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The process of calculating credit scores has followed the same basic guidelines for the last 30+ years – utilization/account age/negative marks/account mix/payment history. Kikoff has essentially built a business out of helping people with low/no credit raise their credit scores in a couple of innovative ways.
Kikoff offers 3 ways to help build your credit:
- A secured credit card
- Credit accounts
- Rent reporting
Secured credit cards have been around for decades and the concept is simple – you deposit a certain amount of money with the company (say $250 for example) and you receive a credit card with the same $250 credit limit. You can use the secured card like a normal credit card and you would make payments as you would with an unsecured credit card. Your $250 deposit is held by the company just in case you are unable to make payments. If you default, they’ll just take your deposit.
Where Kikoff has really shown some innovation is through its credit account and rent reporting systems.
The credit accounts work like a monthly installment plan. You make a purchase on Kikoff’s online store (ebooks, online courses, etc.) and you pay it off monthly at 0% APR. Since the purchase is made with a Kikoff credit account, they can report it to Experian, Equifax and Transunion as lines of credit.
Rent reporting is available if you rent your residence and use a bank account to pay rent. It works in much the same way a mortgage account on your credit would work by showing your monthly rent payment as a positive mark on your credit report.
The process of getting started is pretty simple: Click the “get started” button which pops up when you go to Kikoff’s information page here.
Clicking that takes you to the account creation page:
This is just the basic information they collect in order to create your account on Kikoff. Once you enter your email and make a password for your account, you’ll be taken here:
You’ll go to your email and click the link to verify it. Once you do, it should automatically take you to the next page. If it doesn’t, just hit “I already verified my email address”. Either way, you’ll be taken here next:
This is where you will enter your information in order for Kikoff to create your credit line and let them report it on your credit. They need to verify you are who you say you are. In the screenshot, you can see they ask for your name, phone number, birthday and home address. They also ask for your social security number, which is basically how they find your credit file. One thing I’ll suggest here is when you hit “next” to go to the phone number, uncheck the little “I consent to being called” box that pops up. You don’t need to consent to letting them call you in order to make a credit account. Once you’re done filling in everything, you will be taken to a loading screen while they verify your identity. They might ask a couple of questions to verify you are who you say you are, but eventually, you’ll be taken here:
This is the basic credit reporting plan. It’s basically impossible to beat for the price – $5/month for 12 months. They report the credit line as $750 with a starting balance of $60, which gives you a great credit utilization percentage that gets even better as time goes on and you pay it off. Click the “Let’s get started” button and it takes you here:
If you’re looking specifically for a credit account which will help you raise your credit score, the $5/month account is your best bet. If you want your rent reported, you’d want either the Premium or Ultimate subscriptions. They run $20/$35 a month respectively, but your rent will be reported as a tradeline, which can boost your score significantly. For the two higher tiers, they also report a significantly higher credit line at $2500/$3500, making your credit utilization across your entire credit profile go down. Once you select what you want and hit “Continue”, you’ll be taken here:
Put in your credit or debit card number and hit “Submit Payment”. The payment is only the first month and it gets automatically charged every month after that. That’s it! Within a few weeks the tradeline will appear on your credit report. You can cancel it anytime online.
Creating a Kikoff credit account is a great way to build your credit, raise your credit score or add to your credit profile. It’s one of the few products out there that accepts anybody, regardless of prior credit issues or lack of credit. The rent reporting option is amazing as well if you want your rent reported to the credit bureaus.