From the founder

Why this system had to exist

I spent over 20 years in banking, watching the same problem play out over and over: smart, responsible people getting locked out of credit they should have qualified for, simply because no one had ever explained how the system actually works.

My husband moved to the US from Canada when his employer relocated him. He had a strong career and excellent Canadian credit — none of which transferred. He couldn't qualify for a basic credit card here, and we didn't know what to do. The advice we found online was generic and overwhelming.

When my daughter graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, she had zero credit history — even though we'd paid her rent, phone, car, and insurance for years. As a new graduate, she would have needed a co-signer for everything, despite being completely responsible.

In my work, I've seen international professionals on US assignment — people with senior roles and strong salaries — get rejected for car loans because they couldn't show enough US credit history.

And I've watched too many young adults make financial decisions they regret — taking on debt they didn't understand, missing payments they didn't know mattered, building habits that follow them for decades — simply because no one ever taught them how credit works or why it matters.

I built First Year Credit for all of them.

This isn't a credit-monitoring app. We don't pull your credit report or sell your data. What we do is give you a clear, personalized roadmap based on where you actually are — whether you're starting from zero, recovering from a setback, or helping someone you love build a foundation. The advice is specific to your situation, the actions are concrete, and the goal is to help you understand the system instead of just navigating it blindly.

I built this because the people I love deserved better tools than the ones I had when I needed them most.

— Heather Manuel, Founder