Neither of my kids, or it seems their friends, have credit cards

There is a trend developing with younger people not wanting to have or use traditional credit cards as a means of credit currency. In addition, many of my client's are miffed when I tell them they must open additional credit cards in order to raise their credit scores to secure the lowest possible mortgage interest rate. 

Phil Brewer, the National Underwriting Manager for Peoples Bank, writes, "No credit is most definitely better than 'bad credit'. Revolving debt is both a blessing and a curse.  If used correctly - payments made on time and the balance maintained at 50% of credit limit or less, it is a blessing and helps improve the credit score.  The flip side is that if the payments are not made on time, or if the balance is constantly at the max or near the max, it will drive down the credit score. Credit Agencies do look for and build the credit score based on a 'good' mix of credit types. What or who defines 'good' is an interesting question, but it is built into their scoring mechanism.  Revolving debt is like the old saying: 'Lenders only want to lend to those who don't need it.' The Credit Agencies want you to have revolving debt but they don't want you to use it. We are beginning to see an increase in the need to use non-traditional credit references, which in turn only slows down the process and makes the approval harder and more selective." Probably not the same for jumbo - Gail D. noted that, "As far as Jumbo financing is concerned yes, this is true that having little to no credit is hurtful.  In fact most, if not all, investors require a certain number of open and active trade lines for qualification."