You may be interested in building credit and saving money, but you aren’t sure what to expect from a Credit Strong account. Building credit can be frustrating and confusing, especially if it’s hard to get approved for credit cards or loans. Luckily, this article breaks down exactly what it means to open a Credit Strong account and provides information on how Credit Strong builds credit and helps you grow savings all at once.

What is Credit Strong?

A Credit Strong account is the fusion of a secured consumer installment loan and a FDIC insured savings account. During the life of your Credit Strong account you build both credit history and savings.

Credit Strong is also a division of Austin Capital Bank, a 5 star rated bank located in Austin, TX. Austin Capital Bank is a member of the FDIC, so when you open up a Credit Strong account you know both your money and personal information are safe and secure. To learn more about the bank behind Credit Strong, visit our About US page.

How does a Credit Strong account work?

Austin Capital Bank takes out a small loan in your name and secures the funds in a FDIC insured savings account upon opening. Your monthly loan payments get reported to the 3 major credit bureaus, and a portion of your payment goes into your savings account. When the loan is repaid in full, you’ve built credit history and unlocked your savings funds.
Watch this quick video and in 2 minutes learn how Credit Strong can help build credit and grow savings:

What are the perks of a Credit Strong account?

One of the major perks of opening a Credit Strong account is you do not need a big upfront deposit in order to start building credit. Credit Strong requires no upfront security deposit, unlike secured cards which may require an upfront deposit of $50-$200. There is a small administration fee to open the account and this can be paid with a debit card, checking account draft, or prepaid card.

Some other great perks to opening a Credit Strong account:

There is no termination fee for closing the account early.  If you can’t make payments any longer or you’ve built your credit and found the house of your dreams, simply close your account and request your accumulated savings to be deposited back to your bank account.

Customers can also track their credit score progress in their Credit Strong Dashboard by viewing their FICO ® 8 Score, for free!

What should I expect once I get started?

Activate your account

Submit an online application 24/7 and be approved in just minutes. It’s important to know that there is no hard credit inquiry when you apply for a Credit Strong account, so applying will not hurt your credit.

There is also no credit score required. You can have no credit score, poor credit, or very little history – none of these are decisioning factors for approving the account.

Make on-time payments

Each month, a portion of your payment goes right into your savings account, so you can watch your savings grow while you are building positive credit history.

Credit Strong reports your payment within 30-60 days of making your payment. It’s important to make on-time payments because Credit Strong will report payments that are 30 days past due and that could negatively impact your credit score.

If you are not able to make on-time payments anymore you have a few options:

1. Use our grace period – Credit Strong offers a 14 day grace period so if you make your payment within 14 days of your due date there is no late fee and the payment will be reported as ‘on time’ to the credit bureaus. On the 15th day, you will be charged a late fee but the payment can still be made and reported as on-time.
2. Close your account with no penalty – If a payment is inching closer to 30 days passed due, we encourage customers to close their account so it does not negatively impact their credit score. There is no termination fee to close your account early. You loan will still show on your credit report as paid off and closed. Any savings you’ve accumulated can be debited back to your original source of payment (debit, checking, or prepaid card).

Track your progress 

In your credit dashboard, Credit Strong provides a free monthly FICO Score that can be used to track your progress. 90% of top lenders use FICO Score when making lending decisions.

You can also see when your next payment is due, monitor the savings you accumulate each month, and view all other statements and documents.

Unlock your savings

When the loan is repaid in full, the lock is removed and you have access to your savings. You also will have built up to 120 months of credit history! You can continue making deposits in your savings account to grow savings even more..

For more information on Credit Strong accounts contact our Customer Service department at info@creditstrong.com, live chat on our website or they are available by phone Monday-Friday 8am – 5pm at 833-850-0850.

CreditStrong helps improve your credit and can positively impact the factors that determine 90% of your FICO score.

Start Building credit today