How to Improve Credit Score Quickly

Improve Credit Score

Your Credit Score is nothing more than a three-digit number used by lenders and banks to decide whether or not to give you a credit opportunity.

The important thing is that this number tells them, on average, the probability that you can and will not meet the payment obligation you will now have with them. The detail is that this number, mainly in the United States, becomes a determining factor for your financial life.

Put another way, the higher your Credit Score, the more likely you are to qualify for loans on favorable terms, which will end up saving you up to 8% in interest at the time of acquiring credit.

This may not be a very high percentage, but when you take out a $50000 loan to buy a home, 8% is $4000 you save just because you’re reliable. However, due to the lack of financial education and the low vertical mobility in the economic/social spectrum, it is pretty likely that, at this time, your credit score is not exactly perfect.

But don’t worry, there are many ways to improve your credit score quickly, and that’s what this article is all about.

Can I improve my credit score quickly?

While there are some tools to rebuild your credit score quickly, they won’t offer you too drastic improvements if you already have a negative track record.

So, if your track record isn’t bad in a couple of months, you can get a decent credit score by eliminating your debts and establishing an emergency fund and a proper cash flow.

However, the effects of negative behaviors such as late payments or bankruptcy are pretty challenging to get out of your record. So your only option in those cases is to pay your debts, start behaving correctly financially, and let time pass.

Anyway, we are going to tell you that most of the elements that affect your credit will only remain for a particular time within the calculation:

  • For example, hard inquiries have a two-year life in your report.
  • Public Records has a life of 7 years, but the most negative is bankruptcy takes ten years to get out of your system.
  • On the other hand, the criminal acts remain in your Score for a total of 7 years.

So if you’ve made a mistake that will cause you to have any of these items in your history, the only Ally you have is time.

Know the numbers

According to Sun Tzu, in the art of war, the first thing you must do to establish a strategy is to know your enemy. We will fight against your low credit score, in this case, so you must know how this number is calculated.

The first thing you should know is that there are many ways to calculate it, and usually, lenders will take the information from one of your three main credit reports. However, the FICO score is probably the most common and can range from 300 to 850 points.

But what is taken into account when calculating this number?

Usually, when calculating your credit score, the algorithms will take into account how you have interacted with the economy in the following aspects:

  • Credit History and Credit Cards
  • How much credit do you usually use
  • How many bank accounts do you have open
  • What type of bank accounts do you use
  • How often do you use your credit or apply for new credit
  • What is your active balance
  • What is your cash flow

The credit score also considers how long it takes you to make the appropriate payments for your credit and whether you pay the minimum amounts or make better-established payments.

As you can see, the general way you behave when doing any transaction with a bank ends up being part of your three-digit number. As a result, it will affect your future possibilities of acquiring credit for a business, a vehicle, a property, or even an emergency.

Based on this, I think it’s time to ask ourselves the following question:

How can I improve my Credit Score?

From this point on, we are going to give you a series of tips for what to improve your credit score quickly:

But, first, pay your bills on time.

This may be the most obvious advice you’ll ever receive, but it’s also the first factor affecting your credit score. As long as you keep paying all your debts on time and comply with closing them in a prudent time, the algorithms will positively take your behavior as a debtor.

On the other hand, this has a trick. Usually, the algorithm punishes the people who pay the credits to avoid cheating by asking for credits to liquidate them with assets. In this section, your bills for services are also added.

Your financial behavior is not limited only to loans or your interactions with banks or financial institutions. How you pay your debts with any public or private entity will be part of your Credit Score. This includes paying your telephone bill, cable, university fees, condominium, and any other service you have to pay monthly.

Learn to liquidate and use your debit

Unless you’re going to apply for credit immediately, it’s crucial to reduce your debt promptly. It is also imperative to consider how you use your credit. There is a concept that experts call Credit utilization ratio, which is the amount of credit you should use based on the credit you have available. Let’s put it.

If you add all your credit cards and loans available in banks, you can get into debt for $20000. You should use only 20%, which would be $4000.

To get a more accurate idea of your credit utilization ratio, look at your credit cards over the last 12 months and average the balances. The result will be the USD credit you’ve been using in the previous few months, and when you compare it to the total credit available on all cards, you’ll get the percentage result.

Usually, the algorithms that define your credit score give a weight of up to 30% to your credit utilization ratio, so you must take actions that positively affect this number.

We advise you the following:

  • Liquid as much as possible in your large debts.
  • Keep your credit card balances as low as possible.
  • Ask for increases to your credit card limits whenever you can.
  • Finally, don’t incur debts or credit accounts you don’t need.

Having credit accounts you don’t need can negatively affect your Score credit as you are usually tempted to spend more and accumulate debt.

Keep unused credit cards active.

Some people recommend eliminating credit cards you don’t plan to use, but keeping the cards active is a good idea as long as you don’t charge an annual maintenance fee.

This advice is simple: the more credit you have available, the broader your Credit utilization ratio. You lose part of your maximum credit by eliminating a credit card, and the balance becomes less USD.

Check your credit reports frequently.

There are three credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. You must evaluate the reports they offer you from time to time and verify that all the detailed information is correct.

You must also open a dispute if there is any error or anomaly regarding the information to be corrected immediately.

Don’t apply for more than one credit at a time.

Okay, while your credit cards help make it easier to maintain a Credit utilization ratio at a fair percentage, loans negatively affect your Credit score by creating what is known as a hard inquiry. In addition, these applications, rejected or not, will stay on your record for two years, and the possibility of being left if you already have another available credit is relatively high.

Therefore, improving your Credit Score quickly is not necessarily impossible. Still, it is necessary to consider your behavior and financial habits to make better decisions and attitudes that increase your three digits.

Sometimes, you will need more time to recover and clear your history. However, if you have not entered any harmful elements into your Score, it is advisable to establish behavior patterns.

So let’s close this blog with a few final tips:

  • Establish fixed payment patterns, so you never fall behind in paying your bills or debts.
  • Make sure you don’t open two credit accounts at the same time.
  • Use your credit cards only when necessary, or you can make an immediate payment so that it does not affect your credit utilization ratio.

Finally, we recommend you gradually build up an emergency fund.

This will have a double function: firstly, it will support you so that you don’t have to depend on your available credit, and secondly, it will improve your cash flow when calculating your financial status.


Oscar Rojas
Oscar Rojas

I'm primarily a dad and a husband, then I live. I've been a freelance writer and editor since 2014, specializing in finance, casino, sports, and esports niches. I'm an expert in checking the small print on any T&C site. You can trust me as an expert, especially when it comes to financing and gambling products.

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