If you pay all of your monthly bills on time and in full, your alternative credit rating will benefit as a result.
Alternative credit refers to payment information associated with regular expenses such as phone, internet and utility bills, and factors in subscriptions.
IS ALTERNATIVE CREDIT LEGIT?
Alternative credit is recognized in the eyes of the law. According to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), if you provide a lender with proof of nontraditional payment history, they need to take it into consideration. Legally, a business can't turn you away by saying they only accept traditional credit reports.
In addition, about 8,500 businesses currently use Connect's alternative credit score, with more signing up for the service every year. Even if you approach a company that doesn't use Connect, you can provide them with your alternative credit report.
Aside from the additional data Connect includes in its credit scores, they have a few similarities with traditional credit reports. For example, instead of using a scale of 350 to 850, Connect uses a scale of 100 to 850. Any score over 750 says that you're a responsible financial citizen. So, while there's a big difference between how we calculate alternative credit and how other consumer credit agencies analyze traditional credit, nontraditional credit scores aren't difficult for businesses to understand.
Remember, Connect’s service is 100% free
You can get your Connect report as many times as you want - simply log in to your account. You'll not only be able to see your credit rating, but also use our other tools like bill payment reminders.
As we mentioned, more than 8,500 companies so far use Connect alternative credit reports throughout the country when extending credit to customers. Some of the businesses that accept Connect alternative credit scores include:
- Car Dealerships
- Electronics and Appliances Retailers
- Furniture Stores
Why do you need to link your bank, utility and internet service provider accounts? This is so we can update your alternative credit score in real time, and ensure it's always accurate.
DATA CENTEROur data center, where we store, collect and analyze all of your bill payment information, is compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard 3.0, the latest set of protocols from the PCI Security Standards Council. For extra protection, we monitor the facility 24/7/365.
ENCRYPTIONWe use 256-bit AES encryption, one of the most sophisticated information encryption standards in use.