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Use these six tips to help boost your credit-score.1. Pay your bills on time. Late payments and collections have a negative effect on your credit and will lower your score. Paying your bills promptly over time will raise it. 2. Reduce balances on credit cards and other "revolving" credit. High outstanding balances can lower your score. Paying them down, rather than moving them around, is the most effective way to increase your score. However, moving some of the balance to lower interest-rate cards can be OK as it is better to have several lines of credit at 20 -30% useage than one line of credit at 80%. 3. Take out new credit only when you absolutely need it. Don't apply for credit frequently. A large number of recently opened accounts will lower your score. Whilst checking your own score will not affect your score, a search for many new credit lines will. 4. Correct errors on your report. Look for factors on your report that could be affecting your credit adversely, like duplicate entries, accounts that are not yours and outstanding debts that have been paid. Contact the credit reporting agencies immediately and have them correct any mistakes. 5. Request good credit history be added to your report. Creditors don't always report a loan to all three credit reporting agencies. If you have been paying a loan on time, ask your lender to report it, or contact the credit bureau directly. 6. Finally, Time is the best remedy to increase your score. Establishing credit accounts, using credit responsibly and paying your accounts on time will help boost your score. |