Can i have a credit score without a credit card

When you have not borrowed in the past or have never had a Credit Card or a loan, there will be no updates about you with the credit bureau, who mark such cases as NH or 'No History'. Due to a lack of details, the credit bureau will be unable to comment on your payment behaviour. In such cases, some banks / financial institutions/NBFCs may not provide you with any unsecured credit facilities.

Why Secured Credit Card?

Banks issue these cards, which will be a great start for a new borrower to build your credit score. But you must be mindful of potential fees some banks charge for the particular product. If you don’t want a secured credit card, another option is to approach a bank and they might suggest you a credit card with a low credit limit. And gradually you can ask the banks to increase your credit limit, by ensuring that you pay all you bills on time.

As a part of our service CreditMantri helps you to improve your credit score and history. We help you to discover loans and credit cards matched for your credit profile. Reduce EMI and borrowing costs. What’s more important, you will not have to go through a full application and face rejection at the end. We do the hard work for you and weed out what is not suited for your credit profile.

If you don't want to apply for a new credit card either because you had problems with borrowing in the past, or you would rather not use one, then here are our tips for building credit without a credit card.

While proof of making debt repayments is the most common way of improving your credit score, it is not the only way to build your credit rating.

Here are our tips for building your credit score without taking out a credit card:

Get on the electoral register

This is the most basic and most useful thing you can do to improve your credit score if you haven't done so already. This is essentially registering to vote. Even if you have no desire to vote, it's imperative you do this, as it's a confirmation of the address you live in.

You will normally be rejected for any credit if the address you put in the application is not the one at which you are registered to vote. You can get yourself on the electoral register by registering to vote online.

Put your name on more of the household bills

If you share the cost of the bills with your partner or someone else at home, put your name down as the bill payer for more of them. Many people will pay their share of the bills without actually being listed as the bill payer, which will make no contribution to their credit score.

Essentially, without your name on the bill there will be no record of you paying your share. Most utility bills, like energy and gas, show up on your credit report if you're listed as the bill payer. If you're listed as the bill payer and repay them on time regularly, this will improve your credit score.

Similarly, if you have a mobile phone contract rather than a pay as you go phone, repaying this regularly will also improve your credit score as it also shows up on your credit report.

Clear your outstanding debts

This may seem obvious, but any debts you still haven't paid can also contribute to you having a lower credit score. Build up your credit by clearing these debts as soon as possible. It will soon show up on your credit report as a repaid debt, which should contribute to your credit score going up.

Close credit cards and accounts you don't use

Do you have any credit cards in your wallet that you took out and haven't used in years? Close down any accounts that you don't use anymore. If there's no activity and you don't plan to use them again anytime soon, there's no point in having them.

This is because when lenders check your credit report they aren't just looking at how much money you owe. They are also looking at how much money you could potentially be borrowing at one time.

If you're applying for credit of £3,000 and you have three other credit cards that you haven't used in years that combined give you a total borrowing power of £9,000, the new lender will assess what the risk is of you having access to £12,000 in credit.

They will be asking themselves, were you to suddenly borrow all of that money, would you be able to repay it? So make sure any accounts you don't use are closed down as this could also look like you are desperate for even more money to borrow – if you already have credit you can borrow, why apply for more?

Check your credit report

When you check your credit report you will be able to view your financial history from the last few years and see what immediately needs to be improved.

You will also get a better idea of what aspects of your history might be problematic. Missed payments, for example? Paying off a few more bills on time could slowly rectify that issue. Perhaps just as important is to check that there are no errors on your credit report. Errors do happen. You have the right to have them corrected.

Read our guide on how to dispute your credit report to see what you can do if you spot an error in your credit report.

How do I improve my credit score with a credit card in the UK?

Many people would have heard of 'credit builder credit cards' or 'bad credit credit cards', which are essentially the same as any ordinary credit cards except they have been designed for people who have struggled to get approved for credit in the past.

This means these credit cards usually have a higher than average rate of APR and a lower spending limit to minimise the risk to the credit card provider, but to also make it easier for the customer to manage. The idea with credit builder credit cards is that the more repayments you make, the more proof there is of you being able to sensibly manage money and thus improve your credit score.

Your credit score is based on your financial history. Any debts you have repaid or failed to repay on time will show up in your credit report.

Your credit report is what all loan providers use to check that you're suitable for their mortgage, credit card, loan, overdraft or any other type of credit product. Some future employers might also check it to see how reliable you are so it's really important to have a good credit score.

Many credit reporting companies can show you how much of your personal information is available online, and reduce the risk of you becoming a victim of identity fraud, which could be costly to your finances as well as your chances of getting credit again.

How does your credit score go up without a credit card?

Can you have credit without a card?

Do you have a credit score if you've never had credit?

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