Learn How to Build Credit at 18
9 Min Read | Published: April 25, 2025
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Learn how to start building credit at 18 with secured or student credit cards, rent payments, and authorized user accounts. Get credit-building tips today.
At-A-Glance
- Start building your credit at 18 by exploring student or secured cards, authorized user accounts, car and student loans, or rent reporting.
- Set realistic credit goals and monitor your progress by understanding how your credit score is calculated.
- Make on-time payments, keep your balances low, and regularly monitor your credit to build and maintain good credit.
Building credit as early as possible can help get you lay a strong financial foundation and guide you on the path to more affordable loan, mortgage, and Credit Card options. While there’s no fixed timeline for reaching a specific credit score, understanding the FICO® score ranges of poor, fair, good, very good, and exceptional can provide you with a clearer goal.1
If you’re proactive about building credit at 18, several strategies can help, from student and secured credit cards to making on-time payments without fail.
How You Can Start Building Credit at 18
You can establish credit at 18 when you open, use, or pay down credit accounts like student loans, car loans, credit cards, or even when reporting on-time rental payments to credit reporting bureaus.2 Here are some details on common credit-building options:
- Student and Secured Cards
If you are a full-time student, work part-time, or recently started a new job, your credit history and score may be too new or low to qualify for competitive credit cards. As you learn how to build credit from scratch, certain types of credit cards may help. Explore student cards, which often come with more relaxed income and credit history requirements, or secured cards, which generally require a deposit in lieu of an extensive credit history.3 - Becoming an Authorized User
If someone (usually a family member) makes you an authorized user, it means you have legal permission to use another adult’s credit card, but the primary cardholder remains responsible for paying the monthly balance.4 When the card issuer reports card activity to credit bureaus, it can help the authorized user build credit.5 Remember, each user’s credit behaviors impact everyone tied to the card, so communicate with the primary user to get on the same page about spending and on-time payments.6 - Student and Auto Loans
Loans may seem like an impossible financial hurdle in building good credit, but in fact, making monthly student loan payments (even the minimum amount) can be one of the best ways to build credit starting at 18.7 The same can be said about car loans in your name—as long as they are responsibly paid.8 - Rent Payments
Landlords and renters don’t typically report rent payments for credit-building purposes, but many third-party services can send the information to credit bureaus.9 If the routes mentioned above aren’t the right options, reporting on-time rental payments in your name each month can positively impact your credit score.10
How to Maintain Good Credit
Here are some longer-term habits that you can form to strengthen and maintain your credit score:
- Pay More Than The Minimum
Making on-time minimum payments can be the most powerful credit habit to adopt. However, consider paying more than the monthly minimum to impact your credit score to a greater degree.11 Paying extra can help control interest charges, lower your balance faster, and reach your credit score goals quicker.12 - Keep Balances Low
Young borrowers may struggle to pay off maxed-out credit card balances, but you can make positive impacts on your credit score by keeping your credit utilization (CU), the percentage of your total available credit in use, low or at zero each month.13 Experts recommend keeping your CU rate at 10% or lower to see optimal credit score results.14 - Check Your Credit Score and Report
Because credit card issuers and lenders make loan approval decisions based on your credit score and credit history, regularly checking on your credit report helps you spot mistakes, areas for improvement, and potential fraud that could jeopardize your financial standing.16 My CreditGuide from American Express® may make monitoring your credit score easier and more affordable.
Did you know?
Once you have established credit and you’re managing your bills well, you can request higher credit limits from card issuers to increase your available credit and decrease your CU.15
What to Avoid When Building Credit at 18
Some of the most common mistakes among young people building credit include overspending, missing payments, and applying for too many credit accounts at the same time. Here are missteps to keep in mind:
- Forgetting to Budget
A budget shows you where your money goes, how much of it you have, and when.17 Failing to budget may lead to overspending on credit cards, possibly leading to greater interest charges, more debt, lowered credit availability, and other penalties that can negatively impact your credit profile. - Missing Payments
Payment history weighs the most (35%) when calculating your credit score, so missing or stopping payments for any credit account type, including student and car loans, can have negative credit score consequences.18 - Submitting Multiple Credit Applications
When you apply for a credit card, most issuers conduct a hard inquiry, which often temporarily negatively impacts your credit score.19 However, lenders may view you as a risky borrower when you don’t space out multiple applications, potentially leading to longer-lasting negative credit score effects.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no official timeline for credit score increases.20 But prioritizing on-time payments, keeping CU low, and monitoring your credit report can help you get there faster.
A 600 credit score isn’t bad, but it is below the national average, which is in the low 700s.21 However, FICO® Scores begin at 300, so seeing a score of 600 early in your credit-building journey isn’t necessarily alarming.22
When first starting out, your credit will either be invisible or you’ll be labeled as having no credit.23 With healthy credit habits, you can build your score relatively quickly.
The Takeaway
There's no set timeline for reaching a target credit score, but consistent, healthy credit habits can steadily build your score over time. If you’re looking to start building credit at 18, you're already on your way to a healthy financial future, which you can maintain by incorporating on-time payments, low balances, and regular credit report monitoring into your credit routine.
1 “What Is a Good Credit Score?,” Experian
2,18 “Does Renting an Apartment Build Credit?,” Experian
3 “Student cards vs. secured cards,” Bankrate
4,5,6 “Authorized users: Everything you need to know,” Bankrate
7 “Do Student Loans Help Build Credit?,” Experian
8 “Auto Loans,” My Credit Union
9,10 “How to report your rent payments to credit bureaus,” Bankrate
11,12 “5 reasons to pay more than the minimum on your credit card,” Bankrate
13 “Delinquency Is Increasingly in the Cards for Maxed‑Out Borrowers,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York
14 “Understand the Ins and Outs of Credit,” Office of Financial Readiness
15 “How Gen Z and Millennials can improve their credit scores,” CNBC
16 “Understand, get, and improve your credit score,” USA Gov
17 “Money Basics Guide to Budgeting and Savings,” My Credit Union
19 “How long should I wait between credit card applications?,” Bankrate
20 “How Do I Get My Credit Score Above 700?,” Experian
21 “Is 600 considered a bad credit score? Here’s how it compares to the average American’s credit score,” CNBC
22 “What Is a FICO Score, and Why Is It Important?,” Experian
23 “What credit score do you start with?,” Bankrate
Liv Gillespie is a Philadelphia-based writer with a double M.A. in English Linguistics & Literature and Secondary Education. Her work focuses on personal finance.
All Credit Intel content is written by freelance authors and commissioned and paid for by American Express.
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How to Help Your Child Build Credit
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