“Do you have primaries?” This is perhaps the most frequent question we get at Boost Credit 101 besides “Do you work with CPNs?” We don’t have primaries, and we don’t work with CPNs. The reason being, we don’t want the attorney general’s office breaking down our door and charging us with financial fraud–putting someone else’s debt on your own reports showing it belongs to you is fraud, and CPNs, while not strictly illegal, can be used for bust-out fraud, so we do not touch them. But beside all that, if you want to buy a tradeline, and do it the legal way, as in Authorized User (AU) tradelines, is one lender more superior than the other?
Buying a Tradeline: Do Lenders Matter?
It’s easy to see who is green in the land of tradelines when this question gets asked. “Do you have AmEx tradelines?” AmEx is a superior company. Everyone should have an AmEx in their wallet/purse if possible, superior technology, great customer service, not to mention the social status–if you pull out a platinum AmEx, people notice (the annual fee is $550. There are no-fee cards too, just FYI). The problem with AmEx, they don’t report history. So if you add one, and you get the notification “new tradeline credit report” or however your monitoring service works, and you look at the report…if the AmEx was opened ten years ago, it will show as if it was just opened, thereby negating any history benefit, which in the majority of cases is the most important factor when adding tradelines. So, in comparison, let’s say you buy a Capitol One tradeline, is this better? Yes, because it will show history. The lender does not matter so much, as long as it is a major bank, and it posts to 2/3 bureaus (hopefully 3/3), has no late payments, is under 10% utilization, and reports the history. After all, if you’re looking to rent a tradeline, you might as well get your money’s worth. If the line is overutilized (more than 30%), has even one missed payment, or is with a tiny Credit Union, it’s not worth getting.
Tradelines and Funding
Okay, so you’ve got a tradeline, maybe more than one, does that mean you are guaranteed to get funding? No. That’s the simple answer. Are you able to get funding? Probably. This is where you have to decide if buying a tradeline is worth it, as there is no secret credit offer of guaranteed tradelines, as in, if you buy a tradeline there’s no super-secret lender that will automatically give you a tradeline (credit card).
But…we see people getting approved for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, with the use of tradelines on a frequent basis. Tradelines are extraordinary tools if you use them right. But if you’re googling “secret way to increase score fast tradelines regardless of score,” you may be disappointed, as unfortunately, the score matters. What is on your report always matters, and what is on your report is what makes up your score.
Okay, So If There Are No Guarantees What are Tradelines Used For?
It seems that a lot of people believe that getting a tradeline is akin to rubbing a magic lamp. They go on, and BAM, your score shoots up a hundred or more points regardless of what’s on your report. This is not the case. The negatives need to be removed. You must be current on your debt obligations (the tradelines you own), and that’s just the start. Tradelines are a great tool, but they are not magical. They do save you time, and if you are buying tradelines to improve credit, that is what you’re after. If you had all the time in the world, or at least a year or two, you could go the traditional route and apply for a secured card or loan, start building credit that way, and then after that get something unsecured. And only then…would your true credit building begin. Unsecured is where the most weight is placed as far as your score.
This is what tradelines are used for, to put the biggest influencer possible on your reports.
