I recently moved to San Francisco from London to study for an MBA at Berkeley Haas because I wanted to be at the heart of the tech ecosystem and learn more about the innovation happening within financial services. In order to understand this landscape more, I wanted to work with a company innovating the space, and I’m lucky enough to be working with Tomo.
Tomo addresses a huge pain point I had when I moved here as an international, a lack of US credit history. A lack of credit history meant I was unable to apply for almost all credit cards and unable to earn a variety of rewards offered by different card companies. Additionally, credit history is a requirement for some cell phone plans, for apartment rental eligibility and it can have an adverse impact on the amount you pay for insurance premiums. However, through lots of market research for an alternative and for interesting Haas affiliated fintech companies, I came across Tomo which was tackling both of these issues.
Tomo is a fintech startup that currently offers a credit card that does NOT require you to have a credit score, which is exactly what I was looking for. I reached out to the founder Kristy and was able to get an early look at the product and the functionality they are offering. They are also working on technology that allows you to get approved for a card without having an SSN which is how I was able to get a card. This is a game-changer for international students who often have no credit history or SSN.
Me with my Tomo card!
Not only did they get me my first credit card, but they also offer crazy cashback! For every person you refer and is approved, you will EACH receive an additional 1% in cashback which is how in a short amount of time I’m earning 8% cashback! You can do this with up to 19 people at a time allowing you to boost your cashback up to 20%. Whilst doing all of this, I am building up my credit history! It’s honestly amazing.
There is limited availability and the waitlist is filling up fast. So if you are looking for a modern-day credit card with the best cashback or you have no credit score or SSN, then Tomo is the card for you!
Here at Tomo, we know you’re not just a credit score. When you sign up today not only can you get approved with no credit history but we are the first card offering up to 20% in cashback. EVER.
How does it work?
First, you’ll want to sign up for our waitlist. When you get your welcome email, simply apply for our card like you would for any other credit card — minus the credit check! Tomo Credit assesses your eligibility not by looking at your credit score, but by analyzing your banking history.
Once accepted you will receive a unique referral code that you can share with your friends, colleagues and acquaintances. For each person that is approved for a card, you both receive 1% in cashback rewards.
Cashback works via redeeming the Tomo points you earn from spending on your Tomo card for cash. For example, if you have referred 19 people that get approved for a Tomo card, you will earn 20% in cashback. When you spend $100, you will receive 2,000 points. 100 Tomo points = $1 in cash so the 2,000 Tomo points you earned are worth $20 in cash which can be withdrawn into your checking account. It’s that simple.
Your cashback bonuses for referring people are valid for three months and you can replenish these with new referrals to keep your cashback high for a longer period.
You can track your balance, rewards, and pay off your card on the dashboard on mobile or web browser.
Tomo cards are currently limited to only 50,000 so the quicker you sign up the better. Also, don’t forget the more you share, the more rewards you will earn!
You can get on the waitlist by using the below link:
For better or worse, one of the most important metrics in your financial life is your credit score. Most Americans aren’t well informed of this in their traditional upbringing and as a result are left playing catch-up later in life or simply don’t understand some of the core benefits of having a high credit score.
This 3-digit number can either cost you or save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your lifetime and the sooner you can get ahead of it the more beneficial it will be for your life.
Here are 5 of the best ways we at TomoCredit recommend to best improve your credit score
Create accounts and monitor your credit scores frequently
Improving your credit score starts with knowing what it exactly is. We recommend creating accounts on at least two of the major credit card portals including Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Credit.com, Quizzle, and WalletHub. You can also create an account on AnnualCreditReport.com where you can check your credit report for free once every 12 months from each of the major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. See the below graph (from Experian) for an idea of what the average American credit score is and what ranges are considered good — bad scores.
Get this tattooed, carve it in stone, or repeat it over and over again until it’s memorized. This is probably the easiest way for an individual to steadily build their credit score over time but is also the most abused. It’s simple and straightforward yet millions of Americans take liberties with their credit card spending and let their credit payments carry over consecutive months and damaging their credit scores. Inherently credit scores are a reflection of your ability to pay off debts over time signaling your reliability. You can positively influence this indicator by using calendar reminders or setting your bills on auto-pay to help ensure you pay on time every month. Paying your bills late or settling your debts for less than what you agreed on will negatively affect your score.
3. Keep your balances low
An important part of today’s credit scoring systems is your credit utilization ratio. This ratio is calculated by looking at the credit balances you have across all your cards at a given time and dividing that by the total credit limit you have across all of your credit cards. What you are left with is a ratio that has a significant weight to your total credit score. Lenders look for credit ratios of 30% or less, so your credit utilization ratio should fall below this number in order for it to have a positive impact on your score. Example: if you typically have $1k a month in credit balances and your total credit limit across your cards is $5k then your credit ratio is 20%.
Best way to improve your credit utilization ratio, and as a result your credit score, is to keep your overall balances low! On this note if you have unused cards we recommend not closing these accounts as long as you aren’t paying costly fees. The additional credit limits will help your credit utilization ratio as long as you keep the account open but just don’t spend on them.
4. Avoid too many hard credit inquiries and don’t open more accounts than you need
Applying for loans or new credit cards will result in hard inquiries which can take a negative toll on your credit score and remain on your record for 2 years. This can ultimately be mitigated over time but requires careful overview. If you already have cards open be smart about which accounts you utilize and avoid closing credit lines if you don’t need to. At the same time however don’t open new credit cards if you don’t need them and put your spending habits at risk.
5. Start building and proactively maintaining your credit score as early as possible
The toughest part of starting to build your credit history is not having one at all. At some point you’ll need to qualify for a credit card and start building up a balance with regular payments to show future creditors and lenders that you are a trustworthy borrower. Not many cards will take chances on immigrants or even young professionals. This is where we at TomoCredit hope to help empower folks towards building a healthier credit history. Our card uses alternative evaluation methods compared to traditional card providers to ensure that you can get a card that will serve you with high rewards and put you on the path to financial success.
College is one of the toughest times to manage your personal finances.
We know this and this is why we interviewed a (relatively) recent college grad and budgeting maestro Sri Ramakrishnan to learn more about his approach regarding college finances and personal tools.
Our conversation here below:
Tomo: Hi Sri, thanks for taking the time to chat with us! How long has it been since you were last in college and what did you study?
Sri: Thanks for having me! I graduated undergrad in 2017 and I majored in Economics.
Tomo: Did you have any jobs or internships during college?
Sri: I did indeed, I had a few jobs through my years in college. I was an English tutor during my sophomore year, worked as a barista at Starbucks for a summer, did a part-time internship at a technology startup alongside my classes during my junior year, and I did a full-time summer internship between my junior and senior year.
Tomo: What were your spending habits like when you were in college?
Sri: To be quite honest, I was (and still am) a fairly frugal individual. Throughout college I’d find ways to stay within specific budgets I had outlined for myself and make sure that I saved a significant percentage of my income when I was working.
That being said, I always made sure to spend money on things that made my life easier or on areas that I felt were investments in myself. Through my senior year, I made a conscience effort to spend more money on experiences that I thought would enrich my life and would become memories I could look back on as opposed to material objects that didn’t give me much joy after the first purchase.
Tomo: Did you have a credit card during college? If so what kind?
Sri: I did but it was just a standard credit card issued by my bank with barely any rewards.
Tomo: Did you use any tools to manage your budget or personal finances during these years?
Sri: During my time in college I didn’t have a specific budget tracker as I do today (I currently manage all my monthly expenses manually on an excel spreadsheet) but I did use a few apps to invest my money and to generally become more financially literate.
I first opened a Robinhood account during my junior year to put my money in a few individual companies I felt very strongly about. I was very compelled by the commission-free trading proposition and wanted to get involved with these stocks that I felt were promising. At the same time I opened an account with Coinbase and invested in Bitcoin and Ethereum after doing a lot of research. This was early in 2017, just at dawn for all the publicity that was brewing around the blockchain/crypto space. For personal transactions and peer-to-peer expenses I used Venmo, as it became impossible to navigate the college landscape without it. Other than these three, I just used my bank’s standard web portal to oversee my expenses and income.
Tomo: Looking back, was there anything you wish you had done differently in regards to your personal finances?
Sri: Honestly, I remember after my senior year vividly wishing I had a high rewards credit card through my time in college. There were so many random expenses from a variety of categories (especially food/travel) that I could have reaped rewards from. On top of this, I was paying the rent for my senior year apartment through Venmo to one of my roommates who would write to our landlord the check for all of us. I figured if I had a high rewards credit card throughout this time, I could have built my credit history through these consistent payments and potentially had secured some cash back.
Tomo: Any tools you wish you had used or had during this time?
Sri: Not to sound cheesy but a Tomocredit card would have been huge for me along with many of my peers during this time in college. I know it was hard for a lot of college students to qualify for high rewards credit cards during our pre-employment years without significant credit history or a credit score. Not to mention for me, especially during my years in college to have had a credit card where I could earn rewards in crypto would have paid off tremendously with the huge bull run for cryptocurrencies experienced in late 2017.
Tomo: Any advice you’d give college students who are trying to manage their personal finances?
Sri: Live within your means and try to save a little bit from every paycheck. Start investing in low cost Index funds as early as you can. Pay off any debt you may have as soon as possible (student loans, credit card etc). Once you have enough of a savings cushion, try to live within your means but don’t forget to go spend money on experiences and with people who will bring you joy. You only have one life so go live it up!
To learn more about budgeting, and personal finance tips you can connect with Sri Ramakrishnan on Twitter and Instagram (@sreezy3000) or reach out to him on LinkedIn.
Today we are excited to announce that we are opening up the sign-ups for TomoCredit credit card. The next generation credit card designed for people with no credit history or credit score.
At TomoCredit our vision is to create an a financial system that is open and accessible to everyone. TomoCredit is the first step in that direction.
With the up and coming launch of this credit card, students, immigrants, and other financially underserved members of the population can start building credit without relying on credit cards that require a deposit or have prohibitively high fees. In addition to building credit, our customers can also start tracking their weekly expenses using Tomo’s CashScore features.
Every time you swipe your TomoCredit card, we track your spending and use that to build your CashScore.
How did we create CashScore? Our in house risk experts teamed up with industry leaders from Amex, WellsFargo, Citi bank to develop Tomo’s own proprietary algorithm
Join us and let’s build the future of credit together!
