Welcome to the myFICO forums!
Ultimately, what a person needs to improve their FICO scores and build credit are three open credit cards (secured or unsecured) in good standing and one open installment loan in good standing such as a car, home, student, personal, share secured, or credit building loan. This combination is what the myFICO score theorists here have determined is what you need for optimal credit building and FICO score. You can have more CCs and more installment loans, however, this will not increase your FICO scores.
Next, is paying in full all of the credit card balances each month, before the posting date, except one. This is called the All Zero Except One (AZEO) method. The one credit card you allow to post a balance needs to be less than 8.9% of the credit limit of the card. So using one card each month to buy lunch, letting it report and then paying in full will maximize FICO scoring.
The installment loan will have its greatest impact on your FICO score when the amount owed is at its smallest such as a few months before the loan is paid in full. If you don't have an installment loan you can check into SelfLender or a Share Secured Loan at a Credit Union.
Keep in mind, building credit is a marathon, not a sprint. It involves demonstrating to a potential creditor that a person can handle credit responsibly. Having open, active accounts that are being paid on time and low credit utilization is the fastest way to build good, solid credit.
@Anonymous wrote:Hello all,
First post, been reading the forum for a while, it is a really great resource. Thanks to all who contribute.
So, I moved to the US two years ago from the UK and I'm hoping to get some advice on growing my credit rating.
Currenty I have an EX score of 719, and a TU score of 740. EQ can't seem to find me for some reason so no score for them. Financial providers being unable to identify me has happened a few times when trying to open checking/savings accounts etc.
Current Cards - I am an AU on my wife's Chase Freedom. In addition, in my own name, I also have a BoA Virgin Atlantic white card, and an Amex EDC, although these are only a couple of months old. My AAOA is just 2 years 9 months. Total credit limit accross all three cards is $13,000 ($6,500 Chase, $4,500 BoA & $2,000 Amex), utilisation varies at points during the month, but we try to make regular payments to keep it under 10%. Household income is around $150,000, no debts, and no mortage as we rent.
All balances are paid in full at the end of the billing period, have never carried a balance and no black marks on my report and only 2 hard inquiries on there (BoA and Amex). Chase is mainly used a couple of times a month just to keep it active (Netflix etc.), Amex we use for groceries and day-to-day spends, and the BoA is used mainly by my wife on her day to day stuff and when we book flights with Virgin Atlantic (maybe 4+ times a year).
So my question is, what should I look to do next in order to grow my credit rating, limit and file? Just keep doing what I am currently doing? Look to get other cards? We travel a fair amount visiting family, so have been looking at CSR and Amex Plat for the lounge access and other travel perks, but I'm worried an application for them would be an application too far, too soon. In addition, my wife is a little worried about having many more new credit applications hit her/my report etc.
Like I say, my main concern is maintaining and growing my fledgling CR! Any advice greatfully recieved. Thanks!
Welcome to the forums. You're off to a great start so my advice is to continue on your current course and not get caught up in applying for too many credit cards. 
How long have you had the two cards that are in your name, and what is your average age of accounts excluding the authorized user (Chase) account? To generate FICO scores you need an account that reports to the three major credit bureaus for at least 6 months. So if the two cards in your name are less than 6 months old its possible that Equifax does not yet have enough data to generate a score.
The most logical place to obtain credit is with your existing/current creditors. Bank of America issued cards can grow very quickly because they allow you to apply for credit increases via "soft pulls" every three months. Similarly your American Express credit limit can also grow quickly. Amex allows you to request 3 times your current credit limit after having a card for 61 days; then you can ask for additional increases every 180 days.
Again, I'd caution you against opening new credit cards too rapidly; there's a significant FICO score penalty if your average age of accounts falls below 2 years, and another one every time you apply for a new card and the age of your youngest account resets to zero (nought). So you're better off growing the credit limits on your existing cards rather than opening new ones. I suspect your AAoA is over 2 years because of the authorized user account, and some lenders will discount the presence of an AU account when making lending decisions.
It will be difficult for you to obtain a premium card like the CSR on your own unless you have a depository relationship with Chase Bank...and they typically like to see an AAoA of over 1 year (excluding AU accounts) for their basic cards like the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited and even longer for their flagship CSR card. Its slightly different with Amex since as your relationship with them develops they will give you pre-approvals for all the other cards they issue.
Good luck.
Welcome, @Anonymous.
Here's the big share secure loan technique thread. Check out the first three posts. Then jump to the last couple of months of posts at the end of the thread.
We really know the ages of your two cards. The two cards you have now should position you for nice products. Knowing the ages of your cards will help us advise you as to the best time to apply for something new.