I used BuildMyCreditScore for around two and a half years and paid the monthly subscription, but personally I saw very little real benefit from the product.

The app gives the impression of an improving credit score, but in my experience that seemed to reflect how my account looked within their own system rather than any meaningful improvement to my wider credit profile. I understand they may report account activity to credit reference agencies, but I did not feel the monthly fee was worth it for the limited benefit I saw.

The card itself also became frustrating to use. There were occasions where a Direct Debit collection did not work on the first attempt, the card was restricted, and I had to contact support because there did not appear to be a simple way in the app to manually pay or retry the amount. The payments were later recovered, and I was told they would not be reported as missed or late, but the process felt clunky and unnecessary.

I also found the payment warning emails very off-putting. A potential £35 late payment fee feels high, especially for a product aimed at people trying to build or improve their credit. The wording around further charges, debt collection, legal action and possible credit-file impact felt heavy-handed and intimidating, particularly when support responses can take time and customers may simply be trying to resolve a short-term issue.

My account was later closed after a manual review. Their initial closure email gave very little explanation and simply referred me to the terms and conditions. I had to raise a formal complaint and subject access request to get a clearer explanation. They ultimately said the closure was due to repeated unsuccessful Direct Debit collection attempts, even though the amounts were later recovered.

Compared with other credit-building products I’ve used, BuildMyCreditScore would be at the bottom for me. With other products, the benefit feels clearer, whether that is building a savings habit while reporting payments or offering more practical bill-support features. With BuildMyCreditScore, I felt I was mainly paying a monthly fee for a card and an in-app score display, without seeing enough real-world benefit to justify the cost.

To be fair, they did later confirm the account would be reported as closed/settled and not as missed or late. However, overall I found the product poor value, the credit-building benefit unclear, and the account/payment handling frustrating.

I’m honestly glad I’m no longer paying £7.95 a month for it.

Update: BuildMyCreditScore have replied with general comments about how the product is intended to work, but my review is based on my own experience. They had separately confirmed to me that the recovered retry payment would not be reported as missed or late and that the account would be reported as closed/settled.