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How utility bills and rent payments can build your credit

Last updated January 27, 2026

Chibugo Ohanyiri

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Most of us were taught that to build a good credit score, you have to go out and get a loan or a credit card. It feels a bit like a “chicken and egg” problem: you need credit to get credit, but nobody wants to be the first to lend to you. But what if the bills you’re already paying every single month could be the secret weapon for your financial reputation?

In Nigeria, the system doesn’t always give you a “pat on the back” for being responsible. You can pay your rent on time for ten years and your credit score might not move an inch, yet the moment you miss a payment, it feels like the whole world knows.

It seems a bit unfair that your biggest monthly expenses stay “off the record” while small mistakes can haunt you, but there’s a way to shift your perspective and make these payments work in your favor.

The good news is that the rules of the game are changing. While your utility company might not be calling the credit bureau to brag about you just yet, the habits you’re building today are creating a paper trail that matters more than ever.

This article is all about how to turn those “boring” monthly bills into a powerful track record, helping you prove to banks and landlords alike that you’re a safe bet, even if you’ve never taken a formal loan in your life.

How rent and bills touch your credit

Most of the time, when you pay your house rent on time, your landlord doesn’t send that info to any credit bureau, so that good history doesn’t show up in your official score.

Same thing with your utility payments; the company just sees you’ve paid, but they don’t usually report those payments to the credit bureaus as positive history. That’s why, even if you’ve never missed a single bill, your credit score might still be low or thin if you haven’t used any formal credit products.

If you fall badly behind and they take legal action or sell the debt to a collection agency, that late or defaulted payment can show up on your credit report and hit your score hard.

In Nigeria, the main credit bureaus like CRC Credit Bureau and FirstCentral focus mostly on loans, credit cards, and BNPL products, but they do record defaults and collections, so a badly handled rent or utility debt can leave a stain that lasts for years. In that sense, these bills are like a silent guard: they don’t praise you when you’re good, but they will definitely punish you when things go wrong.

The power of utility bills

If you’re honest, utility bills are one of the most reliable signals of how serious you are about money. Think about it: every month, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), water, house rent, your internet, and even your TV subscription are all automatic, recurring demands on your pocket.

If you keep clearing them on time, you’re showing that you’re disciplined about money, even if you don’t own a credit card or have a formal loan. Lenders and landlords who know you personally often look at this pattern when deciding whether to trust you, even if it’s not on the official score.

In practice, Nigerian experts often say that consistently paying these kinds of bills is a strong way to build your credit rating, especially if you’re just starting out or rebuilding after a tough spot. It’s not about getting a magic score lift from a bureau, but about building a reputation, the kind where people can look at you and say, “this person pays their bills,” and that matters more than you think when negotiating for a loan, a new house, or a bigger credit line.

Rent as a credit builder

Rent is the biggest monthly bill for most people, and it’s also the most underused tool for building credit. You’re pouring money into it every month, but unless that payment history is recorded somewhere official, it’s not really helping you in the formal credit system.

In some countries, renters can now use rent reporting services that register their on‑time payments with the credit bureaus, which can give a small but real boost to the score, especially if there wasn’t much history before. That kind of service is still not widely available in Nigeria, but the idea is sound: if landlords or property managers started reporting consistent rent payments, it would be a powerful way to prove reliability.

Even without that formal system, what matters most is that you keep it clean. If you move from one landlord to another, a good reference about your rent history can open doors that a low score might otherwise close.

And if you’re aiming for something bigger later, a long, unbroken history of on‑time rent and utility payments is something any sensible lender will look at as proof that you’re not going to flee or disappear when the bills come.

What actually makes a difference in Nigeria

In the Nigerian context, directly using rent and utility bills to build your formal credit score is still limited by infrastructure, but there are solid things you can do right now that make those payments actually count.

The first is to never let them go so far behind that they end up in collections or show up as a default on your credit report. Late utility bills or rent arrears that escalate into legal or collection notices can damage your credit for years, so it’s safer to negotiate a payment plan or extension than to let them blow up.

Another smart move is to align these payments with products that lenders already track. If your rent is paid through a bank or a digital platform that’s linked to your account, that history can sometimes be used as supporting evidence when you apply for a loan.

Same thing with consistent utility payments: if you’re always paying PHCN, water, and other bills on time, that pattern shows up in your bank statements, and lenders who look beyond the score often see it as a sign that you’re more likely to repay.

The mindset shift you need

The trap many people fall into is thinking that credit is only built by creating debt: taking a loan, maxing a card, or signing up for every BNPL product they can find. That’s not wrong, but it’s not the whole picture.

A more solid foundation is to treat your ordinary bills like training wheels for credit discipline. Every time you set that money aside for rent or for PHCN before spending on anything else, you’re training yourself to be the kind of person who meets obligations, and that’s the exact kind of person lenders want to lend to.

You don’t need some fancy international boost tool to start benefiting from this. Just keep your rent on time, pay utilities before they hit the disconnection list, and avoid letting any of those things snowball into a mess that ends up costing you your credit reputation. If you do that consistently, you’re building a track record that makes it easier to get bigger, better credit terms later on.

What to do right now

If you’re serious about using bills and rent to strengthen your credit position, the immediate steps are simple but they need discipline. Start by mapping out your fixed monthly bills and make them the first thing you pay when money comes in. Treat them like non‑negotiables. That alone reduces the risk of any of them turning into a default that can haunt your credit file.

Next, keep a record of your payment history. Screenshots of receipts, bank statements, or even a simple spreadsheet that shows you’ve paid on time for the last 6–12 months can be powerful when you’re dealing with a new landlord or negotiating with a lender. In Nigeria, personal credibility still matters a lot, and having that documented history gives you leverage.

If you’re in a position to, you can also start thinking about how your rent payments are structured. If you’re paying to a big estate, property manager, or a formal agency, check if they have any kind of payment history or reference system; some are starting to move toward digital platforms that can track your payments over time. That kind of documented history, even if it’s not yet reported to a credit bureau, can be a strong signal when you’re asking for a bigger loan or move into a more expensive property.

What this looks like over time

Over the next few years, you may start to see changes in how rent and bills are treated in the Nigerian credit system. Lagos State, for example, has been talking about a digital rental platform that could make monthly rent payments more transparent and traceable, and if that kind of system grows, it could eventually feed into formal credit scores. Fintech companies and more digital lenders are also looking closely at alternative data to assess risk, especially for people who don’t have long credit histories.

So, while today’s reality is that paying rent and utility bills doesn’t automatically build your score, the direction is clear: consistent, responsible payment behavior is becoming more valuable.

If you treat your ordinary monthly bills like part of your credit strategy, you’re positioning yourself to benefit when those systems finally catch up and start giving people credit for doing the right thing, month after month.