<prompt> Human: Im 27, Ive been paying off my student loans for 3 years now, always consistently before the billing date. Same goes for my utilities and phone bill. But, its maintained at 680-685 credit karma I dont have a credit card. Long story short, grew up in a household where parent got burned by a credit card and told me never to get one. They dont have one. But, Ive started to seriously research it more and more as others have told me if youre responsible, its an asset. x200B;Is it really because I dont have a credit card? From my research it seems most federal student loans wont accept credit card payments anyway so I dont get why my credit isnt boosting.  <response>: Credit cards are a form of payment, not to be used as a loan, if you only use it like cash you should have no problems with it. Always pay the full statement balance when its due, dont buy things you wouldnt with cash.Your parents probably used it for things they couldnt afford and kept digging themselves in hole, thats how they got burned. 