Student Credit Cards Center

How to Improve Your Credit Score –
It's More than Just Timely Credit Card Payments

If someone asked you for your credit score, you would likely answer with a number between 400 and 850, depending on the scale, but do you know that number actually means something? And that your credit score helps determine many things, like your ability to get a student credit card or a loan? Many things can negatively affect your credit score, like missing a credit card payment, defaulting on a loan, or consistently going over your credit card balance.

In reality, your credit score influences quite a bit of your life. Typically, your credit score is looked at when you apply for a credit card, car, or other type of loan, but can also be used as part of a job interview process. If you have a high credit score (like over 700), then keep doing what you are doing – you’ve got great credit and are clearly making timely credit card payments! On the flip side of the coin, if you have a credit score lower than 700 (like most of us), you could take a few steps to improve it and make your life a little bit easier.

The first step toward improving your credit score is to access your credit report to understand where your credit score is today. Your credit report will give you your credit score and information on all of the accounts you have ever had in your name, past and present. It will also give you an opportunity to identify any discrepancies on your credit report, which can improve your credit score once cleaned up from your report. Check to see if there are any mistakes, like incorrect 30-day late notes on your report. You can dispute these mistakes and boost your score by 15 to 100 points! Your credit report will say a lot about you, including how timely your credit card payments are, what loands you have, and even where you've lived in the past.

The second step to improving your credit score is to ‘make current’ overdue bills, and continuing to make timely credit card payments. If you have large balances on certain accounts, it may be worth speaking with a credit counselor who can advise you on a credit card payment plan to help make your bills current. However, once they are current, continuing to pay your bills on time is one of the most impactful ways to improve your credit score, and keep it as high as possible.

The third step in improving your credit score is creating a budget. A budget is nothing more than a tool to help you understand how much money you have coming in and going out, but is critical to ensuring you pay your bills on time. There are also service providers that can assist in creating a budget, including credit counselors who specialize in this field. We also provide great credit management tools, including credit card payment calculators, which will help you maintain and plan your budget.

Although these steps can seem daunting, there are several resources available to assist you every step of the way. For a fee, there are providers who can walk you through your credit report and credit score, and create a personalized budget to help you better manage your money. However, whatever steps you take to improve your credit are steps in the right direction, and will always work out the best for both you and your credit score.