10 Ways to Build a Credit Score Without Credit Card (2024)

Unless you have a lot of money in the bank, there will come a time when you need credit. Whether it is buying a car or a house, most lending companies look at your history and credit score.

If it is your first time applying for a loan, you should consider building a history first. Improving your rating is the first step to getting good rates and terms from creditors. One way of doing so is by getting a credit card. However, if getting plastic is not an option, there are other ways to boost your score.

1. Ask Companies to Report Your Monthly Transactions

If you have bills that you pay each month, contact the providers and ask them to report your credit activity to any of the three major bureaus. Some of the monthly bills that qualify include your rent, mobile phone, cable, and utilities.

However, you should only do this if you are responsible enough for paying your bills on time. Your payment history makes up 35 percent of your score. It could provide a major boost to your rating if you don’t have additional information available.

Keep in mind that companies are not required to report your transactions. You are asking a favor from them, and they have every right to deny the request.

2. Use Credit Builder Small Loan

To help people with poor credit there are many credit unions, banks, and traditional lenders offering loans that are specifically designed for building credit again. Money that you borrow from such sources will be deposited into your savings or a CD account and then you will be paying a fixed amount in installments until a loan is completely paid off.

Having a successful payment history is considerably easier too because of the low interest rates. There is always a chance that you might end up paying the loan back before the actual time and this would have a positive impact on your credit profile. You should avoid getting any bad credit guaranteed loans because these are hard to pay off and not wise to apply until you need money in an emergency.

3. Repayment of Mortgage on Time

It is not wise to have a huge debt when your credit score is not good enough to get some good rates. So, wait for home ownership until you recover from this phase. But what if, someone has a mortgage already?

Do you know, that repayment of mortgage installments can have a positive impact on your bad ratings? So, always make sure that you are not missing your mortgage payments.

4. Become an Authorized User

If a family member or close friend has a credit card, you can ask if they are willing to make you one of the authorized users. As an authorized user, you can use the plastic anytime you want. Even if you don’t use it, the transactions made with the card are reported to the bureaus.

This method can be risky if the cardholder exceeds the card’s limit or misses some payments. Instead of improving your score, you might end up damaging it. That’s why it is vitally important to look for a person who you think uses plastic responsibly. You should also check with the issuer of the card if they report activities for authorized users.

5. Get a Federal Student Loan

Aside from cards, student loans are one of the most common debts today. The best thing about a federal student loan is that it doesn’t require a history check. All you need to do is fill out the form and submit it.

College debt is a type of installment loan that can help improve your overall score from the reporting bureaus. It is important that you borrow only what you need, and you can pay it back realistically. That way, you don’t damage your score over time.

6. Consider Peer-to-Peer Loans

If you can’t borrow money from the nearest local credit union or bank, you can try getting one from a peer-to-peer lending company. They offer loans at a higher interest rate, but they are not strict with their requirements.

These companies do report their transactions with the major bureaus and making payments on time does help boost your score. As always, though, make sure that you borrow only what you can afford so that you can easily repay it before the due date.

7. Passbook Loans

You can ask your bank if they offer a passbook loan, which is available for existing customers. This type of debt uses the balance of your savings account as collateral. As you pay off the loan, you gain access to your balance once again.

8. Ask the Landlord to Report Rent Activities

Most of the landlords don’t bother to report their rent activities until it is asked by the tenant. Reporting these activities to credit bureaus will help again to earn some credit points. It shows untimely how financially responsible you are currently. Thus, always ask the landlord to do so.

You can also consider reporting your rental payments on your own. If the property owner doesn’t report to any of the major bureaus, then you can sign up with a rent payment service that works with Experience. They process the rent payments automatically and report them to the bureaus.

9. No Credit Cards Needed

As you can see, it is possible to build up your score without the use of plastic. As long as you pay your bills on time every time, you can have a good rating with the three credit bureaus. You should avoid getting into financial burdens that can prevent you from making timely payments.

However, not having one does have its downsides. For one, your history is not diversified. Account mix is ten percent of the final score. Your credit usage ratio will also suffer because you have no revolving credit. The good news is that having no usage is usually better than high usage when it comes to credits.

A credit card is not a requirement to have a good score. There are many alternatives to establishing a good history. It might take some time, but it is worth the effort.

No matter what happens, pay your bills on time, all the time. Late payments can destroy your rating. Just missing a single payment can have a lot of influence on your score. That’s why it is important to avoid late payments at all costs.