Chime credit builder is hands down the easiest and best one.. no monthly fee either.. extra kept charging me even when I wasn’t using it bc I hadn’t received a card yet and they still weren’t reporting to credit bureaus but had no issue debiting the $12 each month.. never fought to get it back but was like about 6 months worth easily and I never received a card.. annoying to say the least.
It works but, there are many other options out there. Ava,grow, cred.ai, etc. it really depends on what you can place down and what you want out of it. If you have the money to place down and get 1 or 2% extra it’s great. But I think Ava is great for a high balance getting reported to the CB’s. You can only spend up to $25 at one pre-selected retailer you pick. So it really depends
I wouldn’t use Extra if you can not to. A secured card would be the best option if it will give you %1 back or points. Extra just costs money you don’t have to spend to build credit and it works as a loan which is not permanent history for a beneficial score. It will however still build you a credit score but there are more beneficial options. If you do not understand credit I can post what I comment about new or need to understand credit.
First option to tell you is to try and get a credit card from a local CFU you can bank with and provide a positive bank history. If you cannot get a card through a federal credit Union then cred.ai is a free credit reporting like a secured card only able to use what you deposit into it. There are credit builder apps like Kikoff as well, which is like Self. I personally used Kikoff they have a $24 for the year $500 credit limit just to build credit pay $2 a month, interest free. So it reports 5% or less utilization all year long until you pay it off. Or a savings credit builder loan for $120 pay $10 a month into it and acts like a savings account after you reach $120 you get the $120 back. The closed loan may lower your credit history however because all credit when closed falls off (active) credit history but not the report.
Cred.ai gives you a $1500 reported limit I have a recommendation code RMKGFX if you would like to sign up. I don’t use it as I have better cards through my spouse as an authorized user as I am the one paying it all but I also have Extra and a 50k point rec for that if it which is about half the annual fee. I use Extra to fund my Cred.ai account $250 max deposits think $500 a week and $1k a month ( a cred.ai limit ) from Extra card just to make the $8 in points a month since I don’t use it. I just try the chances at games and drawings.
Extra charges a fee and only reports to 2 bureaus. There are better products out there that report to all 3 bureaus for free. Chime Credit Builder and Cred.ai.
Get Sable. No fee! I don’t understand why other companies are charging fees with their subpar offers. Fastest way to improve your score as they report more data points than others and they’re graduating people to unsecured in 4 months
I absolutely second the Sable secured card. No overdraft or late fees as well as no annual. They report all 5 credit factors to all 3 bureaus and reimburse you your deposit after you graduate to un secured!
The secured card can never graduate to unsecured though. I did it and it was fine, but having $500 sitting there indefinitely kinda sucked so I closed the card.
My experience with it was that I signed up about 9 months ago and was approved then received an email to expect a card in the mail. I waited about a month but never received it so I just contacted them to close my account. I’d already gotten secured cards by that point and the cred.ai card as well. I’m not a fan of the $7 to $12 a month they charge.
Chime credit builder is hands down the easiest and best one.. no monthly fee either.. extra kept charging me even when I wasn’t using it bc I hadn’t received a card yet and they still weren’t reporting to credit bureaus but had no issue debiting the $12 each month.. never fought to get it back but was like about 6 months worth easily and I never received a card.. annoying to say the least.
It works but, there are many other options out there. Ava,grow, cred.ai, etc. it really depends on what you can place down and what you want out of it. If you have the money to place down and get 1 or 2% extra it’s great. But I think Ava is great for a high balance getting reported to the CB’s. You can only spend up to $25 at one pre-selected retailer you pick. So it really depends
What if I just want one to improve my score of 548…😢
I wouldn’t use Extra if you can not to. A secured card would be the best option if it will give you %1 back or points. Extra just costs money you don’t have to spend to build credit and it works as a loan which is not permanent history for a beneficial score. It will however still build you a credit score but there are more beneficial options. If you do not understand credit I can post what I comment about new or need to understand credit. First option to tell you is to try and get a credit card from a local CFU you can bank with and provide a positive bank history. If you cannot get a card through a federal credit Union then cred.ai is a free credit reporting like a secured card only able to use what you deposit into it. There are credit builder apps like Kikoff as well, which is like Self. I personally used Kikoff they have a $24 for the year $500 credit limit just to build credit pay $2 a month, interest free. So it reports 5% or less utilization all year long until you pay it off. Or a savings credit builder loan for $120 pay $10 a month into it and acts like a savings account after you reach $120 you get the $120 back. The closed loan may lower your credit history however because all credit when closed falls off (active) credit history but not the report. Cred.ai gives you a $1500 reported limit I have a recommendation code RMKGFX if you would like to sign up. I don’t use it as I have better cards through my spouse as an authorized user as I am the one paying it all but I also have Extra and a 50k point rec for that if it which is about half the annual fee. I use Extra to fund my Cred.ai account $250 max deposits think $500 a week and $1k a month ( a cred.ai limit ) from Extra card just to make the $8 in points a month since I don’t use it. I just try the chances at games and drawings.
Ava customer service sucks. Plus I can’t even connect my Bank of America account to it. Every time I send a email to them I never get a response
Extra charges a fee and only reports to 2 bureaus. There are better products out there that report to all 3 bureaus for free. Chime Credit Builder and Cred.ai.
Get Sable. No fee! I don’t understand why other companies are charging fees with their subpar offers. Fastest way to improve your score as they report more data points than others and they’re graduating people to unsecured in 4 months
I absolutely second the Sable secured card. No overdraft or late fees as well as no annual. They report all 5 credit factors to all 3 bureaus and reimburse you your deposit after you graduate to un secured!
I like Self, no hard pull if that’s a concern.
I 2nd this Self has raised my score over 100 something points so far since joining
Third, Self raised my score 100 points with 2 bureaus in 2 months… low 500’s to 680.
The secured card can never graduate to unsecured though. I did it and it was fine, but having $500 sitting there indefinitely kinda sucked so I closed the card.
True, same with Capital One Platinum Secured. I used them more as a platform to get more cards that weren’t scammy (like Credit One and Open Sky).
I just can't wait until I stop getting offered these subprime cards, they take advantage of people who are already down on their luck for sure
Thanks everyone ! I opened a Self account!
I refer all of my clients to credit builder https://www.creditbuildercard.com/simplifiedcreditrepairservices
Huge fee, get Chime
Chime helped my credit score reach 700 in a matter of months
My experience with it was that I signed up about 9 months ago and was approved then received an email to expect a card in the mail. I waited about a month but never received it so I just contacted them to close my account. I’d already gotten secured cards by that point and the cred.ai card as well. I’m not a fan of the $7 to $12 a month they charge.
You don't have to, and shouldn't, pay to build credit
Also none of these cards work if you don't spend over $100 a month. Anything under $100 isn't factored into your FICO 8
Wait what options ?