By nature, the U.S. is a country that runs on credit. Therefore, having a credit history in the U.S. is of utmost importance. To build your credit score, you need to have a Credit Card. And the general perception is that you need a Social Security Number (SSN) to get a Credit Card.
But did you know that the credit bureaus in the U.S. don’t need you to have an SSN to build your credit score. But then why do most banks in the U.S. ask you for an SSN to give you a credit card? To understand that, let’s first go through the process involved in building a credit score.
How do you build your credit score without an SSN?
- Get a U.S. Credit Card
- Use your credit card for your daily spends
- Remember to pay your bills on time
- The Credit Card provider will report your credit history to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion bureaus.
- After 2-3 months of reporting your credit behavior to the bureaus, you will be able to view your credit score.
In the fourth step of the above process, the credit card provider needs an identifier to report your history to the bureau, and for this, most of the central banks use your SSN only to identify. But the interesting fact is that SSN is one of the many identifiers that bureaus accept; other parameters are:
- Name
- Date of Birth
- U.S. Address
So, Zolve uses the parameters mentioned above to report your credit history to the bureaus and thus help you build your credit score from Day 1 in the U.S. Here, the unique advantage that Zolve has over other U.S. providers is that it identifies you based on your home country documents and credit history.
How has Zolve helped users to build U.S. credit scores?
Once you have a functioning Zolve Credit Card, Zolve reports your credit usage to the credit bureaus, based on your other profile information like your name, date of birth, and U.S. residential address.
Around 90% of Zolve Credit Card users have built a credit score of 700+, and the best part is that most of them haven’t even received their SSN yet. A strong credit score -is helping them improve their life in the U.S. as they will be able to save money on different aspects of their life.
How does a strong U.S. credit score help you save money?
We all know that having a good credit score makes our lives easier. Our loan requests are quickly approved, we get a higher credit limit and effortless approvals. But what about the challenges you face if you have a bad credit score?
These are some areas where you will save money with a good credit score:
- While applying for an auto loan, if you have a good credit score, you might pay 3% interest over the loan, whereas with a bad credit score, you might pay 5x interest of up to 15%.
- Similarly, if you want to take a home loan, you might only pay 3% if you have a good credit score than 6% if your credit score is terrible. This amount accentuates over the more extended period of loan settlement.
- The premiums you pay on your insurance also double without a good credit score.
So, make the most of your money and start building your credit score from Day 1 in the U.S. with Zolve!
With Zolve, you can apply for a U.S. bank account & U.S. Credit Card even before you set foot in America! We have tailor-made our services to help immigrants with their money management across borders.
