If your credit score isn't the best, it can be hard to figure out how to start improving it. Most recommend getting a secured credit card, but for this you have to put down a deposit with the card issuer. This can be tricky if you don't have any extra money to spare.
This is where KOHO Credit Building comes in. Sign up, and all you have to do is make sure you have $10 in your KOHO account every month for 6 months. As long as you do, KOHO reports this to the credit bureau. A simple and inexpensive way to start rebuilding your credit today.
KOHO Credit Building features
Here's what you can expect to find with KOHO Credit Building.
Why You Want It
Build your credit for only $10/month + Keep tabs on your progress.
Special Features
- Minimal effort required for satisfying results
- No hard credit check necessary
- Guaranteed approval
- KOHO International Money Transfer allows you to send money abroad to people in over 190 countries, right from your KOHO balance
Eligibility
- Canadian citizen
- Age of majority
Provinces
ALL
Features
Monthly Fee
$10
Which Credit Bureau?
Equifax
Credit Score Access?
Credit Report Access?
Update Frequency
Monthly
Mobile App
KOHO Credit Building product rating: 2.3 stars
KOHO Credit Building is a simple, easy-to-understand, and inexpensive way for Canadians to start rebuilding their credit score. That said, however, it does have some drawbacks. You do have to pay for this service, which is just an extra expense.
Finally, this service doesn't really teach you anything about how to better handle your credit. Credit scores are meant to reflect how responsible you are with your money, and KOHO Credit Building really doesn't provide an accurate reflection of that.
Rating methodology
To calculate our Genius Ratings, we compare the features of the account or product in question with other similar products in Canada. We give each feature a score out of 5 based on that comparison. Once we’ve rated all the features, we run them through our proprietary algorithm to produce a final rating out of 5.
Learn more about our rating methodology.
The pros of KOHO Credit Building
We'll start with the upsides. If you need to rebuild your credit, there's really no easier way to get started.
Pros
Simple and easy to understand
KOHO Credit Building is very straightforward and easy to understand. Open an account, deposit enough money to cover your $10 fee every month for 6 months, and KOHO will continually report your payments to one of the credit bureaus. Or, you can simply pay the full $60 in advance, and you can just ignore the whole thing for 6 months. Set-and-forget simplicity.
Inexpensive
While $10 per month isn't free, it also isn't terribly expensive. Make your own coffee at home for a few days each month, and you've got it covered. And KOHO Credit Building claims you'll see a boost to your credit score in as few as 6 months, so this isn't something you'll have to subscribe to forever.
Shows you your progress
KOHO Credit Building includes a slick credit score app that will demonstrate your progress from month to month. And this doesn't impact your credit score at all, as they do a soft credit check to obtain your score.
Available everywhere in Canada
There's no regional restrictions when it comes to accessing KOHO Credit Building. It's available everywhere in Canada, so any Canadian can take advantage to help build their credit scores.
The cons of KOHO Credit Building
There are drawbacks of course.
Cons
An additional expense
While $10 isn't a lot, it is an extra monthly fee that you'll never get back. This is unlike secured credit cards where, so long as you pay your bills, you can eventually get your deposit back when you no longer need the card. If you get a no fee secured credit card and use it responsibly, it will cost you nothing to use, which means it is possible to rebuild your credit for free. That's not the case here.
Doesn't help you learn to be more responsible with your money
Often, people with bad credit scores have those scores because they've never really learned how to be responsible with their money. KOHO Credit Building isn't going to help with that at all – you can simply open an account, deposit $42 (or $50 if you want to be safe), and...that's it. 6 months later you've done nothing and learned nothing, but your credit score will have gone up.
KOHO Credit Builder alternatives
Let's see how KOHO Credit Builder stacks up against some other credit score services.
 |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account | KOHO Credit Building | Kikoff | Equifax Complete Premier | Credit Karma Credit Monitoring |
| Genius Rating | ||||
| Why You Want It | Build your credit for only $10/month + Keep tabs on your progress. | Get help building your credit for a low monthly fee. | Up to $1 million in ID theft insurance + Daily credit score updates. | Completely free to use + Monitors score from Transunion. |
| Monthly Fee | $10 | $10 | $24.95 | $0 |
| Which Credit Bureau? | Equifax | Equifax | Equifax | See Issuer for Details |
| Credit Score Access? | | | | |
| Credit Report Access? | |  | | |
| Update Frequency | Monthly | Monthly | Daily | Weekly |
Show More | ||||
| Apply Now See more KOHO products Compare | Apply Now See more Kikoff products Compare | Apply Now See more Equifax products Compare | Learn More See more Credit Karma products Compare |
FAQ
Can you build credit with KOHO?
While KOHO's prepaid Mastercards will not help you build your credit, KOHO offers another service that will help. KOHO Credit Building is a simple, easy-to-understand, and inexpensive service you can use to start rebuilding your credit today. Read more about KOHO Credit Building here.
How does KOHO Credit Builder work?
KOHO Credit Building is very straightforward. All you have to do is sign up for the service, and make sure there is at least $10 in your KOHO account every month for 6 months to cover the fee. Each month KOHO is able to withdraw your $10 fee, they will report that as a successful bill payment to one of Canada's major credit bureaus, which will help you boost your credit score in no time.
Does KOHO affect credit score?
While KOHO prepaid Mastercards have no impact on your credit score, you can take advantage of the KOHO Credit Building service to help rebuild your credit over 6 months. You can read more about this service here.
Does KOHO report to credit bureaus?
KOHO Credit Building service will report to one of Canada's major credit bureaus each month. This is a new service they offer that can help you to quickly and easily rebuild your credit.
Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone, and is not endorsed or sponsored by a bank, credit card issuer, rewards program or other entity. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website.
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