Does Paying Bills Help Build Your Credit?
You pay your rent, utilities, and phone bill every single month—so why isn’t your credit score moving? 🤨 It’s a common question, especially if you're trying to build credit from scratch. Let’s answer it once and for all:
Does paying bills help build credit? Not directly. Most bill payments—like rent or your phone plan—don’t show up on your credit report unless you take extra steps. But if you pay those bills using a credit card, that credit card activity does get reported to the credit bureaus, and that’s what helps build your score.
What Does and Doesn’t Affect Your Credit Score
Your credit score is built using data reported to the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. But here's the catch: not all payments are reported.
Payments that are automatically reported and help build credit include things like:
Credit cards (secured or unsecured)
Student loans
Auto loans
Personal loans
Most everyday bills—like rent, utilities, subscriptions, and phone plans—don’t get reported to the credit bureaus on their own. Even if you’re never late, these payments usually don’t impact your credit unless:
You sign up for a service that reports them (like Experian Boost or a rent-reporting platform), or
You pay them with a credit card and then pay off that card on time.
In that second case, it’s the credit card activity—not the bill itself—that boosts your score.
Does Paying Utility Bills Help Build Credit?
Your electric, water, and internet bills don’t impact your credit unless they go unpaid and are sent to collections—which can hurt your score.
If you want your utility payments to help your credit, consider using a tool like Experian Boost, which can add eligible utility and streaming payments to your credit file. It won’t guarantee results, but it can help especially if your credit history is limited.
✅ Pro tip: If you're new to credit, adding even one or two accounts can make a difference.
Does Paying Cell Phone Bills Help Build Credit?
Does paying cell phone bills help build credit? Not on their own.
Most phone plans aren’t reported to credit bureaus—unless you miss payments and they go to collections. However, if you’re financing a phone through your carrier, that payment plan may be reported.
💡 If you pay your phone bill with a credit card, and then pay off that card on time, that card usage will help your credit score. Again, it's not the bill that builds credit—it’s the card.
Does Paying Rent Build Credit?
You could also pay rent with a credit card and build credit through that payment—but most landlords or rental platforms charge a high processing fee, often around 2–3%. So while it’s technically possible, it’s usually not the most cost-effective route. Most landlords don’t report rent payments on their own, but there are services like LevelCredit, RentTrack, or Zillow Rental Manager that let you opt in and get credit for on-time rent payments.
If you’re able to pay rent with a credit card and then pay the card off responsibly, that card activity can also indirectly help your score.
So, What Bills Actually Help Build Credit?
Here’s the bottom line: only payments that get reported to the credit bureaus can help your credit. That includes:
Credit card payments (including secured credit cards)
Loan payments (student, auto, personal)
Buy Now Pay Later loans (if the lender reports them)
Rent and utilities—only if reported manually or via third-party tools
And if you use a credit card to pay other bills? That credit card usage is reported and can boost your score—as long as you pay it off responsibly.
Just remember: if it’s not reported, it won’t help. But if it goes unpaid and hits collections, it can definitely hurt.
How Step Helps You Build Credit
If you want to start building credit without jumping through hoops, Step makes it easy.
Step is a credit building app that helps you build credit from your everyday spending—without needing a traditional credit card or loan.
It reports your secured card activity to all three credit bureaus, tracks on-time payments, and even helps you build credit through EarlyPay, as long as you pay it back on time. You get the benefits of credit building while spending within your means.
Want to know how all this connects? Check out our full guide to understanding credit scores.
Final Thoughts — Paying Bills Isn’t Enough Without the Right Tools
So, does paying bills help build credit? Only the ones that get reported. For everything else, it depends how you pay them.
Use a service to report your rent or utility payments. Better yet, use a credit-building tool like Step, which reports your spending for you 🙌
Start building credit the smart way— download credit building app.
