Posts Tagged ‘credit report’

7 Tips To Improve Credit Scores

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

If you take action and follow these tips, you will be able to give your credit score and immediate boost and gradually increase it even more as time passes. The major keys are to pay your bills on time and reduce your debt amounts when compared to your credit limit

Here are the 7 tips to improve your credit score!

1. Pay your bills on time. Your payment history is a major factor (35% of your FICO score) in determining your credit score. If you pay your bills late, or had an account referred to collections, your credit score will take a major hit.

2. Check for errors on your credit report. Examine your credit report for errors and contact the credit reporting agencies to fix any errors on your credit report.

3. Don’t apply for many cards at once. This will not improve your credit score because this is a characteristic of high credit risk groups.

43. Increase your credit limit. Another large factor is the amount of your debt in relation to your credit limit. If you have a card with a $10,000 credit limit and your balance is $9,000, this will not help to improve your score. To make the debt/credit limit ratio look better, you can try to call your credit card company and request an increase in your credit limit. Don’t use the extra credit though!

5. Sign up for online banking and make sure your regular recurring bills are paid automatically. This way you will not forget a payment that will wind up reducing your credit score.

6. Apply for loans within a two-week period. Every time you request a loan and the lender pulls your credit report, it can hurt your score. If you keep the loan process within a two-week period, all of the credit report lookups are bundled together as one single request!

7. Don’t ever close an open credit card account. If you pay off a credit card down to a zero balance, leave it open. Remember that a positive factor for your credit score is how much available credit you have at your disposal when compared to your credit balance, in addition to the length of your credit history.