Building a Credit History

[KM24]

Does anybody have tips on how to build a credit score here in the US? Like what credit cards are fairly easy to get even without a credit history? (Can even be like a prepaid one, as long as it helps me build something up) So far I have a normal checking account with a debit card from chase but that doesn’t actually help me build my credit. I also have an American Express as additional cardholder but that is connected to my husbands account so I‘m not sure if that helps me anyhow.
Any tips are greatly appreciated!

[randompeasant]

Does anybody have tips on how to build a credit score here in the US? Like what credit cards are fairly easy to get even without a credit history? (Can even be like a prepaid one, as long as it helps me build something up) So far I have a normal checking account with a debit card from chase but that doesn’t actually help me build my credit. I also have an American Express as additional cardholder but that is connected to my husbands account so I‘m not sure if that helps me anyhow.
Any tips are greatly appreciated!

I used a card through firstprogress.com to build credit when I first got here. It's a secured card, so the credit limit is set by how much you put down against it, and the minimum is $300 I think. But they report to the credit companies, and after a while I was able to get a loan for a used car and continue building from there.

[ewilliams]

Does anybody have tips on how to build a credit score here in the US? Like what credit cards are fairly easy to get even without a credit history? (Can even be like a prepaid one, as long as it helps me build something up) So far I have a normal checking account with a debit card from chase but that doesn’t actually help me build my credit. I also have an American Express as additional cardholder but that is connected to my husbands account so I‘m not sure if that helps me anyhow.
Any tips are greatly appreciated!

Get a prepaid card from a bank and buy stuff and pay it off... itll build credit.

Put for example comcast in your name and make the monthly payments.

[KM24]

I used a card through firstprogress.com to build credit when I first got here. It's a secured card, so the credit limit is set by how much you put down against it, and the minimum is $300 I think. But they report to the credit companies, and after a while I was able to get a loan for a used car and continue building from there.

Thanks for the tip that’s what I was looking for! How long did it take until you had an acceptable credit score from the card? And did you need to have a job/prove income to get it?

[seattlefiler2017]

This is a great question.

1. As suggested you should look at getting a secured credit card. It basically is a credit card which is mapped against the bank balance or against a collatoral with a low limit but as you improve your credit you can get an credit increase. That said, review multiple credit cards to see which ones works best for you - https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/secured

2. If you have some source of income and have had your SSN for a while, I would recommend going for a chase freedom or a Discover IT card. When I started building my credit in late 2015 I started with the Chase freedom and the next year got a discover IT card. Since you already have a bank account with Chase, the freedom card is a good choice as a starter card

3. With regards to how long you take to build good credit, the honest answer to that is it depends a lot on you - Make your payments on time, Try not to carry a balance over 1-3% of your credit limit and ensure you never have your credit cards maxed out on the day of reporting since you want to show that you are not relying on credit cards alone for all your payments

Also I would recommend spending time on the Credit Karma and other forums to learn more about how to improve your credit history fast

I never had to pull my credit score until recently since we needed to get a house loan but it was 770 + with just 2 credit cards and payments on time every month for the last 2.5 years.

[KM24]

This is a great question.

1. As suggested you should look at getting a secured credit card. It basically is a credit card which is mapped against the bank balance or against a collatoral with a low limit but as you improve your credit you can get an credit increase. That said, review multiple credit cards to see which ones works best for you - https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/secured

2. If you have some source of income and have had your SSN for a while, I would recommend going for a chase freedom or a Discover IT card. When I started building my credit in late 2015 I started with the Chase freedom and the next year got a discover IT card. Since you already have a bank account with Chase, the freedom card is a good choice as a starter card

3. With regards to how long you take to build good credit, the honest answer to that is it depends a lot on you - Make your payments on time, Try not to carry a balance over 1-3% of your credit limit and ensure you never have your credit cards maxed out on the day of reporting since you want to show that you are not relying on credit cards alone for all your payments

Also I would recommend spending time on the Credit Karma and other forums to learn more about how to improve your credit history fast

I never had to pull my credit score until recently since we needed to get a house loan but it was 770 + with just 2 credit cards and payments on time every month for the last 2.5 years.

Great tips, thank you very much!! We are also hoping to finance a house within the next two years so I wanted to get started early on this

[randompeasant]

Thanks for the tip that’s what I was looking for! How long did it take until you had an acceptable credit score from the card? And did you need to have a job/prove income to get it?

Hmm, looking back over my records, it was about 7 or 8 months between getting that card and qualifying for the car loan. and it looks like a year later I qualified for an unsecured card.

I didn't need to prove income to get it, I just needed to have the money for that secured balance.

And of course, had to use the card. So I'd do things like pay for gas, then go home and send the payment right away so that there was activity, but always a balance I was paying off.