As of Monday, October 17, 2022, Refresh Financial, will no longer be offering its secured credit card. With its recent acquisition by Borrowell, the Refresh product offerings are being updated to better serve its audience. Refresh Financial will continue to offer its Credit Builder Loan.
The Refresh Financial Credit Builder Loan
For Canadian consumers who are looking to stick with Refresh and want to continue to make credit improvement a goal for the upcoming year, their Credit Builder Loan is an alternate option.
The Refresh Financial Credit Builder Loan can be considered a credit building program, as consumers won’t receive any upfront money. Instead, users will choose between four payment options and make bi-weekly payments to Refresh. These payments will be deposited into a secured account and reported to both credit bureaus to help build payment history.
After either 36 or 60 months, consumers can access the money saved in their secured account, minus fees and interest.
Consumers can choose from the following four payment options:
- $21.37 bi-weekly for 36 months
- $21.37 bi-weekly for 36 months
- $60.97 bi-weekly for 60 months
- $121.94 bi-weekly for 60 months
No credit history is required to get approved for the Refresh Financial Credit Builder Loan and borrowers can cancel at any time.
Alternate Options Available For Canadian Consumers Looking To Build Better Credit
For consumers looking for more credit building solutions to meet their needs, there are a wide variety of options currently available.
Neo Secured Credit
With Neo Secured Credit, consumers are guaranteed instant approval if they’re able to provide the minimum security funds. Once approved, they can use the secured credit card to earn 1% cashback on gas and groceries and 0.5% guaranteed monthly minimum cashback with partners and build their credit.
When consumers use the Neo Secured Credit card and make on-time payments, Neo will report them to TransUnion, which will help them build a positive payment history. Moreover, Neo Secured Credit has no annual fees.
KOHO Two Credit Building Programs
When consumers sign up for KOHO’s spendable account, they can choose between two credit building products.
KOHO’s Credit Building Program
This Credit Building Program comes with a monthly subscription fee of $10 (discounted prices available to those who upgrade their KOHO account). Users can stay opted in for as many months as they want. KOHO recommends at least 3 for best results. When a consumer subscribes, KOHO will open a line of credit for them and use their monthly subscription fee as payment toward the line of credit. These payments are then reported to the credit bureau, which helps create a positive payment history.
The more on-time payments a user makes, the more positively it may affect their credit scores. Note that users must first sign up for the free KOHO Account to access the Credit Building Program.
KOHO’s Flexible Credit Building
This option is a secured line of credit. Users can deposit between $30 and $500 into their KOHO accounts. Use the funds to make purchases and then repay what they owe at the end of the month. Payments are reported to a credit bureau, which can help build a positive credit history.
Or, account holders can choose to use both options and supercharge their credit building.
Spring Credit Building Product
The Foundation by Spring Financial is a credit building program that also allows users to not only build credit but save money. The Foundation involves making bi-weekly payments of $55 for 12 months. Users can opt for lower payments by extending the term by 6 months. Each payment made by the user is reported to a credit bureau and a portion of the payment is set aside as savings for the user.
At the end of the 12-month period, the user will have built up their payment history which should help lead to better credit scores. Moreover, they’ll get back $750 in savings that they can put toward paying off debt or other savings goals.
