Improving Credit

When a late payment is reported, how long it stays on your credit report, why its effect fades and the steps that help your score recover.

How credit-builder loans work, what they cost, how payments are reported to the credit bureaus and when one makes sense compared with a secured card.

Practical ways to start a credit history with no credit: secured cards, credit-builder loans, becoming an authorized user and the habits that build a score.

How being an authorized user on someone else’s credit card can affect your credit, the risks for both people and how to check the account is reported.