When Alan landed in Canada in October 2021, he already knew that if he wanted to buy a car anytime soon, he'd need to build a Canadian credit history as quickly as possible.
While the applications did lower my score temporarily, the subsequent reports showed movement in a decidedly upward direction. I have two secured credit cards. They work. My score is moving, and that’s all that matters.
In total, purchasing the Great Value option instead of the name brand counterpart would have saved $19.59 or 34.2% of my grocery bill.
True debt consolidation, like a personal loan, line of credit, or balance transfer, usually has a limited impact on your credit score, aside from a hard credit check or closing credit cards.
For me, it didn’t seem to move the needle much at all. My Equifax score started at 849 and at the end of the experiment my score was… 849. I already had pretty established credit, so I could still see this being more useful for newcomers or people rebuilding after financial difficulties.
Ultimately, if I had to choose between Koho and Neo for my day-to-day spending and credit building, I would pick Neo, but that’s just me. The right choice for you will come down to how you spend, and how much you’re willing to pay for extra perks!
Of the landlords who clearly answered the question, 11 out of 20 said they required a credit check as part of the application process. That works out to 55%.
The activation fees are absurd. On my $20 Vanilla card, the $7.95 fee was nearly 40% of the card’s value. That’s objectively ridiculous. Then add in the restrictions and the cards smell even more like poo.
