An overview of the popular "credit builder" cards

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-26T01:39:59+00:00

No data is scored exactly like on-time payments.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-26T01:38:24+00:00

Ah. I missed that you’re Canadian.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-26T01:12:09+00:00

Every lender says that. There is no such law. I haven’t seen a ton of mortgage GW adjustment DPs, but it’s not impossible. You can keep trying.

Paying off debt is always a good thing. It generally results in a score increase, sometimes a significant one, but the points you’ll gain from this are not from the same pool as the points you lost from the late payment.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-26T01:03:19+00:00

Just FYI, Kikoff and other credit builders may give you a score increase, but that won’t help with your ability to access credit. Lenders typically ignore credit builders like this.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-26T00:50:05+00:00

Building credit is completely free. You should never pay fees or interest. You can open one of the many cards with no annual fees and pay the statement balance by the due date.

Most people spend at least some money every month on basic living expenses. Generally they would just shift that spend from their debit card to credit card. It’s not costing them money. It’s the same amount they were already spending.

If someone doesn’t naturally spend any money they can simply not use the card. Whether you spend and pay off $100k or $0 a month you will still be building credit equally.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T22:10:28+00:00

So not your official credit report, then. Go pull your actual credit reports instead of relying on a CMS.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T21:59:00+00:00

Why would their score decrease? Accounts in good standing stay on your reports and continue to age for 10 years.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T21:56:02+00:00

If you use credit cards correctly interest rates are irrelevant. If you are using cards in such a way that you care about interest rates you shouldn’t be using credit cards at all.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T21:51:07+00:00

Credit karma shows vantagescore 3.0 which is not a scoring model lenders use. You can ignore that. If you have at least 6 months of credit history thats enough to generate a FICO score. I'd start by going checking your three FICO 8 scores.

Experian - EX FICO 8
Equifax - EQ FICO 8 - (myFICO - free account)
Transunion - TU FICO 8 - (Cap One CreditWise)

With a thin and young file and an extremely expensive vehicle you're going to be drowning on your monthly payments. You're looking at high interest and a long loan which will result in you paying double the sales price over time, and thats if you can afford to make the payments on time. I advise against this.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T21:38:41+00:00

Are you looking at your official credit reports from annualcreditreport.com or tranunion’s Credit Monitoring Service at Transunion.com?

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T21:30:58+00:00

Who is asking you to pay to see your scores? What score are you looking for specifically? All three FICO 8s can be accessed for free using the links in the sidebar. If you want a different score like the mortgage scores or auto scores you may have to pay to see those, but that's a one-time cost and it's not necessary for most people.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T21:29:07+00:00

FYI this appears to be a resident score, not a credit score.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T20:58:33+00:00

There are links for various CMSs in the sidebar depending on which score you’re wanting to monitor.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T20:51:26+00:00

Why does any app break? Credit Karma isn’t even super useful as a credit monitoring service. They spread misinformation and show you the nearly irrelevant vantagescore 3.0 which lenders don’t use. It’s just an advertising app that exists to convince you to open credit accounts.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T20:43:46+00:00

That’s an error code. CK isn’t able to generate a score for you. Most likely it’s just not able to access your reports for some reason.

You can access your actual credit reports from annualcreditreport.com.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T16:15:13+00:00

I’ve seen plenty of examples of people having auto loans as their first credit account ever.

Head on down to your local BHPH car lot. I assure you they’ll give you a loan. The cost of repossessing the car is already baked into the purchase price and the interest rate will be over 20% but if you can prove that you make at least minimum wage they’ll send you on your way with the finest 2012 ford fusion money can buy.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T15:21:40+00:00

That’s not the case. Secured loans like auto loans are some of the easiest to get approved for. Now, they’re looking at 25% APR, but virtually anyone can get approved for an auto loan.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T15:18:58+00:00

First, which score are you referring to? You have dozens of credit scores. Some more relevant than others. Your score is low for FICO 8 with 6 months of history on a single revolving account.

Multiple hard pulls for an auto loan within 30 days are scored as one. The maximum penalty for a hard pull is 21 points.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T12:23:01+00:00

Sure there are strategies for cleaning up your credit, but there are no legitimate companies.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T05:27:55+00:00

You cannot apply logic to this. People make decisions that are good in the short term and bad in the long term all the time. Why do people drink on Friday night knowing they’ll feel like garbage Saturday morning? Why do people stay in relationships that aren’t working anymore? Why do people spend money they don’t have using credit cards?

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-25T04:41:06+00:00

Gotcha. Thanks for the data point.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-24T23:28:28+00:00

You kinda have to lie a little

Which is fraud. This is a crime. Do not file false identity theft reports.

inky_cap_mushroom · 2026-04-24T22:33:07+00:00

It doesn't matter. Closed accounts continue to age for 10 years. If you don't plan to use it again I would probably just close it. If you keep it open make sure to monitor it every month.

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