Well, I would say that the easiest way to start building a credit history is by applying for a department store card, whether it be a JC Penney or Sears. Usually they’ll give a very small limit to start, and it can only be used in their store, but that’s one of the easiest ways to get a credit history started, even if it’s only a hundred or two hundred dollar limit.
Once you start establishing a payment history on like a department store card, then at that point it’s going to be easier for you to be approved for a typical Mastercard or Visa, maybe with a three to five hundred dollar limit.
- I would say it’s not important to run out and get as many cards as you can in the beginning. It’s more important to focus on getting at least a couple.
- Keep a small balance on the card. This doesn’t help you with a zero balance because you want to establish a payment history. So even it means just keeping a fifty or sixty dollar balance on the card and make the minimum payments, it’s that payment history that you’re making on that card every month that’s going to help build your credit and help build your scores up so that you can get maybe different types of credit vehicles down the road.
So, department store cards are probably your best avenue to start on a first time credit card. Again my name is Matt McKillan and I am with Innovative Financial Groups.