Loqbox is a credit building tool that aims to help you build your credit score. It can actually help you increase your credit score by hundreds of points. Having a higher credit score can help you get access to credit or get better interest rates when you are approved for credit. I have used it myself and in this post, I will give you my in-depth review. I will explain what Loqbox is, how it works, let you know if it helped me build my credit score, and finally how much my credit score increased.
Loqbox Review
You can watch my Loqbox Review video here on Youtube:
What is Loqbox?
Loqbox is a credit building tool. So Loqbox is a way to build credit. It can help you increase your credit score and build your credit history. Loqbox is ideal for people who have never had credit, cannot get approved for credit, or simply those people who want to build their credit score.
Loqbox is free to use. There are paid options available but at the time of writing you can get access to Loqbox Save for free. I used Loqbox Save to build my credit score.
Loqbox also does not require a credit check. What it does is build up your credit score by reporting your payments (more on that later) to the three credit reference agencies in the UK, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. It is these credit reference agencies that approve credit applications. When you apply for a credit card or loan, the bank asks one of these agencies for your credit history. The bank uses this to decide on whether to lend you money or give you credit. This means that Loqbox can be instrumental in helping you build credit as it reports to these agencies who will then be more likely to give you credit in the future.
Loqbox shows you can handle credit. When you make payments to pay back the “credit” that Loqbox has given you, it shows banks that you can pay back credit the same way that you would a credit card or loan. After all, that is what the bank is deciding when they decide whether or not to lend you money. They are trying to calculate whether you are likely to pay it back. All of this works in your favour and shows that you can make on-time payments, to build your credit history and improve your credit score.
How Does Loqbox work?
Loqbox works by showing lenders that you can handle credit. It mimics a loan and therefore shows them that you can pay back a loan over a set period. This builds your credit score and allows you to get approved for credit in the future.
The Loqbox Process
Sign up at Loqbox.com
Choose how much you want to save each month. This is an amount between £20 and £200. I chose the minimum but you can choose any amount that you like. If you also want to use Loqbox as a savings tool then you might choose a higher amount.
Get approved for a 0% loan for that amount. E.g. if you chose £20 a month, then in 12 months you will have saved £240, so you will be approved for a £240 loan.
You will not receive this money. You simply pay or save the money back over 12 months, like paying back the loan. This is reported as a loan to the credit reference agencies and this is what builds your credit score.
Increase your credit score. Over the months that you are saving you will build your credit history and see your credit score improving. Your credit score should improve after the first month or two of payments and will keep increasing from there.
My Loqbox Review
Now for my review. I used Loqbox to build my credit score and this is what happened. I signed up for Loqbox as I had never had credit before and I needed to build my credit score before getting approved for a credit card. I came across Loqbox and thought it would be a great way to build a credit history and hopefully allow me to get approved for a credit card which could further help my credit score. It was simple to sign up for and soon I was making my first Loqbox Save payment.
Within two months, my score had improved and I was able to get approved for a bank credit card. This is something I was not able to do before I signed up to Loqbox as I had no credit history so could not get a credit card. Even if you have already had credit in the past, it will still work for you as it shows you can make on-time payments to pay back a loan in full, which will build your credit score. Your Loqbox payments are reported to the credit agencies each month that you are successfully paying back a loan.
Pros
A great way to improve your credit score and build credit.
Easy and simple to do.
Free.
A good way to save.
A great way to enable you to access credit without a credit history.
Refer-a-friend offer where you get £5 added to your savings if you refer a friend.
Excellent Trustpilot rating.
FCA regulated.
Cons
I have not found any.
Final Thoughts
Loqbox is an easy, free way to improve your credit score over the course of a year. During the year that you are making Loqbox payments you can expect your score to gradually increase. For me, my credit score increased by over 100 points initially and then continued to climb gradually over the year and even after the full “loan” was paid back.
At the end of the 12 months, you get the money back. This means that you can get back all of the money that you have saved. This is free as long as you sign up for a bank account with one of their partner banks. It is really easy to do and you can then transfer the money back to your main bank account straight away. If you want to do a direct transfer of your Loqbox savings to an existing bank account, then you do have to pay a fee. I did the free option and opened an account with one of their partner banks. I then transferred my savings back to my main bank account. It was no problem and made sure I did not have to pay any fees. I got all of my savings back and improved my credit score in the process.
There is also a refer-a-friend offer, so if you like Loqbox and refer any friends, you will get that money included too. For every friend you refer, you get £5 added to your Loqbox savings.
Overall, I think Loqbox is a great way to build your credit score and get approved for credit. It shows that you can handle credit and improves your credit score a lot. A higher credit score is not only good for future credit applications but it also helps you get lower interest rates on credit. My credit score improved a lot within a few months and continued to increase throughout the 12 months. My credit score even continued to grow after the 12 months was over.
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