How To Build Up A Very Good Credit For Students
Building a good credit for students is essential for a prosperous financial future. To buy a house or make other large purchases you will need a good credit. To borrowers with a high credit score lenders approve loans and are willing to provide more favorable credit conditions. When you are a college student, you are only at the beginning of this path, or you do not have a credit history at all. In the latter case, you are one of almost 15% of Americans who do not have a credit rating, most of whom are young people.
If you are still young, then it may seem like you have a lot of time, but building a good credit is not a matter of one day, since one of the parameters affecting it is the length of a successful credit history. To understand how to build great credit for a college student, read on our credit building guide.
Why do you need a credit rating?
A credit rating is an assessment of the credit behavior of each borrower, which helps lenders to determine the degree of risk to them when considering an application from borrowers. It is expressed in numbers in the form of credit points. Credit scores are added or subtracted depending on the length of the credit history, the timely payment, the total amount of debt, the number of loans, the balance of credit cards and other variables. The range of credit scores vary from 300 to 850 points. The greater the number, the better the credit, the less risky borrower you will be considered, the better conditions lenders will be able to offer you.
How a college student can build a credit
College time is great for laying the foundations of your successful financial future with excellent opportunities. To do this, you do not have to specifically break away from the educational process or fun student life after class. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with several ways to build a good credit rating that are available to college students. Read on.
Choose the right loans
Most college students need financial support during their studies, so two thirds of those who graduated from college in the US took a student loans. Student loan is an excellent opportunity to start your credit history. It is worth paying attention to federal interest-free loans for students. Taking such a loan, you do not have to pay interest, which will greatly facilitate your loan repayment and reduce the likelihood of delaying payments. Timely and fully fulfilling your credit obligations during several years of study will have a great positive effect on your credit rating. This can be a great start for you.
Authorized user of credit card
You can become the credit card authorized user of your parents or other family members who are responsible for their finances and want to help you. As an Authorized User, you will receive an addition to your credit scores, as well as the main owner of the credit card, and you both make payments in a timely manner.
Get a credit card
Credit cards are a great tool for building your credit. They have many additional benefits, rewards and various bonuses. But many people do not know how to hold back during shopping and strive to spend significantly more, than they can afford. This behavior leads to cost overruns, an increase in balance and the inability to repay the debt on time. In addition to increasing debt, this entails a decrease in credit score. It is therefore worth getting a credit card when you are sure that you can control the flow of money.
Pay bills on time
The way you pay most of your regular monthly bills is taken into account by credit bureaus when assigning points to you. Therefore, a responsible attitude towards all of your obligations, not just credit, will affect your credit rating.
Cultivate the right credit behavior
When you get into the habit of paying your bills on time, avoiding late payments on loans, maintaining a small balance on credit cards, you will lay a solid foundation for a great loan. It is also worth considering that opening a large number of credit cards negatively affects your credit score, so you should not run several new cards at once. Also you should not close old credit cards, because this will make your credit history shorter.
Do not act as loan co-signer for your friends
For people with insufficient credit score, or with absent credit history, a co-signer may be needed to obtain a loan. You may want to help your friends, but by acting as a co-signer, you risk your credit, which is still not too h2. If your friend for whom you vouched does not pay his loan on time, this will immediately affect your credit score.
Check out the result of your credit behavior
You can request a free credit report from one of the US credit bureaus, according to federal law. Also, some services and credit cards can inform you about changes in your credit score for free, which is very convenient for tracking the status of your credit. This will help not to miss anything important that may occur with your credit.
In conclusion
Now you know what options you have as a college student to build a good credit. College is probably the best time to do this, so do not miss this great opportunity. You can search and select the most appropriate loan options to start your credit history. You can start with a credit card for a small financial support, or with a student loan. To make the right choice of financial instrument to build your credit, you can find a lot of useful information in our financial blog. Apply for a loan on our website and get offers immediately from different lenders.
If you have any questions regarding the choice of a specific proposal, you can write to us and get advice from our experts.
