The type of card that impacts your credit history is primarily a credit card. Credit cards report your payment history, credit utilization ratio (balance relative to credit limit), length of credit history, and credit mix to credit bureaus, which all influence your credit score. Debit cards, prepaid cards, and gift cards do not impact credit history because they do not involve borrowing money from a financial institution.

Credit Cards Impact on Credit History

• Credit cards build your credit history by reporting payment activity to credit bureaus.
• Responsible use such as paying on time and keeping balances low improves credit scores.
• Payment history is the most significant factor (about 35%) impacting credit scores.
• Credit utilization, ideally below 30%, strongly affects your credit score.
• Length of credit history (older accounts) helps maintain or improve scores.
• Credit mix, or the variety of credit types, is also considered but less influential.

Cards That Do Not Impact Credit History

• Debit cards, prepaid cards, and gift cards are not reported to credit bureaus and do not affect your credit score.

In summary, credit history is affected by credit cards specifically, not by debit or prepaid cards.