Originally Posted by dukeynorton (Post 5546965)

I have a question. I'm not sure if it's a reallly stupid idea or not really, but here goes. Can you just take out a small loan, say $3-5K, keep the money and just pay it right back within a few months with the interest to give your credit a boost. I know that it will cost you the interest but it seems a very quick way to get your score up. Stupid idea?

Originally Posted by highNNdry (Post 5547040)

This is called an installment loan and they don't increase you score that much, credit score is heavily weighed in on revolving loan and unsecured loan.

Originally Posted by AlienUk (Post 5546397)

Hence my bewilderment lol....My husband has more than enough borrowing power, so the limits don't matter, the score is the important thing....But useful for other UK expats to know!

Originally Posted by dukeynorton (Post 5547180)

Err what? Say I get an "unsecured personal loan" with no penalty for extra payment. Keep it for at least 6 months as suggested and then knock the rest off immediately after.

Originally Posted by highNNdry (Post 5546649)

Hello good folks from UK

I have been reading this forum for the last couple of weeks and thought I would share some of my knowledge to help some people out here.

About Store Credit Card:

This is a good way to start your credit history, most of the store credit cards are issued by GEMB (General Electric Money Bank) which includes GAP, Banana Republic, Dillards, JC Penny, Old Navy, and the best GEMB card is Brooks Brothers (high Limit). It is good to get Brooks Brothers card since after 6 months they will convert it to the Brooks Brothers Master card or the Dillards card which can be converted to Dillards Amex. The easiest store cards are Target and Walmart. Hard to get store card is Nordstrom, they are their own Bank.

Credit Card:

HSBC has a card selector in their website, when you apply through that they will tell you what kind of card you can get approved for, they will do a soft inquiry on your credit report (others won't see this inquiry).

The easiest credit cards are Capital One and HSBC, but avoid their annual fee cards they like to push those to new comers. Don't sell yourself short but falling for these high annual fee credit cards. High interest cards are not a problem for new comers since you are using them to build credit but don't let them use you, payoff in full to avoid interest charge.

Barclays Bank (formerly Juniper Bank) has a list of credit cards which are easy to get, The U.S. Airways master card issued by Barclays is also an easy card to get and so is the Carnival Master card.

State Farm Visa:

If you have State Farm insurance or are thinking of buying State Farm insurance then tell the agent that you want to apply for their Visa card also. Tell the agent that the only reason you want to buy their insurance is because you want to establish credit and you need a credit card limit soesn't matter. Otherwise you will get your insurance from GEICO since they are offering you much cheaper. State Farm will bend the rules to earn your business with a small limit ($500), If you are already a member then tell them you would like to get a Visa and if they do not approve you tell them you will move your insurance to GEICO.

Secured Card:

If you cannot get any credit card and the secured is the only option then I would strongly advise you to get "National City Bank Secured Card", their annual fee is low and it is a Prime Bank not one of those bottom feeders. They do not report the word "Secured" in their credit reporting which is a good thing.

Originally Posted by dukeynorton (Post 5547180)

Err what? Say I get an "unsecured personal loan" with no penalty for extra payment. Keep it for at least 6 months as suggested and then knock the rest off immediately after.

Originally Posted by dukeynorton (Post 5546965)

I have a question. I'm not sure if it's a reallly stupid idea or not really, but here goes. Can you just take out a small loan, say $3-5K, keep the money and just pay it right back within a few months with the interest to give your credit a boost. I know that it will cost you the interest but it seems a very quick way to get your score up. Stupid idea?

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 5547253)

On it's own, won't do much, but combined with having a credit card will, because it adds depth to your history...only worth doing if your getting something like a car and can afford to pay most of it off straight away and then keep a small amount going for six months....just check that you don't get penalised for paying it off early or paying more than the installment planned.

Originally Posted by Dan725 (Post 5547702)

Exactly right Bob, good credit score alone is worthless. Well - its not worthless - you'll probably get finance for things - but you won't get the best rates. Its depth and variety they want to see that goes hand in hand with the score. The car guy told me to qualify for the top tier financing, ideally they like to see at least 8 items on your report (not all open, some can be closed). Obviously we got this rate in the end with my wife as the main and me as co-signer, so it should add another line to my report.

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 5547739)

but surprisingly enough, adding me to the missus' student loan for her masters as a co-signer got us a 1.25% reduction in rate, it's it's only just shit compared to compelely shit...weird how that worked as I had very little history till that point...but doing that helped us get better finance loan on the car than if it was just either of us on our own.

Originally Posted by Dan725 (Post 5547838)

Chances are thats because with your income added, you become a guarantor of the loan, I'd have thought?

Originally Posted by lj2 (Post 5548738)

Just a quick note - If you want to see whether your existing Amex card would qualify you for a US card before you go out there (as I will) you can call the special processing people on 1-800-453-2639 with your card number and they will tell you.

Took me about 40 minutes on the phone to eventually get this number but it's all good, except I never had my card on me! Doh!

Originally Posted by nutkey (Post 5671836)

Got a great credit history with AMEX - and am in the process of applying for their AMEX dollar card, which is billed to the UK - but it might be simpler to get a card billed to a US address. The girl I spoke to at applications was clueless, so I'd like to give that number a try - BUT how do I call an 800 number from the UK?