4 Little-Known Ways to Improve Your Credit Score

Looking to boost your credit score quickly? Here are some simple and effective tricks to try courtesy of CS Monitor:

  1. Add Missing Accounts:

    If you do a great job paying your bills on time and paying down your debt, you’ll want to make sure that the credit bureaus know about it!

    For example, I’ve had a cell phone in my name for 10 years, but those payments didn’t appear on my credit report. So I made a list of every company I paid monthly, contacted the companies, and asked them to report my payment history to the credit bureaus. Below are the types of companies that were willing to report on my behalf:

    • Wireless provider
    • Cable and Internet provider
    • Utility company
    • Telephone company

    These companies are not required to report your payments to the credit bureaus, so when you call to ask them to do so, keep in mind you’re asking them for a favor, not making a demand.

    Editor’s note: Also, you’ll want to check your credit report to make sure your cards are being reported. I recently found out that a credit card I’ve used responsibly for years hadn’t been reporting my on-time payments to the bureaus. A quick phone call straightened that out easily.

  2. Pay Down Your Highest Balance:

    It could be tempting to pay off the cards with the lowest balances first to make that debt disappear quicker. But if you’re trying to raise your credit score quickly, you’ll want to start by paying off the card with the lowest available credit limit. You’ll want to do this because reducing your debt to credit ratio is one of the best ways to raise your credit score.

  3. Ask for a Credit Line Increase:

    As with the technique above, asking for a credit limit increase is another great way to reduce your debt to credit ratio, therefore making you look better to lenders.

    For example, if you have a $15,000 available credit limit and a $400 balance, you’re utilizing little of your available credit, so you look strong. If you carry that same $400 balance on a card with a $500 credit limit, you’ve borrowed nearly as much as you can, making you appear more risky.

    So call your creditors, tell them that you’ve been a loyal and responsible customer, and ask them to increase your limit. If they do approve your for an increase, the trick is to NOT increase your spending. Just continue to pay off your debt and/or use your card normally.

  4. Keep Using Your Credit Cards:

    If you’re rebuilding credit and struggling to get out of debt, you probably shouldn’t be using your credit cards at all while you dig yourself out of the hole. But if you’re merely trying to raise your credit score, you’ll benefit from using your cards regularly, then paying them off. Every time you use your card and pay the balance on time, you’re building up new credit.

Check out more helpful ways to raise your credit score over at CS Monitor’s Eight surprising ways to raise your credit score.