My wife literally has nothing on her credit report! What type of CC to build credit?

[joevdenne]

I wanted to start a MYFico subscription for my wife but it would not work.  When I called they said it was because there was nothing to report good or bad.  My wife has no credit history.  I am wondering if she can apply for unsecured CC's to build her credit or if she will have to use secured CC's?  She moved her from the Philippines 5 years ago.  So, that is why she has no credit history.  

[Anonymous]

Try the Cap1 prequal page. She might have to go the secured route. Another option is if you have a card (with good history and UTI) that is older than 6 months add her as an AU which will 'give' her the history of your card. Then when she gets some cards of her own remove her from your card.

[RonM21]

As said above, checking the prequal is probably a good idea. It's a safe bet that she may have to get s secured card first. But if handled properly, she can gain a lot of ground in a short time.

[Anonymous]

This was my 20 year old daughter's situation at the beginning of the year.  I added her as an authorized user to two of our cards, waited for them to report, then she had a fico score and was able to get her own credit card right away.

[Anonymous]

This is where I was five years ago.

I started off with a Cap 1 Plat.  Did not take long to get a house, two LOCs, $100k in CLs, and (until recently), 700+ FICO 8.

I'd say start with Cap 1.  If no prequals, try for the Plat anyway (surely she has the HPs to spare).  If she takes care of the Cap 1, it will take about 6 months for her file to start looking nice enough to grow from there.

If she can't get the Plat, she can always ask for the secured card.

[jamesdwi]

make her an authorized user on one or more of your credit cards,  you don't even have to give her a card,  wait 2-3 months,   when 1 or more are reporting, give capitalone a try. Have helped several people this way, they never recieve the card,  CapOne give you the option to not even ship a card out.  They are usually quite freindly to people who are authorized users of there cards with no major baddies a few collections are okay if they are old. 

[Anonymous]

try discover. slim to no credit, there's a better chance of an approval compared to other 'unsecured card' lenders. if denied, there might be a counter offer of a secured card  from them. *my friend who's an immigrant was approved with 1.5k limit. she had no credit at the time but was banking with wells fargo and had been working for 3 yrs already. <- idk if these were factors or non-factors but i thought i'd mention them. good luck! 

[takeshi74]

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@joevdenne wrote:

I am wondering if she can apply for unsecured CC's to build her credit or if she will have to use secured CC's?

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We can't guarantee anything either way.  If she can't get approved for unsecured then she will need to go secured.  Adding her as an AU to accounts in good standing* may help with some creditors.

* i.e. don't add her to account with derogs, negative payment history, high revolving utilization, etc.

[mitchblue]

Just cosign on a card. Discover is a good choice. That's what I did a few years ago with no credit report. My Dad cosigned for me.

Edit: Assuming you have solid credit.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This was my 20 year old daughter's situation at the beginning of the year.  I added her as an authorized user to two of our cards, waited for them to report, then she had a fico score and was able to get her own credit card right away.

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Good plan.