Once you come of age, you should start building your credit as soon as possible. This helps you to avoid regular setbacks as you navigate your daily life. One of the easiest ways of building credit is by responsible use of credit cards. However, you may not have a credit account yet or may not be interested in using credit cards. Therefore, it is essential to know the various ways through which you can build credit without necessarily using a credit card. One of the most widely used forms of building credit is by using loans. However, you should be sure to get the loan from a creditor who reports to many known credit bureaus. This is because you need to ensure your credit history reflects on your credit report. Here is how you can use loans to build credit.
Utilize Credit Builder Loans
Credit builder loans are similar to secured credit accounts. Upon approval and acquisition, the loan funds are moved to your savings account. This is kept there until you repay the given amount. Upon completion of payment of the loan, the resultant money in your savings account becomes yours. Since your payment history is part and parcel of your credit report, making prompt payments go a long way in improving your credit score. Credit builder loans are offered online with the option of reporting your loan payments to credit bureaus.
Prompt student loan payments
Most governments usually provide students, mostly those in tertiary institutions, with loans to help them pay fees and acquire necessities to facilitate their education. Interestingly, you can use such loans to provide a means of how to build credit without a credit card. Such loans are usually given up to a certain amount depending on the institution, the course or the location. Based on the loan type you received, you may be required to make some payments on a given basis. You can take advantage of such arrangements to start building your credit by making prompt payments. Such payments are sure to reflect on your payment history. Timely payment will help in communicating with your creditor that you are fiscally responsible, thereby increasing your financial credit.
Timely payment of rent
Most landlords usually report rent payments to credit bureaus. However, some do not. Paying your house rent on time goes to show creditors that you can be trusted with money. Therefore, making prompt rental payments help to increase your creditworthiness, thereby building your credit history. Also, you should take all necessary measures to prioritize rent payment to ensure you do not harm your credit reports.
Conclusion
Positive credit reports help to improve your credit score, thereby helping to build your credit score. The use of credit cards is the most common way of building credit. However, there are other ways of building credit should you find this not suitable for you. You can use loans, for example, as a viable way of how to build credit without a credit card among other approaches as discussed in the article.