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BUSINESS Wednesday 15 July 2020
Millennial Money: Is it OK to never have a credit card?

By SARA RATHNER of Nerd- average increase of about
Wallet 13 points," says Rod Griffin,
Thanks to quick online ap- senior director of consumer
plications and, in some education and advocacy
cases, instant approval, for Experian. "People with
credit cards make it as easy thin credit files, with fewer
to build your credit history than five credit accounts,
as it is to make purchases. are reporting an average
But they can also make it increase of 19 points on
easy to fall into debt if you their FICO 8 scores." (There
struggle to pay on time or are many FICO score ver-
tend to spend more than sions; FICO 8 is among the
you have. most widely used in ap-
As a result, some people proval decisions.)
regard credit cards with The catch? Not all lenders
skepticism: 17% of U.S. use Experian or the scor-
adults don't have one, ac- ing models affected by Ex-
cording to a 2019 Federal perian Boost when making
Reserve report. lending decisions. q
No financial product is
one-size-fits-all, and it's OK if
credit cards aren't for you.
There are other ways to es-
tablish credit — and keep This Aug. 11, 2019 file photo shows Visa credit cards in New Orleans.
your credit scores high — Associated Press
that don't involve a credit tion focused on helping for- water, power, etc. — don't nitely can harm your credit.
card. mer offenders find financial generally have a direct ef- PUT OTHER GOOD PAYMENT
BE DILIGENT ABOUT LOAN and professional success fect on your credit reports, HISTORIES AND HABITS TO
PAYMENTS after prison. He adds that but that doesn't mean WORK
If you're already making "student loans are often they're not important to Speaking of utility and cell
on-time payments on an the way that many adults your overall financial phone bills: While these on-
installment loan, like a stu- begin building their credit." health. time payments traditionally
dent loan, your efforts are No student loan in your "You must maintain im- aren't factored into credit
making a difference. Loan name? A credit-builder peccable nontraditional reports, tradition is chang-
payments are reported loan from a bank or credit credit," says Roslyn Lash, an ing. Experian Boost offers
to credit bureaus, so over union may be an option. accredited financial coun- a free way to add positive
time, this can build your With this loan, the lender selor, author of "The 7 Fruits bill payment information for
credit history. deposits a preset amount of Budgeting" and founder those kinds of expenses to
"Student loans are often into a savings account, of FinCoach Consulting in your Experian credit report.
the easiest loans to qual- and you make monthly Winston-Salem, North Car- To participate in Experian
ify for, especially when payments until the deposit olina. Boost, you must create an
you are very young," says is repaid. Skipping out on things like account through Experian.
Adam Sanders, director of PAY OTHER BILLS ON TIME utility and cell phone bills "Two out of three consum-
Successful Release, a Phil- Other bills that you pay on could send those accounts ers see an improvement in
adelphia-based organiza- time each month — cable, into collections, which defi- their credit scores, with an

Amazon unveils shopping

cart that knows what

you’re buying

By JOSEPH PISANI checkout lines. The online
AP Retail Writer shopping giant opened a
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon cashier-less supermarket in
has a new cure for long Seattle that uses cameras
supermarket lines: a smart and sensors in the ceiling to
shopping cart. The cart, track what shoppers grab
which Amazon unveiled and charge them as they
on Tuesday, uses cameras, leave. Amazon.com Inc.
sensors and a scale to au- also has roughly 25 cashier- In a photo provided by Amazon, the company's smart shopping
tomatically detect what less convenience stores cart is seen in spring 2020 in Los Angeles.
shoppers drop in. It keeps a with similar technology. Associated Press
tally and then charges their The cart, called Amazon
Amazon account when Dash Cart, will first show up any lines. In the future, it are already making similar
they leave the store. No at a new Los Angeles super- could be used at Amazon's smart shopping carts that
cashier is needed. market Amazon is opening Whole Foods grocery chain are being tested in stores,
It's the latest attempt by later this year. The store will or other stores, if Amazon but many require scanning
Amazon to shake up the have cashiers, but Ama- sells the technology, but groceries before dropping
supermarket industry and zon said it wanted to give there are no plans for either them in. There's no scan-
offer a solution to long shoppers a way to bypass right now. Several startups ning on the Amazon cart.q