What\’s the best way to obtain credit quick?
I recently had 0 credit. Then my husband co-signed on a credit card with me about 8 months ago. I’ve been paying it off every month. I need really great credit quick since I’m going to be taking out a bunch of student loans & need a low interest rate. Someone told me to make minimum payments on my card, which I did for about 3 months. Is there anything else I can do?
If your credit permits, get a car in payments so that you can build some credit score… Sometimes only the passage of time can guarantee you a good FICO score.
First of all, you don’t want to pay off your credit card every month. You need to keep some outstanding balance to show activity. I’m not saying to charge it and pay minimum either. You should pay double or triple the monthly payment each month. That will show the credit card company activity.
Credit card companies usually review a customer’s account every six months, at which time they decide whether to increase your credit limit. You can also call them directly and ask for credit limit increases about every six months.
Also, did you know that once you establish credit, YOU can negotiate your interest rate? A lot of people don’t know this. If you call the credit card company after having the card for a while, you can ask them to lower your interest rate after showing a good payment history.
Consider a secured credit card. To obtain a secured credit card, you open and maintain a bank account or other asset account at a financial institution as security for your line of credit. Your credit line will be a percentage of your deposit, typically from 50 to 100 percent. Application and processing fees are not uncommon for secured credit cards. In addition, secured credit cards usually carry higher interest rates than traditional non-secured cards.
You also might consider getting a credit card from a local store, but make sure they report to the credit bureaus.