Fast-Track Credit Score Strategies

If you are planning to apply for a mortgage, auto loan, or premium personal loan, your FICO score will dictate the terms and interest rates you receive. Bumping your score up by just 20 points could save you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of a loan.

Here are the fastest ways to boost your credit score in 30 days or less.

1. Drastically Lower Your Credit Utilization

Your credit utilization ratio makes up 30% of your FICO score. This is the amount of revolving credit you are currently using divided by the total amount of revolving credit available to you.

The Strategy: Pay down your credit card balances to below 10% of their limits before your statement closing date. This ensures a low utilization rate is reported to the bureaus.

2. Dispute Errors Aggressively

According to the FTC, 1 in 5 consumers has an error on at least one of their credit reports.

Pull your free reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and look for:

• Late payments that were actually on time.
• Accounts that don't belong to you.
• Negative items older than 7 years.

Disputing these errors online can result in them being removed within 30 days, resulting in an instant score jump.

3. Become an Authorized User

If you have a trusted family member or spouse with a long history of on-time payments and a low credit utilization ratio, ask them to add you as an Authorized User to their oldest credit card.

You don't even need to possess the physical card. The primary account holder's positive payment history will be imported onto your credit report, artificially boosting your average age of accounts and payment history.

Consistency is Key

While these fast-track methods work, the ultimate strategy for a flawless credit score is a long, boring history of 100% on-time payments. Set up autopay for the minimums on all your accounts so you never accidentally miss a deadline.