6 Tips To Increase Your Credit Score Fast

No one wants to think about their credit score. It’s a complicated and confusing topic, but it’s important for your financial future.

Your credit score is the number that lenders use to determine whether you qualify for loans and what interest rates they’ll charge you. 

If your credit score is low, it can be really frustrating when you’re trying to buy a house, car, or anything else that requires financing.

A low credit score can cause you to pay thousands of dollars in interest payments. Conversely, a high credit score can save you thousands of dollars, especially on big-ticket purchases.

If you have a low credit score and are looking for ways to increase it, you are in luck.

We’ve compiled 8 tips to help you increase your credit score and get approved for that purchase.

If you follow these tips closely, it’s possible for you to increase your credit score significantly in less than a year!

Review Your Credit Report To Make Sure It Is Accurate

It’s important to review your credit report closely and dispute any errors that you find. Even one error on your credit report can lower your score.

Your credit reports contain all the items that go into determining your score, so make sure they are accurate before moving forward with improving other aspects of your credit.  

You should also look for accounts or items that aren’t yours. If you find any, dispute them immediately and request a fraud investigation from the credit reporting agency.

Besides reviewing your report for incorrect information, it’s important to make sure there isn’t anything missing from your file. Any accounts or items that should be reported but are not can also affect your score either negatively or positively.

Here’s how you can get your credit report for the credit bureaus:

–  Experian: Get a free copy of your credit report from Experian. All you need is your name and social security number. Experian may ask some questions to verify that you are who you say you are. Other than that, everything should be fine.

– TransUnion: Annual Credit Report is the only authorized source online to pull your full TransUnion credit report. It’s 100% free, and you can access it as often as you want.

– Equifax: Equifax provides a free credit report on its website, but you can get a copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus using AnnualCreditReport.com

The credit bureaus are obligated by law to provide you with a free copy of your credit report every year.

READ:

• Self-Lender Loan: This Weird Loan Can Dramatically Increase Your Credit Score!
• How To Get Approved For A Mortgage Home Loan
• Rent Vs. Buy A Home: What To Consider?

Pay All Of Your Bills On Time

This is the single most important tip to increase your credit score.

Doing so will ensure that you have a clean payment history, which accounts for around 35% of your FICO score.

In addition to paying all bills on time, make sure you pay as much as possible every month and try not to carry over balances from one month to the next.

When you pay your bills on time, make sure you keep a record of it somewhere – either electronically or in a physical notebook.

That way, if there is ever any question about whether you made payments on time, you will have proof that you made your payments as agreed and everything should be fine!

If you can’t pay your bills on time, then contact the creditor and ask for options. It’s possible that they may let you make partial payments or decrease your interest rate, but it’s best to avoid this if possible.

The longer you wait to pay your bills on time, the more late fees and penalties accumulate! This can increase your financial problems exponentially and cause significant damage to your credit score in a few short months.

Avoid Opening New Credit Card Accounts If Possible

Opening new lines of credit, even if it’s just a store card account, can increase the total amount of debt that you owe and lower your score. It may not seem like much to open up one more line of credit with your local grocery stores but it will still affect your overall FICO score.  

If you’re looking to increase your score, it’s best not to open any new lines of credit until later on down the road.

You should also refrain from opening too many accounts at once because that can increase the risk of identity theft and lower your overall FICO score as well!

That being said, if you have a good credit score, to begin with, it’s possible to increase your credit limit on an existing account.  

You can do this by calling up the customer service number of one of your other accounts and asking if they’re able to increase your overall spending capacity based on your current financial situation.

The key is not to ask for too much at once or increase your limit by too much because this could prompt the creditor to lower your credit line if they think you’re getting in over your head.

It’s best to only increase credit limits on accounts that are already established and have excellent payment history, rather than opening several new lines of credit all at once or asking for an increase across every account that you have.

The increase in your total credit limit will cause a decrease to the average balance you owe across all of them, which can increase your FICO score quickly if done properly!

Become An Authorized User On Someone’s Credit Card

If you have little credit history yourself, becoming an authorized user on someone else’s account can increase your score. The only downside is that the owner of the account will be responsible for all charges, late fees and penalties associated with the account!

Though creditors don’t legally recognize authorized users as borrowers, they do enjoy some benefits.

Here are a few perks of being added to someone’s account:

• Positive (or negative) payment history
• Overall age of credit history may increase
• Resultant increase in credit score

As long as there have been no missed payments over the past six months, you should see some improvement within twelve months just from being added as an authorized user.

Consider Consolidating Your Loans

If you have multiple loans with multiple lenders, credit bureaus and potential lenders might consider you to be a risky borrower.

Having multiple credit accounts tells them you don’t know how to manage your money and that it’s just a matter of time before you default on your loans.

This perception, over time, can decrease your attractiveness as a borrower and lower your overall creditworthiness.

If you take out several small loans at once or spread them out across multiple lenders, those accounts will appear as separate line items on your credit reports for each creditor. Ideally, you don’t want that.

Merging these lines of credit into one account is the right thing to do. It will increase your FICO score within a few months – if done properly.

READ:

• 6 Reasons Why Lenders Think You’re Risky
• This Guy Increased His Credit Score By 84 Points In One Month! Here’s What He Did
• Credit Repair Hacks – Step by Step Process To Repair Your Credit

Do Not Close Your Old Credit Card Accounts

It’s a common mistake for people tidying up their finances to close their old credit card accounts. This is almost never a good idea.

That’s because the length of time each line of credit has been in use plays a major role in determining how risky or stable an individual is as a borrower – with longer accounts being safer than newer ones by default.

Second, the average age of your credit history is a factor in determining your credit score. Credit bureaus grade older accounts much higher than newer ones.

Conclusion

In conclusion, one of the most important steps you can take to improve your credit score is knowing what’s on your credit report. Reviewing it to make sure it’s accurate can save you a lot of headaches and an abysmal credit score.

Paying all bills on time should go without saying. It ensures your accounts are up-to-date and in good standing. It also has a positive impact on your credit rating, accounting for up to 35% of your credit score.

Another tip is to avoid opening new credit card accounts and lines of credit if possible because this could lower your average age of accounts, which may cause a drop in FICO scores.

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