You&#x27;re partially correct. If you are paying everything off, you will not be rated as high as someone who is carrying a reasonable amount debt every month.<p>Why? If you pay everything off (no interest), the banks make no money, so you&#x27;re simply not as attractive of a customer to lend money to. So, it&#x27;s not about the payment, it&#x27;s about using debt.<p>Other negatives: Reposession, defaulting on debts, bankruptcy, late payments, having monthly payments over some percentage over your income... it varies by provider (and most of it&#x27;s automated).<p>Source: Worked for a 3rd party which does the actual approval and denial calculations for many different providers.