I have just checked my credit score, I have been a permanent resident since the end of august and my credit score is almost excellent...

Tip... Have a credit card in the UK which also has a presence in the US, the one I know is Amex... I opened my Amex account in the US based on my 4 year old Amex account in the UK, you have to call them and go through the application on the phone. Amex US reported my account opening date of 4 years ago (only had my SSN for a few months), and reported to equifax perfect payment history in that time. (the other two got reported once so the score is about 10 less).

If you are living in the UK and moving to the US, get an Amex card before you leave. It allows you to have up to 5k credit limit here (with the blue card depending on your history with them in the UK), 7k if you close your UK account. Make sure you use your UK one, and own it for as long as possible before coming over to the US.

Aye, AmEx is the way to go...it's in the wiki already along with plenty of other tidbits

So what happens if you default on the uk Amex?

then I wouldn't use that to start your US credit history....

after getting the US card that is....ie, you get a US card and then managed to default on the UK one, could they apply that to your US credit score?

I've been here since June and have a Gap credit card with $1000 limit, a Amazon credit card with $500, a Macy's with $100 limit and a JC Penney's with $300.
Husband and I have just taken out a bank loan which we're planning to repay within six months.

We just bought a car which we were going to pay for via my Abbey National debit card, but ended up having to get it financed. We were planning to pay that off as soon as the car was titled, ie 45 days or so.
Would it be better to pay off all but $600 and keep that for six months as well??
Or would the bank loan on its own suffice?
Would having an Amex boost my score even more (I have a UK Amex)?

As a matter of interest, what are your 3 scores?

Just curious about this Amex thing.. is it about having an Amex card with your bank, or is it about having a card through Amex... perhaps I dont understand how they work.

I mean (and I am confusing myself here..) is my Lloyds Premier Amex card enough to get me a decent credit limit in the US?

Amex is its own company. So their cards are not like a banks, i.e. Visa or Mastercard, which supply the technology but its down to the banks to issue under that umbrella. Having an Amex card means its issued by Amex itself as they don't pair with the banks as the others do.

As such, being a propriatary worldwide company, Amex can issue you a card in a different country easier than a bank (where in lot of instances, the bank isn't represented abroad, although there are some exceptions who might do a similar thing).

Edit: Hmm, just noticed your last sentence! Doh! So that's me talking a lot of crap then about Amex and the banks not pairing - but I think the principal actually still stands.

Cheers Dan - I think I understand that, and that therefore my Lloyds Amex would do the trick. Can you confirm?

I'm afraid I can't, sorry! That last sentence of yours caught me by surprise

I did the Amex trick when I first got here, but that was from Amex (UK) to Amex (US) - all part of the big www.americanexpress.com.

I'm not really sure about your card - do you pay it online via Lloyds or on the Amex website? Would be best to call amex to find out - or maybe one of the financial gurus on here like Fatbrit will be along shortly with a better answer.

BoA does Amex....legacy deal from MBNA who struck a deal to issue them themselves...

It's a good idea to keep the loan going for 6 months because it adds history to your credit score that isn't around a revolving credit card.

I do it all through Lloyds - the answer is probably to sign up to a card on that site and then there wont be any problems!

Just come a bit of a cropper on this one myself. We're just buying a new car from a dealer about 45 mins away, and to save my wifes time travelling down there, I figured after being here 3 years and having a credit score of 742, I'd be fine getting it on my own.

We've not had a car loan since getting here with me as a permanent resident. The dealer has a 1.9% APR deal going, which is what I wanted.

He ran my credit - and I didn't qualify for that low APR - said he could get me 6.35% though.

For us, it doesn't really matter above a bit of inconvenience - I'll just co-sign on the back of my wifes lifelong excellent credit and we'll get the rate, just got to take another trip down there tomorrow.

But to the OP - if you've only been here since August, your excellent credit score based on card transfer is about as much use as tits on a fish.

As Bob says (and the finance manager told me), its a good idea to establish some other credit history apart from cards. I have two $15k limit cards in my own name with only a tiny fraction utilised - thought that would be good enough combined with the high beacon score. Its not.