No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
I researched dozens of local credit unions. Some have a secured loan and others have a credit builder loan. The secured loan option asked for money up front for most of the credit unions. The credit builder loan option doesn't require money upfront only a small monthly payment. When I did the credit builder loan with my local credit union I didn't have any fees or a credit check. The CU reported to all 3 CRA and the money I "paid" every month went to an interest bearing savings account.
Creditstrong.com is another good option to add with selflender.
Not sure I would go for that creditstrong deal. I don't need one of these anyway, so this does not affect me. But they are charging you 304 bucks for the one that saves 2000. I know SelfLender has fees too, but don't think they are that high.
@dynamicvb wrote:Not sure I would go for that creditstrong deal. I don't need one of these anyway, so this does not affect me. But they are charging you 304 bucks for the one that saves 2000. I know SelfLender has fees too, but don't think they are that high.
Where did you get this from? I only paid $9 and change to start mine up and it was only because I paid via debit card.
There is an $8.95 fee for all tiers (whether 12 month term or 24 month term), which is very comparable to SelfLender's.
Your info is incorrect!
Yeh I was wrong it’s 304 plus the 8.95 fee. Multiply 24 x 96 = 2304 for 2k back plus what ever little interest they pay.
@Medic981 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Stugotsv10 wrote:guess on that note my other question would be...
Does the amount of "Closed / paid off" loans on your report help? for example if one were to pay off a self lender account an open another one (I would imagine they would not care they make the $30 every time lol) so it would show 1 closed / perfect payment history and one open with perfect payment history.
Fico does in fact factor closed accounts in right? and with no credit check / inquiry this could in theory work right?
You are allowed to open a second Self-Lender account without a credit check. Fico factors both open and closed accounts in your AAoA.
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, (this is only important if you are attempting to purchase a large ticket item like a home or car) 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. Keeping your utilization of your cards below 28.9% both individually and collectively will prevent you from incurring a FICO scoring penalty.
An installment loan will have its greatest impact on your FICO score when the amount owed is at 8.9% or less of the original amount owed which is usually in the final months before the loan is paid in full. If you don't have an installment loan you can check into Self Lender 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 you can handle credit responsibly. If you have open, active credit accounts that are being paid on time and pay all of your bills on time every time, apply for credit only when you actually need it and use credit cards sparingly maintaining low credit utilization, then you’re going to earn and maintain great credit scores. It would be impossible for you not to do so. This is the fastest way you can build good, solid credit.
It looks like you have had 2 selfLenders
BEWARE!!
In their FAQs they state that overpayments (there is a technical term for it but I do not remember what it is) do not reduce your monthly payments. They only reduce the length of term.
They state however that you can pay ahead of time for the current month.
I did that this month. Made a payment that was due on the 28th on the 17th.
Come to find out that they charged me again on the 28th. What?!
I chat with a representative and she tells me "oh you have Auto Pay on you will have to turn it off!" I'm like sweetheart feed that to the Marines!!! Auto Pay means you AUTOMATICALLY collect payment on the NEXT due date. I shouldn't have to turn off Auto Pay to make early payments .I should be able to do both. Not either/or. She was trying to imply that I'd get charged on each due date even if I had made a payment earlier on in the month. I'm like "WHAT?! That's not how bill-paying and auto pay works!". I get on the phone with her and go into a red-hot rant. She understood that what I was saying made sense and said she'd escalate and put in ticket and blah blah blah. Got a call like maybe 15/20mins later from rep saying they will be rectifying it so customers don't get billed twice. So I do not have to worry about paying early for next month. I'm like OK but I will still call in to double-check and make sure that the Auto Pay issue has been rectified and that this issue does not occur again.
Just going to assign this to "growing pains".