5 Ways to Start Building Your Credit

Updated: Jun 11, 2024

Did you know that banks like Chase, Bank of America, Citi and Capital One do not have a minimum age requirement to be added as an authorized user on a guardian's account? My parents definitely did not know that, leaving me and my siblings to navigate the credit building game on our own.

I, vividly, remember walking down the courtyard my first week of college with all these credit card companies trying to get me to open a credit card. At the age of 18, I thought I was so mature and "old enough" to make decisions for myself and finally picked one out. I did not realize the one I was signing up for had a yearly fee + 20% APR. Needless to say, that was a big mistake and it took me a good four years to figure out that I wasn’t helping my credit by having a low limit + high APR credit card. Lucky for 18-year-olds now, building credit is so much easier these days with the help of articles such as this, Instagram and TikTok influencers schooling us on how to get a leg up on credit:

Sign up for a card like the Chime Secured card: Secured cards usually have a negative ring to it, but they’re my favorite kind of card for someone who is looking to establish themselves without falling too deep into the debt trap. Not only do they report to all 3 bureaus, the card does not have annual fees, does not have interest and requires no credit check to apply. Just make sure that you stay on top of your payments and Chime will do the rest.
Pay your bills on time: I cannot stress this enough, but paying your bills late will appear on your credit report and negatively impact your score. Make sure you are making at least the minimum payments or better yet, paying each month off in full.
If you are able, ask a parent or partner to add you as an authorized user to their card: By doing so, you automatically inherit that card’s payment history, both good and bad, so you’ll just want to make sure they are in great current standing.
Get credit for bills you are already paying: Services like Experian Boost allow you to report payments to services like Netflix and various utilities to help your Experian credit score.
Practice good habits when it comes to your finances. Outside of making on-time payments, make sure you are constantly checking your score for any surprises with services like Credit Karma. Also, make sure you keep your utilization rate below 30% as the lower that percentage is, the higher your score!