For those with limited or negative credit, credit builder loans are an effective way to establish a positive credit history, improve your credit score, and progress toward a stable financial future.
Business Insider's personal finance team compared CreditStrong to the best credit builder loans and found CreditStrong to be an industry leader. It is available in most states, doesn't require a credit check for approval, and offers flexible loan terms and monthly payments. However, there are more affordable options.
Read on to see whether CreditStrong is a good fit for you.
CreditStrong Pros and Cons
CreditStrong offers an assortment of loan options that are widely available in the U.S., but you may have less costly options for building credit. While some of the best credit builder loans cost less than CreditStrong, you can also look into secured credit cards to build credit. Some of the best secured credit cards even come with rewards and perks.
Pros
- Flexible loan options: CreditStrong lets you choose from three different loan terms and monthly payments.
- Reporting to three credit bureaus: CreditStrong reports your payments to all three major credit bureaus so you can improve your credit score across the board.
- No cancellation fee: If your loan doesn't have the impact you want, you can cancel it at any time at no additional cost.
Cons
- Low yield on locked funds: The savings account where your loan funds are kept will earn interest below the national average and far below what you could get from a high-yield savings account or CD.
- Costs: CreditStrong has no monthly fees, but Instal loans charge interest rates over 15% on top of a $15 administrative fee.
- No credit repair: CreditStrong doesn't address existing issues, such as inaccuracies in your credit report or past delinquencies.
Start Building Credit
6.99% - 7.31%
$25 administrative fee and 6.99-7.31% APR
0
- Long loan terms
- High installment loan amount
- Monthly credit score
- High monthly payments
- Saved money only earns 0.01% interest
Applying for a CreditStrong credit builder loan is only a good idea if you know you'll be able to make monthly payments on time and in full. Late or delinquent payments may drop your credit score, defeating the purpose of getting the loan in the first place.
Compare CreditStrong
$0 intro for the first year, then $25
28.24% Variable
No credit and limited credit
- Easy to be approved with bad (or no) credit
- Effective tool for building credit
- Automatically be reviewed for credit limit increases
- No welcome bonus
- No rewards for spending
- $25 annual fee
Getting approved for a credit card can be challenging if you have a negative or non-existent credit history. The Self Visa® Credit Card offers an innovative solution that bypasses the traditional credit card application process, making it easier to get approved while also helping to build or repair your credit. However, getting the card involves several steps, as well as costs you wouldn't incur with other credit cards.
Self Visa® Credit Card- *$0 annual fee for the first year only. $25 annual fee after. 28.24% Variable APR. Limited time offer.
- To be eligible for the Self Secured Visa you first have to have an open Credit Builder Account, make three monthly payments on time, have at least $100 in savings progress and have your account be in good standing
- There are no hard credit checks
- Minimum credit limit is $100
- Minimum security deposit is $100
- Credit limit increased as you make monthly payments towards your Credit Builder Account
$0
None
No Credit History, Poor
- No credit check required for approval
- No annual fee
- Build credit with responsible use
- No welcome bonus or rewards
- Requires a Chime checking account
- No ability to carry a balance
If you have a problematic credit history or none at all, the card offers a way to get the functionality of a credit card without having to undergo a standard credit check. The card can help you build credit by reporting activity on your account to the major credit bureaus. However, it doesn't earn rewards and can't be converted to an unsecured card, so it may not be your best option. The secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Please see the back of your card for its issuing bank.
Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa- No credit check required for approval
- No annual fee
- No welcome bonus or rewards
- Requires a Chime checking account
- No ability to carry a balance
15.51% to 15.92%
$25 to $150 monthly
N/A
$600 to $3,600
- Four different plans
- Customers eligible for Visa secured credit card
- No hard credit check
- Available in all 50 states
- Relatively high APRs for credit builder loan
- Only 24-month payment periods available
Self's credit builder loan is one of the few credit-builder loans available in all 50 states. Self offers four payment plans between $25 and $150 per month, all of which take 24 months to complete. Self doesn't perform a hard credit inquiry, and it reports to all three credit bureaus, but that's the bare minimum for a loan designed to build credit.
Self Credit Builder Account- No hard credit report pull
- Reports to all 3 bureaus
- Build credit AND savings
- Join over 1 million credit builders
- Unlock a Secured Credit Card after meeting eligibility criteria
- 24 months loan duration
CreditStrong Overview
CreditStrong is a division of Austin Capital Bank, an FDIC-insured community bank headquartered in Austin, Texas. Austin Capital Bank also owns FreeKick, another product that made our list of the best credit builder loans. Boasting a community of over 1 million people and businesses, CreditStrong offers loans and other tools for building credit to customers nationwide (except for those in Vermont and Wisconsin).
To qualify for a CreditStrong account, you must be at least 18 years old and a permanent United States resident with a physical address in the country. You must also have a valid Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number; an email address; mobile phone number (or Google Voice account); and a checking account, debit card, or prepaid card in good standing.
How CreditStrong Works
CreditStrong offers installment loans to help people build credit and savings. CreditStrong combines credit building with an FDIC-insured savings account available online.
When an installment loan is taken out with CreditStrong, the savings account is locked to secure the loan. The funds in the account are not available for withdrawal until the loan is paid off or matures. At that time, the account balance can be transferred to the borrower.
CreditStrong isn't the cheapest credit builder loan, but it's one of the most widely available, operating in 48 states. With tri-bureau reporting, multiple payment plans, and options for high payment amounts, CreditStrong is a very strong choice for those looking to build credit from scratch.
With no hard credit check and minimal requirements to open an account, CreditStrong claims its application process should take less than five minutes.
Key Features of CreditStrong
CreditStrong offers several options across three credit-building products: Instal, Revolv, and CS Max. These accounts aren't mutually exclusive, so you can simultaneously hold an Instal and Revolv account.
CreditStrong Instal
CreditStrong Instal is most similar to traditional credit builder loans. It comes in three different varieties, each of which comes with a $15 nonrefundable administrative fee. The loan amounts and interest rates are similar for each one, but the loan terms, monthly payments, and total interest charges differ:
- Instal 28 — $28 monthly payment and 48-month loan term, resulting in a $1,344 reported installment account and $1,010 saved. An interest rate of 15.61% yields approximately $334 in interest charges.
- Instal 38 — $38 monthly payment and 36-month loan term, resulting in a $1,368 reported installment account and $1,100 saved. An interest rate of 15.73% yields approximately $268 in interest charges.
- Instal 48 — $48 monthly payment and 24-month loan term, resulting in a $1,152 reported installment account and $1,000 saved. An interest rate of 15.51% yields approximately $152 in interest charges.
Choosing a lower monthly payment means you'll pay more in interest. The tradeoff is a longer loan term that results in more credit-building potential as long as you make on-time payments.
The first payment of your Instal loan is due one month after opening the account. CreditStrong recommends making monthly payments automatically by linking a checking account, but you can pay manually with a debit or prepaid card (a convenience fee of 2.99% + $0.30 applies).
With each payment, the portion that goes toward the loan principal is deposited in an Austin Capital Bank savings account in your name. Those funds are locked during the loan period and become available once the loan is paid off. While the savings account is FDIC-insured, it earns only 0.01% interest, so the money you put into the loan effectively sits idle.
CreditStrong reports your payments to the three major credit bureaus, adding data points to your payment history, which is the most important component of your credit score. A track record of on-time payments should positively impact your credit, though CreditStrong does not guarantee any particular outcome.
If you find CreditStrong is not for you, you can cancel your account anytime with no early termination fee. If you cancel before your loan matures, you'll receive the principal amount accrued in your savings account. However, a relatively large portion of your early payments go toward interest (rather than the principal), so you may get back much less than what you've put in.
While there's no fee for canceling your loan or paying it off early, late payments by 15 days or more incur a late fee of 4% of your monthly payment. Payments received more than 30 days after they're due are reported as late to the credit bureaus.
CreditStrong Revolv
CreditStrong Revolv adds a $500 revolving credit line to your credit report. Revolv account holders don't actually have access to this money. It just adds a revolving account to your credit report.
That said, customers have the option to make regular contributions to a Revolv savings account, which CreditStrong reports to the credit bureau. Three consecutive on-time payments will add $100 to your credit limit, maxing out at $1,000. Once you close the account, you get these contributions back.
If you've paid off installment loans but don't have a credit card, Revolv can build credit by diversifying the types of credit on your credit report. If you already have a credit card, Revolv can add to your existing credit limit, which will help keep your credit utilization ratio low.
The CreditStrong Revolv account doesn't charge interest on your balance but costs $99 annually.
CreditStrong CS Max
CreditStrong CS Max works like its Instal account, just with higher monthly payments and 60-month loan terms. CS Max has four different plans, varying in monthly payment amounts and interest rates. All accounts also charge an initial $25 nonrefundable administrative fee.
- CS Max 49 — $49 monthly payment and 60-month loan term, resulting in $2,940 reported installment account and $2,500 saved. An interest rate of 6.99% yields approximately $440 in interest charges.
- CS Max 99 — $99 monthly payment and 60-month loan term, resulting in $5,940 reported installment account and $5,000 saved. An interest rate of 7.21% yields approximately $940 in interest charges.
- CS Max 199 — $199 monthly payment and 60-month loan term, resulting in a $11,940 reported installment account and $10,000. An interest rate of 7.31% yields approximately $1,940 in interest charges.
With such a high monthly payment over such an extended period, CS Max offers aggressive credit building. However, it's not for most consumers. It's geared toward people with disposable income to set aside for these payments but may have let their credit score fall by the wayside.
Though CS Max interest rates aren't as high as the Instal accounts, those long payment terms result in steeper interest charges.
CreditStrong Cost and Fees
CreditStrong's costs across its eight plans are as follows:
| Plan | Setup fee | Interest rate | Interest Paid |
| CreditStrong Revolv | $99 annually | N/A | N/A |
| Instal 28 | $15 one-time | 15.61% | $334 |
| Instal 38 | $15 one-time | 15.73% | $268 |
| Instal 48 | $15 one-time | 15.51% | $152 |
| CS Max 49 | $25 one-time | 6.99% | $440 |
| CS Max 99 | $25 one-time | 7.21% | $940 |
| CS Max 199 | $25 one-time | 7.31% | $1,940 |
Note that these are the interest payments you'd make if you followed the original payment schedule. You can pay more than the minimum each month. Making greater payments will reduce the interest you pay at the cost of the credit history you accumulate.
CreditStrong Reviews and Ratings
CreditStrong has mixed reviews from customers online. The company has a Trustpilot rating of 1.4 stars out of 5 across 69 reviews, and its Better Business Bureau has 90 complaints filed in the past three years. More feedback can be found in Google reviews linked to CreditStrong's corporate address in Austin, where the company has a rating of 3.4 stars out of 5.
In negative reviews across all sites, common concerns cited by CreditStrong customers include poor customer service and a lack of results. However, many negative reviews showed a lack of understanding about what CreditStrong loans do and how they work.
CreditStrong Alternatives
CreditStrong is one of the best credit builder loans, offering some of the highest total loan amounts compared to its competitors. See how CreditStrong compares to some of its competitors.
CreditStrong vs Self
Self and CreditStrong are leading providers of credit builder loans. Self is available in all 50 states and CreditStrong is available in 48. The two services are also very similar in fee structure, charging a setup fee and interest on the remaining loan balance.
CreditStrong offers slightly better interest rates and more flexible loan terms. While CreditStrong's Instal loans can last anywhere between 24 to 48 months, Self only offers 24-month loan terms.
However, Self also offers a Self Visa secured card after you make three on-time payments, which is secured by the amount you've already contributed to your credit builder loan. This is a great perk that adds a revolving line of credit to your credit report without a hard inquiry. It's cheaper than CreditStrong's Revolv account, costing just $25 annually compared to Revolv's $99 annual fee. It's also more functional, since you can use the Self Visa card to make purchases.
Read our Self review.
CreditStrong vs DCU Credit Builder
The DCU credit builder is easily one of the best credit builder loans on the market, with just a 5% interest rate and flexible payment terms that go up to 24 months.
The only issue is availability. The credit builder loan is only available to DCU members. If you don't live in certain areas, you'll have to jump through several hoops to join. However, once those hoops have been jumped through, you get access to one of the lowest rates for a credit builder loan.
CreditStrong can't compete with DCU when it comes to cost, but CreditStrong still has longer loan terms as DCU's loans only last up to 24 months.
Read our DCU credit builder loan review.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Evaluated CreditStrong
At Business Insider, our personal finance section is committed to providing our readers with unbiased, thoroughly researched, and inclusive information to ensure they make well-informed decisions. When evaluating CreditStrong's services, we looked at the following benchmarks to assess its offering:
Accessibility: CreditStrong is available in 48 states and does not require a credit check. It does require that you are over the age of 18, with a social security number, and be a United States resident.
Affordability: CreditStrong is actually not the most affordable credit builder program you can use. Its interest rates are higher than average and there is a $15 administrative fee with each plan.
Variety: CreditStrong has a variety of plans to fit your needs from CreditStrong's Instal and Max accounts to Revolve which is a standout because it is a revolving line of credit that is $99/annually and can help with credit utilization.
Security: CreditStrong takes its users' privacy seriously. It has a privacy policy in place and does not share your information with affiliated or non-affiliated parties.
Customer Reviews: CreditStrong has mixed reviews from customers online. The company has a Trustpilot rating of 1.4 stars out of five across 69 reviews, and its Better Business Bureau has 90 complaints filed in the past three years.
See the full explanation of how we rate credit builder accounts.
FAQs
Does CreditStrong actually give you money?
CreditStrong does not give you money upfront like a traditional installment loan. Instead, funds paid into your CreditStrong credit builder loan go into a locked savings account that unlocks when your loan matures.
Does CreditStrong do a hard pull?
CreditStrong does not do a hard pull. It doesn't check your credit when you apply for a credit builder loan, so no hard pull will be added to your credit report.
How long does it take to see results with CreditStrong?
How long it will take to see results with CreditStrong can vary. It will depend on your credit profile before you start using CreditStrong and whether you have any negative information on your credit report. Typically, results will start to show up in three to six months.
Chime® Disclosures:
Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.
Out-of-network ATM withdrawal fees may apply except at MoneyPass ATMs in a 7-Eleven, or any Allpoint or Visa Plus Alliance ATM.
Early Pay: Early access to direct deposit funds depends on the timing of the submission of the payment file from the payer. We generally make these funds available on the day the payment file is received, which may be up to 2 days earlier than the scheduled payment date.
The Annual Percentage Yield ("APY") for the Chime Savings Account is variable and may change at any time. The disclosed APY is effective as of September 20, 2023. No minimum balance required. Must have $0.01 in savings to earn interest.
Round Up: Round Ups automatically round up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfer the round up from your Chime Checking Account to your savings account.
SpotMe® on Debit is an optional, no fee overdraft service attached to your Chime Checking Account. To qualify for the SpotMe on Debit service, you must receive $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits to your Chime Checking Account each month and have activated your physical Chime Visa® Debit Card or secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card. Qualifying members will be allowed to overdraw their Chime Checking Account for up to $20 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals initially but may later be eligible for a higher limit of up to $200 or more based on Chime Account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other risk-based factors. The SpotMe on Debit limit will be displayed within the Chime mobile app and is subject to change at any time, at Chime's sole discretion. Although Chime does not charge any overdraft fees for SpotMe on Debit, there may be out-of-network or third-party fees associated with ATM transactions. SpotMe on Debit will not cover any non-debit card transactions, including ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, or Chime Checkbook transactions. SpotMe on Debit Terms and Conditions.
Money added to Credit Builder will be held in a secured account as collateral for your Credit Builder Visa card, which means you can spend up to this amount on your card. This is money you can use to pay off your charges at the end of every month.
The secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Please see the back of your card for its issuing bank.
On-time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Late payment may negatively impact your credit score. Chime will report your activities to Transunion®, Experian®, and Equifax®. Impact on your credit may vary, as Credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus based on a number of factors including the financial decisions you make with other financial services organizations.
Qualifying Direct Deposit: The qualifying direct deposit must be from your employer, payroll provider, gig economy payer, or benefits payer by Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposit OR Original Credit Transaction (OCT). Bank ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, peer to peer transfers from services such as PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo, mobile check deposits, cash loads or deposits, one-time direct deposits, such as tax refunds and other similar transactions, and any deposit to which Chime deems to not be a qualifying direct deposit are not qualifying direct deposits.
Save When You Get Paid: Save When I Get Paid automatically transfers 10% of your direct deposits of $500 or more from your Checking Account into your savings account.
Once the retailer accepts your cash, the funds will be transferred to your selected Chime Account. Barcode and debit card cash deposits land in the Checking Account. Credit Builder card cash deposits first go through your Card Account and then land in your Secured Account. Cash deposit fees may apply if using a retailer other than Walgreens and Duane Reade.
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