Hi there. I'm an international student here in US and am glad I found this forum. I was badly in need of some advice from knowledgeable people regarding this credit history thing that exists here. When I landed here, and couldn't get a mobile connection, I understood that everyone here checks one's credit to provide some service. After getting my SSN, I applied for credit cards online and at my bank (BoA) too. I got an approval from Chase and Capital One (Student) cards saying I was approved and will receive my cards in 7-10 days. That, hopefully, will set me on track to building my credit history. I got rejected by 2 others that I applied for and 2 others (Citi and Merilll)said my decision would not be possible online and will be conveyed to me in 30 days. I tried applying for a mobile with AT&T but they did a credit check and told me I'll have to pay a deposit of $500! What I decided was to take a mobile on a friend's name and then (as I could do I was told) transfer it to my name after 6 months. Hopefully, my credit history would be better then! (correct me if I'm wrong). Now I have the power connection at the rental home that I stay in, with my roommate's name on it. When I spoke to the company, they told me it was possible to have my name on it too, although he'd be the primary account holder. So the deposit we pay now with our first bill, which gets refunded when we move out, will be refunded back to him only. My question is, if I have my name on the power bill will it help me positively to build my credit (assuming of course I pay on time)? My roommate says that won't help me, but I'd rather trust experienced people like ones in this forum. Thanks for being patient through this lengthy post.
Unfortunately utility accounts like phone, cable, etc. are not reported to credit reporting agencies, and therefore are worthless in the credit history process. Why? Because it is not really credit but a neccessity.
Light bill will likely not help you. Most do not report your payment history to the bureaus, they only report if you don't pay LOL. Your roommate is right. Slow down applying for things now - you have generated alot of inquiries which cause your score to fall. It also can send up "alarms" to creditors that you are gathering too much credit at one time. Let the two cards you did receive report for a while. I don't know about transferring a cell phone from one name to another, I hope you are right.
Thanks for replying greg. What do you suggest I do in order to build my credit apart from what I've done already?
Make your payments on time never be late.Try to get a bank loan a small loan with a payment you can handle don't spend the loan money use it to pay back your loan.
As jlynn said, hold off on applying for anything else. Use your cards every month. Keep your balance at 30% or less of the credit limit, if possible. Pay on time. That's the best way to build credit.
