Kikoff | FAQ (2024)

Kikoff is a credit-building service designed to help you build credit safely and responsibly. Our products are designed to target the 5 major credit score factors.

• Credit Account - this is our primary product: a revolving line of credit designed to address the 3 key factors of your credit score: payment history, credit utilization, and age of accounts.
• Build monthly payment history: Use your Credit Account to finance a purchase from Kikoff and make monthly payments without interest or fees to build your payment history. We’ll report each of your payments to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
• Reduce your credit utilization: Signing up for Kikoff gives you access to a line of credit to make purchases from Kikoff.
• Raise your age of accounts: The older your accounts, the better. The Credit Account doesn’t expire—so keeping it open will continue to increase your average account age.
• Secured Credit Card - this is a secured credit card product that safely builds your payment history through your everyday transactions. The Secured Credit Card works like a debit card but has the benefits of a credit card.

Kikoff offers multiple products.

• The Credit Account is a revolving line of credit that gets reported to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You are able to use the Kikoff Credit Account to finance the purchase of goods and services from Kikoff. Unlike a credit card, the Kikoff Credit Account can only be used to make purchases from Kikoff (e.g. can’t buy gas or groceries). There is no physical card with the Kikoff Credit Account.
• The Secured Credit Card is a secured credit card on the Mastercard network that works like a checking account and debit card. The funds that are deposited set the credit limit of the card so you never have to worry about overspending or due dates.

On average, customers with credit scores under 600 increase their credit scores by 58 points[1], with consistent on-time payments during the account lifetime. Many Kikoff customers have been able to qualify for better car loans, mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, and more.

Keep in mind, credit building is a long-term habit – like eating healthy or working out – so the most important thing is to make good financial habits: make your payments on-time, keep your utilization low, and practice good financial habits.

[1] Credit Score Increase: Based on Kikoff customers that used theCredit Account product and made consistent on-time payments during account lifetime. This data is based on observed VantageScore 3.0 credit score changes. Payment behavior can have an impact on your credit score, and individual results may vary. Data current as of March 2022.

Kikoff is an official data furnisher to the 3 major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Kikoff reports your accounts every month, at the start of the month. Please note we report to different bureaus, depending on which accounts you have:

• Credit Account reports to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
• The Secured Credit Card (optional add-on) reports to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. We require a minimum deposit of $50 required to be reported.

• With the Credit Account, there are no additional fees. You are responsible for paying back any purchases financed by the Kikoff Credit Account, but there are no additional interest fees, late fees, or other fees.
• Using the Secured Credit Card, you can access your funds without any additional fees from over 55,000 ATMs in the Kikoff network conveniently located in Walgreens, Target, CVS, and more. Any ATMs outside of the Allpoints network will be subject to a $2.50 Kikoff fee in addition to any ATM fees.

Yes, we have both Android and iOS apps! We have tens of thousands of 5-star reviews.

You can find our app by searching “Kikoff” on the Play Store and App Store. Our app is the best way to get updates and make sure you’re getting the best Kikoff experience.

Kikoff only sends a physical card if you have signed up for the Secured Credit Card product.

There is not a physical card associated with the Credit Account.

The Kikoff Credit Account allows you to finance one of our credit building plans, and is designed to build your credit by making low monthly payments over time.

If you're interested in using Kikoff to purchase everyday items like groceries, gas, and shopping, then try the Secured Credit Card. It functions like a debit card, but builds credit with every transaction you make with it. Learn more here.

Kikoff products address all the major factors of your credit score: payment history, credit utilization, account age, and credit mix. Together, these factors make up 90% of your credit score.

Payment history (35%) is the single most important factor in your score. It looks at whether you’ve paid past credit bills on time. The Credit Account contributes to your monthly payment history.

Credit Utilization (30%) is how much credit you’re using divided by your credit limit. The lower this ratio, the better. Responsibly using your Credit Account can help you maintain low credit utilization.

Account age (15%) is the average age of all your credit accounts. The Credit Account doesn’t have an expiration date, so keeping it open will continue to grow your credit.

Credit Mix (10%) means you can manage different types of credit products, such as a car loan, credit card, student loan, installment loan, etc… Each Kikoff product helps diversify your credit mix.

It usually can take up to 6 weeks for Kikoff to show up on your credit report, depending on when in the month you signed up. Kikoff reports everyone’s payments at the end of every month. After that, it usually can take up to 2 weeks to be processed by the credit bureaus, and added to your credit report.

Note: if you have multiple Kikoff products, you’ll see multiple Kikoff items on your credit report. Don’t worry, that’s helping you build more credit.

We’ve helped hundreds of thousands of people build credit. We’re officially recognized by the major credit bureaus, and Silicon Valley’s biggest investors trust and back Kikoff.

But don’t just take our word for it--look at all the positive reviews across social media and our mobile apps (iOS + Android).

Kikoff is 100% committed to your data privacy and security. We always use bank-level encryption in all data transmissions. We use your data for identity verification with the credit bureaus, fraud prevention, and to comply with federal laws. We will never share or sell your data to third parties without explicit consent.

We’ve experienced firsthand how scary credit building can be, especially for those who can’t afford to take chances with it. So we built a tool that strives to bring financial opportunity to everyone. We’ve been there, we know how it is, and we want to offer you something better.

Kikoff does NOT hard pull your credit.

We believe in helping you build credit easily so you can reach your financial goals. We don’t hard pull your score, we just help you build it.

Credit utilization refers to how much of your credit limit you use at any given time. You can figure out your credit utilization rate by dividing your total account balance by your total credit limit. We calculate this for you and you can see your credit utilization directly on your Kikoff Dashboard.

Most experts recommend keeping your overall credit card utilization below 15%. Lower credit utilization rates suggest to creditors that you can use credit responsibly.

New customers typically see less than 15% utilization on their Kikoff Credit Account (considered an excellent utilization rate!). Utilization will vary depending on your purchases. Paying off your Credit Account balance will bring your utilization rate even lower over time.

Payment history makes up 35% of your credit score. It looks at whether you’ve paid past credit bills on time. This is the single most important factor in your credit score.

Kikoff reports your monthly payments to the major credit bureaus every month. The Credit Account and Secured Credit Card both build your payment history--and your credit.

Of course! We want you to be in control of your finances, and you’re welcome to cancel your Kikoff Credit Account at any time.

Please note that if you’ve already made 1+ payments, you’ve been reported to the credit bureaus as a tradeline so closing your account will negatively impact your average account age.

For that reason, we highly encourage you to keep your account open and continue making any payments due – this will boost your payment history and account age, both important factors in your credit score.