Best Credit Builder Apps to Improve Your Score
Want to improve your credit score? Explore the best credit building apps to help you build excellent credit fast.
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- What are the best apps for building credit fast?
- Kovo: Best for Cheap Monthly Payments
- Grow Credit: Build Credit Using Your Subscriptions
- Kikoff: Best Free Credit Line
- Self: Best Credit Builder Loan
- Experian Boost: Best Fast Score Increase
- Credit Sesame: Best Rewards
- Credit Karma: Best Credit Monitoring
- myFICO: Best Identity Theft Protection
Here are the best credit builder apps to improve your score:
A good credit score can open up opportunities like getting a home, better deals on loans, or even scoring that job.
If you're new to credit or made some past mistakes, it can feel tricky.
But good news! There are credit builder apps that can help you improve your credit naturally. Read on for the best apps to get you on the right track.
Build Credit for Free
Get a Free Mastercard to pay your subscriptions and build your credit
Apply for a Credit Builder Account at Self
- Get the Credit Builder Account that helps build credit today!
- Choose the plan that fits within your budget
- Monthly payments are reported to the three major credit bureaus.
The fastest way to boost your credit score is by making on-time payments. That can be hard on your own. So that's where credit-building apps, like Kovo and Self, can help out. They set you up with small payments that you can afford. Your credit improves as the payments are reported to the credit bureaus.
How Do Credit Building Apps Work?
Credit builder apps help you establish a positive payment history. There are different types of credit building apps:
- Credit builder loans: You pay a certain amount each month and at the end of the term, you get your money back minus interest and fees. Save while building credit - double win! Example: Self.
- Line of credit: Some apps offer a line of credit to let you make purchases. Pay back what you borrowed on time to get reported to the 3 bureaus. Example: Kikoff.
- Pay bills: Some credit builder apps let you get credit for paying everyday expenses, like subscriptions and utilities. Example: Grow Credit.
Hint: You can use one or more of these apps to build credit in multiple ways. The more strategies you employ, the faster you might see results!
The Best Apps for Building Credit Fast
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Now that you know how credit builder apps work, let's check out some of the best apps on the market.
Kovo: Best for Cheap Monthly Payments
Kovo is a simple credit builder app. You pay $10 monthly on time for twenty-four months and gain access to online courses.
Think of it as an online subscription platform for educational courses. By signing up, you'll also tap into $400+ worth of courses, such as acing an interview, starting a business, or building confidence. Kovo helps you build more than just credit.
Kovo keeps track of your payments and reports them to four credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis.
For $10/mo, it's an affordable way to build credit, while learning some valuable life skills.
Another thing to like about Kovo: you can earn rewards. Make four on-time payments on your Kovo Installment Plan, and you'll unlock the chance to earn gift cards when you open a credit card or loan with their partner lenders.
Build Credit & Earn Rewards
- No credit check
- Instant approval
- 0% APR / $0 fees
Imagine building your credit score just by paying for Netflix or Spotify? With the next one, that's not just a dream.
Grow Credit: Build Credit Using Your Subscriptions
You probably use subscriptions like Netflix, Hulu, or Spotify. So why not get credit for something you're already paying? Grow Credit works by reporting subscription service payments to the three major bureaus.
It provides you with a MasterCard you use to pay for your subscriptions. They'll automatically withdraw payments from your connected bank account, so no need to worry about due dates.
On average, Grow Credit users who make on-time payments see a 44-point credit score increase.[1]
Grow Credit offers free subscription for 12 months. If you don't qualify for the free plan or you want a higher spending limit, there are three paid subscriptions to choose from. A higher monthly spending limit increases the number of subscriptions services you can add to your report.[2]
- Build Free (No monthly fee for the first 12 months, $2.99 per month on succeeding months): $204 annual credit limit ($17 monthly spending limit)
- Build Student ($1.99 per month): Secured card with $204 annual credit limit ($17 monthly spending limit) for college students; Requires a one-time $17 security deposit
- Grow ($4.99 per month): $600 annual credit limit ($50 monthly spending limit)
- Accelerate ($9.99 per month): $1,800 annual credit limit ($150 monthly spending limit)
If you don't qualify yet to the paid subscriptions based on Grow Credit's assessment, you may go for their secured plans: Build Secured, Grow Secured, and Accelerate Secured. Secured accounts have the same monthly fees and spending limits as the standard plans.
Similar with Build Student plan, there is a one-time security deposit of $17 for Build plan, $50 for Grow plan, and $150 for Accelerate plan. Security deposits will be refunded when your plan is upgraded, after 12 months of consecutive on-time payments, or when the secured account is closed.
Build Credit for Free
Get a Free Mastercard to pay your subscriptions and build your credit
Do you want a free credit line with no hidden fees? Check out the next app on the list.
Kikoff: Best Free Credit Line
Kikoff is a credit building lender that will give you a $750 credit line with no credit check, no interest, and no hidden fees.
Plus, approval is virtually instantaneous.
For the purposes of building credit, Kikoff has very little downside. However, there are some stipulations you should be aware of.
Your credit line can only be used to buy items from the Kikoff store. These are primarily self-help e-books ranging from about $10 to $20 — and you must buy one item before Kikoff will report your information to the credit bureaus.
It's designed to boost your score by keeping your credit utilization low. If you use just $10 of your credit line at a time, that's under 2% utilization rate, which looks really good to credit bureaus.
Credit Building Made Easy
- No credit pull required
- With 0% interest
- Open your account in minutes
Self: Best Credit Builder Loan
Self is a credit builder loan. You pick an amount that you can afford each month (starting from $25/mo), and Self will save it for you in a CD.
Your credit score will improve as you build a positive payment history.
At the end of 24 months, you get your little savings nest egg back (minus interest & fees). This is great if you want to save money and build credit at the same time.
And no worries - you're not locked in. If you decide to cancel early, you'll get your savings progress back (minus interest & fees).
The average user saw a 49-point increase - for those who started with a credit score under 600 and made on-time payments.[5]
Apply for a Credit Builder Account at Self
- Get the Credit Builder Account that helps build credit today!
- Choose the plan that fits within your budget
- Monthly payments are reported to the three major credit bureaus.
There are many credit builder loan services available. We recommend checking with your local banks and credit unions to find the best rates. However, there are several other national companies that offer credit builder loans, including:
Experian Boost: Best Fast Score Increase
This free option works by adding additional bills, like your cell phone, streaming services, and utilities, to your credit report. This helps by increasing the amount of on-time payments included in your report.
The average reported increase is 13 points,[6] but Experian Boost is really only helpful if you have a limited credit history with other financial services like credit cards and loans.
If you already have extensive payment history on your report, Experian Boost likely won't help boost your score.
The next app doesn't just monitor your credit; it rewards you for improvements. Imagine getting cash back as your score climbs.
Credit Sesame: Best Rewards
This free option offers credit monitoring services. But where Credit Sesame really stands out is cash rewards.
With Credit Sesame, you can get a Sesame Cash prepaid debit card where you will receive cash rewards for improving your credit score.[7]
This debit card also comes with cash back on qualified purchases at nationwide retailers like Home Depot, Sam's Club, and Uber Eats.
This app helps you build credit by qualifying your debit card expenses each month as "credit card purchases" up to the available balance in your Sesame Cash account. Credit Sesame then reports your payment history to all three credit bureaus at the end of each month.
Credit Karma: Best Credit Monitoring
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| CREDIT: CREDITKARMA |
Since it was founded in 2007, Credit Karma has been the gold standard in credit monitoring.
It won't improve your score directly, but it can help you keep track of all the factors influencing your score and provide you with credit building recommendations.
Using Credit Karma, you can find hard inquiries on your report, credit utilization by account, and all your outstanding loan amount.
The free service will also explain to you how each factor contributes to your score.
Credit Karma will also suggest products like credit cards based on your personal approval odds.
While the next app excels in monitoring, it also offers top-notch identity theft protection. If you're looking for a comprehensive approach to credit management, this might be your best bet.
myFICO: Best Identity Theft Protection
This paid service is primarily a credit score monitoring tool. However, myFICO also offers $1,000,000 of identity theft insurance with all three payment tiers.
Keep in mind that myFICO has a hefty price tag. Here are the prices and main differences between the three tiers:[8]
- Basic ($19.95/month) only monitors your Experian credit report and updates monthly
- Advanced ($29.95/month) monitors all three major credit bureaus and updates every three months (including Social Security and dark web monitoring)
- Premier ($39.95/month) monitors all three bureaus and updates monthly
myFICO also gives you your FICO score and approval odds for specific types of loans, like auto loans and mortgages. This is especially handy because your FICO score is the score most commonly referenced by lenders.
Potential Dangers of Credit Building Apps
While free credit monitoring services like Credit Karma are risk-free, credit builder loan and credit line apps must be used wisely.
Making late payments or defaulting on these accounts will significantly lower your credit score. Additionally, many of these apps come with high fees in the form of monthly subscription costs or interest rates.
Make sure you can afford any credit builder service you use to avoid further damaging your score. Or better yet, opt for one of the free options listed above.
5 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score
By creating a budget and setting a plan in motion, you can easily improve your credit score significantly over a relatively short period of time. Here are five ways to improve your score.
- Lower Your Credit Utilization Ratio
This is the percentage of credit you are using compared to how much you have available. For example, if you have a $1,000 credit limit on your credit cards and have a $500 balance — your credit utilization ratio is 50%.Having a high credit utilization ratio tells credit agencies that you are close to financial disaster.
Aim for 30% or less to avoid credit score penalties, but your goal should be to pay off your credit card statement in full each month.
Kikoff helps with this since you get a $750 credit line. But if you only use $10 or $20 of it at a time, your credit utilization will be super low. - Join an Account as an Authorized User
If you're just starting to build or repair your credit, joining a trusted family member or friend's credit card as an authorized user can be hugely beneficial.It will extend your credit age, increase your credit limit, and you will inherit all payment history for the credit card.
- Check for Fraudulent Information on Your Report
To improve your credit score, be sure to monitor your credit report on a regular basis. Check for common credit report errors. Having incorrect or fraudulent information removed from your credit report can quickly improve your score.How to dispute an error on your credit report?
If you believe there is an error on your credit report, contact the reporting company and the appropriate credit agencies (TransUnion, Equifax and/or Experian) in writing.[9]Include your name and contact information, any identifying information for the derogatory remark (such as the amount, date, and company name), an explanation of why you're disputing the information, and a request to have the information removed or corrected.
- Age Your Credit
Credit age plays a significant role in calculating your credit score. For that reason, it's important to keep existing lines of credit open and avoid opening new lines of credit if possible. According to Credit Karma, the following ranges are how your credit age impacts your score:- 0 to 4 years: Needs work (likely harming your score)
- 5 to 6 years: Fair (likely has little to no impact on your score)
- 7 to 8 years: Good (likely has a modest positive impact on your credit score)
- 9+ years: Excellent (likely has a significant impact on your score)
- 0 to 4 years: Needs work (likely harming your score)
- Pay Down Balances
Since your balances are such a big portion of your credit score, paying down any loans and credit cards is a good way to increase your score.There are two ways to pay off debt most effectively: the debt snowball method and the debt avalanche method.
- The debt snowball method refers to paying off the smallest debts first and working your way toward more expensive debts. The snowball method is beneficial due to the psychological effect of accomplishing a goal, which can keep you motivated.
- The debt avalanche method refers to paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first. The avalanche method is beneficial because it helps you pay less interest in the long run.
The Bottom Line
Credit builder apps can boost your score quickly by helping you to understand your current score, improving your payment history, or adding new accounts to your credit report.
These apps (and credit building strategies in general) tend to work best for people with subpar credit scores in the 500s to 600s.
Consider starting with a basic credit monitoring app like Credit Karma. This will allow you to review the factors currently affecting your score before moving on to more intensive measures like a credit builder loan or revolving line of credit.
Build Credit for Free
Get a Free Mastercard to pay your subscriptions and build your credit
Apply for a Credit Builder Account at Self
- Get the Credit Builder Account that helps build credit today!
- Choose the plan that fits within your budget
- Monthly payments are reported to the three major credit bureaus.
References
- ^ Grow Credit. Build credit fast by 44 points, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ Grow Credit. What are my plan options? How do I choose a plan?, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ Kikoff. How do I sign up for the Kikoff Credit Account?, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ Kikoff. Which bureaus does Kikoff report to?, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ Self. Self home page, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ Experian Boost. Experian Boost Disclosure, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ Credit Sesame. Sesame Cash, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ myFICO. Choose a plan, Retrieved 1/21/2024
- ^ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How do I dispute an error on my credit report?, Retrieved 4/9/2022
Write to Justin Barnard at feedback@creditdonkey.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for our latest posts.
Note: This website is made possible through financial relationships with some of the products and services mentioned on this site. We may receive compensation if you shop through links in our content. You do not have to use our links, but you help support CreditDonkey if you do.
Credit Builder Accounts & Certificates of Deposit made/held by Lead Bank, Sunrise Banks, N.A., SouthState Bank, N.A., First Century Bank, N.A., each Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval. Self Secured Visa® Credit Card issued by Lead Bank or SouthState Bank, N.A., each Member FDIC. See self.inc for details.
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