This Credit Builder App Could Be WORTH IT

The credit score, that little three digit number that gives you access to favorable loan terms, the lease to your dream apartment, and the score that determines how likely you are to pay creditors back on time. So what happens if you are just starting out with a credit score or your credit just plain sucks? Well, there is a credit builder app that needs to be on your radar. I'm covering in this video stick around. Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. I'm your host Justine here. We talk about all ways to achieve financial confidence, crush debt that leads to more fun and fewer payments. If you're new here or you want to talk about personal finance on a personal level with your big sister, then you better hit subscribe. So today we're talking about a credit building app called Ava, which is today's sponsor. And I thought it would be an interesting and important topic to cover on the channel because so many people put an emphasis on their credit score. So whether you're just starting out or you're trying to rebuild credit in this video, I'm going to cover who is Ava, what, what you can use it for the pros and cons, who it's best for and the cost involved. So let's get started. So first, what is Ava? Ava is a credit building app that helps you improve your credit score and save money on your debts. So there's essentially two parts, the Ava save and build credit, which are small loans that help you build credit over time and the Ava credit builder card. So let's talk the Ava save and build credit. So Ava gives you a small loan through the save and credit. So you get to pick the payment amount between $25 to a hundred dollars per month for 12 or 24 months. Those payments go into a secured locked savings account. That's going to build your credit history over time because Ava reports those payments to all three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Now, after your loan term is up 12 or 24 months, you get those payments returned and refunded to you. Next is the Ava credit builder card. You can pay for subscriptions like Amazon prime, Netflix, Walmart plus, and more by using this card. Now they're going to give you a credit limit of up to $2,500. And then when you are paying for those subscriptions, those subscription payments are then reported to the credit bureaus as well. This helps you build credit responsibly because Ava is going to give you a credit limit and a spend limit, and they're going to monitor your credit utilization and any credit worthy behavior in a positive way so that it's reported to help boost your credit score. Now these limits can increase with good behavior and by linking a good quality bank account to the app. And what I mean by good quality is a bank account. That's typically linked to paychecks that you're receiving the amount of cash into that specific account. So the app is user-friendly. You can access everything on your phone. In fact, Ava uses advanced algorithms to find that financial solution that best fits for you. So it's not a one size fits all solution. Plus a notable feature that I really like about Ava is their rent reporting. So if you're a renter and you're paying on your rent on time, all of those rent payments are reported to those major credit bureaus. That's huge. So what you'll need to do is connect your bank account in which you pay your rent from. Ava's going to automatically detect that from your bank account. Then you'll need to go through the verification process by uploading your lease and then Ava takes care of the rest. All right, so let's break down the pros and cons to see if this app is right for you. First, the pros. First, it builds your credit fast. Ava is going to report all of your on-time payments to those three major credit bureaus every 24 hours. Every 24 hours is going to report on-time payment history. So that's really going to boost your number. Second, there's no credit check to get started. You don't need to have great, good credit to start using Ava. And there's low monthly payments. If you are accessing the Ava save and build credit loans, those monthly payments are between $25 and $100 per month, which is very manageable in order to build your credit. Also, there's zero interest in fees. So you don't have to worry about paying high interest rates in order to build your credit score. And of course the rent reporting feature that I already mentioned. If you pay rent, Ava is going to report those rent payments to the major credit bureaus. Okay, now let's cover the cons. First of all, it's not free. There is a paid subscription to the app, which we will cover in just a second. And it has limited features while it's great for credit building. It doesn't have other tools like budgeting or other financial products that you might want access to. Also on Ava's credit builder card, the credit limit does not equal the spend limit. So just because you're approved for $2,500 or a thousand dollar credit limit does not mean that you get to spend that much. I saw a lot of reviews on the app that said that they couldn't spend up to their credit limit. And that's on purpose. Want to make sure that your credit utilization is healthy behavior so that your score goes up. Also, you'll have to make payments for at least a year or more in order to build credit. If you are using the Ava save and build credit loans, it's a loan. Then you're going to be on the hook for making those payments every single month so that we can establish good payment history. All right. So who is Ava best for who should be taking advantage of a credit builder app like this? First of all, it's good for those who are building credit for the first time. If you don't have any credit history and you're really wanting to do that fast, this could be a way to do it. It's also ideal for those who are rebuilding credit. So if you have fair or poor credit and you really need to bump up that number quickly, this is a great tool to do that. Also, this could be an app for those who are not ready to commit to a traditional credit card. So the Ava credit builder card is going to operate kind of like a small credit card, if you will, because you can put your subscriptions on it. You have that smaller spending limit. So it gets you in the habit of what it feels like to responsibly use a credit card and build up your credit score without having the risk of falling into high interest rates. All right. So let's talk about the cost. So Ava has an annual subscription, which breaks down to $6 a month. Or if you don't want to commit to a full year, you can go month to month with their monthly subscription of just $9 a month while it's not free. It is the only fee that Ava charges. So again, there are no other fees. There's no interest rates, but you are paying for this monthly subscription cost in order to build your credit. Now compared to the cost of bad credit, which means a lot of high interest rates and limited to no access to the apartment that you've always been wanting or the home that you've always been wanting. This is a small price to pay. All right. So is Ava worth it? Is a credit builder app that you pay for truly worth it? Now, if you're in a situation where you have the poor or fair credit and you are wanting to build that up and regain some confidence, this very well could be a tool that's right for you. So long as you're comfortable with paying that monthly subscription cost, but as always remember credit building is a marathon, not a sprint while credit builder tools like Ava can certainly help your financial habits dictates the lifespan of your financial future and the success that comes along with that. So you always need to be making sure that you are instilling those financial habits with good budgeting practices, good financial literacy and more. And if you're interested in learning more on that, hit subscribe, join the fam, come join DFM and learn even more about personal finance to educate yourself, to build that financial confidence. Now, if you want to try Ava, you can do so by using the link in the description box below and let me know in the comments, what is your biggest credit building goal this year? What would you like to achieve? Let me know in the comments and I'll catch you in the next video.