How to Raise Credit Score 100 Points Overnight

Because your payment history is the most important factor used to determine your credit scores, paying your bills on time can make a huge impact on your credit over the long run. Likewise, a late payment or two can negatively impact your credit score in a major way.

To ensure all your bills are paid on time each month, it can help to write out a monthly budget that tracks all your payments and due dates throughout the month. You can even set up some of your regular bills for automatic payments to make things easier.

2. Cut Down Your Credit Utilization 

Since your credit utilization ratio is the second most important factor that makes up your FICO score, reducing the amount of debt you have in relation to your credit limits can help provide a much-needed boost to your credit. Fortunately, you can accomplish this step in multiple ways — either through paying down debt or by applying for a credit card to increase your available credit limits.

Either way, most experts recommend keeping your credit utilization below 30% across all your revolving credit accounts for the best results. This means always owing less than $3,000 for every $10,000 in revolving credit available to you.

3. Request Forgiveness for a Late Payment

Because your payment history is the most important factor that makes up your FICO score, avoiding a late payment on your credit reports can prevent catastrophic damage to your score. If you paid a bill late, try calling your creditor or the company that sent you the bill to ask them for forgiveness this one time. 

There's a chance the creditor will give you a one-time break on a late payment, thus helping you avoid unnecessary dings to your credit that can hurt you in the long run. Either way, the worst that can happen is them saying "no."

4. Add Payments to Your Credit Reports 

Building credit fast can be a challenge when you don't have a lot of bills each month, and when your credit profile is relatively thin. Fortunately, an array of services let you add payments you're already making to your credit reports with the goal of increasing your score.

Examples include Experian Boost, which is an app that lets you get credit on your Experian credit report for streaming services you pay for, your utility bills and even rent.  Other services like Rental Kharma and RentTrack also let you get credit for rent payments, although they charge consumers fees for the privilege.

5. Keep Your Oldest Accounts Open

Another factor that makes up your FICO score is the average length of your credit history, and this factor makes up 15%. In order to score better in this category, you'll want to keep older revolving accounts and lines of credit you already open as long as possible — even if you're not using them. 

This step is usually free, but fees could be required to keep old credit cards open if your card happens to charge one. In that case, however, you can call your card issuer to inquire about downgrading the card to a similar option with no annual fee. This step can help you maintain the history on that line of credit with zero financial costs involved.

6. Don’t Add Too Much New Credit 

New credit makes up another 10% of your FICO score, and you can expect to be penalized in this category for each new account you open. This is mostly the result of the hard inquiries creditors place on your credit reports any time you fill out an application for a credit card or a loan.

To increase your credit score as much as possible, you'll want to avoid new credit unless you absolutely need it. Fortunately, this step takes minimal time and effort. You'll just have to rely on income sources you have while you're in credit-building mode.

7. Consolidate Your Debts

If you have an unmanageable amount of credit card debt or you're just paying too much interest each month, consolidating your debt with a balance transfer credit card can help. This type of credit card offers 0% APR on balance transfers for up to 21 months, although you do have to pay a balance transfer fee of 3% or 5% to get started.

While balance transfer fees reduce your savings somewhat, not paying interest on your credit card debt for up to 21 months can lead to thousands of dollars in lower costs. Plus, opening a new credit card can lower your credit utilization ratio overnight, and paying down debt will lower it even more over time.

Consolidating debt can also make your financial life easier since you can go from making multiple credit card payments each month down to just one.

8. Dispute Errors on Your Credit Report

While it's easy to assume the information on your credit reports is correct, you should take the time to check at least a few times per year. While errors are rare, they do happen. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) also states that many of the most common errors can negatively impact your credit, including incorrectly reported balances and late payments, closed accounts reported as open, and even accounts that are not yours.

To spot inconsistencies and incorrect reporting, you canget a free look at all three of your credit reports with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion using the site AnnualCreditReport.com. If you find errors that need correcting, you will need to send a letter to the credit bureaus and the company reporting the information, along with documentation, to ask for the information to be removed.

9. Have Both Installment Loans and Revolving Credit

Another factor that makes up your FICO score is known as your "credit mix," and this factor considers the different types of credit you have. For example, it's typically better to have a mix of credit cards alongside installment loans like a mortgage or an auto loan.

This step can take time since you may not be able to qualify for new credit when your score is low, and since you don't want to apply for new credit when you don't actually need it. That said, there are some simple steps you can take to add depth to your credit profile. For example, you could apply for a new credit card or ask to become an authorized user on someone else's credit card or loan.

Understanding Your Credit Score

While consumers have several different credit scores, these scores are essentially a numeric representation of a person's credit health. This means that, instead of listing whether someone is creditworthy or not on their credit reports, the credit bureaus assign scores that show where consumers fall on the spectrum from poor credit all the way up to exceptional credit.

The two most important types of credit scores, FICO scores and VantageScore, assign consumers with scores from 300 to 850. With both of these scoring models, you'll find that higher scores are always better, and that lower credit scores can be problematic in the long run.

How Your Credit Score Is Calculated

Since FICO scores are used by 90% of top lenders when making credit decisions, most articles about how to build credit talk about this type of score first and foremost. That said, it can help you to know how other types of credit scores (including the VantageScore 4.0 scoring model) calculate scores so you can figure out your next best steps.

With that in mind, you should know that FICO credit scores are determined using the following criteria:

• Payment history: 35%
• Amounts owed: 30%
• Length of credit history: 15%
• Credit mix: 10%
• New credit: 10% 

In the meantime, VantageScores (4.0 model) are calculated using the following criteria:

• Payment history: 40%
• Depth of credit: 21%
• Credit utilization: 20%
• Balances: 11%
• Recent credit: 5%
• Available credit: 3% 

While these two scoring models use slightly different information to assign you with a credit score, they both consider the same basic information including your normal payment history, how much debt you have, how much available credit you have, and the full depth and history listed on your credit reports.

Checking Your Credit Score

There are a few different ways to check your credit score for free, and you can also check your credit reports with the three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — with no charges required.

Here are the main ways to check your credit reports and credit score for free:

• Check your credit reports: Use the government-approved website AnnualCreditReport.com to look over your credit reports with all three credit bureaus at any time. This website lets you check these reports for free up to once per week.
• Use free apps to check your score. Free services like Mint and Credit Karma let you look at a version of your credit score for free, which can help you track your credit progress over time. 
• Look over your credit card statement. Some credit cards offer a free look at your FICO score on your statement each month. Examples include the Discover it® Cash Back and the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card.

What Is a Good Credit Score?

As you look for the best way to raise your credit score, you should have a general idea of where you're starting from. Here's a general overview of how credit score ranges work for both your FICO credit score and VantageScore:

FICO credit score rankings:

• 300 to 580: Poor
• 580 to 669:  Fair
• 670 to 739: Good
• 740 to 799: Very good
• 800 to 850: Exceptional 

VantageScore rankings:

• 300 to 499: Very poor
• 500 to 600: Poor
• 601 to 660: Fair
• 661 to 780: Good
• 781 to 850: Excellent

How Often Does Your Credit Score Update?

According to Equifax, your credit scores are typically updated around once per month. However, how often the credit bureaus actually change your score can vary depending on your lenders and your unique financial situation.

How Lenders Use Your Credit Score

We keep saying that lenders use your credit score when making important credit decisions, but what does that really mean? Here's a rundown of the different ways lenders and creditors use your score to decide how much credit you can have, and with what terms.

• Lenders use your credit score to approve or deny credit. You may ultimately be approved for the line of credit you want based on your score, yet bad credit or even fair credit can lead to a denial. Note that there are loans for fair credit and personal loans for bad credit, but interest rates and fees can be on the high side.
• Your score can help you qualify for a bigger (or smaller) loan. A good credit score can help you qualify for a higher loan amount. This is especially true if your income is high and you have a strong history of employment.
• Lenders use your score to decide your interest rate and other loan terms. Like it or not, but lenders offer people with higher credit scores better interest rates and better loan terms in general.

Tips to Keep Building Your Credit

Once you boost your score 100 points, how do you keep that score and continue to improve it? For the most part, you'll want to keep doing the same things you did to improve your credit in the first place.

Keep Up the Good Habits

Keeping up positive credit habits can help you maintain a higher credit score once you reach your goal, but it can also help you keep improving from there. In order to keep your credit in the best possible shape over the long haul, you'll want to take the following steps:

• Always pay your bills on time. Since your payment history is the most important factor that makes up your credit scores, you'll want to avoid late payments at all costs.
• Keep debt levels in check. Keep your credit utilization ratio below 30% of your available credit limits for the best results. 
• Apply for new credit only when you need to. It's okay to apply for new credit when you need it, but don't go overboard.
• Keep old accounts open. Older accounts on your credit reports add depth whether you're using them or not, so only close them if you have to.

Watch for Potential Pitfalls 

Credit can be problematic for a lot of people, which is why so many people wind up with crushing amounts of credit card debt. To make the most of credit while avoiding the problems too many people face, consider the following:

• Set up bills for auto-pay. If you're worried about paying bills late, consider setting up bills for automatic payments that take place whether you remember or not.
• Use credit cards only for planned purchases. Don't use credit cards for splurge purchases and do your best to avoid racking up debts you can't easily pay off.
• Start using a monthly budget. Start writing down how much you plan to spend in different categories each month, then track your spending to see if it lines up. 
• Keep an eye on your credit score and credit reports. Watch your credit reports to monitor for errors and signs of identity theft. Also check your scores regularly so you can celebrate your progress.

Final Word

If you want to build credit fast, you should know that it almost always takes more than a single night to boost your score by more than 100 points. That said, you can make progress quickly if you use credit strategically, avoid late payments, keep debt levels at a reasonable level, and keep an eye on your credit reports over time.

While improving credit can take some discipline and planning, the effort will be worth it in the end.

• myFICO.com, "Do You Know the 5 Factors of FICO® Scores? Quiz Time!" Accessed March 6, 2023.
• Federal Trade Commission, "Disputing Errors On Your Credit Reports." Accessed March 6, 2023.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "What are common credit report errors that I should look for on my credit report?" Accessed March 6, 2023.
• VantageScore, "The Complete Guide to Your VantageScore." Accessed March 6, 2023.
• Experian, "What Is a Good Credit Score?" Accessed March 6, 2023.
• Equifax, "When Do Credit Scores Update?" Accessed March 6, 2023.