Self is a company that specializes in financial services. The company offers products that help customers who have poor credit scores.
The premier offering that they provide is called the Self Credit Builder Account which helps you to improve your credit rating.
Through this offer, you will receive a credit-building loan in the form of a certificate of deposit (CD). Once you have completed your payments, you will receive an improved credit rating.
In this article, we will review the credit building offers that are available with Self, so read on for more information!
Self: Company Overview
Self started out as Self Lender, and in 2019 the company rebranded itself to Self. The products that Self was offering didn’t change much throughout the course of the rebrand, however, they did introduce a Self Visa Credit Card.
Self specializes in its credit-building tools, which works in conjunction with the Credit Builder Account.
Credit Builder Account
Self offers a Credit Builder Account which is one of its primary offerings. It has a strong focus on helping customers to boost their credit scores.
The credit builder account does this through the use of a small installment loan which allows you to build up your credit. Self is different from other credit card companies because the loan is not provided to you directly by the company.
Instead, the loan is put in a secured account with one of the banking partners that Self works alongside.
When you take out the loan, the money is technically yours, but you won’t receive the money until you have paid off the loan. This is because the focus of the account is to build up your credit score.
The application process to become a member of Self is very easy, and the application to open a Self Credit Builder Account is only slightly more difficult.
When you set up your account, you will be able to choose how you would like to make your payments depending on how much money you have available to put into the account each month.
Loan Options
You can opt for putting in $25 per month for 24 months, and you will receive a $520 payout at the end of the 24 month period.
You can opt to put in $35 per month for 24 months, and you will receive a $724 payout.
You can opt to put in 12 monthly payments of $48 in order to receive a $539 payout.
The option that receives the biggest payout is if you choose to place 12 $150 payments, which will leave you with a payout of $1663.
Fees
It is important to be aware of the fees that you can incur with your Self Credit Builder Account. If you receive approval for the loan, you will be charged a $9 admin fee. This is the charge for setting up your account.
In the month that follows this charge, you will begin starting your payments. The payments that you make will be for the same amount every month for the entirety of your loan – whether that is 24 months or 12 months.
If you make a payment late, you will also incur a late fee. You will have a 15-day grace period in order to make this payment before the fee will count. This fee is 5% of your monthly payment amount.
Payout
When you have finished making your payments, your money will be immediately unlocked. After 10-14 days, you will receive the full loan amount back.
Any fees that you have incurred will be taken off the loan amount before you receive your money back.
You will receive your money through check or online bank transfer.
Credit Rating
With this loan, you will be making on time payments to a credit company for either 12 or 24 months. This will improve your credit score.
As you make these payments, they will be reported by Self to the credit bureaus, so your credit score will start to improve almost immediately.
This is where you have to be careful, though. If you end up not being able to make these payments and incurring a late payment, then you may end up damaging your credit score further.
Who Is The Self Credit Builder Account Available To?
In order to take out a Credit Builder Account, you will need to be a US citizen. You can also get an account if you are a permanent resident of the United States, with an address.
You will then be able to access the online and mobile platforms that Self offers.
In order to take out a loan from Self, you will need a Social Security number. You will also need a bank account, a phone number and an email address.
If you make your payments through a bank account, a debit card or a prepaid card, then you will not incur a charge when you pay your fees.
If you use a debit card to make these payments, you will have to pay $0.30 in the form of a convenience fee. You will also have 2.99% of the charge added on to the debit card payment.
Self Credit Card
The Self Credit Card is another great way for Self members to improve their credit. In order to be eligible for the Self Credit Card, you will have to already have a Self Credit Builder Account open.
Before you can start using the credit card, you will need to have made 3 monthly payments on time to your builder account, and you will have to have at least $100 in this account.
If you qualify for the credit card, it will be backed by some form of collateral as it is a secured credit card. The money in your Self Credit Builder account will act as collateral for this card, so this amount will be the credit limit for your credit card.
In order to take this card out, you will not have to go through a credit check. This is because the company already has an understanding of your credit situation.
The Self Credit Card is accepted almost anywhere, as it is a visa credit card. This is great because it means that you can use the credit where you need it.
How Much Does Self Raise Your Credit Score?
Your payment history makes up 35% of your credit score, so having a Self Credit Builder Account and making your payments on time, will improve your credit score by a large amount.
As well as the obvious improvements to your score, Self will not perform a hard credit check when they open up your account which is very good for those who do not have a good credit score.
When you start making your payments, Self reports all of your payment history to the credit bureaus, so they will become immediately aware of the improvements.
After one or two months, you will see an improvement. To see the significant improvements to your credit score, you will likely have to wait 3 months.
Self does have the potential to have negative effects on your credit if you don’t manage to make your payments on time. If you make late payments, or you don’t manage your accounts well, this can result in negatively affected credit scores.
You will also have drastically weakened effects on your credit score if you pay off your Self accounts early.
Customer Experience
When you open up an account with Self, you will be pleasantly surprised by the customer experience.
You will be able to access your accounts both online and on your mobile app. These both have the same options and features available, so it is up to you to choose which works best for you.
The Self app is available to be downloaded on both Android and Apple phones, and the features of this app allow you to check your Self Credit Builder Account balance.
You can also set up and make your monthly payments through the app.
The app has received a great rating, being given 4.9 stars, and customer service has also been highlighted for its success. Through Self, you can get live chat, phone, and email support for any of your questions or concerns.
These are easy to access and have a very quick response rate. At Self, they understand that it is very important to be accessible in case any of their customers have any urgent questions.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking to boost your credit score, the Self Credit Builder Account is a great way to do this. If you use the features correctly, they can be super beneficial in boosting your credit score.
You need to make sure that you make your payments on time, or the Credit Builder account has the potential to cause damage to your credit score.
This is why it is important to only sign up to make payments that you know you are able to make.
As a current Mortgage Underwriter with 15 years of experience, I have seen my fair share of money-related issues. Whether that be high levels of debt, not enough credit, or simply a lack of funds - I’ve had clients who fit into these categories.
Here I will share tips, tricks, and experiences on how you can get yourself back in control of your finances.
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