5 Little-Known Ways to Boost Your Credit Score Fast

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A high credit score opens the door to better credit cards and loans. Here are some tips you can use to boost yours. [[{“value”:”

People say that grades don’t matter after you graduate school, but there’s one grade that follows you around for the rest of your life: your credit score. It determines which credit cards you’re eligible for, what sort of interest rate you get on loans, and sometimes even whether you land a job or apartment.

Your credit score can be an asset if it’s high or a serious liability if it’s low. If you fall into the latter camp, you could benefit from taking the following five steps to boost your credit score as quickly as possible.

1. Pay your credit card bill twice per month

Your credit utilization ratio is one of the most important factors in determining your credit score. This is the ratio between the amount of credit you have available to you and the amount you use each month. For example, if you have a $10,000 limit and a $3,000 balance, your ratio is 30%. Ideally, you want to keep it at or below 30% to keep your score high.

This poses a problem for those with low credit limits who may want to spend more without hurting their score. One way around this is to pay your bill twice per month — once halfway through the statement cycle and again at the end. The credit bureaus only see your balance at the end of the cycle, so it will make it appear as though you spent less than you did that month. This will lower your credit utilization ratio and boost your credit score.

2. Dispute errors on your credit report

Everyone can check their credit reports for free through AnnualCreditReport.com and you’re encouraged to do so at least once per year. If you notice any accounts you don’t recognize or accounts containing inaccurate information, act quickly. Contact the credit bureaus and the associated financial institutions to get this information corrected.

This will take some time. The credit bureau will have to investigate to verify that what you say is accurate. If it finds that you’re correct, it will update the information on your credit report, which could result in a significant boost to your score.

3. Use a student credit card or secured credit card to build your credit history

If you don’t have a credit history to speak of, you can boost your credit score by opening a student credit card or a secured credit card and making regular, on-time payments. These types of cards often have low credit limits and secured credit cards often require a security deposit. Cash back rewards and other perks aren’t as commonly offered with these cards, but there are some that do.

You don’t have to keep these cards forever. You may be able to upgrade a student card to a traditional rewards credit card after a little while. And you can always close a secured card after a few months or years after you’ve built up your credit score — some even let you “graduate” to an unsecured card. Or you could leave it open as a secured card if it doesn’t have an annual fee.

4. Become an authorized user on someone else’s credit card

If you have a family member with good credit, they might be willing to add you as an authorized user to the account. This gives you the right to charge purchases to the account, though the card owner remains responsible for paying the bill. This will add the credit account to your credit report where its good payment history can help your credit score.

Because of the risk to the account holder, it’s best to set some ground rules beforehand. They may agree to let you be an authorized user but not actually let you make purchases with the card. Or they may require that you pay them for all the purchases you make to the account. Work out these rules ahead of time, to ensure everyone is comfortable with the arrangement.

5. Apply for a new credit card

Applying for a new credit card could help lower your credit utilization ratio if you’re approved. It gives you access to additional credit each month. If your spending remains relatively constant, you’ll be spending a smaller portion of the credit available to you.

This is only a good play if you think you’ll be approved, though. Every time you apply for new credit, lenders do a hard inquiry on your report that drops your score a few points. Generally, you want to limit your credit applications to once every six months to increase your odds of approval.

Patience is still important

The above tips are some of the quickest ways to boost your credit score, but it’s important to realize these aren’t overnight fixes. Your credit score is designed to provide insight into how you manage borrowed money over the long term. If you could raise it by 100 points at the drop of a hat, it wouldn’t be all that useful.

So be prepared for it to take several months to see any noticeable results. Just stick with it and keep reminding yourself of all the benefits that come with a higher credit score.

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