Like every credit card, the Cleo Card shares some info with the credit bureaus that calculate your credit score.
What does the Cleo Card Report on?
Outstanding balance owed: This is the amount that hasn’t been paid off from last month’s credit card bill yet.
For example, if there’s $20 left to pay back on your last bill, your outstanding balance would be $20. With the Cleo Card, you always set aside money to pay your bill before you spend it, so your outstanding balance is usually $0. (And that’s a good thing.)
Payment status: Whether or not you paid last month’s credit card bill. If you use the Cleo Card, you’ll usually pay your full statement repayment every month since you already set the money aside for it. (Also a good thing.)
Current balance: How much you’ve spent in the most recent billing cycle that hasn’t come due yet.
For example, if you get a credit card bill for $80, but it isn’t due for another three weeks, your current balance would be $80.
Highest credit: This is the most you’ve ever spent during a billing cycle. Could be last month’s bill or the one from 10 months ago: it’s whenever you spent the most.
What doesn’t the Cleo Card report?
Credit utilization: Most credit cards put a limit on how much you can spend per billing cycle. Credit bureaus look at how much of that limit you spend when they calculate your credit score. For example, if you spend $50 of your $100 card limit, you’re at 50% credit utilization. Usually, the less you spend of your limit the better it is for your credit score.
With the Cleo Card there’s no limit to your spending – as long as you set aside the cash first. Because there isn’t a credit limit, the Cleo Card doesn’t have credit utilization to report. This doesn’t affect your credit score at all. The credit bureaus just don’t use a credit utilization number from your Cleo Card when they calculate your credit score.
In other words, with the Cleo Card, you can spend what you like without the mental math of credit limits.