Every month, you pay the bills that keep your life running: rent, electricity, your phone, water. For most people, none of that has typically shown up on their credit report. (Source: Experian)
At Possible, we've spent years thinking about that gap. Today, we're doing something about it. We're officially launching Bill & Rent Reporting, a new feature that lets you build credit history using the payments you're already making.
The credit system is hard to navigate
Credit scores are supposed to reflect financial responsibility. But the factors that drive those scores are often narrow: primarily loans and credit cards. (Source: Experian) That means a person can spend years paying rent on time, managing a household budget and never missing a bill, and still wind up with a thin credit file or no score at all.
This can create a frustrating cycle. You need credit to build credit. If you can't access a loan or a card, it can be hard to demonstrate that you're reliable. Without that track record, doors can stay closed. Better loan rates, rental approvals and even some job applications can all be affected by a credit score you haven't had the chance to build.
The people most likely to fall into this gap are younger adults, recent immigrants and people from lower-income neighborhoods. (Source: Experian) They just haven't had the right on-ramp.
“Credit scores have ignored the biggest payments most people make each month. We wanted to give credit where credit is due, literally.”
Jonny Palmer, Director, Product Management
What Bill & Rent Reporting does for you
Payment history is 40% of your credit score (Source: TransUnion), and reporting on-time utility payments can help build credit history to improve your score. (Source: CFPB)
As a Possible Loan or Possible Advance Membership customer, when you sign up for Bill & Rent Reporting, you have the option to connect the payments you already make to the credit bureaus that track your financial history.
Here's how it works: link your bank account and we’ll identify the payments you make for pay rent and bills (think electricity, gas, phone, water). Then choose which accounts you’d like Possible to report to TransUnion. Those payments become part of your credit history, which can help you with your longer-term credit goals.
The feature is new and it's not available in all states today. Depending on your state, some services may be available at no additional cost; in some states, some reporting services are subject to a fee.
You can also get up to 24 months of past on-time payments included at no extra cost. We’ll report all the on-time payments you made for up to 2 years back, before you even signed up for Bill & Rent Reporting at Possible. Plus, we only report positive payments, never missed payments. With your bill and rent payment history, you’ll have more opportunities to show credit bureaus you’re consistent.
“For people battling low or damaged credit, we wanted to provide a dose of relief. Bill & Rent Reporting can help give our customers a boost, and they can start to see their credit history progress.”
Jules Beswick, Director of Product Design
For a long time, if you wanted to build credit, your options were limited. For example, your only choices might be opening a new credit card just to prove you’re responsible. For people who are cautious about debt (for good reason), that’s not much of a path forward.
Bill & Rent Reporting changes that for the better. It’s a way to build credit history using the payments you already make, like rent, utilities, and your phone bill.
That’s the whole point. You’ve been paying your bills and covering your rent every month. Those payments show you’re responsible and consistent. Bill & Rent Reporting makes sure you get recognized for it, so your everyday financial habits start working harder for you.
Why we built this
At Possible, our mission is to make financial health possible for everyone. That's what drives every product we build, and the standard everything we do has to meet.
The Possible Loan was our first answer to that mission. It gives people access to emergency credit and reports payments to credit bureaus to help build credit history. But one product alone can’t close the gap. Millions of people like you make reliable payments every single month, from rent to utilities, and none of it shows up on your credit report. That’s not a reflection of your habits. It’s a blind spot in the system.
Closing that gap isn’t optional for us. If the goal is financial health for everyone, then creating more ways for people to build credit history from the things they’re already doing isn’t just a nice idea. It’s essential. Every payment that goes unrecognized is a missed opportunity for someone to move forward.
Bill & Rent Reporting is part of the next chapter at Possible. It’s made for the person who’s been doing the right thing all along and needs the system to finally see it.
“People who pay their rent and their bills on time, every single month, should have something to show for it on their credit report. Instead, millions of them are being ignored by a system that's supposed to measure exactly what they're already doing. Bill & Rent Reporting exists to fix that.”
Tony Huang, Co-Founder and CEO
Credit where credit is due
Bill & Rent Reporting is about making the system more honest. A credit profile should reflect your actual financial behavior, not just the products you've been able to access. Right now, two people might have identical financial habits and very different credit scores, simply because one has a credit card and the other doesn't.
When lenders look at a credit file, they want to know, does this person manage their financial obligations? For many people, the answer is clearly yes. They just don't always have the paper trail to prove it. Bill & Rent Reporting helps create that trail. Your bills should work for you.
Ready to see what your bills and rent can do for your credit? Check out Bill & Rent Reporting to learn more, then sign up inside the Possible app.
You've already been doing the work. Let's make it count.
