Credit Strong is an option for those out there who are in the hard mission of improving their credit scores. If you currently have poor credit then you’re aware of the difficulties. Even a task as simple as getting a credit card seems impossible unless you pay heavy fees or make a security deposit.
That’s why many people look for recipes that could help them improve scores. From secured cards that report to all three American bureaus to loans that might help them afford to pay debts, everything might be worth a shot. But that makes you stumble upon another problem: any type of loan or card you get this way will have incredibly high interest rates, which could make things worse.
Since having a healthy financial life gets too complicated when your score is bad, what can you do? Well, Credit Strong has an interesting and innovative offer that might be everything you need to get back on track.
Credit Strong allows you to hold a type of loan, without actually having to get an approval for it. Does it sound complex? Don’t worry, there’ll be a great explanation along this article. Keep reading to find out how the line of credit for those with poor scores holds and when it might be a good idea.
What is Credit Strong exactly?
Credit Strong is a sort of loan, but you don’t actually get any money at the moment of signing up. Hold on, does that mean you don’t get money at all after getting an approval? More or less, what you’ll actually get is access to a line of credit, which will positively impact your credit score.
Everything is backed by the Austin Capital Bank, so you don’t have to worry about safety, it’s quite secure. The product helps you get a secured loan that will allow you to create a good payment history and better debt ratio. We’ll explain in the next topic what that means for your score, but we can already guarantee that it’s good news.
As you work your way through debt and bad scores with Credit Strong, you’ll make monthly payments that get reported to the American reporting bureaus. By the time the loan is almost over, you should see a significant increase in scores that give you access to new financial tools, such as fee-free credit cards.
How do credit building loans work?
Remember what our scores are made of? 35% of it is made of payment history and another 30% is made up considering how much you currently owe to credit cards, loans and other financial services. That’s why getting a credit line is so important: you can build a positive history and manage the amount owed.
In a very simplified manner, when you sign up for Credit Strong you get a loan, but the actual money is deposited in a savings account. Afterwards, you’ll make payments to build up your credit history. Once everything is over, the loan amount will be available for withdrawal and scores will be higher overall.
While you’ll pay your loan with interest, the savings account makes up for it, as the money stored there also earns interest back. There are some variations of Credit Strong’s personal loan products, but we’ll explain each of them a bit further ahead.
It works as a sort of secured loan that helps you plan for the future. We have to include a warning here, Credit Strong isn’t anything like a credit repair service. Instead of finding out problems in your report, it gives you the means to build a new and better history.
Credit Strong products
Credit Strong has a variety of products for both private individuals and businesses. Each of them has their own pricing range and fees. Since that could impact greatly on how you deal with this type of loan, it’s important to understand them thoroughly and maybe even get in touch with the company’s support to get some doubts sorted through.
Instal
Instal is an account that reports to all three major credit bureaus in the US. You can choose the amount you’ll pay monthly to start building up your credit score. There’s even the possibility of saving up at the same time.
There’s even a bonus: you can check your FICO scores every month without additional cost and track progress in an efficient way. This will help you stay focused on your way to credit score recovery.
This account works in practice as installment credit. Which means that you can create a payment history and vary your credit mix as you put money in it. Once you apply for Instal, you’ll determine for how long this will go on, but there’s an option to cancel anytime without extra fees.
There are two types of monthly fees for this product: $15 for a $1.000 installment account with low interest rates, or $30 for a $2.500 installment account. You’ll pay both for 120 months and cancel whenever you’d like.
Magnum
This is also an installment account, but it works with much higher amounts. Sometimes you manage to save up enough for this type of investment, but your credit score doesn’t allow you to get a loan with good conditions. That’s where Magnum comes in, with installments of up to $10.000.
As long as you have money to cover the monthly payments, there’s no need for a good score. Actually, to open a Magnum account you won’t even go through a credit check at all. The approval process is quick and simple and everything happens through Credit Strong’s website in just a few minutes.
You might want to check out this option if:
- You’re getting ready to look for a good personal loan;
- Credit cards with high limits and rewards are your dream;
- You need a good credit score to get on with your small business’ needs.
The fees are quite simple for this product:
- $55 a month for $5.000 installment that you’ll pay over 120 months;
- $110 a month for a $10.000 installment that you’ll pay over 120 months.
Is Credit Strong a savings account?
Credit Strong isn’t a savings account as you might imagine, since you don’t have full access to your money until the end of the program. However, it does pay you interest according to how much you’re paying, which makes sure that the loan doesn devalue over the 120 months you’ll pay.
Either way, we don’t recommend you see this as a conventional savings account. It’s a sort of loan and it can help you a lot more than simple savings if you’re someone who’s struggling to get better scores. After all, it increases your credit mix and builds a payment history.
How fast can you increase credit scores with Credit Strong?
Credit Strong is a good option to increase scores, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily fast. Everything depends on how deep your score problems are, in how much debt you’re into and whether you already have a payment history.
Someone who’s brand new to credit and doesn’t have a history at all, for example, might have to wait six months to actually see any results. But if you’re just after a slight increase, a few on time payments is enough to watch your numbers go up.
What we have to remind people of is that no credit solution is fast and failproof. You’ll have to wait, pay everything on time and deal with other debts that could make your scores fall even lower.
A good option for someone who wishes to get better scores fast is looking for a secured credit card that reports to all three bureaus. But those who choose to go with this option will have to be aware that monthly balance payments have to happen on time, as well as the ones you owe Credit Strong.
Should you really get Credit Strong?
Before you subscribe to Credit Strong it’s important to know that this is an expensive program. You’ll have to pay monthly installments and a few fees for the service, including administration fees and interest rates. While the interests are lower than those of conventional poor score credit cards, they’ll still make a difference.
The main advantage for using Credit Strong is the easy and fast approval, as well as simple management. You can also cancel it whenever you want and get all of the money you set aside back.
This service is ideal for anyone who needs a more robust approach to credit score recovery. If you can wait or need cash immediately, there are other personal loan services for those with poor scores that might be more to your taste.
Does Credit Strong negatively impact your score?
Credit Strong doesn’t have an impact at all on your score at the moment of application. After all, there’s no hard credit check on your score. This means that you can keep going with your application without worrying, the only thing that this service can do is improve it over the next few months.
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