Boost Your Credit Score TODAY

Learn where to check your score and how to improve it with our handy guide.
Published
Julie Ramhold
BY:
Senior Staff Writer
calculator and spreadsheet
A good credit score can make your finances easier to manage, paving the way for lower interest rates and better relationships with companies of all kinds. On the other hand, a bad credit score can make cleaning up your financial situation harder, thanks to higher interest rates, more fees, and more rejections.

But if you have a low score, how can you turn it into a high one? And if your score is good, how do you maintain it? If you're wondering how to improve your credit score, read on for steps you can take to boost a poor score, plus info on how your FICO Score could soon change.

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credit score on mobile

Your FICO Credit Score Is About to Change

FICO Scores are used by 90% of lenders to gauge whether they'll loan you money or offer you a good interest rate. With a low score, you may have trouble renting an apartment, buying a car, or getting a credit card. What's more, your FICO credit score could be changing soon — and maybe not for the better. Check out our guide on how your FICO score could change, which answers questions like these:

  • What's changing with the new FICO Score?

  • How will these changes affect your score?

  • When will the new scores start rolling out?


An FTC study found that one in five consumers had an error on their credit reports, so it's good to check yours at least once a year.


credit score report

How to Raise Your Credit Score

It should come as no surprise that a missed or late credit card payment can damage your credit score. Additionally, many small mistakes can add up quickly, and could cost you in the form of high interest rates.

All is not lost, though. Check out our tips on how to boost your credit score, with eight different methods almost anyone can try.


Where to Check Your Credit

Company Reporting Bureau
Discover Credit Scorecard Experian
Credit Karma TransUnion;
Equifax
Credit Sesame TransUnion
Capital One CreditWise TransUnion


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The Top Places to Check Your Credit for FREE

Monitoring your credit score is important for maintaining healthy finances. But with so many companies advertising free credit scores and reports, how do you know which ones are trustworthy?

Check out our guide on where to check your credit score. We outline four places to find your score at no charge, and one place to collect an entirely free report.

Senior Staff Writer

Julie joined DealNews in 2015. Her work has been featured on MSN, Business Insider, Lifehacker, The Motley Fool, GoBankingRates, and Moneyish. In her spare time, she enjoys baking sweets, reading thrillers, and listening to an ever-growing list of podcasts.
DealNews may be compensated by companies mentioned in this article. Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of publication (unless otherwise specified).
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1 comment
Critical Consumer
I'm so fed up with the credit rating crap. I pay all my credit cards in full and on time but I've seen my credit rating at Experian skyrocket one month, then drop into "very good" for equally mysterious reasons... I started paying off all my cards in full as soon as the statement was available rather than simply by the due date, and picked up an additional credit card, in part, because two of Experian's "suggestions" was to increase the NUMBER of active accounts (since I allegedly have a "thin" file) and REDUCE the ratio of credit-used to credit-available. Even taking both these actions has appeared NOT to influence changes in my credit rating.
March 27, 2020