This article was provided by Nova Credit, a company that helps immigrants use their international credit history in the United States.
It used to be that a newcomer to the United States couldn’t “bring” their credit report or international credit score with them. Even someone with extensive credit in their prior home country would have to take on the onerous task of building her U.S. credit history back to its previous levels from scratch, which can take as long as five years.
The implications for newcomers in the U.S. are enormous: even the most basic tasks such as getting a credit card, leasing an apartment, and getting a cell phone plan or student loan all require a U.S. credit score. Which means that you need credit to get credit, yet you lose your credit score when you arrive.
Why? The underlying issue is that banks and credit bureaus previously didn’t have the technology to interpret different credit scoring models from systems from around the world.
Here’s the good news: Nova Credit has built technology to translate credit data from countries like Australia, Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and more into a U.S.-equivalent score that newcomers can elect to share with U.S. companies when they apply for credit products here.
This means that newcomers to the U.S. can now apply for credit cards, apartments, loans and other credit products by using their international credit history. Once you use your international credit history to get a credit card or other credit product here, you can start to build a U.S. score.
Some of our partners, such as Deserve or Petal, are not yet using Nova Credit’s data in their credit card application process. However, these partners still offer credit options for the new-to-U.S. credit segment, which is why we’ve listed them for newcomers from countries where we cannot yet translate your international credit history.
Nova Credit’s partners accept international credit history and incorporate Nova Credit directly into their application process. Interacting with Nova Credit’s technology is simple. Within the application, you will be directed to Nova Connect, an interface where you can access your credit report in the credit bureau from your prior home country. Nova Credit then takes on the task of translating and transferring your international credit data to businesses to get you the credit you’ve earned. Nova Credit is free to applicants when applying for credit cards because our business partners pay for the service!
What happens once you get approved for your first U.S. credit card
After you obtain your first U.S. credit line, your use of the card will typically start building a credit history at one or more of the three major U.S. bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. All of Nova Credit’s lending partners will report your credit performance to at least one of these credit bureaus. Over time you can build your U.S. credit score and apply for a wider variety of products to keep building your score.
Nova Credit helps you arrive and thrive
Lack of a domestic credit history keeps millions of newcomers from realizing their dreams. Starting a new life can be very burdensome without access to credit cards, loans, mortgages, leases, phone contracts and more. We are founded by newcomers, for newcomers and provide a solution that enable you to get the credit products that you need and deserve to set up your life in the U.S.