Building up credit

[Faycel and Renee 30]

What I did was apply for a secured card with Capital One and started establishing credit with them. When my husband came I added him on as a authorized user and he got his own credit card. Keep in mind that you can only spend whats available.

Once my husband started using the credit card, he then applied for his very own account using a secured method. Now his score is higher then mine and in a short time. We also have the Capital One 360. Now hes getting all of these offers for unsecured credit, but as I told him its better to stick with Capital one cause in the end if he ever messed up then they would always take him back.

Of all the credit cards out there Capital One is my all time favorite. I just opened a savings with them as well.

Hope all the info you are getting helps you.

Good luck

Edited May 21, 2015 by Faycel and Renee

[Derbo/Yamkins 4]

My first credit card was with Capital One. They have one for immigrants/no credit. $0 annual fee. They upgraded mine after a year.

http://www.creditcards.com/no-credit-history.php

[katebug86 1]

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.

This is incorrect. Adding an authorized user WILL change your credit score as all 3 credit agencies will report on both users. I have confirmed this with AMEX and Capital One after adding my husband. Secondly, Capital One is a great card for people who are not yet US citizens as they offer some of the best rates on secured credit cards. My husband just received his and he is not yet LPR.

[yanno 3]

as an F1 student with no job, i firstly applied for capital one and got rejected. I also tried store credit at jc penney and same result. I then went to a bank of America ( i had both checking and saving with them at that time. I don't know if this contributed ) and explain my situation. They asked me how much money i make a year. I said none on my own but i do receive a monthly transfer from my parents to my checking. They then checked and approved me on the spot for an unsecured card with $ 700 limit. I always paid in full on time and 6 months later, i started receiving invitations from all the major credit card company out there.

[mallafri76 1,012]

Depending on how much money you have in your bank account, wouldn't that help build a credit score?! Or is it just based on how good you are with handling your credit and they don't care how much money you have in the bank or can save up?

By the way, found this link to Forbes, discussing how to improve your credit score:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2014/05/02/11-ways-to-raise-your-credit-score-fast/

[ggodoi 9]

Ppl gave a lot of good tips but also some don't know what they are talking about. Go to myfico.com and read their forum section. It's like reading VJ forum lots of good information there. You will learn everything you need to know, which lenders are easy to get approved with low and no score at all, which cards are better and how to use them to efficiently increase your score.

Some people here said that adding to a phone bill and paying on time helps, I personally doubt that because phone companies and any other utility company don't report to the bureaus.

There is so much to learn about credit and in VJ you won't learn 1% of it. Go to myfico.com and read their forum like you do here.

[ggodoi 9]

Depending on how much money you have in your bank account, wouldn't that help build a credit score?! Or is it just based on how good you are with handling your credit and they don't care how much money you have in the bank or can save up?

By the way, found this link to Forbes, discussing how to improve your credit score:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2014/05/02/11-ways-to-raise-your-credit-score-fast/

Money in the bank does not affect credit score at all.

[ggodoi 9]

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/?cm_sp=mobile-_-bottom-_-community

Here is the link to Myfico.com forum.

[mallafri76 1,012]

I don't get the American credit score at all. So if someone just moves to the US and brings with them $100,000 to put in the bank, the credit score will still be bad??? A credit score is just about how you handle your credit and has nothing to do with your income or savings, so even if you don't need to buy something on credit, you should still do it just to improve your credit score, is that how it works???

[Teddy B 17,252]

I don't get the American credit score at all. So if someone just moves to the US and brings with them $100,000 to put in the bank, the credit score will still be bad??? A credit score is just about how you handle your credit and has nothing to do with your income or savings, so even if you don't need to buy something on credit, you should still do it just to improve your credit score, is that how it works???

credit

[ ˈkredit ]

NOUN

the ability of a customer to obtain goods or services before payment, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future:

Having money in the bank doesn't necessarily mean a person is credit worthy, it's also based on one's word to pay back a loan.

[ggodoi 9]

I don't get the American credit score at all. So if someone just moves to the US and brings with them $100,000 to put in the bank, the credit score will still be bad??? A credit score is just about how you handle your credit and has nothing to do with your income or savings, so even if you don't need to buy something on credit, you should still do it just to improve your credit score, is that how it works???

Correct, they wana see your ability to handle credit and pay on time. How much money you have dnt matter. I pay EVERYTHING with a credit card (even my apartment rent) and pay it all back before statement cuts. I have many cards that give me miles and cash back so as long as I am not carrying a balance from month to month ( which would lead to be charged interest ) it is a win win when you use credit card.

Quoting what you said " you should buy on credit to improve credit" that's not necessarily right, using credit dnt improve the score, there are many factors that influence the score like length of account history, payments on time, credit mix (revolving credit, mortgage, car loan, personal loan) all this things have different affects on the score.

I already posted but I will say it one more time, lol GO TO http://ficoforums.myfico.com/?cm_sp=mobile-_-bottom-_-community

Finding myfico.com 3 years ago was one of the best things that happened to me.

[Pheebs1201 269]

We joined a credit union and I am an authorised signer on his credit card for now

[Saffer 27]

Banks love keeping people in debt. Being a cash millionaire means nothing to them. They want interest from loans.

[templeton 120]

Cash in the bank can augment your perceived worthiness when it comes to a mortgage or larger purchases, but for credit cards it's not really something they're concerned about.

[Dianna. 5]

Wow, thanks everyone for all the advice and help.

I think I will get my partner to add me as an authorized user to the store credit card (the debt ratio is way below 40%) and try to get an unsecured credit card at the credit union. They told me if I have a co-signer then it will help me get approved for one. Failing that I will go for the Capital One secured card that everyone here has recommended.

Nick-Nick is right. I should've done this sooner. Especially since I will need evidence to remove the two year conditions. So maybe I should be on the store credit card as a joint holder instead of an authorized user? My partner already has a credit card with the credit union but the debt ratio is above the 40% mark. Unless they can also issue another card but as joint instead? I'm just confused now. It seems like it would solve both issues; credit built along with evidence. Unless it's too soon and I need to be an authorized user first since I have no credit?

So taking that into consideration, what should I do? Thanks again!