Non-Student Building Credit History From Scratch

[Jazee]

I have a friend that is having to re-build their credit history as even though they are in their 50's, they had no past account history on their current credit reports. They signed up for a secured credit card to start.  What would be the best next steps to take? I would assume they would want to wait 6 months before applying for an unsecured card?  What should their minimum FICO score be before applying for an unsecured card and what are good cards to consider at that minimum FICO score level?

[Anonymous]

Experian on first timer to credit 

The general way to build it fast is AUs and SSLT via NFCU (or some other CUs)

Unsecured credit is fairly easy to get with 6+ months of credit history 

Not eligible for Navy? Kikoff offers a free credit builder loan for those that want a completely free and streamlined (albeit not as good) option.

[Red1Blue]

From the looks of it they have good job and income. If that is the case they can look into applying for these cards.  They do not look for the credit report and scores for approval. They approve by the bank account and balance. They report to all 3 Credit Bureaus and help them in building the credit.

1.Grain Credit

2. Tomo Credit

3. X1 Card ( This is still in works but another good option when it is available)

They can also look into Shopping Card Trick.  You can search this forum and you'll find the information on SCT. Good Luck.

[Harvey26]

@JazeeI would also check with there bank if they have a good relationship they may approve them without the credit history

[Jazee]

Well they are just about to have over 6 month good payment history with their secured card.  Unfortunately they are a writer and have pretty low income (< $30K), which has taken a further hit this year due to COVID.  They have no outstanding debt but probably going to be lucky to clear $20K in 2019.  I was thinking with 7 months of good payment history , they should check their credit score and then see which cards most likely would approve them, or would there be few or none with that lack of long history and low income?

[Red1Blue]

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@Jazee wrote:

Well they are just about to have over 6 month good payment history with their secured card.  Unfortunately they are a writer and have pretty low income (< $30K), which has taken a further hit this year due to COVID.  They have no outstanding debt but probably going to be lucky to clear $20K in 2019.  I was thinking with 7 months of good payment history , they should check their credit score and then see which cards most likely would approve them, or would there be few or none with that lack of long history and low income?

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Question is what are they trying to accomplish ? What is the end goal ? There are many different options. Every one has to start at some place and not having a thick credit report is not a stumbling block. They can try for Amex Charge Card, Discover Card even City or Capital One card. Credit Unions or local Banks are also very good. Worst case they would have few inquiries on the report which will drop off in 2 years any way. I would say go for Amex and Discover and see what the outcome is. Petal is another good card for starters. There is no venture no gain. Or they can apply for 2 more secured cards. US Bank, SDFCU secured cards become unsecure after 12 months. They can also try for Blaze Mastercard which is easy to get approved for. It all depends on what their goals and what they are trying to accomplish in building credit.