Credit scores are calculated based on the information in a consumer's credit report, which is maintained by the three national credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. A credit score is a three-digit number ranging from 300–850, and indicates how good (or bad) you are at managing your money. Lenders (like banks and credit card companies) use this score to determine if they want to give you money; the higher your score, the more opportunities you’ll have.
Step takes the transaction history on your secured Step VISA Card* and reports it as positive payment history**. Once you turn 18 and verify your account as an adult, we'll start reporting that positive payment history to the three national credit bureaus!
Step reports 3 key pieces of information: account age, payment history, and payment date.
Account Age
Lenders typically like to see that you have experience using credit responsibly. Improve your age of credit history by keeping your accounts open and in good standing.
Payment History
Making your bill payments on time has the biggest impact on your credit score. Even one late payment could hurt your credit health. Luckily, with Step SmartPay, you’ll never miss a payment.
Last Payment Date
This shows the most recent date that the report was sent to the bureaus. We report your payment history every 30 days.
Does credit utilization get reported? No. Your Step Card is a secured Visa credit card, so we don’t report a credit limit – which means that there’s no credit utilization attached to your account. Each time you deposit money into your Step account, you are setting your own limit on how much you can spend that is independent of a credit limit. We've built the Step Card this way to help you build a positive credit history.
What about negative history? With Step SmartPay, there’s no way to overdraft your account. The good news is this means that we’ll only report positive history to the credit bureaus as long as you have Step SmartPay enabled.
Does my P2P/funding history count? No, only transactions with your Step card are reported.
If you already have a Step Account, you can opt in right from the app!
Tap on Credit Health in the bottom of your Step app Scroll down and tap Opt In
💡 Note - you'll need to meet some minimum requirements before we send your first credit report to the bureaus. You'll see these on the screen!
We'll report your credit history each month. We’ll only stop reporting if your account is closed, in which case we let the bureaus know that your account was closed.
If you’re new to Step, we’ll start reporting once you’ve accumulated 30 days of transaction history. If you’re already on Step, we’ll start reporting your previously accumulated history (up to 2 years) right away! It may take up to a week to appear on your credit score with the bureaus.
Congratulations! Since you’re now an adult, you can verify your own account and get started. You’ll need to start by removing your sponsor and verifying your identity. Check out this quick article with all the details!
We’re required to tie each line of Credit Reporting to a verified adult account, so you can’t start reporting your credit activity to the bureaus until you turn 18. However, you can still start building your positive payment history with Step now, just by using your Step Card! Once you turn 18 we can report up to 2 years of past history to the bureaus - so your good work now pays off later.
Not at all. We'll only report activity for your Step account. Your teens have separate accounts and won’t impact your credit.
Yes! If you've verified your account, you'll have the option to opt-in and view your score in-app, right from the Credit Health screen!
Step reports your activity to the bureaus monthly, and we’ll can also show you your credit score each month. Don’t worry - this is a soft inquiry, so it won’t impact your score.
💡 Did you know? By Federal Law, you’re entitled to one free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus every 12 months. You can access this at annualcreditreport.com
You can also request a copy of your credit report from the individual credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion - which have both free and paid options.
Since each credit bureau calculates your credit score separately, you might notice that your results are slightly different depending on the source you check them with, the model that is used to calculate it, and when the information was pulled. Step displays your credit score based on the information provided to us by TransUnion (VantageScore 4.0) each month. For more info about VantageScore 4.0, please tap here.
Learn More: What Does Your Credit Score Mean?
*The Step Visa Card and Account is issued by Evolve Bank & Trust, Member FDIC. Pursuant to license by Visa.
(*) Please note: Positive history, as identified here, is reported on and related only to your Step Visa card activity, subject to your account remaining in good standing. Step will report your activity to Transunion®, Experian®, and/or Equifax®. While we report positive credit history here, your credit history and score may be impacted by your activity outside of your Step Visa card, as credit histories and credit scores are built by credit bureaus based on a number of factors, including the financial decisions you make with products outside of the Step Visa Card.
