4 Ways To Improve Your Credit Score

Do you want a better credit score? Most people can agree that having a high credit score has its benefits. A score in the “good” or “excellent” range can make an enormous difference in your purchasing ability, renting options, and interest rates. If your credit score is lower than you want it to be, read on for 4 quick tips to bumping it up and seeing better financial options in your future.

1. Strategize Your Payment Schedule

One way your credit score is calculated is by looking at how close you get to your credit limit on your credit cards or lines of credit. The greatest number of points are awarded for credit utilization under 7%. If this seems low, consider this advice from a lender: MaxLend reviews credit scores for loans, and they suggest aiming for using less than 30% of your available credit. You can strategize your payments by paying off the amount right before the end of the billing cycle because this is often when the amount gets reported. Or pay every couple of weeks to keep the balance low all the time.

2. Increase Your Credit Limit

If you’ve been paying off your credit cards or have received a raise or a promotion, you may qualify for a higher credit limit than you currently enjoy. This essentially increases the size of the pie, so that even if you keep the same amount of money on your credit card, the percentage of the total will be lower. This can do wonders in helping your credit score. If you’ve never asked your credit card company for an increased limit, you may be surprised at just how high they are willing to go.

3. Get Credit Where Credit Is Due

You can receive boosts to your credit for paying rent and utility bills on time by using a rent reporting service. Some services scan your bank account for payments on things like phone bills and even streaming services. They can report this data to credit score companies, and you can see your timely payments reflected in your credit score immediately. 

4. Get Some Piggyback Credit

Here’s a cool life hack: You can lift your score by becoming an authorized user on a credit card of a friend or family member who already has a great score. They don’t even have to let you use the card for your credit to be boosted. If they add your name to their account, it increases your reported credit limit and thereby gives you an improvement. This can be a great option for a burgeoning young scorer who hasn’t had enough chances yet to build their account.

Obtaining and maintaining a good credit score can seem like a faraway goal with opaque requirements. Fortunately, there are resources with valuable information to help you know what impacts your credit score the most. These four tips should give you a great head start, whether you’re looking to repair damage or you’re building credit for the first time.