Photo by Pabitra Kaity
Your credit score plays a significant role in your financial life, especially when it comes to loan approvals and better interest rates. But how do you raise your credit score? I recently researched ways to improve my credit score and have a few tips to share with you.
Improving your credit score is the first step to new financial opportunities. Whether you’re planning a big purchase, such as a house or car, or want access to better borrowing terms, here’s a practical guide on how to raise your credit score.
How to Raise Your Credit Score
Understand Your Credit Report
Before you improve your credit score, you need to know where you stand. Did you know you can get your credit report for free?
By law, you’re entitled to a free credit report once a year from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. In addition, the three bureaus have extended a program that lets you check your credit report once a week for free. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to safely view your credit report.
Do you need all three reports? Each credit bureau gets its information from different sources. So the information in your report from one credit bureau may not be the same as another. By checking all three reports, you can ensure your information is accurate and correct any errors.
Once you have your reports, review it carefully to identify any errors, outdated information or fraudulent activity that might be dragging down your score. Correcting these inaccuracies can sometimes give your score a boost.
How do you dispute an error on your credit report?
If you find any errors while reviewing your credit reports, there are steps you’ll want to take to get the inaccuracies removed:
First, dispute the incorrect information with the credit reporting company or companies (Experian, Equifax, and/or Transunion). You’ll need to explain in writing what and why the report is wrong and copies of documents that support your claim.
Next, you’ll want to dispute this incorrect information with the company that provided it to the credit reporting bureau. The reporting company may be your credit card company, your bank or your landlord.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a great online resource complete with instructions, dispute information for the three credit bureaus and template letters.
Filing a dispute will not impact your credit score. If your credit report changes as a result of your dispute, you score will change. Whether it goes up, down or stays the same depends on what you are disputing and the outcome.
For example, if you’re asking for personal information to be changed—like a name or address correction—your credit score won’t change because this information is not used to calculate a credit score. If a late payment is mistakenly reported on your credit report and you have it corrected through a dispute, your credit score should increase.
Now that you know your credit score and understand how you can address incorrect information, let’s dive into how you can increase your credit score:
Pay Bills on Time
The most important factor of your credit score is your payment history. Consistent, on-time payments show lenders that you’re a responsible borrower and will improve your credit score over time.
Just one missed payment can negatively impact your score. To improve your credit score, make sure you are paying your bills on time every month.
One way to avoid missing payments is setting up automatic payments to ensure all your bills—credit cards, loans and utilities—are paid on time.
Reduce Credit Card Balances
Another major factor of your score is how much credit you have in use. Credit utilization is the amount of credit you’re using compared to your total credit available.
Experts recommend keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30%. For example, if you have a total credit limit of $10,000, try to keep your balance under $3,000.
If you have existing debt, paying it down and avoiding new purchases on your card until you credit utilization is below 30% can improve your score over time.
Request a Credit Limit Increase
A higher credit limit can lower your credit utilization ratio and raise your credit score.
If you are in good standing with your credit card company or your income has increased, increasing your available credit may be as easy as a few clicks.
Most credit card companies let you easily request a higher credit limit on your online account. You can also give them a call to request it. Some may want you to provide updated income, employment and rent or mortgage payment information before approving the credit limit.
Don’t Close Unused Credit Card Accounts
Closing credit card accounts might seem like a good idea if you’re not using them. Yet, it can actually hurt your credit score.
Closing accounts reduces your overall available credit, which can increase your credit utilization ratio. Also, it can be more damaging if you close the card you’ve had the longest. Maintaining a longer credit history shows that you have more experience managing credit and are less of a risk to lenders.
Instead of closing accounts, keep them open and occasionally use them for small purchases that you can pay off in full each month, or put a small recurring charge on it and set up automatic payment to keep the issuer from closing it due to inactivity.
There are situations where closing a credit card makes sense, such as if it has an annual fee, a low credit limit or you’re getting a divorce. Do your research and weigh your options before closing it.
Use Your Rent Payment to Build Credit
Yes, that’s right. You can report your monthly rent payment to credit bureaus. People who have home mortgages are building and maintaining credit through each on-time payment. If you rent, you can also use your consistent payments to build your credit score.
Many landlords and property management companies don’t automatically report rent payments to the three major credit bureaus. That’s where rent reporting services can help. These services track your rent payments and report them to the credit bureaus.
Consistently paying your rent on time through a rent reporting service can help establish a positive payment history. This is a great way to boost your credit over time without taking on new debt.
Some rent reporting services require landlords or property managers to opt in or verify payments. Depending on your property management, you may even be automatically enrolled in a rent reporting service when you sign your lease.
If you initiate this service yourself, you may have to pay a small fee to use it. One free platform you may want to explore is called Self.
Limit Hard Inquiries
Did you know every time you apply for new credit, such as a loan or credit card, a hard inquiry is added to your credit report? Having too many hard inquiries in a short period of time can signal to lenders that you’re a risky borrower. This can lower your credit score.
Limit the number of credit applications you submit, and only apply for credit when it’s necessary.
Become an Authorized User
If you’re trying to improve your credit, consider reaching out to a trusted family member or friend for help.
If someone you trust—who also trusts you—has strong credit history, ask if they’ll add you as an authorized user on their credit card account. You don’t have to use the card or even have access to it, but their good payment history can help raise your score.
Monitor Your Credit Regularly
Your credit score is not static. It changes as your financial habits change. By regularly monitoring your score and credit report, you can spot trends, identify opportunities for improvements and act quickly if something is amiss. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to safely view your credit report.
How Long Will It Take to Raise Your Credit Score?
Raising your credit score is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time to see significant improvements, which can range from a few months to a few years. Yet, your consistent, responsible behavior will begin to gradually raise your score.
Patience and persistence are key. Stick to these strategies and you’ll see positive results.
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