Ways to Rapidly Increase Your Credit Score

By Jason Klein

If you are trying to establish credit and increase your credit score, you may want some hints on how to do so. There are ways to do this quickly, bypassing the usual years-long wait for good credit. Below I discuss several ways to do this.

Before you start on this campaign, you should first know that it doesn't look good on your credit history to have a lot of credit applications and you need to avoid this if at all possible. However, if you make several applications within a week or two, they are looked on as one, and won't count against you in the same way - they are viewed simply as shopping for the best rate for one loan or credit requirement.

One of the well known ways of getting a good credit score quickly is to piggyback on someone else's credit. I'm not suggesting a version of identity theft; I'm suggesting that you do this with the person's permission! It might be a parent or a good friend who already has a good credit score, and you would ask to be added as an additional user to one or more of their accounts.

If the account is older, it will reflect well on your credit report, once it appears there. If you only wish to establish credit and not use your cosigner's, you don't even need to get a card. This way, your friend's information and billing statements remain private, while benefiting your score because the good credit history is associated with you now. If you do use the cosigner's credit, be careful with it, as mistakes can destroy your cosigner's credit as easily as it can destroy yours.

Secured credit accounts can be a quick and easy way to establish a good score. One suggestion is to open three such accounts and borrow money from each. If you separate that money and use it to pay your secured cards, it will help establish a good credit score.

While this is a great option, it is not free. Cash deposits are required for secured accounts. You will also be responsible for the interest and any fees associated with the account. At first, you score will be lower, since you will have to access your credit history to apply. After a few months, you will increase your score for paying on time and earning the credit card company a little interest, which they like.

A note about how you use any of your revolving (credit card) accounts - you may not realize it, but if you pay off your accounts each month, you actually don't have as good a score as if you leave some debt in the revolving accounts. If you want to increase credit score, you will need to carry some debt, as this shows that you can manage your debts without getting into trouble. Just make sure that you don't carry more than a quarter of your available credit on any one account.

Late payments can severely affect your credit score, so make payments on time, every time. Don't leave payments to the last minute, if you can help it, to account for delays with the mail, or other unexpected issues. Diligently following these policies will enable you to establish excellent credit in a short span of time.

About the Author:

Looking for the latest in credit score tips? Make sure you visit Jason Klein's credit score tips site and sign up for his free 7 day email credit score ecourse. Jason Klein also gives out the latest tips for you to increase your credit scores for free!


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