Re: Building credit
 

HSBC were great for me. They gave me a credit card based on my US Salary rather than credit rating (I had no HSBC account in the UK) which has allowed me to get set up in NYC rather than having to split big purchases (furniture etc) into small chunks across the year.

As a result my credit is probably not brilliant (still trying to sign up with a credit bureau) but I'm making inroads into paying off the initial outlay so it should hopefully improve over the next 6 months.

Re: Building credit
 

Why not use CreditKarma?

Re: Building credit
 

Isnt one free credit report the rule in USA ?

Re: Building credit
 

You could be talking about your FICO score and Experian offering one free FICO score/report.

I use CreditKarma (it's free) as it updates weekly and I also have access to my FICO score through Wells Fargo.

Re: Building credit
 

You can get one free credit report (but not a score) each year direct from each of the three credit agencies via annualcrediteport.com

That is now somewhat outdated when you can also get scores and credit reports free from other sources Eg credit Karma.

Many of the scores are Vantage rather than FICO but they are still useful in monitoring the overall trend of your score. It is a mistake to think in terms of one score. There are different versions of Vantage and FICO.

Re: Building credit
 

I've signed up, but as I don't have a New York ID card they wanted me to either mail or fax some proof of ID - apparently the fax of my passport didn't go through so I need to redo it.

Re: Building credit
 

Today is day 57 for me in the US and my Credit Karma app updates today and I have my first credit score of 681.

Re: Building credit
 

Credit score won't be your problem, it will be credit history that will restrict your options.

Re: Building credit
 

Nail on the head.

My average age of accounts is about to hit a year old which will make a pretty significant difference my credit union said.

Obviously nothing you can do about this apart from wait it out and make payments on time and keep your utilization low (unless you intend to pay the balance off in full monthly).

Re: Building credit
 

Earn an income, keep building your credit line and then pay it down without carrying a balance. It takes some time.

Re: Building credit
 

You can receive one free credit report from each credit reporting bureau a year (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion).

Also, just a side note, CreditKarma uses the Vantage 3.0 scoring model as opposed to FICO's scoring model which more lenders use to determine your creditworthiness. The Vantage 3.0 model was created in 2006 by each credit reporting bureau which might provide a more accurate score, but 90% of lenders still use FICO's score.

When it comes to using services like CreditKarma, be aware that there are a bunch of different credit scoring models out there that they can use.

I typically get my score from FICO through my Citi Double Cashback card as they provide free FICO scores just for being a cardmember. I believe Discover and Capital One offer that feature as well. Getting it from your card might be ideal as you lessen the risk of your information being hacked.

Re: Building credit
 

There is not just one FICO score.

Re: Building credit
 

Bit disappointed with CreditKarma as they apparently received my fax but didn't respond to my help ticket; either way, my account is live! My score is 620 which, considering I've been smashing my credit card, is pretty reasonable.

By next month I'll have the balance well down on where they advise it to be, so it should start creeping up further.

Re: Building credit
 

I’m just coming up to 1 year in the US. Been a good year overall.

My score is decent, about 760 or so.

My question is what to do next? Maybe nothing, sit tight?

I have two credit lines at this time, I pay everything off each month.

Things like Amazon visa still declined, seems because of length of history, too short (it’s backed by Chase, they have rigid strict rules).

Re: Building credit
 

Similar to me, mine sits around 750.

I have two credit cards, T-Mobile account and car finance (although I put the maximum deposit down and plan to pay it off in full within the next 6 months).

The credit union me and my wife are with seem to tell me to sit tight as apparently when the average age of my accounts hit two years it should be pretty significant. I haven't done anything apart from pay off my balance in full each month and I've had my secured card with a $400 limit jump to an unsecured card with a $2000 limit and my other card jumping from a $750 limit to a $2000 limit. Looks like just sitting tight and not applying for other credit lines and paying off balances in full seems to be the way!