Frequently asked questions.

Working Credit and how we help.

What is Working Credit?
Working Credit is a not-for-profit organization that can help you establish and build a strong credit score and reap the benefits. Our expert credit building counselors work with you one-on-one to help you learn how the credit system works, address your specific credit situation, and create a personalized plan to build and sustain a strong credit score. Learn more about our approach here.

How can Working Credit help me?
No matter where you are today, we provide you the support, knowledge, and lifelong tools you need to build and keep a strong credit score. With a strong credit score, you can more easily achieve financial goals, like:

• Getting the best interest rates on car loans and credit cards
• Tackling your debt without damaging your credit
• Gaining access to quality rental housing
• Qualifying for a mortgage, or refinancing your home at a lower rate
• Building a safety net of available credit for emergencies

Working Credit Sevices.

What is the Credit Building Workshop?
This is a virtual or in-person workshop that debunks myths about how the credit system works and provides lifelong skills you can use to build and sustain a strong credit score.

What’s included with the Credit Building Counseling?
Credit Building Counseling is 12-months of unlimited, one-on-one assistance from the same counselor. Start with the credit system basics, discuss your financial situation, then work together on a Credit Action Plan to make progress toward your goals. We’ll touch base as often as you want.

What can I expect during 12 months of Credit Building Counseling?
With Credit Building Counseling, you get 12-months of unlimited, one-on-one assistance from the same counselor the whole time. We’ll start with the credit system basics, discuss your financial situation, then work together on a Credit Action Plan to make progress toward your goals. Want a little or a lot of support? We’ll touch base as often as you want. Your counselor will share updates and resources about the credit system throughout the 12 months.

How often can I talk to my credit building counselor?
The most simple answer is as often as you’d like. You can determine with your counselor how often you’d like to meet. Whether it’s weekly, monthly, or every few months—it’s up to you. We’re here to provide as much support and assistance as you need.

How quickly can I see results with my credit score?
Everyone’s credit situation is different, and everyone gets to a strong and sustainable score in a different amount of time. Our goal is to get you to the best score possible, as quickly as possible, and to make sure that good score can stick. It’s possible to go from unscored to a 700 score in six months. If you start with a score, the average increase we see participants achieve in six months is 30 points. The highest increase we’ve seen in 6 months is 190 points.

Do you offer loans and credit cards?
No, Working Credit does not offer any loans or credit credit cards directly, nor do we have any relationships with loan or credit card companies through which we are compensated for making referrals. So, based on your specific Credit Action Plan and your personal goals, we often recommend products, but only if we think they’ll help you build and sustain a strong credit score. Find out more here.

Credit building and credit scores.

Why is credit building important?
Credit affects so many aspects of our lives—where we live, what we drive, how we overcome a financial crisis. A strong credit score is the key to your financial goals—whether it’s getting better interest rates on car loans and credit cards, accessing quality rental housing, and reaching the goal of homeownership. We can teach you the rules and provide support to build the life you want using credit as a tool. Read more here.

How is my credit score determined?
Your credit score is, effectively, your reputation as a borrower. A credit score is created when someone has at least one active loan or credit card that reports to the credit bureaus for at least six months. The score doesn’t take into account a person’s income or assets. It looks solely at the borrower’s payment behavior—whether reported loans were paid back on time, if credit card debt is low (with on-time payments and balances below 30 percent of the credit limit), and whether any debts turned into collections. In order to get a credit score, you need to open at least one loan or credit card and to manage it well. And we can help you do that. Read more about credit scores here.

When Working Credit pulls my credit report, will it hurt my score?
No, once you give us written permission, we do what’s called a soft pull of your credit report, which has no effect on your score—positive or negative.

Can I pull my own score?
Yes, by law you can pull your own credit report, one from each of the three major consumer credit bureaus, (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Why are my scores different?
The three main credit bureaus all work independently of each other. They all receive information about you, but some creditors don’t send your information to all three bureaus. If they have different information, however slight the difference is, the scores will vary. There are also different scoring models. Find out more about credit scores here.

How is Working Credit different?

Working Credit is NOT credit repair
Credit repair companies promise to fix your credit by getting “negative items” removed from your credit report by filing disputes on your behalf. The only problem is that their strategy relies entirely on the credit bureaus making a mistake and missing a deadline. The negative item is removed, but if it is correct, it will simply appear back on your credit report in a few months. And as a result you’ll be out the money you paid, and you’ll still have negative items on your credit report.

We offer credit building expertise, information, and tools to you for free to help you build lifelong skills, so you can build or improve your credit score and reap the benefits that come with it. Our goal is to help you learn the rules of credit and use that knowledge for a lifetime. See more here.

Working Credit is NOT debt settlement
Debt settlement companies make false promises about getting rid of your credit card debt. They do that by instructing you to stop making payments on your debt. Their methodology revolves around getting your debt sent to collections where they can negotiate it down to 50%, all while you pay them a fee for their work, typically 25% of your debt.

The problem? This damages your credit by several hundred points. And creditors are happy to work with you at no extra cost. We can show you how to do that. See more here.

Privacy and signing up.

Is my information secure?
Yes, your personal information is safe and secure, and we never share your credit profile information with any third parties. The information you provide is encrypted and not stored on our website. After you register with us, our counselors are only able to see the last four digits of your social security number.

How can I sign up?
Reach out to us here, to learn if your employer or program provider offers our services. We are here to help.