Building up credit

[Dianna. 5]

I need to build up my credit here in the US. I have a bank account with the credit union but they do not offer secured credit cards.

So I was thinking about my options because I really do not want to be denied since that will affect my credit score.

My partner has excellent credit (800 range) so is it safe to get a credit card and have them co-sign? We are both at the same bank so do you think they'd approve me for an unsecured credit card with a low limit? We do not have joint accounts.

Also, my partner has a store credit card and is paying off a $500.00 balance with the minimum payment each month.

Would it be a good idea to have my name added to that account? We never miss a payment on it. Will this help my credit score?

[clairegie 265]

I was wondering the same thing. Hope someone can help us out soon

[PK and PK 13]

I need to build up my credit here in the US. I have a bank account with the credit union but they do not offer secured credit cards.

So I was thinking about my options because I really do not want to be denied since that will affect my credit score.

My partner has excellent credit (800 range) so is it safe to get a credit card and have them co-sign? We are both at the same bank so do you think they'd approve me for an unsecured credit card with a low limit? We do not have joint accounts.

Also, my partner has a store credit card and is paying off a $500.00 balance with the minimum payment each month.

Would it be a good idea to have my name added to that account? We never miss a payment on it. Will this help my credit score?

I know Wells Fargo has secured credit cards. You can also get a store card from Target, Kohl's etc pretty easily. They will be low limit but get one you will need to use regularly. Within 6 months, you should get offers for better unsecured credit cards. Start using those and pay back properly and within an year you should get a great credit score.

[ChicagoSarah 127]

Your bank will probably give you a credit card if your husband has a long and successful history with them. We bank with Chase, and they gave my husband a low limit credit card based on my relationship with them. We then has him use that (not exceeding 20% of his limit each month and paying it in full) for about 6 months and then he was able to apply for an airline CC (which I think we ultimately needed Chase to again push through, but they did so without issue). Also had him added as primary to our electric bill (this took some hoop-jumping) as soon as possible. Not sure how much this helped, but it definitely didn't hurt.

He's been here 1.5 years and we just bought a house, so everything we did seems to have paid off. He could have gotten the mortgage himself without issue based on his own credit score and income at this point.

My advice is to add your name to anything and everything you can right out of the gate. Building credit is such a hassle

[clairegie 265]

Your bank will probably give you a credit card if your husband has a long and successful history with them. We bank with Chase, and they gave my husband a low limit credit card based on my relationship with them. We then has him use that (not exceeding 20% of his limit each month and paying it in full) for about 6 months and then he was able to apply for an airline CC (which I think we ultimately needed Chase to again push through, but they did so without issue). Also had him added as primary to our electric bill (this took some hoop-jumping) as soon as possible. Not sure how much this helped, but it definitely didn't hurt.

He's been here 1.5 years and we just bought a house, so everything we did seems to have paid off. He could have gotten the mortgage himself without issue based on his own credit score and income at this point.

My advice is to add your name to anything and everything you can right out of the gate. Building credit is such a hassle

I was added on my husband's Navy Fed account. So whatever purchases he makes will reflect on both our credit scores?

[ChicagoSarah 127]

A quick google search makes it appear Navy Fed may be reporting out to the credit bureaus for authorized users, but I'd give them a call and check - they also distinguish between joint user and authorized user, so I'm not sure of the differences and implications. If it's been more than 6 months since you were added, maybe pull your credit report and see what's being reported on it.

[waitingstill21 44]

If your husband adds you to his current account it will help, you will not only get credit for his future on time payments but the credit history for how long he has had the account will come along with it. What you need to check before hand though would be his balance to credit limit ratio, it needs to be under 40% or it could hurt your credit more than help even with ontime payments, so if the balance is 500 that hes paying down and his credit limit is 750 thats over 40% and could hurt your credit. There are several major credit card companies such as capital one and discover who offer secured cards that after a year of on time payments would be converted to unsecured.

Edited May 20, 2015 by yllas025

[bookworm123 7]

My husband literally added me as an auth user to all his credit cards(amex,discover,cap one etc).Really helped me build my score then after a couple of months I was approved for a store card then started applying for other cards too.Fast forward to today,I now have my own amex,discover,cap one and higher credit score than my husband,lol.Just watch out for utilization though.We keep it below 10% (people say below 30% is ideal) and never miss any payments.Good luck!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

There is a pinned topic on building credit in the Tax and Finances forum that might give you some good information.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/159-tax-finances-during-us-immigration/

My husband gained a credit score by being an authorized user (not joint owner) on several of my credit cards.

Also wanted to add that in just a year from now you will be gathering documents for removing conditions on your 2 year greencard. Joint bank and credit card accounts are good evidence. Your joint evidence needs to span the entire two years since your greencard was issued or since your marriage. You might want to get some joint accounts now since you've already been a full year without.

[JoBri 548]

When my wife wished to build her credit, she went to a local credit union and they worked with her to help her. They gave her a loan of $100 and then asked her to repay that loan in designated small increments. Then they gave her another larger loan and had her do the same thing again. That got the ball rolling. Soon she got offers for credit cards. She always paid on time when using them. Then she got approved for a car loan and paid always on time. She paid the rent and utilities month after month on time. Just last year she was approved at a very good rate for a house loan, and she bought the house and pays the mortgage every month on time. Her credit score is around 750 right now, but that is due to the fact her credit history is so short in this country. If she lived here longer her score would be much higher. As time passes her score keeps going higher as she continues to be financially responsible.

[visaqueries 111]

I added my huband to my Discover Card. They made him a joint account user. We also applied for a secured credit card, but because we were able to purchase a car and have him on the title with me, we canceled the secured credit card before it was issued. Almost immediately after that he was able to get two unsecured credit cards to start establishing his own credit.

[subwayguy 100]

I need to build up my credit here in the US. I have a bank account with the credit union but they do not offer secured credit cards.

So I was thinking about my options because I really do not want to be denied since that will affect my credit score.

My partner has excellent credit (800 range) so is it safe to get a credit card and have them co-sign? We are both at the same bank so do you think they'd approve me for an unsecured credit card with a low limit? We do not have joint accounts.

Also, my partner has a store credit card and is paying off a $500.00 balance with the minimum payment each month.

Would it be a good idea to have my name added to that account? We never miss a payment on it. Will this help my credit score?

Adding you as an authorised user does NOT raise or down your credit score at all.

On your credit report, you are reported as an authorised user. You cannot co-sign a credit card. When I first came to this country, I opened a credit card at macys using my passport, state ID and another credit card from my home country. It was opened on the spot and approved with 1,000 credit line. I let it sit there for few weeks and applied for a Bank of America credit card (not secured!) and was approved in few days.

I would also recommend you taking an AMEX charge card, since it is a charge card, it gets approved easier than regular credit cards. I almost had no problem with chase approving me . I wouldn't recommend capital one to ANYBODY, since they literally send me an approved offer every other month and each time i applied,I was declined with 3 hard pulls.

I remember Barclays representative told me i was declined because they only issue cards to US citizens.

[tomriesgo 39]

Maybe a bit late for you as you've already moved to the US but if you take out an amex in the UK you can actually transfer it to any country you move to and become a resident of, this is as simple as changing a few things online. I have a platinum card and as soon as I have a SSN I'll transfer my account to the US immediately moving my credit history with amex over.

[Operator 1,927]

Adding you as an authorised user does NOT raise or down your credit score at all.

On your credit report, you are reported as an authorised user. You cannot co-sign a credit card. When I first came to this country, I opened a credit card at macys using my passport, state ID and another credit card from my home country. It was opened on the spot and approved with 1,000 credit line. I let it sit there for few weeks and applied for a Bank of America credit card (not secured!) and was approved in few days.

I would also recommend you taking an AMEX charge card, since it is a charge card, it gets approved easier than regular credit cards. I almost had no problem with chase approving me . I wouldn't recommend capital one to ANYBODY, since they literally send me an approved offer every other month and each time i applied,I was declined with 3 hard pulls.

I remember Barclays representative told me i was declined because they only issue cards to US citizens.

I'm not sure that the bolded is correct but maybe you can point me in the right direction.

Different credit models take a different approach to authorized user credit. All FICO score versions include authorized user accounts so it will impact your credit both positively and negatively.

On the advice of my FP this is how we built my wife's credit along with a secured card from BOA. Within a few years her score was higher than mine and I am now an authorized user on all of her cards as well.

From the FICO website:

Authorized user of credit card

All FICO^® Score versions include authorized user credit card accounts when calculating a score. This can help people benefit from their shared management of a credit card account. It also helps lenders by providing scores that are based on a full snapshot of the consumer's credit history.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Operator

[TBoneTX 45,304]

*** Thread moved from the "Moving to the US" forum to the "Tax & Finances" forum, where similar issues are often discussed. ***