What are the best First Progress Platinum Elite benefits?

No, First Progress credit cards won't do hard pulls upon applying.

An application will only result in a soft pull on your credit report, and it won’t affect your credit score.

That being said, First Progress credit cards are a great choice for people with bad credit (300+), or no credit at all.... read full answer

You can build credit with a secured credit card in as little as one to two months, but it will take many months or even years to build a consistently good or excellent credit score. The length of time also depends on whether you’re building credit from nothing or rebuilding damaged credit.... read full answer

If you have no credit, you could see a good score after just a few months of paying on time. You’ll have a VantageScore after one month and a FICO Score after 6. With bad credit, though, it will probably take 12-18 months of responsible use for you to move up to the fair credit range. Secured credit cards are great for building credit because they are easy to get and report to the credit bureaus just like unsecured cards.

But it's hard to give you an accurate estimate of how long it will take to build credit with a secured credit card without knowing the details of your situation. That’s where WalletHub can help. Just sign up for a free account, and we’ll give you a personalized credit analysis that will tell you what to improve and give you a better sense of how long it will take.

Here’s how long it takes to build credit with a secured credit card:

• If you have no credit, it will take 1 month to get a VantageScore and 6 to get a FICO score. Depending on how responsibly you use your card, your first score could be anywhere from bad to good.
• If you pay your bill on time and otherwise manage your finances responsibly, you can rebuild from a bad credit score (300-639) to a fair credit score (640-699) in approximately 12-18 months.
• A good credit score based on limited information could easily fall due to an increase in credit utilization or a single missed payment. Building and then keeping a good or excellent credit score requires consistency over time. This is a project measured in years.
• For people rebuilding credit, it will take 7-10 years for some negative information, like bankruptcies and late payments, to disappear from your credit report. But the older they are, the less impact they will have on your score.

If you’re looking to rebuild your credit, secured credit cards are the best way to do it. They’re easy to get and are indistinguishable from unsecured cards aside from the deposit requirement.

Rebuilding credit will take a while, so it’s best to get started as soon as possible. Some good behaviors to practice are always paying on time and using less than 30% of your available credit.

Checking your credit reports regularly for errors and disputing any you find is also important.

You only need one credit card for good credit because simply having an open credit card account is the most efficient way to build and maintain a good (or even excellent) credit score. But the actual number of credit cards you have doesn’t make up a huge part of your credit score – roughly 5%-10%. The ... read full answermore important factors are your payment history, the total amount of your debts, and the total of your credit limits.

As a result, having fewer credit cards that you use responsibly is better than having more cards yet worse performance. But if you have multiple credit cards and use them all responsibly, by paying your bills in full by the due date every month and not maxing out your credit limits, then having multiple credit cards will absolutely help promote good credit.

Here’s how that works: Multiple credit cards means more total credit. More total credit gives you a bit more leeway with your credit utilization (the amount of credit you’re using vs. the amount extended to you). Utilization – overall and of each credit account separately – makes up about 20% of your credit score, so it’s best to keep that number low. And simply paying your bill on-time makes up about 35%-40% of a good credit score. The more on-time payments you have on your credit report, the better it is for your credit score.

If you’re planning on getting multiple credit cards to boost your credit score, it’s worth considering that the age of your credit accounts makes up roughly 15% of your score. Credit age matters because a longer credit history means you have more experience with credit in general, and lenders have more information to assess when determining your creditworthiness. If you add a few new cards to your history, your score may take a hit because your average credit age will get younger.