If you are like most people and don’t know your credit score, there is a solution. Discover Card provides free FICO scores to its cardholders, which 90% of businesses use for lending decisions. Capital One offers Vantage Scores that have similarities but are not the same as a FICO Score, while other sites offer similar services with access to both types of scoring products depending on what type you qualify for through their site.
The Vantage Score was developed by the same people who came up with FICO, and it is based on information from three major credit reporting bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The difference between these two scores is small enough that you can have one without worrying about affecting your other score, but don’t try to keep both.
The first time you get your score, it might not be as high as you expected.
Follow this top ways to Improve your credit score:
1. Review Your Credit Report
If you want to fix your credit, there’s one easy and free way; get a copy of all three annual reports. One is not better than the other, so it doesn’t matter which ones you choose. When reviewing each report closely for discrepancies or errors with the information that appears on them (such as incorrect addresses), don’t hesitate to dispute any mistakes that were made.
26% of people have at least one potentially material error in their credit files. These errors can be as simple as a misspelled name or address, or more costly mistakes like an account that is reported late or delinquent when it should not be, debts listed twice on your report, and closed accounts still showing up open, even if the balance has been paid off. All these things make you look less favorable for loans and other financial applications.
Notifying the credit reporting agency of wrong or outdated information will improve your credit score as soon as the false information is removed. 20% of consumers who identified mistakes saw their credit scores increase when they notified these agencies and corrected any errors.
2. Set Up Payment Reminders
Keeping track of your bills is crucial to achieving a higher credit score. If you want quick and dramatic success, make sure to write down the deadlines for each bill in an organized planner or calendar with reminders set up online so that they will be constantly on hand. This can raise your score within months.
3. Pay More Than Once in a Billing Cycle
The sooner you pay your bills, the better. Paying debts every two weeks rather than once a month lowers credit utilization and improves your score.
4. Contact Your Creditors
Late payments can wreck your credit score and leave you with a huge bill. Set up an emergency payment plan that includes paying off the debt, then put money every month into savings to pay for future bills on time.
5. Fix Credit Report Errors
Sometimes the bank will make mistakes in reporting your credit score, which can hurt you. Although it may not seem like a big deal, reviewing your credit report periodically is important to ensure that any errors are corrected, and that no fraudulent activity has gone unnoticed.
Getting a free credit report is easy and only takes a few minutes. All you have to do is visit their website, request the reports once every week for four years through April 2021 in order not to miss any deadlines or important information!
6. Apply for New Credit Sparingly
Borrowers may want to know that while getting a credit card can increase the total limit, their score might suffer if they open several new accounts in a short period.
7. Have a Variety of Credit Accounts
Borrowing money is never a good thing, but it can be helpful to have multiple credit accounts. People might think about borrowing for things like car loans or buying houses, and whether that’s something they should do responsibly. The truth is having different types of debts will help your score in the long run by showing that you’re responsible with managing debts. So, if you’ve been thinking about getting another kind of loan then go ahead.
Loans that you repay in full can remain on your credit report for up to ten years, giving you more choices and a higher score.
8. Don’t Close Unused Credit Card Accounts
Longer credit histories are better. If you must close accounts, do so for the newer ones first and be sure to keep your oldest account open at all times.
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