Introducing Credit Boost from SupportPay: A New Way to Increase Your Credit Score From Everyday Payments Made Between Family and Friends

SupportPay Continues To Pioneer The Category of Modern Family Finances As The First Payments App To Enable Credit Recognition for The Trillions of Dollars Exchanged Between Family & Friends Each Year

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SupportPay, the leader in solutions for Modern Family Finances, today announced Credit Boost, a new feature to help users improve their credit scores through the payments they already make to friends and family. Credit Boost reports verified peer-to-peer payments to credit bureaus to help users build credit from everyday transactions. With Credit Boost, SupportPay reports eligible payments to the three major credit bureaus, enabling users to boost credit when paying for shared rent, utilities, family loans, child support, gifts, groceries, and other expenses. SupportPay is the first payments app to offer built-in credit recognition for the trillions of dollars exchanged between friends, relatives, roommates, and other trusted individuals each year.

Today, family members are taking on more financial responsibility than ever before, with as much as 27 percent of a person's income going toward child-related and family support expenses. This includes billions of dollars of "shadow debt" from the millions of Americans who rely on informal, unreported loans from friends or family each year. At the same time, rising borrowing costs are increasing the financial gap between those with strong credit and those without it, as higher credit scores unlock lower interest rates, reduced monthly payments, and meaningful long-term savings. A recent study from LendingTree indicates that moving from fair to very good credit can have a significant impact, saving consumers over $39,000. Yet this fast-growing category of financial activity - peer-to-peer payments, expected to reach $1.7 trillion in 2027 - has historically been excluded from traditional credit reporting, preventing millions of consumers from building credit through the payments they already make.

With Credit Boost, SupportPay converts these existing financial obligations into tangible credit-building activity, without requiring users to open new credit lines or change their financial behavior. SupportPay does not run a credit check or generate inquiries on their credit report, and only reports positive payment activity made through the platform. By capturing and verifying these payments, Credit Boost aligns directly with the key factors used by the major credit bureaus when calculating a credit score. This allows consumers to strengthen multiple components of their credit profile, including:

• Payment history (35% of calculation): by reporting payments made on time
• Length of credit history (15% of calculation): by tracking back to when the financial obligation began, and continuing to grow with every payment made through SupportPay
• Credit mix (10% of calculation): by adding an additional source of credit activity to the user's profile

Because lenders evaluate borrowers in defined risk tiers rather than incremental point changes, Credit Boost's reporting can accelerate a user's move across key credit thresholds - resulting in meaningful reductions in borrowing costs, not just marginal improvements.

"Families are already managing money across households in ways the financial system has never recognized. As affordability declines, more people are relying on each other financially, but those interactions have lacked structure, visibility, and financial benefit. Millions of everyday payments between friends and family don't count toward credit, despite reflecting real financial responsibility," said Sheri Atwood, Founder and CEO of SupportPay. "Credit Boost changes that by turning those payments into verified credit-building activity. This not only helps individuals strengthen their own credit, but also creates a way for them to support others in improving theirs - bringing a new level of trust, transparency, and measurable financial progress to modern family finances."

In addition to directly benefiting consumers, SupportPay's Credit Boost offers an opportunity for employers to address a critical gap in the workplace around modern family finances, shifting beyond traditional financial wellness programs that focus only on individuals towards more inclusive family financial wellness programs. As employers face rising costs and increased demand for meaningful benefits, SupportPay provides a scalable solution that supports employees where financial stress actually exists - at home, across households. By helping family members improve credit and reduce the cost of borrowing through payments they're already making, SupportPay enables greater financial stability without requiring income increases, creating measurable impact for both consumers and organizations.

"Financial stress doesn't start and stop with the individual, it lives within families," said Gabe Vargas, Vice President of Product at SupportPay. "By recognizing and rewarding the way family members already support each other financially, we're not just improving credit. We are reducing stress, increasing trust, and creating a new path to financial wellness."

SupportPay serves a wide range of financial relationships, including siblings, parents, multigenerational and military families, roommates, those caring for a loved one with special needs, families living apart, and others sharing expenses across households - reflecting the growing reality of modern family finances. By centralizing and automating shared expenses, payments, and communication, SupportPay helps families save time, reduce conflict, and gain clarity, while also enabling them to boost credit together. To date, the platform has facilitated more than $800 million in transactions, supporting both consumers and employers with a solution that improves family financial wellness.

To accelerate access, SupportPay is offering a limited-time incentive. Anyone who sends their first payment by April 30 will receive Credit Boost free for six months. To learn more about SupportPay, visit: https://supportpay.com/credit-boost/

About SupportPay

SupportPay is pioneering the category of Modern Family Finances by addressing the real-world challenges of managing money across households, reducing stress, conflict, and complexity. Trillions of dollars are exchanged between family and friends each year, including personal loans, rent, child support, caregiving costs, and more, without the proper tools or tracking. SupportPay changes this by bringing clarity, structure, and trust to these transactions, enabling families to manage, track, and gain recognition for shared financial responsibilities across households. With more than $800 million in payments facilitated between users, SupportPay is redefining how money moves across families and friends. Available directly to consumers and as a family financial wellness employee benefit, SupportPay helps both individuals and organizations better support shared financial responsibilities and improve family financial wellness. For more information visit supportpay.com.

SOURCE SupportPay