You get better loan terms like lower interest rates and a range of additional financial products and services when you have a good credit score. Typically, your credit score reflects your financial health status.
Lenders want to know about your credit score to determine how well you use credit, and if you have a good score, it’s easier for them to approve your new loan requests.
The good thing is that even if your score falls below average, you can continually improve it. There are many tricks to do it, and in this article, we explain some of the best tips to help you increase your credit score fast.
Pay Your Credit Balances
If you have pending balances or are probably not meeting your monthly payment requirements, make an effort to do so. You can even pay above the minimum monthly payment required if you have the funds. The sooner you settle the balance, the faster you increase your borrowing capacity and ability to get approved for more loans.
Most lenders report on consumer credit balances to credit bureaus. Your score can improve if you repay fast and lenders submit positive reports on your balance payments. Some lenders will gladly tell you when they report balances to the bureau, so you can call in and get the exact dates to help you plan payments.
Reduce Your Credit Utilization
Your credit utilization is the percentage of the credit limit you use at a particular time. It is one of the most critical considerations when calculating an individual’s credit score on FICO.
When you pay your outstanding credit balances on time, your credit limit keeps going higher, and that’s how you keep your credit utilization low. If it’s challenging to pay all your balances on time, try and maintain your outstanding balance at a 30% maximum. Keeping it that way or going a little lower will boost your credit score. You can also request your lender for a credit limit increase but do not take higher loans so that your utilization appears low.
Keep Your Accounts Open
If you still hold some old credit accounts, just keep them active—and if they have outstanding balances, make an effort to clear them. You can check with your oldest accounts to confirm any pending or late payments.
Generally, negative credit details on accounts will remain part of the holder’s credit history for up to ten years, so it’s necessary to settle them and have a clean record.
Limit Opening of Accounts
Opening accounts is necessary for building your credit file. However, it’s not wise to make new account submissions every other day. Each additional application you make creates a hard inquiry and could affect your credit score negatively. Inquiries are not necessarily significant determinants of your credit score, but it’s good to keep the number of new applications down.
Set Payment Reminders
It’s easy to miss payment deadlines if you have multiple credit accounts, but this doesn’t have to worry you. Just note down payment deadlines and set payment reminders. That way, it’s easy to pay on time or avoid skipping deadlines, which will probably have penalties.
Track Your Record
You are in control of your finances, but that doesn’t mean you can’t miss a few things about the status of your accounts. You can use a free credit monitoring service to see the progress of your credit score over time.
Also, it lets you see or get notifications when a new credit account reflects on your credit report and is thus a great way of preventing fraud and identity theft.
Final Word
Many factors affect an individual’s credit score, so it’s a little challenging to have a one-fits-all solution. However, the above tips are sure-fire ways to adjust your credit score. They won’t affect everyone’s credit score in the same way, but if you combine a few, you are sure to get the results fast.
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