Paying your utility bills or bills related to cable, internet and the phone typically won't help your credit score. That's because these types of companies typically don't report payments to the credit bureaus.
The types of bills that affect your credit scores are those that are reported to the national credit bureaus. This includes consumer debts and unpaid bills turned over to collections. If you use Experian Boost, eligible recurring payments could also help credit scores based on your Experian credit report.
Pros: There's a lot of upside to putting utilities, internet service, your cell phone bill and auto insurance on a credit card. If you have a rewards card, it will net you cash or travel rewards for spending on bills you have to pay anyway.
Internet service
Since streaming, internet, and cellphone services don't report late payments to the credit bureaus, missing an internet bill usually won't impact your credit score if you pay it off within 180 days.
Cable TV, phone, and other utility bills usually aren't reported to credit bureaus or reflected in your credit score. However, if you are seriously delinquent in paying your cable bill, that may show up on your credit report.
Utility, cable, internet and phone bills
Paying your utility bills or bills related to cable, internet and the phone typically won't help your credit score. That's because these types of companies typically don't report payments to the credit bureaus. But this, too, is starting to change.
On-time payments are the biggest factor affecting your credit score, so missing a payment can sting. If you have otherwise spotless credit, a payment that's more than 30 days past due can knock as many as 100 points off your credit score. If your score is already low, it won't hurt it as much but can still do damage.
Many service providers bundle their internet packages with other services such as cable TV or home phone lines. If you fail to pay your bill, your provider may disconnect these additional services as well. This can leave you without access to your favorite TV shows or without a reliable means of communication.
Depending on the circumstances, your service could be interrupted or disconnected due to late payment or missing payments. If this happens, you will need to make a payment to re-activate your services. This payment may include late fees and a reactivation charge, and it will take 48–72 hours to restore your services.
Your payment history is one of the most important credit scoring factors and can have the biggest impact on your scores. Having a long history of on-time payments is best for your credit scores, while missing a payment could hurt them. The effects of missing payments can also increase the longer a bill goes unpaid.
Internet bills are considered a utility bill, just like telephone bills, because they provide services to the home or business that are considered necessary for daily activity.
Depending on the type of bill and the merchant, you may be able to use a credit card to pay bills. Mortgages, rent and car loans typically can't be paid with a credit card. You may need to pay a convenience fee if you pay some bills, like utility bills, with a credit card.
If your credit card has a symbol on it that looks like the 'wifi' symbol, then you own a contactless credit card. These cards help you make payments without having to physically swipe or dip the card.
Paying utilities, rent and cell phone bills can help build credit if they're reported to the credit bureaus. If certain bills aren't reported to the credit bureaus, you can consider using a third-party service to report your payments.
For a score with a range between 300 and 850, a credit score of 700 or above is generally considered good. A score of 800 or above on the same range is considered to be excellent. Most consumers have credit scores that fall between 600 and 750. In 2022, the average FICO® Score☉ in the U.S. reached 714.
As someone with a 650 credit score, you are firmly in the “fair” territory of credit. You can usually qualify for financial products like a mortgage or car loan, but you will likely pay higher interest rates than someone with a better credit score. The "good" credit range starts at 690.
If you're dealing with Verizon Collections, it's possible you haven't made payment for a wireless, internet, phone or TV subscription. When you don't pay a utility bill, the company can send it to collections, damaging your credit.
Recent UK news reports have warned consumers against “turning off Wi-Fi at night” to save electricity, along with claims that doing so could affect your broadband ISP's speed and stability. But this is not entirely accurate. These reports all get Wi-Fi mixed up with your ISP's broadband connection.
You have to pay a monthly bill to your internet provider for your Internet to work, but not a monthly bill to the Wi-Fi router manufacturer to get working, unless you are using subscription-based enterprise devices, like Meraki.
Can you see a person's internet activity on their Wi-Fi bill? No. Wi-Fi bills only show the devices that accessed the internet and how much data they used, not the websites that were visited. That said, if a Wi-Fi admin wanted to see the activity on their network, they could check the router logs at any time.
Although the unpaid debt will go on your credit report and have a negative impact on your score, the good news is that it won't last forever. After seven years, unpaid credit card debt falls off your credit report. The debt doesn't vanish completely, but it'll no longer impact your credit score.
Even a single late or missed payment may impact credit reports and credit scores. Late payments generally won't end up on your credit reports for at least 30 days after you miss the payment. Late fees may quickly be applied after the payment due date.
Paying all of your bills consistently is key to a good credit score. While paying your cellphone bill won't have any automatic impact on your credit score, missing payments or making late payments can cause your credit score to drop if your cellphone account becomes delinquent.
Common soft inquiries
Keep in mind, there are other types of credit checks that could show up as either a hard or soft inquiry. For example, utility, cable, internet and cellphone providers will often check your credit.