There are dozens, if not hundreds, of articles to explain how to raise your credit score. Below are four easy credit score hacks to maximize your score in 2022!
1. Pay Down Your Revolving Debt – Easy Credit Score Hacks
This seems like the biggest no brainer, but you would be shocked to know how many consumers are unaware of this impact. It isn’t as simple as just ‘paying down” debt however. Pay it down intelligently. You want to have the maximum amount of cards showing zero dollar balance, with the exception of one. This is called AZEO. Doing this correctly will give you the best bang for your buck.
2. If You Have Many Collection Accounts, Don’t Remove Them All (Yet)
If you are credit rebuilding, the end game is to remove all negative items. But in the case of credit scoring, having a clean file will actually put you into a bucket with other clean files. While rebuilding, it is okay to still have some negative items on your credit report (provided they are paid). There are many examples of consumers who had better credit scores with 3 collection accounts showing than one. Mind you, the end game is to remove all of them, so have an attack plan.
3. Find Your Cards That Use Soft Pulls and Ask For Limit Increases
Credit scoring is complicated. What isn’t is how much debt to limit ratio impacts the overall score. The cheapest, easy credit score hack isn’t paying off debt, it’s to increase your credit limits. Some cards will never increase you, others will do so all the time. I used the Synchrony Amazon Card as my go-to “raise my limit” card when I was rebuilding. If it doesn’t cost you an inquiry, this is really a fool proof way to increase your score.
4. If Possible, Have Someone Add You As Authorized on an AGED CARD
When I started, I had my mother-in-law add me to a Kohl’s credit card dating back to 1993, and this did a LOT to increase my average age of accounts as well as available limits. This increased my score quite a bit. This approach comes with caveats, however, as the balance held can increase score. Make sure it is not a card that is used a lot, and has a high limit. The positive side? If the card gets out of control or the relationship with the party ends, you can simply as the credit reporting agencies to remove the card.
Easy Credit Score Hacks!
These easy credit score hacks will have your score looking more impressive, and quickly. Remember, a credit score is just a snapshot of a moment in time. The better your report looks, the better your odds of approval. Only long term credit building will help you keep your score high, so great habits are essential. These hacks will help refine your score.
Reminder! As of July 2022, there have been significant changes to how medical collection debt reports. This is a way for you, as a consumer, to get some points back by removing old medical debt. Read more about it here!
This article was last updated on August 9, 2022