Most credit-building advice is written for people who need help with bad credit. If you’re 17, 19, or 22, that’s probably not your problem. Your problem is that you most likely don’t have any credit history: either no file at the bureaus, or a file too thin for a lender to read, both of which are normal for your age.
That matters because to generate a FICO score, your credit report needs at least one account that has been open six months or more, and at least one account reported to a bureau within the past six months. Miss any of those and you’re “unscoreable” by FICO — you may still have a credit file, just not a FICO score from it. VantageScore is looser (it can score a file with as little as one month of history and one account reported in the past two years), but most lenders still lean on FICO.
So, how do you even get started? We’re partnering with Kikoff to help you understand how to start building your credit early. If you’re curious to get started, check out Kikoff here and start building your credit today >>
Here’s the order to do it in.
Before You Turn 18
1. Get added as an authorized user on a parent’s card
This is the only real option before 18. When a parent adds you to their card, many issuers report the account’s full history to your credit report. So if your parents have had a card for 10 years, it can show up on your credit file as a 10-year-old tradeline from the date it was originally issued. This doesn’t apply to all issuers though: American Express allows authorized users from age 13, Discover from 15, and Wells Fargo from 18. Other major credit card issuers like Chase, Citi, Capital One, and Bank of America don’t publish a minimum.
Before you get added, there are two things to remember. First, it works in both directions: if your parent carries high balances or misses a payment, that lands on your credit report too. Second, not every issuer reports authorized users to the credit bureaus, and some only start reporting once the authorized user turns 18 so make sure you do your homework.
2. Open a checking account in your own name
A checking account doesn’t build credit (no debit card does), but it can set up the banking system you need for life. Having your own checking account allows you to deposit your paycheck, set up online billpay, and start adulting in your financial life.
When You Turn 18 (Or When You’re Reading This)
3. Sign up for a Kikoff plan
If you want to get a jumpstart on building your credit, you can start when you turn 18 with no credit check, no income requirement, and no hidden fees (aka no security deposit).
Here’s how it works: Kikoff gives you access to a Kikoff tradeline (a secure, revolving line of credit) in your name, which is specifically designed to build credit. This Kikoff tradeline ($750 on the Basic plan) is used to finance the cost of your monthly Kikoff plan, and then you pay back that cost every month with your favorite debit card or linked bank account.
Each month, Kikoff reports your tradeline and your payment history to all three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Two things that are worth pointing out. First, your Kikoff tradeline balance is $5 against a $750 limit for the Basic plan, so your credit utilization stays under 1% by design. You can’t accidentally max it out, because it isn’t spendable anywhere outside Kikoff (aka you can’t use it on gas or groceries).
Second, there’s no interest and no hidden fees, which removes the main way a first credit account goes wrong for an 18-year-old.
A Kikoff Basic plan is $5 a month, or $60 for the year. That’s less than most people spend on streaming, and less than the $200 minimum deposit a secured card would cost on average.
Kikoff also offers a Premium plan at $20 a month with a $2,500 Kikoff tradeline and extra benefits like bill reporting, as well as an Ultimate plan at $35 a month with a $3,500 tradeline and $1M identity theft insurance. For a student with no file, we recommend a Kikoff Basic plan to get started.
To sign up for Kikoff, you need to be 18, a U.S. citizen with a valid Social Security number, and have a bank account. If you’re nervous, don’t panic! There’s a 45-day money-back guarantee, so you can start building credit stress-free. Open it the month you turn 18 and you can cross the six-month FICO threshold before the spring semester ends.
4. Build credit with the rent you’re already paying
If you’re living off campus, you’re already making one of the largest recurring payments of your life, and you probably didn’t know it could help you build your credit faster. Rent reporting makes it so you get credit for the rent you’re already paying.
Kikoff includes rent reporting with every plan by reporting your on-time rent payments to Equifax and TransUnion. All you need to do is submit your lease and landlord information for verification, and payments have to come from a linked bank account rather than Venmo or Cash App. Plus, only successful payments get reported, so a missed month doesn’t create a negative mark.
There’s also an option to report up to two years of past rent for a one-time $50 fee, which can help build your credit history.
5. Apply for a student credit card
A student card is still one of the best long-term accounts to own, because it’s a real revolving line you can keep for decades. But the under-21 income rule is where most applications die.
As a student, you need income: work-study, part-time wages, tips, gig work, or leftover financial aid refunds that land in your account. A parent’s income doesn’t count unless there’s a cosigner who’s at least 21 and signs on for the debt, and most card issuers no longer offer cosigners at all.
Two things improve the odds: applying where you already bank, and applying after a Kikoff tradeline has been reporting for at least six months. Why the wait? This is to give your account time to mature because a new credit history beats no credit history when an issuer pulls your report.
Once You Have A Credit Score: Build The Habits That Compound
6. Keep utilization low
Credit utilization, which makes up about 30% of your credit mix, is how much credit you’re using divided by your credit limit. The lower this ratio, the better.
Remember, utilization is the balance reported on your statement date, not what you owe on the due date. Paying in full every month will still show a high balance if you charge $400 on a $500 limit and let the statement close first.
A simple trick is to pay down the balance before the statement closes, and the reported number drops with it. Under 10% is the target.
7. Never close your first account
Account age, which looks at the age of all of your credit accounts, makes up about 15% of your credit mix. This means that the age of your oldest account is important. Close the card you opened at 18 and, once it eventually falls off your report, you’ll have erased the head start you spent years building.
If the annual fee is the problem, ask the issuer to downgrade it to a no-fee version of the card instead of closing it.
8. Set up Autopay and pay in full
Payment history makes up roughly 35% of your credit mix (and credit score), and one 30-day late mark can sit on your report for seven years. Set up Autopay for the minimum balance so a missed payment is structurally impossible, then pay the full balance by hand each month.
9. Pull all three reports and check them
You can get free credit reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com, and use those reports to monitor your credit health. Errors on new credit files are proportionally more damaging, because there’s less accurate data to offset them.
Check your credit before you apply for an apartment, a car loan, or a card, not after you get declined.
What Not To Do
- Don’t assume a debit card builds credit. It doesn’t.
- Don’t assume student loans alone are enough. They help, but in-school deferment means the account may not show the payment activity a scoring model wants to see.
- Don’t cosign for a roommate. Their missed payment becomes your missed payment, and you have no control over it.
- Don’t pay a credit repair company. There’s nothing to repair on a credit history that’s empty. You need accounts, not disputes.
Final Thoughts
Credit is one of the few financial systems where the advantage goes almost entirely to whoever started earliest with the best record, and the cost of starting is small. A $5-a-month plan at 18 is what turns the apartment application at 22 into a formality instead of a problem and it’s the difference between a security deposit you get back and one you never had to pay.
Check out Kikoff here to get started building your credit >>
Disclaimers
Individual results may vary. Subject to approval. Terms & conditions may apply. Kikoff tradeline intended for financing the purchase of Kikoff products & services (like your monthly Kikoff plan). Kikoff Credit Service starts at $5/mo for 12 mos.
Editor: Colin Graves
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
He is committed to making the intersection of personal finance and education transparent and accessible. You can learn more about Robert on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.