Building your credit up from scratch or trying to recover from a few screwups that made your score drop takes time. Making on-time payments on your loans and credit cards are a good way to do that, but your credit score doesn’t take into account one big bill you probably pay every month: your rent.
Pinch is a service that reports your on-time rent payments to credit bureaus. Presuming rent is something you’re always paying on time, that can help you increase your credit score over time.
The way it works is simple: When you download the app you’ll be prompted to upload a copy of your lease agreement and connect your bank account.
When you write your landlord that check every month, you snap a picture of it with the app. When the check you photographed clears your bank account, Pinch reports it as a paid bill (similar to an Installment Loan) to credit bureaus, specifically Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The service is free to use and doesn’t require you to even tell your landlord, much less have him or her be involved in the verification process.
Provided you’re on the same lease, you can also have the service report up to 24 months of past rental payments to Transunion and Equifax when you sign up, instantly building a big history of on-time payments.
According to Pinch 75% of the people that use its service see a credit increase. My guess is if you already have excellent credit it’s not going to really move the needle. However, if your credit is sagging it could be just what you need to give it a little lift.
And if you decide it’s too much of a hassle you can also cancel or pause the service through its in-app chat function.
Paying your rent late is something that definitely can impact your credit score, so it’s nice to have a way to have paying it on time potentially impact it in a positive way.