Ava credit building app review
- Fee
- $9 per month
- Minimum deposit to open
- $0
Our verdict
Build credit in two ways without interest charges; if you don’t mind a monthly fee.
Best for: People who want to build credit history.
Pros
-
No interest charges
-
No hard credit check
-
Credit card and credit-building loan
-
Reports to all major bureaus
Cons
-
Unavoidable fee
-
Ava Card only for subscriptions
Who is Ava best for?
The Ava app is best for someone looking for ways to build credit history with minimal fees, no interest charges and without the worry of taking on debt. Ava requires you to link an existing bank account through Plaid, so if your primary bank isn’t compatible with Plaid, it’s not a good fit.
Ava is also best for someone with a lot of subscription services, as those are the only things you can use the Ava card for.
How Ava works
Ava has two products that work differently but can help build your credit with responsible management and timely payments.
Ava card
The Ava credit builder card is a credit card, but it can only be used to pay for approved subscription services, which include big names like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon, and many other services like game subscriptions, audiobooks, insurance and phone carriers.
It works like this: If approved, you’ll make the Ava card your primary payment method for the subscriptions of your choice. The Ava card is charged for those subscriptions, and then you pay off the Ava card balance with your linked bank account. Payment is due within seven days after the Ava card is used. You’ll need at least $100 in your linked bank account for automatic payments to go through. Otherwise, it will decline. While there are no fees for late payments, they can be reported to the bureaus, which can harm your credit rating.
The card has a credit limit of up to $2,500. The credit limit is designed to help with your credit utilization ratio. The payments add to your payment history, which is the most important factor in your FICO 8 score. The card doesn’t charge interest, annual fees or late fees.
Ava Save and Credit Builder Account
The Credit Builder Account is a credit-builder loan with no interest charges, credit check or late fees. It requires an existing bank account for payments and to set up the Ava Savings Builder account, which is where your payments are stored.
It works like this: You pay $30 monthly installments to Ava, which is placed in the Savings Builder account, which doesn’t earn an APY. Each payment is reported to the credit bureaus. After 12 months, the full amount is released to you ($360). Ava doesn’t charge finance fees or APR for this service, so in a way, you’re simply committing to a savings account that requires monthly contributions and builds your credit history.
However, just like other forms of credit, late payments can be reported to the credit bureaus, which could harm your credit score. There are no late fees, though.
Ava plans and cost
Ava is rather upfront about their pricing, offering a monthly and an annual membership plan to access the Ava Card and the Credit Builder Account.
| Plan | Cost |
|---|---|
| Monthly | $9/mo ($108 per year) |
| Annual | $72/yr ($6 per month) |
What we like about Ava
One of the first things we look at with credit-building services is what bureaus it reports to — and we’re happy to find that Ava reports to all three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Many credit-building services only report to one or two, so this is a huge plus.
Also, Ava can report payment activity within 24 hours, whereas most reporting action is done monthly. If you want to see near-instant credit score improvement, this might be the service for you.
No credit check or APR
If you have poor credit or no credit history at all, it can be tough to get approved for credit to actually improve your credit rating. Ava doesn’t check your credit score when you apply and has no credit score requirements. There are also no interest charges on its credit card.
Ava Card has limited use, but it makes sense
The Ava Card is similar to other credit-reporting services with bill-paying cards such as StellarFi and Cushion. The card can only be used to pay for monthly subscription services. If you were on the hunt for a traditional credit card, this wouldn’t be for you. But if you need a credit card that won’t create the temptation to spend and want to build credit history without worrying about debt or an APR, it’s worth considering.
The Ava Card has a surprisingly large list of approved subscription services you can use it with, including game subscriptions, phone carriers, streaming services and even insurance. Some approved merchants include:
- 24 Hour Fitness
- Allstate
- Amazon Prime
- Apple subscriptions
- Audible
- Canva
- Disney+
- ESPN+
- Funimation
- HBO Max (Max)
- Hulu
- Netflix
- Nintendo Switch
- Pandora
- Playstation Plus
- Sprint
- T-Mobile
- Verizon
- Walmart+
- Xbox Live
- YouTube Premium
Credit-building loan has no fees
Aside from the paid monthly subscription fee, the Credit Builder account doesn’t have any additional fees. The monthly payments are $30 per month, and at the term’s end, you get the full amount back.
Often, credit-building loans charge APR or finance fees to cover the service. But since Ava charges a monthly membership fee, that’s likely what’s considered a fee for the service.
Where it falls short
We have to call out the paid membership fee of $72 per year, or $9 per month. While it’s not as pricey as some rent-reporting services, and there are no exorbitant interest charges as you’d find with no-credit credit cards, it’s still a fee you have to consider.
As a fintech, Ava doesn’t have any physical locations like a traditional bank. There’s also no chat function on its site, but it does have a phone line, email and customer form you can submit.
Ava’s fees and access
| Type of fee | Fee details |
|---|---|
| Membership | $9 per month, or $72 per year |
| Opening deposit | $0 |
| Credit score required | None |
| Overdraft or nonsufficient funds | $0 |
| Late fees | $0 |
| APR | 0% |
Compare Ava to other credit-building services
Narrow down top credit-boosting products by fees, benefits and more. For a closer look, tick the Compare box on multiple providers to see their features side by side.
What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score crunches over 300 checking accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's monthly fees, overdraft fees, opening deposit, customer support options, ATM network and features — this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of checking accounts against what we consider is the best option: no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, a large ATM network of 50,000 or more, additional features outside of typical banking services, and the optional perk of earning interest. Accounts that are nearly free to maintain and use are scored the highest, while accounts with costly fees and few features are scored the lowest.
Customer experience
Ava does pretty well in the realm of customer reviews. It has an exceptional 4.8-star rating on Trustpilot out of nearly 1,000 reviews, most of which are happy customers.
Customers proudly proclaim how much their credit score has gone up since using the service, most seeing an increase between 60 to 100 points in just a few months. They love the lack of interest charges, ease of payments thanks to autopay and how the app helped them track their subscription services.
The most common complaint was that you need at least $100 in your linked checking account for autopay to go through for the Ava Card. Customers say that if it doesn’t go through with autopay, you can pay it manually, and it’s just a slight inconvenience.
On Ava’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile, there weren’t any major red flags worth calling out. Ava does have a poor F rating with the BBB, which is based on a company’s responsiveness to complaints and volume of complaints. Ava only has a few complaints, most of which have to do with accounts not connecting through Plaid, late payments being incorrectly reported and other smaller issues.
Overall, Ava’s feedback is overwhelmingly positive.
Frequently asked questions
Does Ava do a credit check?
No, Ava doesn’t check your credit score if you apply for the Credit Builder Account or the Ava Card.
Is Ava a bank?
Ava isn’t a bank — it’s a financial technology (fintech) company. Its banking services are provided and issued by Evolve Bank & Trust, Member FDIC.
Does Ava help build credit?
Ava could help improve your credit score with timely payments and careful management. It reports activity to the major credit bureaus, and the credit scoring models FICO and VantageScore use that information to generate your credit score. Ava’s Credit Builder Account can impact your payment history, length of credit history and credit mix. The Ava Card is a credit card, and it can positively impact your credit score when used responsibly.
Credit building card ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Read the full methodology of how we rate credit building cards.
Your reviews
Bethany Finder
Editor, Banking
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