Kikoff Credit Builder Plans: Basic, Premium and Ultimate

Kikoff currently offers three Credit Account plans: Basic at $5 per month with a $750 reported tradeline, Premium at $20 per month with a $2,500 reported tradeline, and Ultimate at $35 per month with a $3,500 reported tradeline. All three plans include Kikoff's basic credit-building features and report the Kikoff tradeline to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, while the higher-priced plans add features such as three-bureau credit reports and scores, bill reporting, spending tools, identity-theft insurance, and personal-data protection. The important thing to understand is that the reported $750, $2,500, or $3,500 tradeline is not cash that you can spend outside Kikoff.

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What Are the Three Kikoff Plans?

The three current Kikoff Credit Account plans are Basic, Premium, and Ultimate. The main differences are the monthly price, the size of the reported Kikoff tradeline, and the additional services included with each plan.

The Basic plan costs $5 per month and reports a $750 Kikoff tradeline. Premium costs $20 per month and reports a $2,500 tradeline. Ultimate costs $35 per month and reports a $3,500 tradeline. Kikoff currently says all three plans report to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

The higher reported tradeline should not be confused with money you receive or a conventional credit-card limit. Kikoff states that its tradeline is designed exclusively for building credit and cannot be used for purchases outside Kikoff.

What Does the Kikoff Basic Plan Include?

The Kikoff Basic plan costs $5 per month and includes a $750 reported Kikoff tradeline. Kikoff says Basic reports to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and includes a weekly credit report, rent reporting to Equifax and TransUnion, tools and credit-tracking features, and bank-level security and support.

At $5 per month, the Basic plan costs $60 if you keep it for the entire first 12-month term and make all 12 monthly payments. The $750 figure is the reported Kikoff tradeline, not $750 of cash or a $750 credit card that can be used at ordinary retailers.

Basic is therefore the entry-level option for someone who primarily wants the Kikoff credit-building account and the features that come with the basic plan.

What Does the Kikoff Premium Plan Include?

The Kikoff Premium plan costs $20 per month and includes a $2,500 reported Kikoff tradeline. Premium includes the features of Basic and adds three-bureau credit reports and scores, Bill Reporting, and tools to track and manage spending.

At $20 per month, Premium costs $240 over a 12-month term if you make all 12 monthly payments. The additional $15 per month compared with Basic is therefore $180 more over a full 12-month term.

The bigger reported tradeline is one difference between Premium and Basic, but the additional services are also important. If you are considering Premium, you should look at whether you will actually use the three-bureau credit reports and scores, Bill Reporting, and spending-management features rather than choosing the plan simply because the reported tradeline is larger.

What Does the Kikoff Ultimate Plan Include?

The Kikoff Ultimate plan costs $35 per month and includes a $3,500 reported Kikoff tradeline. Ultimate includes the features of Basic and Premium and adds up to $1 million in identity-theft insurance and personal-data protection.

At $35 per month, Ultimate costs $420 over a 12-month term if you make all 12 monthly payments. That is $180 more than Premium over a full 12-month term and $360 more than Basic.

The Ultimate plan is therefore substantially more expensive than Basic. The question isn't simply whether the $3,500 reported tradeline is larger. You also need to decide whether the additional identity-theft and personal-data protection features are worth paying for in your particular situation.

What Is the Difference Between Kikoff Basic, Premium and Ultimate?

The primary differences are the monthly price, reported tradeline amount, and additional services. Basic is $5 per month with a $750 reported tradeline. Premium is $20 per month with a $2,500 reported tradeline and adds three-bureau reports and scores, Bill Reporting, and spending-management tools. Ultimate is $35 per month with a $3,500 reported tradeline and adds identity-theft insurance and personal-data protection on top of the Premium features.

All three plans currently include reporting of the Kikoff tradeline to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Basic also includes rent reporting to Equifax and TransUnion, while Kikoff's Bill Reporting is listed as a Premium and Ultimate feature.

Does a Larger Kikoff Plan Give You More Spendable Credit?

No. A $3,500 reported Kikoff tradeline does not mean you receive $3,500 that you can spend wherever you want.

Kikoff says its tradeline is designed exclusively for building credit and cannot be used outside Kikoff. That means the difference between the $750, $2,500, and $3,500 figures is primarily relevant to how the account is reported and how the plan is structured, rather than giving you progressively larger amounts of conventional spending power.

This is why I would not choose a Kikoff plan simply because it advertises a larger reported tradeline. The additional features included with each plan deserve just as much attention as the number attached to the tradeline.

Which Kikoff Plans Include Rent Reporting?

Rent Reporting is included with the current Basic, Premium, and Ultimate plans. Kikoff says successful rental payments can be reported to Equifax and TransUnion, and eligible customers can also report up to two years of previous rental payments for a one-time $50 fee.

This is an important distinction because you do not have to move to the $20 Premium plan simply to get Kikoff's rent-reporting feature. The current pricing page lists Rent Reporting with Basic as well as the higher plans.

Which Kikoff Plans Include Bill Reporting?

Bill Reporting is included with Premium and Ultimate. Kikoff says its Bill Reporting service can report eligible phone, electricity, natural gas, and water payments to TransUnion each month. Kikoff also says it does not report late payments through this particular Bill Reporting service.

That makes Bill Reporting one of the features that distinguishes Premium and Ultimate from Basic. If Bill Reporting is the reason you're considering an upgrade, compare the additional $15 per month for Premium with the actual value you expect to get from the feature.

What Additional Features Come With Ultimate?

Ultimate adds identity-theft insurance and personal-data protection to the features included with Basic and Premium. Kikoff currently advertises up to $1 million in identity-theft insurance with Ultimate, while its personal-data protection service is designed to help remove personal information from data brokers and third-party data resellers and monitor for new exposures.

Kikoff says its identity-theft insurance has a zero deductible, although the insurance has its own coverage terms and conditions. The personal-data protection feature is specifically identified by Kikoff as an Ultimate benefit.

How Much Does Each Kikoff Plan Cost Per Year?

If you make all 12 monthly payments during the initial 12-month term, Basic costs $60, Premium costs $240, and Ultimate costs $420. These figures are simply the current monthly prices multiplied by 12 and do not include any separate fees that could apply to other Kikoff services.

The difference becomes more apparent when you compare the plans over the same period. Premium costs $180 more than Basic over 12 months, while Ultimate costs $360 more than Basic and $180 more than Premium.

That is why I would look at the plans based on the features you will actually use rather than focusing only on the reported tradeline amount.

Do Kikoff Plans Automatically Renew?

Yes, unless you turn off automatic renewal. Kikoff's current Credit Account agreement states that the plan is offered on a 12-month term and that the applicable plan fee is billed monthly. Unless automatic renewal is turned off before the end of the current term, the plan automatically renews for another 12-month term.

Kikoff says turning off automatic renewal prevents the next term from starting, but it does not immediately close the Credit Account or eliminate amounts that are already due. That is something I would pay attention to before signing up, particularly if you are thinking about the service as a one-year credit-building tool.

Which Kikoff Plan Should You Choose?

That depends on which features you actually need. If your main goal is the basic Kikoff credit-building account and you want the lowest monthly cost, Basic provides the entry-level option. Premium adds a larger reported tradeline, three-bureau reports and scores, Bill Reporting, and spending-management features. Ultimate adds the larger $3,500 reported tradeline along with identity-theft insurance and personal-data protection.

I would not choose a more expensive plan simply because the reported tradeline is larger. The higher reported amount does not give you more cash to spend, so the more important question is whether the additional services are useful to you.

Also remember that Kikoff does not guarantee a particular credit-score increase. Your credit scores are based on multiple factors, and Kikoff is only one part of your overall credit history.

➤ If you want to sign up for Kikoff, you can get started here.

Read Our Full Kikoff Credit Builder Review

The plan details are only one part of deciding whether Kikoff makes sense for you. Our full review also looks at what the reported tradeline actually means, how Kikoff compares with a traditional credit card or credit-builder loan, rent and bill reporting, payment risks, cancellation, customer complaints, and the overall cost of the service.

➤ Read our full Kikoff Credit Builder Review: What You're Really Paying For.

Bottom Line

Kikoff's three current Credit Account plans range from $5 to $35 per month, with reported tradelines of $750, $2,500, and $3,500. Basic includes the core credit-building features and rent reporting, Premium adds three-bureau reports and scores, Bill Reporting and spending-management tools, and Ultimate adds identity-theft insurance and personal-data protection.

The biggest mistake would be to look at the larger reported tradelines and assume they represent money you can borrow and spend. They do not. Before choosing a plan, look at the actual features you will use, the monthly cost, the 12-month term, and the automatic-renewal provisions.