Fresh Start - How To Start Building Credit | Refresh Financial

Is the Fresh Start Program for Me?

Wondering how to rebuild your credit? Did an emergency or life transition damage your credit? Did “past you” make some bad financial decisions? Have you been turned down for a loan? New to the country and building a new life? Bankruptcy or consumer proposal? Identity theft? If you have bad credit and are ready to change your financial future, then the Fresh Start program is for you.

Why the Fresh Start Program Works

When applying for credit in Canada, banks use your credit score to determine how risky it is to lend you money. A bad credit score can mean that they won’t lend to you (or if they do, they will charge very high interest rates).

Learn how credit works:

Payment history is like the scorecard for your credit score. Doing something well will increase your credit score. If you perform not so well, your credit will decrease.

Our Fresh Start Program gets you back to the financial basics — saving, making responsible payments, and keeping track of your progress along the way.

Every payment you make in the Fresh Start program gets reported to the credit bureaus as positive, and they increase your score accordingly.

How Does the Fresh Start Program Work?

When you sign up for the Fresh Start program:

We don’t ask for your credit score (yes, really). We trust that you want to get back on track. All we need to know is that you are making the commitment to rebuilding your credit.

We start by working through which of our program amounts suit you

Then we set up affordable payments for your budget and lifestyle. Each payment has a small portion of interest, so we can report your program as an ‘installment loan’ to the credit bureau. This proves to lenders that you are responsible and able to meet your money commitments over a period of time.

Once you’ve finished the Fresh Start Program:

You will have built up a little nest egg for yourself. As only a small portion of your payments go to interest and fees; the rest is yours!

At the end of the Fresh Start Program

You get a new and improved credit score, the trust of lenders, a chunk of cash to spend however you like, and the financial freedom to get the credit you need (at an affordable interest rate) whenever you need it.