How can I establish credit?

If you do not currently have credit there are a couple of common recommendations to help you establish it.

Open an account at a department store. For new credit users, department store cards or gas cards are usually easier to obtain than loans, American Express, Visas or Mastercards.
Open a secured credit card. This generally means you fund your own credit card. You provide the banking institution with a predetermined amount (i.e. $500 or $1000). You then make charges against the balance you have on the secured account. Some banks will let you access up to the entire amount you deposited and others may only let you access a percentage of the funds until they can get an understanding of how you are going to handle your new credit.

General Questions