skyland235

Hi
To try and achieve this quickly would we both have to open up separate accounts and apply for separate secured credit cards etc ? OR.... would joint accounts still get to the same results of building up a credit history quickly
Thanks in advance

petitefrancaise

I was going to write that I don't think it makes much difference since both are reported to the credit agencies.
My thoughts - no expert mind you;

If you envision that you might need to carry a balance on the card for a while then it might be better to get separate accounts. Carrying a balance on the card (ie not paying it off in full each month) means your credit score will be affected - grow more slowly. So if one of you has an account that gets paid off in full each month, then that person's credit history will grow unhindered.

I would see about getting an unsecured card though.... maybe from Advancial?

eta
if one of you isn't earning then they can put down the salary of the person who pays all or part of their bills as their income.

Jack8602

There is no 'quickly' with building a credit rating. It'll probably take a good few months for you to establish records with the 3 agencies.

Personally I'd say open separate accounts & joint accounts, don't rely on one or the other.

petitefrancaise

They are both reported for each spouse to the credit agencies. It makes no real difference in this respect.

A joint one will mean only one application and one fee for the card. If they get a joint secured card then only one deposit for both of them is needed. It is easier in that respect.

tom169

Discover have a great secured card with good cashback. They will review your account on the 7th billing cycle and refund the security deposit back if they trust you. They gave me my refund check a few days after the bill.

jkeller

Look to see if your employer in the US has a credit union, or an affiliation with one. They typically offer low cost loans, banking, credit cards to their members. The best way to build a great credit score is to always pay bills on time, never be late. Hope this helps.

skyland235

thank you all for replies -I am hoping to at least open up accounts/secured card etc when we make our 1st trip next month

petitefrancaise

You can't get a credit card in any shape or form until you have your social security number. You can open a non-interest bearing checking account.

jammiie

My wife and I landed in Boston on 6th June this year, I am on L1-b and she is on L2 as my spouse and will have to wait 6 months for her AED to come through before she can work.

The first full day we sat at the SS office and got our SSN assigned which then take a few working days to be sent to you.

Armed with SSN, we arranged an appointment with the Loyalty Manager at our local Bank of America branch. We opened one joint checking/savings account and were each approved for a $2,000 unsecured credit card; I opted for the Travel Rewards and OH went for the other Cash Rewards card.

Since then, we have put all of our daily expenditure through our credit cards, being sure to clear it off every few days so that neither of us breach the 30% utilisation threshold as advised by the bank.

7 weeks in, I have a credit score on CreditKarma of 704 and enough reward points between us for free return flights and hotel in NYC for the weekend.

petitefrancaise

livinginnyc

I was able to get a US AMEX through AMEX UK (followed the guide online - and they now transfer your points too).

I also have a corporate card through my US employer. They are aware that I'm building my credit score here as an expat so their finance dept arranged it so that it's attached to my SSN to help build it with me. It automatically clears at the end of the month and I just mark off which are personal v Corp expenses in their intranet, which gets deducted from my salary.

I've no idea if that's the norm or not with other US companies, but either way I'm really really thankful they set that up for me! (They also pay for my experian credit monitoring).

malch

I did :-) However, I doubt I could reproduce that success today :-(

NatWest used to own a small bank/credit card company on the east coast (the name of which escapes me right now). My friendly NatWest bank manager has them issue me with US Visa and Mastercard cards before I had even left the UK. It really did make things easy for me!