had bank of america account for over 1 year with no social security number added to it

[dougie109]

Hi,

I am an international student who is planning on staying in the states when i graduate from university and I want to build credit. I got a campus job and acquired my social security number through that. I have had a bank of america bank account for over a year and just recently opened a chase chequing and savings account.

My question is, does having that bank of america account for that year help with my credit? or is it a matter of time, like 6  months, until some sort of credit score will show up on the myfico page?

currently it says it couldn't find a score.

Thanks very much

Douglas

[Creditaddict]

Checking accounts will not show up on your credit unless maybe you default and they send you for collections.  You will have to get an actual credit card to help build.  Best Buy Mastercard will give you a $100 line with no credit score from what I have seen.

Possibly a better option would be getting a secured card through Bank of America.

[dougie109]

thanks for the very fast reply.

I would rather not get a best buy card knowing that if i get one, and want to close it, my score will take a ding. Or will it?

I would like to eventually get...

Bank of america Mastercard

Amex card

and Chase Freedom.

I just need to build credit to get to this point.

if you could just break down the best way for me to do this, that would be great.

Cheers

Douglas

[Anonymous]

Given your history, I would recommend talking to BofA first.  They will give you some helpful info regarding a secured or unsecured card.  If you bring in a copy of your credit report, that may help them give you some insight as well.

[Creditaddict]

Closing the Best Buy MC 6 months down the road would not really hurt you, the positive account history will stay on your reports.

However if you have some cash, I would probably prefer to open a Bank of America Secured card with 500-1000, in 6 months you would then have a credit score and could apply for the zync card, then 3 months from that, your bank of america would be 9 months old and you can ask it to be graduated to unsecured and they usually will give a $500 CLI when doing this.

once you obtain a credit score at 6 months, you should look at the Citi Forward also, they have been really pushing that card lately and it usually comes with very nice limits and citi is known for cli every 3 months through the button online.

[dougie109]

Hi,

So i have some updates. So i applied for best buy credit card and got denied as they say " 

LIMITED ACTIVE ACCOUNTS OR DEBTS REPORTED

so this is becoming more of a problem. Bank of america told me that they will have to wait until i get some sort of credit established before they will even issue me a secured card.

my question now would be, what if i got one of those walmart prepaid cards that you pay 10 bucks a month for it to report to the credit beareu?

would this be a good idea or would it just be best to wait the 6 months that my fico says to wait before credit will be established?

thanks again for your time.

Douglas

[voidman]

Maybe you should look for a students credit card.

[dougie109]

its beyond this. They will not grant me a credit card because of the new social security number. Im just trying to advance my situation and see if its possible or a good idea even to get one of those credit building cards that walmart sells through i believe its green dot. or if this would be a bad idea?

have have denied me form chase and from bank of america because of the limited account status

[voidman]

I wasnt a student when I got my secured card, I got my secured card from Wells Fargo after 1 month of getting my social security.

But I did have my banking account with them. maybe you should try your bank if they giveout any secured cards.

I am a non-immigrant too.

[dougie109]

Thanks alot for the input. I have been with bank of america for over a year now and they were the first ones to turn me down, i have had the social for less than 3 weeks but from what it seems its still not established. Chase called me today asking me to verify the number as they cannot pull up any record of the number. i verifed the number and called social security and they said its just been established. so maybe its takes some time. im hoping to get this credit building card even if i have to pay 10 bucks a month to do it and have decent credit in 6 months to get better rate cards.