Fake News number four, you need to carry a credit card balance to have good scores. Fact you don't need to be in debt or pay a penny of interest to have good credit scores. Your credit reports and scores don't know whether you're carrying a balance or paying it off in full every month. That's because the balance reported to the credit bureaus typically is the balance from your last statement, not what was left over after you got that statement and paid the bill. So you might as well pay in full and save yourself the interest. This myth encourages people to carry unnecessary debt, putting them at the mercy of credit card issuers and eroding their financial security.