When Cynthia Chen arrived on Columbia University’s campus in 2000, she was 17, newly landed from Beijing and totally alone. She had zero credit to her name — she’d never seen a credit card.
Fast forward 26 years and she runs Kikoff, a credit-building company with more than a million active users and a $1 billion valuation — officially “unicorn” status in the tech world (1). The company has been expanding its AI offerings, including avatars that can call debt collectors on customers’ behalf.
As far as she’s come, Chen told Moneywise that it was her early experience as a student paying cash while others used credit cards that taught her what access to credit means in America.
“I got to know how important it would be for someone like myself, a new immigrant who was credit invisible, to establish credit so that I could get around in this country,” she said.
Chen co-founded Kikoff to support people who are “credit invisible,” those with no credit history or what she calls “thin files.” For them, getting a loan is not the only challenge. It can also be hard to do basic things like lease an apartment or pass a background check for a new job.
At last count, there were 7 million “credit invisible” Americans, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2).
The group includes students, immigrants and women who may struggle to get credit because they do unpaid or low-income work, or because male partners hold the credit cards.
This is how Chen says her company is trying to help.
Kikoff is geared to people whose credit scores are nonexistent or below 600. For context, the credit scores range from 300 to 850.
Chen says the goal is to help Kikoff users raise their credit scores above 600, which is the minimum many landlords, prospective employers, auto dealers and mortgage lenders look for when signing contracts.
She adds that most Kikoff users see their credit score improve by an average of 86 points within a year.
That may not sound like a lot, but Chen says it can be life-changing for someone who starts with a score below 600 and crosses that threshold. It could mean qualifying for a better apartment or even a mortgage.
The three biggest factors that go into your credit score are payment history (35% of your score, up to 298 points), credit utilization (30%, up to 255 points) and length of credit history (15%, up to 127.5 points).
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Kikoff works to improve those areas through a subscription-based model that starts at $5 a month.
Each month, users pay their subscriptions and the company reports those payments to the three credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. This helps build a positive payment history and length of credit history on individuals’ credit reports. The company can also report subscribers’ rent and utility payments to credit bureaus.
“It gives you credit for something you’re already paying every month,” Chen said.
Subscribers also receive a $750 credit that can be used only in the Kikoff store, where they can purchase financial literacy e-books, courses or subscription renewals.
Chen says it’s fine if users don’t spend any of the $750 credit. In fact, that can help their credit utilization score. Credit bureaus deduct points from people who max out available credit. The more available credit you have, the better.
Subscribers can also sign up for additional credit options, including a secured credit card. This helps build their credit mix, which makes up 10% of a credit score and is worth up to 85 points.
Another way the company helps improve credit scores is by using AI to identify errors in credit reports and submit disputes on behalf of customers to the credit bureaus.
Chen acknowledges that some people may feel uneasy about AI services, but they are opt-in programs that require customers’ full consent. More recently, the company launched an AI-driven debt negotiation service that can call collectors on behalf of Kikoff subscribers to negotiate payment plans.
The tool has been particularly helpful for customers with disabilities, including those with hearing impairments or speech impediments who may struggle to make a call to creditors.
The latest version of the app includes a Spanish-language option, part of Chen’s ongoing commitment to support the credit invisible.
“That is the community I hold very dear to my heart,” she says.
While she admits Kikoff has helped raise users’ collective credit scores by more than 200 million points, she acknowledges there is still a long way to go.
“The debt level in America just keeps rising,” she says, pointing to figures such as the $1.28 trillion Americans hold in credit-card debt.
She also acknowledges that even with a credit-building app, there’s no quick fix for poor credit.
“I wish there were a magic wand that you could use to turn a 500 credit score into 850 in a second,” Chen said. “Persistence and grit and belief in the process will be the most important.”
It’s worked for her. Chen is now banking on it working for her customers.
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Medium (1); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2)
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