Building my Credit Score

[qwoppy 1]

Hi,

 

So I've been in the US a few months now, and admittedly I should have perhaps looked into this earlier, but better late than never. My wife has a high credit score, we're fairly sure it's "excellent". As far as I'm aware, I don't have a credit score. I tried to check via credit karma, but I don't think i've been in the country long enough for the database to find me. 

 

So, my wife has a credit card with USBank. Can I get added to this in some way that I can be building my credit score up on the sidelines? 

 

Thanks

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I would start out with your own secured card.  Use it and pay it off monthly 

[qwoppy 1]

1 minute ago, Transborderwife said:

I would start out with your own secured card.  Use it and pay it off monthly 

Why not get added to my wife's card? Is there something against that? 

[Transborderwife 4,666]

6 minutes ago, qwoppy said:

Why not get added to my wife's card? Is there something against that? 

It's not as effective 

[POA 175]

18 minutes ago, qwoppy said:

Hi,

 

So I've been in the US a few months now, and admittedly I should have perhaps looked into this earlier, but better late than never. My wife has a high credit score, we're fairly sure it's "excellent". As far as I'm aware, I don't have a credit score. I tried to check via credit karma, but I don't think i've been in the country long enough for the database to find me. 

 

So, my wife has a credit card with USBank. Can I get added to this in some way that I can be building my credit score up on the sidelines? 

 

Thanks

Yes you can. My husband added me so we have had joint since then. 

[A'n'L 735]

I was added to my husband's AmEx, six months later my credit score is good+. 

[E and R 8]

We did secured credit card.  Banks require a Soc Number.  Can't be on a mortgage with BoA unless you have two years of credit history.

[Philly512 26]

That is exactly what my husband did for me and in less than 6 months I had a nice credit score 

[Becci391 339]

My husband and I opened a joint bank account with BoA yesterday. Both of us have a ATM card and I have a secured Credit Card.

As previous mentioned by others, paying your credit bill when it's required will help you to get a good credit score. I have to start building my own too.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Becci391

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

2 hours ago, qwoppy said:

Hi,

 

So I've been in the US a few months now, and admittedly I should have perhaps looked into this earlier, but better late than never. My wife has a high credit score, we're fairly sure it's "excellent". As far as I'm aware, I don't have a credit score. I tried to check via credit karma, but I don't think i've been in the country long enough for the database to find me. 

 

So, my wife has a credit card with USBank. Can I get added to this in some way that I can be building my credit score up on the sidelines? 

 

Thanks

You can either be joint or authorized user- Just make sure that the bank reports authorized users, if you choose this and also and that the bank reports to all three major credit bureaus.  Other than that I agree with also getting a secured credit card in your own name. At some places you might be able to get a an unsecured one but probably with a low credit line, which can be an ok start if you keep the utilization below 20% and pay in full after each closing date. I chose secured partly because I could then decide how much to put into it myself and at BofA it will mature to an unsecured card after some time. After 4 months my score ws 751. If your wife has a good score definitely piggy-back on that, it reports just as any other credit for most banks and credit unions when you are a spouse and will build your score just as good. 

[qwoppy 1]

Thanks for the help, I'll get myself sorted this week. Luckily we don't plan on owning a place anytime soon, so we're not worried about mortgages, I just know a good credit score is a good thing to have. 

 

I'll try and get added to my wife's account, and also see if I can get a secured credit card with the bank I have my checking account with.

[kzielu 1,147]

10 hours ago, qwoppy said:

Why not get added to my wife's card? Is there something against that? 

There is not. As an authorized user, it really doesn't give you any benefit though. And credit scores people quickly see pop up aren't real either, they're not the ones real lenders use anyway (which recently has been in the news that two out of three credit rating agencies were providing "estimated" scores). Get your own card when you can.

[Michael2017 368]

Go To Bank of America, get your own secured credit card. After 1 year, it will be transformed into a normal credit card. Do not spend more than 10% of your credit line per months and pay the debt when required. This way, your Credit Score will hit 600 after 6-8 months. Once it reached 600, get a high limit credit card, and spend again only 10% or less of your available credit. Within 12-14 months you will have an excellent credit score.

[DaveNot 55]

I did it with a secured card and checking account (checking account was required, but doesn't build a score). Six months later I had a clear established score and went unsecured with a different company and kept my secure card too. After about a year and a few cards (all paid on time), my score hit 750. You can check using credit karma, it is free and they even have an app.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

2 hours ago, kzielu said:

There is not. As an authorized user, it really doesn't give you any benefit though. And credit scores people quickly see pop up aren't real either, they're not the ones real lenders use anyway (which recently has been in the news that two out of three credit rating agencies were providing "estimated" scores). Get your own card when you can.

This is not true. 

1. Yes being an authorized user as a SPOUSE, and when the terms say so (which they normally do for spouses) reports the EXACT same thing for the 2 spouses.

2. Yes, there are also estimated scores that you can specifically request when there is no history. I got one of those when they first applied for my credit card. They have to estimate a score if you apply that early. That score was around 550-560.

I have since then built my score like anyone else. I've been in contact with ALL THREE BUREAUS AND MY CREDIT PROVIDER ON MULTIPLE OCCASSIONS .... my own account and the account where I'm authorized user report in the exact same way. I have even gotten my credit reports where I can see this. It is a TRUE score.  NOT an estimated score. (For example calculated by FICO 8 software algorithm)

Edited March 27, 2017 by Suss&Camm