No, you are incorrect.

This is a screenshot directly from a credit report disclosure from a current mortgage application. This type of credit report is much more accurate than the ones you get from a free site, as they are the version of the credit report actually used by a mortgage lender.

I do the same strategy you do. We don’t carry a balance on our cards. Usually the only debt we have is our mortgage. And yet, clear as day, the credit report disclosure clearly indicates that our score took a hit because we don’t carry a balance. I also have a plus 800 credit score, but it would be higher if I made a habit of paying the bank lots of interest income.