How to Build Credit

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How to Build Credit
Begin by becoming an authorized user, or by obtaining credit-building loan or secured credit card.
By Erin El Issa Senior Writer Personal finance, data analysis, credit cards Erin El Issa writes data-driven studies about personal finance, credit cards, investments, travel, and student loans. She loves numbers and aims to simplify data sets in order to help people improve the quality of their lives financially. Before becoming the Nerd in 2014, she worked as an accountant for tax purposes and freelance personal finance writer. Erin's writing has been featured in The New York Times, CNBC, on the "Today" show, Forbes and elsewhere. In her spare time, Erin reads voraciously and is unable to keep her two children entertained. She is based in Ypsilanti, Michigan.




and Bev O'Shea personal finance writer | MSN Money, Credit.com, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Orlando Sentinel Bev O'Shea is a former NerdWallet authority on consumer credit, scams and identity theft. She has a bachelor's degree in journalistic studies from Auburn University and a master's in education from Georgia State University. Prior to joining NerdWallet she worked for daily newspapers, MSN Money and Credit.com. Her work was featured throughout the world in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, MarketWatch, USA Today, MSN Money and elsewhere. Twitter: @BeverlyOShea.





Feb 2 2023


Editor: Kathy Hinson Lead Assigning Editor Personal financial, credit scoring, financial management and debt Kathy Hinson leads the core personal finance team at NerdWallet. Prior to joining NerdWallet, she worked for 18 years with The Oregonian in Portland in capacities such as chief of the copy desk and team director of design and editing. Her previous experience included copy and news editing for several Southern California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. She graduated with a bachelor's in mass communication and journalism at the University of Iowa.







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Building credit can be tricky. If you don't have credit score, it's difficult to secure a loan or credit card, or maybe even an apartment.
How do you expect to establish a record of responsible payment if nobody else will offer you credit at all?
Know how your credit is evaluated
Find your free score and the variables that affect it, and get tips on how to continue building.










Several tools can help you :
If you're looking to obtain credit card, you could start with an secured credit card or co-signed card, or ask to be a part of the card of a different person.
If you want to build credit without the use of a credit card, you might try a credit-builder loan as well as a secured loan or co-signed loan. There are many methods to make telephone, rent, and utility payments to build credit. Some of these ways are completely free, while others require costs.

Here's a look at tools for building credit, and the best way to utilize these tools to earn .
Take advantage of a secured credit card

If you're working on your credit score starting from scratch, you'll probably require the use of a secured card . Secured cards are backed by a cash payment you make upfront; the deposit amount is usually similar to the credit limit. The amount you can deposit is either minimum or maximum. you can deposit is determined by card. Certain credit cards have a minimal deposit of $200. Some companies such as Avant, Deserve and Petal now offer that don't need an .
You'll be able to use the card as any other credit card: Buy things, make a purchase, and pay within or before when due, incur charges if you do not make your payment in full. You'll receive your deposit back when you close the account.
NerdWallet frequently reviews and ranks choices.
Secured credit cards aren't meant to be used for a long time. The purpose of secured cards is to build your credit so that you can qualify for an unsecure card -- one without a deposit and offering more advantages. Select a secured credit card that has a low annual fee and ensure that it reports payment data to all , Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Your credit score is constructed by the information you get from your credit reports; cards that provide information to all three bureaus permit you to build more complete credit histories.
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Get a credit-builder product and a loan

A is precisely what it is spelled and its primary purpose is to assist people in building credit.
Typically, the money you borrow is stored at the bank in an account and it isn't released until the loan is repaid. It's a forced savings program that is similar to a savings account where your repayments get reported to credit agencies. These loans are usually provided by credit unions or community banks. They can also be found online, as does .
offers a $500 line of credit that is intended to build credit.
Another option: If you have money on deposit in an institution like a credit union or bank Ask them about secured loan to help build credit. With these, the collateral is your account or certificate of deposit. The interest rate is typically slightly higher than the interest you're making on the account but it can be less than other options.
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Use a co-signer

You can also get a loan or an unsecured credit card using a co-signer. Be sure both of you understand that the co-signer will be on the hook for the entire amount due if you fail to pay.
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Become an authorized user

A relative or other person may want to allow you to be a beneficiary on their card. This will add the card's payment record to your credit files and you'll need an authorized user with a the history of paying promptly. In addition, being included as an authorized user could cut down on the time required to create the . This is especially beneficial in order to build credit.
You don't need to use or even have -- the credit card at all to gain the benefits of being in the position of an authorized user.
The primary cardholder should determine if the card issuer reports authorized user activity to the credit bureaus. That activity generally is not reported, but you'll want to be sure otherwise, your credit-building efforts may be in vain.
It is important to reach an agreement about whether and what you'll do with the card before being designated as an authorized user, and be prepared to contribute a portion in the event that this is the arrangement you reach.
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Credit is available for the bills you make

Like Rental Kharma like Rental Kharma and LevelCredit such as Rental Kharma and LevelCredit take a debt that you have already paid and put it on your credit report, which helps to establish a good track record of on-time payments. Some credit scores do not take these transactions into consideration, but some do, and that may be enough to get a loan or credit line that firmly establishes your credit history to all lenders.
offers a way to have your cell phone and utility charges included in your credit report at this credit bureau. It is important to note that the impact is only applicable to your credit report through Experian and also any credit scores based on it.
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Practice good credit habits

and a track record of timely payments.
To have an FICO score, you'll need at least one credit card that's been open at least six months and at least one creditor that has reported your activity to the credit bureaus in the past six months. A score, which is FICO's most significant competitor, can be obtained faster.
Practice these good credit habits to improve your credit score:
Try to make your payments promptly and pay at least the minimum if you can . Making your credit card or loan installments on time, every time is the most important step you can take to improve your score. If you are able to pay more than the minimum, it can also help your score.
If you are using credit cards, keep your credit utilization to a minimum- utilization is the percentage of your credit limit that you make use of. We suggest keeping your credit utilization below 30% on all cards whenever you can. The lower your utilization the better for your credit score.
Avoid applying for multiple credit accounts at the same time. Applications for credit can cause a small, temporary drop in your score. Multiple applications can cause significant damage. NerdWallet suggests spacing your applications for about 6 months, if you are able to, and researching the for your needs before you apply. Note that multiple applications for auto loans or mortgages in an extremely short period of time will be grouped into one in the form of " ."
Maintain your credit card accounts open. Unless you have compelling reasons to close your account, like a high annual cost or poor customer service, you should consider maintaining it open. It is also possible to downgrade the account or transfer your credit limit to a different card. The closing of an account could hurt your credit utilization and reduce your average account age.

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Make sure you check your credit scores as well as reports

A credit report is a document of your credit usage in the past. Your credit scores predict how you'll deal with credit in the near future, by analyzing the data in those credit scores. You should keep an eye on both to watch for errors and to see your credit-building efforts yield results.
NerdWallet offers a credit card from TransUnion. You can also use educational tools, such as NerdWallet's tool to determine how your financial actions impact your score.
A number of credit card issuers Print FICO scores on their customers their monthly statements. They also allow online access to. Some card issuers offer free scores to anyone regardless of whether the cardholder is a.
Request your credit report and review them for any mistakes and discrepancies. From December 2023 to the present you can review your reports for free every week by . Resolve any credit report mistakes you find that might lower your score.
Want nerdy knowledge that's personalized to your money? All your money will be in one view, and get specific information to maximize the value of it.






Authors' Bios Erin El Issa is an expert in credit cards and a writer for studies at NerdWallet. She has had her work featured by USA Today, U.S. News and MarketWatch.


Bev O'Shea is an ex-credit writer at NerdWallet. Her work was published on the New York Times, Washington Post, MarketWatch and elsewhere.







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