utilization contributes
toward the amounts-owed portion of your FICO score, a scoring
model commonly used by lenders. The amounts-owed factor counts
for 30 percent of your score.  Utilization is important to
understand if you need to bump your credit score higher before a
loan or credit card application. Unlike your payment history,
which keeps a history of any missed payments, your utilization
can change each time your scor