When the Credit Access and Inclusion Act was introduced in 2025, it promised to let rent and utility payments count toward credit scores for the first time. Where does it stand a year later? Here's what we know, what's still unclear, and what to do regardless of the bill's fate.

What the Act would actually change

The Credit Access and Inclusion Act would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to let landlords, utility companies, and telecom providers report on-time payments to the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Today, those payments rarely show up on a credit report unless they go to collections.

If passed, the bill would not force reporting. It would simply permit it and shield reporting entities from certain legal risks. That distinction matters. Even with the law on the books, your landlord would still need to opt in.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has estimated that roughly 26 million Americans are "credit invisible" with no traditional credit file, and another 19 million have files too thin to score. Many of them pay rent and utilities reliably every month. The Act is built on the idea that this payment history should count for something.

Where the bill stands in mid-2026

As of this writing, the bill remains stuck in committee. Versions have been introduced in multiple Congresses going back to 2017 with bipartisan sponsors, and the 2025 version followed the same pattern: introduction, hearings, then a quiet stall. Banking lobby groups have raised concerns about reporting standards and dispute liability, and tenant advocates have pushed back on provisions that would let negative rent data flow to bureaus the same way positive data does.

Translation: don't expect this to clear Congress on a predictable timeline. Plan as if it won't pass this year.

Why it matters for travel rewards

Most rewards cards worth carrying require a FICO score of 690 or higher. The Chase Sapphire Preferred typically approves applicants in the 720+ range. The Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum lean closer to 740+. Even a card like the Bilt Mastercard, which is explicitly designed for renters, still pulls a hard inquiry and rewards established credit.

For credit-invisible Americans, that is a closed door. You can't earn a welcome bonus you can't qualify for, and you can't transfer points to Hyatt or Air France if you can't get the card in the first place. Letting rent count toward a score is one of the few mechanisms that could meaningfully expand the pool of people who can play the points game at all.

How credit scores affect card approvals

The FICO model weights five factors: payment history (35 percent), amounts owed (30 percent), length of credit history (15 percent), credit mix (10 percent), and new credit (10 percent). Rent and utilities would feed directly into the largest bucket. For someone with a thin file, adding 12 to 24 months of on-time rent payments could shift a score from "unscoreable" to "fair," and from "fair" to "good."

That shift is the difference between getting denied for a starter card and getting approved for a Sapphire Preferred.

A real-world example

Take Maya, a renter in Austin paying $1,800 a month. She has no credit card, one federal student loan, and a FICO score of 612. She applies for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and gets denied. Under the current system, her two years of on-time rent payments are invisible to Chase's underwriting.

If the Credit Access and Inclusion Act passes and her landlord opts in, those 24 payments could push her score into the high 600s or low 700s within a reporting cycle. Same financial behavior. Different outcome.

Strategic opportunities if it does pass

A few moves would make sense the moment the law takes effect:

  • Ask your landlord in writing whether they plan to report rent payments. Property managers running large portfolios are the most likely to opt in first.
  • Confirm with your utility and telecom providers. Some already report through services like Experian Boost; the Act would standardize that process.
  • Wait 60 to 90 days after reporting starts before applying for a new rewards card. Let the score update propagate through all three bureaus.

Current alternatives for building credit

You don't need to wait on Congress. These options exist today:

  • Experian Boost adds utility, telecom, and streaming payments to your Experian file at no cost. It only affects Experian, not Equifax or TransUnion.
  • Rent-reporting services like Rental Kharma, RentTrack, and Bilt's free reporting feature push rent history to one or more bureaus for a monthly fee or, in Bilt's case, free for cardholders.
  • The Bilt Mastercard itself rewards rent payments with points and reports the card activity to all three bureaus. It is the most direct points-and-miles path for renters right now.
  • Credit Karma offers free score monitoring and tools to track which factors are dragging your file down. It's a useful starting point if you don't know where you stand.
  • Secured cards from issuers like Discover and Capital One let you put down a refundable deposit and start building a payment history immediately.

What happens next

Three scenarios are plausible over the next 12 months. The Act could attach as a rider to a broader financial-services bill, which is how niche credit legislation typically passes. It could continue to sit in committee through another Congress. Or a competing proposal could emerge that takes a narrower approach, focusing on utility data only.

There is genuine bipartisan interest, but bipartisan interest has not been enough to move it for nearly a decade. Treat passage as possible, not probable.

Action steps regardless of the bill's fate

  • Sign up for Experian Boost today. It's free and it works now.
  • If you rent, look at the Bilt Mastercard — it's the only major rewards card that reports rent payments to all three bureaus without a third-party service.
  • Check your current score through Credit Karma before applying for any new card. Knowing your number prevents wasted hard inquiries.
  • If your score is already 700+, the Chase Sapphire Preferred remains the highest-value starter rewards card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum are worth considering once you're at 740+.
  • Read our breakdown of credit card annual fees before paying for a premium card on a thin file.

The Credit Access and Inclusion Act is a sensible piece of legislation that has been one vote away from passage for years. It might happen this Congress. It might not. The smarter play is to build the score you can build with the tools that already exist, so that whatever Congress does or doesn't do, you're ready.

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