How to Add Trade Lines to Your Credit Report

Trade lines are credit accounts on your credit report. Each account counts as one trade line, and the trade line's information is used to determine your credit score. You can add new trade lines to your credit report to increase the amount of overall credit you have access to, or add more positive trade lines to rebuild your credit or establish new accounts to diversify your credit accounts.

Instructions

1

Apply for credit cards and store card accounts to add revolving credit to your credit report. Getting a mixture of revolving credit accounts between regular credit cards and store-specific cards gives you a slight point boost due to the diversity of credit accounts. If you have no credit or bad credit, store cards are typically easier to get than most regular credit cards. If you want to open a regular credit card account but you don't have the score to manage it, you can find a bank that offers secured credit card accounts.

2

Fill out a loan application for an installation loan trade line. Student loans, automobile loans and personal loans are all considered installation loans and count as the same loan type. Mortgages are also installation loans but are considered their own loan type when it comes to diversifying your trade lines. Small personal loans through local banks and credit unions are good options if your credit situation is not perfect. Buy here, pay here automobile dealerships can also help bad or no credit situations if you want an installation loan trade line.

3

Request credit accounts at rental stores, such as Rent a Center, if you need to establish a positive trade line without a credit check. The total cost of the item you are renting is typically higher due to an increased interest rate, but the positive account can pave the way to getting better credit accounts.