sohosid

Hi all,

Reading all the threads about problems establishing a credit history has me a little worried. My wife and I will be heading to San Francisco next summer. I won't have a job to go to, she works freelance for a travel company as a guide and will probably continue to do so since most of her work is in the US anyway. She is the USC, and we are going to do DCF. The biggest problem I think we will face is trying to rent an apartment without any credit history, even though we will be arriving with a years rent up front if needed. We will be in a hurry to get a permenant home as we are also bringing our cat and don't want her in a kennel any longer than needed.

So then, the question....None of the big banks I've contacted (HSBC, Citibank) will transfer an account to another country, so it's pointless opening one here...Since my wife has no family in the US, we are thinking that maybe she could use a friends address to open an account so that we can start to establish some credit early. Has anyone done this? What proof of address would she need? Since she does so much work in the US we also thought of getting a mobile phone for her also registered at the friends address (we would obviously pay the bill)...since this should also help toward her credit rating.

Clearly I'm going to be starting from virtually zero (although I have already applied for an AmEx card as I understand it may be possible to transfer that) but if we could at least make a start with her history it would be a help. Anyone got any stories to help us?

Mike.

BritGuyTN

opening a checking account will do nothing for your credit history, but would hep in paying

if you wife is a USC she will have a history of some sort

you cannot have a history without a SSN

what i suggest is (if she already has some US credit cards which don;t have negative history)

1) get a social security number

2) when you arrive in the USA get a secured credit card from one of the big banks to get credit in your own name

3) become an authorised user on your wifes card

you will inherit the good credit history on your wifes card which will benefit your fico score, but wil not help in many applications for credit cards as the decison will be reviewed by a person who will spot that your own individual credit is very short-lived

keep your utilisation low, pay on time and apply for a target guest card after a few months - they are easy to get (once you have other credit lines - i.e. the secured card)

scrubbedexpat099

A Bank account should be possible, I opened mine without a SSN, but it will not help your Credit standing.

Mobile's, well you can get a Pay as you Go, but I doubt you could get a Contract as you have no Credit standing.

Putting a Cat in a Kennel sounds a bit dangerous

I would have done the AmEx if I had known about it, but have not come across anything else that would have helped.

sohosid

!!!!! erm....a cattery then!


My wife last lived in the US in 1994, so not sure how much credit history she will have, she didn't have a credit card, never bought anything on credit and closed her bank account when she left. Bugger.

Hopefully the Am Ex card will help, we will look into other options, if there is anyway to get her started early, like getting a contract mobile then that would be great.

Mike

BritGuyTN

mobiles do nothing for credit history

get her to apply for a secured card and use the friends address - this will get her going

sohosid

Cheers mate!! That's the sort of advice I was after.


Mike

scrubbedexpat099

You may want to have a look here, if she has a SSN she 'might' be in the system, I do not know how long they go back, 10 years looks a long time.

http://www.myfico.com/

There are loads of sites about repairing your Credit, on this one there is a booklet that you can download that explains how it is derived.

I have heard mixed stories on Secured Credit Cards, if you go this route do your research. I have seen some bad reports, remember who they are marketing to usually.

If we go for any 180 days same as cash type deals, I add on, I would not qualify in my own right despite being the one with the capital.

I have a Virgin Mobile, did not want a contract, just as well.

CEO DMF

Even though HSBC tell you they won't "transfer" bank accounts overseas (we'd been a HSBC customer over 10 years and they told us the same) having a HSBC bank account in the UK will let you open a HSBC bank account out here much easier. As I said, we already had a UK HSBC bank account and they told me that I couldn't transfer it, so we thought we'd sort it when we got here.

But when we got here it was taking forever (depends where you are!!) to get a SSN and none of the banks we contacted would open an account without one. So we thought we'd try HSBC USA. We got put through to HSBC international banking department and they contacted HSBC UK to verify our details and opened an account no problem with no SSN and no hassle as they relied on UK for reference. There is a bit of appaer work but it was fine. There is not a branch near where we are but we do everything via phone, internet and post and it works great - and I prefer the "international" bank attitude rather than the regional banks that are everywhere over here.

I'd recommend opening the bank account with HSBC in the UK where you have your history, ID etc. As everything to open the HSBC USA account will be done via the post, you can request the application pack in say January (when your HSBC UK account has been open for a while) to be sent to your friends house and they can send it to the UK for you to complete all the information and return. That way you should be able to open the bank account whilst you are still in the UK.

Also, apply for a UK American Express card as when you get over here that can be very easily transfered to a US card with very little hassle. But as everyone always says - pay it off each month and that will start your credit history.

sohosid

Thanks...I'll look into that...we are with First Direct right now, which is owned by HSBC, but it may be worth opening one with them.

On a side note, I have learnt that if you open a $dollar bank account with HSBC in the UK then that may help since all transactions clear through HSBC in New York, and therefore it might help toward your credit score. Also, the account is held off shore , (channel Islands) and so you don't actually have to transfer it when you move, you just tell them the change of address.

We are looking at opening a $$ account soon as the exchange rate is so good right now, and with a year to go before we leave it would be a bugger if it dropped!

Mike

CEO DMF

Fantastic idea - get all spare cash into $$ asap with this rate!!!

scrubbedexpat099

You can buy forward if that is a big issue to you, the Channel island rates are not that good, especially in Dollars.

But savings will not impact on your Credit score, read the booklet on myfico. Nor does income, it is mainly to do with borrowings and paying them back.