How do you begin to establish credit if you have none?

Answer 1

If you have a checking account, number one make sure that it's in good standing. Secondly, get a savings account. The easiest way to get a credit card is to get an secured one. How that works is that you have a savings account that you pretty much use to guarantee the amount of what you're borrowing. Some banks offer secured cards to help you get your credit started. Once you get that then you might want to try out this website: http://prbc.com/consumers

This is an agency that actually reports like the "big 3" credit bureaus. The difference is that it reports your payment history, more importantly. They use what's called a BPS (Bill Payment Score) which can be used in addition to your traditional credit reports. Also they offer a bill payment service in which you register with them, you You can have all of your payments sent out online as you would if you did it through your bank. It's $4.95 a month, but that's a small price to pay not only to have your good credit reported every month

Answer 2

The best way to establish credit is prove you are responsible with it. Getting a credit card and paying it off every month is a good place to start. Another way of establishing credit is to get a small loan. Since you have no credit, you will probably have to start with maybe a couple of hundred dollars or you'll risk having huuuuge interest rates. If you want to start building credit TODAY, go to some place like Sears and open a store card, buy something cheap and pay it off tomorrow. Then, every six months or so, call your credit card and store card companies and ask to have your limit raised. Credit scores are raised by the amount of credit you have available vs. the amount you are using. Also, pay the $10 per month and subscribe to a credit service. They'll let you know when anything psoitive or negative effects your acore.

Answer 3

1. If you have a cell phone they will report it to a credit agency, but usually only if you ask them.
2. Take out a small persnal loan. Open a savings account with about $500 and talk to a loan officer about getting a loan for the same amount and paying it off over 12 months. Use the money from the savings to pay off the debt.
3. Apply for a couple credit cards. Look for ones that do not have an annual fee. You can usually get one that will have a $200 credit limit, and you can ask for the limit to be raised after a few months of paying on time. Try to have more than one in good standing, meaning you pay it down or off each month....and avoid just paying the minimum balance..the interest rate goes up if you do this.
4. Car loan....if you need a car of course.

***Things you would think raise your score, but actually do not: cell phone if you don't ask for it to be, rental history, bank accounts (they only affect your credit if they are CLOSED because of a neglected negative balance, utility bills....

Answer 4

If you are able to get a credit card, even if it's a bum deal for it (annual fee), you charge small amounts each month and pay them back on time. Try to stay away from cards that want to charge you a monthly fee, though, and be sure to check the interest rate because some are in the 25 to 30 percent range. If you go to www.bankrate.com you should be able to view various cards and their rates.

Write down your questions and discuss thoroughly with customer service before applying so you don't get hit with unexpected fees and rates. There are some pretty stinky card companies out there who want nothing more than to rip you off as much as they can. If you have a friend who will help you look over the agreement and come up with questions for customer service, then ask for help. My experience is that you need to call customer service three times with the same exact set of questions and make sure all their answers match each other. This helps guard against misunderstandings and outright lies.

Answer 5

Start simple. A gas card from Mobil, Total, BP, get the card and pay it off every month, keep it in good standing. Also, having a bank account that is very rarely or never NSF, non-sufficient funds. In 6 - 12 months you can look at getting a visa/mastercard that has a low credit limit. In time they'll offer you higher credit limits, but if the cards are in good standing and you're satisfied with the credit limit, when they offer to increase the limit say 'No, Thanks, but what can you do for me on the annual interest rate?'

Answer 6

The easiest way would be pay credit obligations on time, like cell phone, and such over time that builds credit, also small personal loans, call finace agencies but be careful not all of them report to all three credit reporting agencies(equifax,trans-union,experian) when you call them tell them you wanting to establish some credit line usually they'll be willing to grant you a credit starter loan(1-300 dollars)

Answer 7

Well do you have any bills at all? If you have income start to acrue a few bills to pay such as cell phone, rent, etc. If you pay your bills on time that counts towards your credit rating too. If you've got a bank account and have never overdrawn it they notice that too. I just recently got my full credit report and was amazed at how it pretty much documented my life for the last 17 years--everyplace I paid rent, every utility company I ever paid bills to, every bank we ever had a checking account at. It was amazing to me to see how each person had put their little stamp of approval on us--no lates, no lates. We never used a credit card for years and had very few loans other than a small car loan and our credit rating was pretty good never the less.

Answer 8

the most guaranteed way is to get a secured credit card. my first card was one to were i had to deposit $250 in a bank account that i could not withdraw from. my credit limit was $300 - the fees. the day i got the card it had 20 left to spend. i paid the minimum payment for a few months, got alot nicer card and used it to pay off the higher intrest rate card. i believe my secured card had a 6 month term, so that after the 6 months, i received my deposit back.

Answer 9

get a prepaid credit card:

Though prepaid credit cards resemble debit credit cards a lot, the two are vastly different. When you use debit cards for any purchase, your shopping will be automatically debited from your bank account. On other hand, the purchases made with prepaid cards are deducted from the balance present on the card.

The prepaid cards offer various benefits like:

Interest-free purchases

People with a bad credit history are eligible to apply for a credit card.

The credit limit varies according to the balance available on the card.

Answer 10

Go to http://www.cardweb.com and find yourself a secured credit card. This is a card you put money into, like a savings account, and then you can use it like a charge card. Since you have to have that security deposit, getting a secured card rarely requires any kind of credit check.

Make sure you make all of your payments on time, and the secured card will begin to build your credit.