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The BoomPay app and BoomReport service are presented as a way to help you build credit using your rent payment history. For a small fee, you can get your past payment history and/or ongoing history reported.
But does BoomPay actually work?
Our verdict: BoomPay is a legitimate company with a great product. Many customers have reported credit score increases of 20, 30 or even 50 points.
Since you can report up to 2 years of rental history immediately, BoomPay gets results fast for their customers. According to their own data, this is what credit score increases typically look like:
What Is BoomPay? How Does It Work?
BoomPay is a rent reporting service and mobile app. BoomPay, Inc. has two services: BoomReport and BoomSplit (early access only).
BoomReport is the service that allows you to add your rent payments to your credit report. If your payment history is good, it has the ability to significantly raise your credit score.
You have two options when it comes to reporting payments, past history and ongoing history.
Screenshot of the BoomReport Checkout Page
It links to either the rental portal you pay your rent through or the checking account that you pay rent from. By evaluating the history of rent payments on your checking account, Boom is able to verify and track that you are paying rent, no landlord verification needed.
As you pay your rent every month via the app, BoomPay tracks this and reports it to the credit bureaus.
The BoomPay app also uses this information to remind you of when payments are due.
In order to begin reporting, you’ll also need a copy of your rental agreement. If you don’t have one, Boom may be able to verify your rental using the payment portal (if your landlord uses one) or by contacting your landlord directly.
The BoomPay app also offers BoomSplit, which lets you split your monthly rent payments into smaller chunks. You pay Boom and Boom pays your landlord, so you never need to incur late fees.
Pros of BoomPay:
BoomPay is not the only service on the market that allows renters to report their rent payments to the credit bureaus in order to build credit, but there are some key areas where BoomPay beats out their competition.
Reports to All 3 Credit Bureaus
BoomReport reports your rent payments to all three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.
BoomReport is one of a select few rent reporting services that reports to all three credit bureaus. Most other services only report to TransUnion and/or Equifax. Much of this is because of Experian’s reporting requirements.
Having your information reported to all three credit bureaus is critical for building credit.
Screenshots of BoomPay payments inside of Credit Karma
When a lender/creditor chooses to perform a credit check, you have no way of knowing which bureau they will pull from unless you ask. By leaving out Experian when building your credit, you are gambling on your approval.
Additionally, many large purchases, i.e. auto loan or mortgage, will pull credit scores from all three bureaus and average them together.
If your Experian score is not receiving the credit building boost, then this lower score could drop you from the “good” to “fair” credit score range.
Doesn’t Require Landlord Verification
One area where BoomPay/BoomReport excels is in their rental verification process.
Most other rent payment reporting services require a lengthy verification process with your landlord. If you have an uncooperative landlord or one that is difficult to get ahold of, this impacts your ability to use these other services.
With Boom, if you have a copy of your rental agreement and you can give them online (view-only) access to your bank account, they can verify your rental status using just this information.
If you don’t have a copy of the rental agreement and you link your account directly to the checking account you pay rent from, then Boom can still verify your rental status, but they’ll need to contact your landlord to do so.
Is the Cheapest On the Market
Across the market, prices for monthly reporting of rent payments range from just a few bucks a month to hundreds of dollars a year.
BoomReport’s service can help you keep more of that money in your pocket. Their monthly reporting service is only $2/month when you subscribe for a full year.
If you just want their past history reporting service for up to 24 months, then this will cost you a one-time fee of $25.
Additionally, as a part of account setup and verification, Boom charges users a one-time $10 fee.
So, if you wanted a full year of ongoing payment reporting as well as the past payment history reporting that includes up to 2 years’ worth of history, the total you will pay is $59.
Cons
There are many upsides to BoomPay and BoomReport’s rent reporting service, but there are also a few areas that are not as well developed.
Qualification Limitations
Most people will qualify for Boom’s rent reporting service, but there are a few people who won’t qualify either because of who they rent from or how they pay their rent.
You need a formal rental agreement, so you might not qualify if:
- You are subleasing without the landlord’s approval.
- You are renting from family/friend without a formal agreement.
The good news is that BoomPay accepts lease agreements from family and friends. So if that is your situation, draw up a lease agreement and submit it to BoomPay.
You must also pay via payment portal or checking account, so you won’t qualify if:
- You pay your rent in person via cash, gift cards, or money order.
- Your bank account isn’t supported by BoomPay’s system (and you don’t use a payment portal).
- You are unwilling/unable to use the BoomPay app.
A Few Negative App Reviews
BoomPay themselves admit that they are a small team, so as issues arise with the processing of payments or linking of bank accounts through the app, they are not as fast as other companies are with fixing these problems.
While this leaves many customers frustrated enough to leave negative reviews on the app, scrolling through them, you can see that BoomPay always takes the time to respond.
BoomPay is usually able to fix the bug/issue and always communicates this to the customer. Despite a few less than stellar reviews, BoomPay’s level of customer service helps to make up for it.
Most of BoomPay’s reviews are overwhelmingly positive.
Is BoomPay legit?
Yes, BoomPay is a legitimate company based in New York City and Austin, Texas. Their services have been on the market since early 2021.
While they haven’t been on the market very long, their customer service appears to be on the attentive side, and they have several customers who have reported beneficial changes to their credit scores.
On the Android and Apple app stores, various customers have offered up their stories of success by using this rent reporting service.
Some have had their credit scores increase by a few points and others who had no credit were able to establish scores in the low 700s utilizing this app.
And there are many other reviewers out there praising how easy BoomPay makes paying your rent on time.
While there are reviewers complaining that the service is a scam, it is not. They are just new to the market, working out a few kinks, and developing new tools to help their customers manage their rent payments and build their credit.
Our Verdict
There are many rent reporting services and apps on the market, but BoomPay is the best one on the market.
With their flat monthly membership fee and support of reporting to all three credit bureaus, their service can help you to build credit quickly and save money on more costly services.
While this service is newer to the market, it is no scam. Those who have used the past payments reporting feature have seen their credit scores increase by 100+ points. Especially those starting with no credit history.
This app/service is best suited for those with thin credit profiles and when used in conjunction with other credit building products/services, the potential increase to your credit score is multiplied.
If you are searching for other products to help build up your credit profile, then check out our list of the best credit builder loans and our summary of how a secured credit card works.
Conclusion
The BoomPay app allows you to build credit by paying your rent. Instead of paying your landlord the money, you pay Boom directly and then they pay your landlord.
The transparent pricing on their rent reporting subscription service is refreshing among a credit-building product world that likes to nickel and dime their customers with hidden fees.
The additional rent-paying services that Boom still has in development, like BoomSplit, can even help you better manage your income and personal finances.
It is completely free to download BoomPay and you can cancel your service at any time.
Considering all of this, BoomPay is an emerging rent reporting service that is poised to overtake the competition.
Also Read:
- The Best Rent Reporting Services in 2023
- Does Rent Affect Credit Score?
- Rental Tradelines: The Secret to Building Your Credit with Rent | Digital Honey
- How to Rent With Bad Credit
- Credit Rent Boost Review
- RentReporters Review
- Rental Kharma Review
- The 10 Best Apps for Landlords to Collect Rent
- How to Report Rent Payments to Credit Bureaus for Free
Amanda Garland is a personal finance blogger living in Dallas, TX. 10 years ago she was living paycheck to paycheck and knew nothing about how credit works. She learned some hard lessons in her fight for financial stability. Now she has a friendly competition going with her husband to see who can reach a credit score of 850 first. She is also a poet, having obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.