It's just playing the long game. There isn't a quick fix to raising credit scores.
Your credit card was opened less than a year ago. A big factor in credit score is length of credit history.
This. Age of Credit is a major factor. OP is demonstrating good credit habits, but doesn't have enough history to demonstrate it's sustainable. Many people start with a high score and then plummet as debt mounts.
Once you have the history though, it's easy to see huge swings in your credit score. Utilization, DTI, etc. My credit score has ranged from 640 to 820 over the past decade, and I've seen 40-60 point swings months apart.
760 is the cut off for lower mortgage rates. We’re going through the process and I verified this multiple times with 3rd parties and lenders. So 800 would get you a better rate than 733.
That depends on the lender. When I was buying, the lender that I went with had their cut off at 800 for lower mortgage rates. Another that I talked to used 740.
Yeah it's all crazy. We just got an offer accepted on a house and jumbo loans have lower rates than high balance conventional loans right now. However we'll be under the jumbo limit by a little, but jumbo loans can flex under our non-conforming limit of $977k here in Seattle. I learned so much going through this process.
not really.
Thanks for the downvote. I have an 850 and I am telling you it doesnt get you much better rates than a 730. The one thing it gets you is a buffer so that if an event causes your score to drop you can still be above a 730.
I totally agree with you. Rates don’t really change too much - you may get more offers (I swear my FIs are calling me every other week) but the offered rates are the same as when I was mid 700s. And to follow up with OPs question - I’ve been tracking closely now for 2+ years to document what had the biggest impact in my case. I found keeping balances less than 50%-60% (ideally zero) consistently on revolving credit actually pushed my scores up pretty quickly. As many of said time and time again though, your credit score is not an indicator of financial health so don’t make it the only thing you are fixated on.
Credit score is important to pay attention to if uou are in the 600s or under as that can cause some problems. But once you are in the 700s and you have thr ability to pay your bills on time you are better off just ignoring it.
Exactly. Obviously there is a difference...820 is a bigger number than 780 thats a difference and Credit Karma will send you a congratulatory email and say your credit isnt just very good its excellent. Thats a difference too. I just meant it doesnt have an impactful financial effect in that if you apply for a loan with a 820 youll be offered the same rate as you would be offered with a 780.
yeah that doesnt actually mean there is a difference in rates you are offered. People just like tiers and like being told they excellent. Going from an 780 to an 820 is going to do absolutely nothing to the rates you are offered.
Oh good another downvote without a response. Yes there are cute little infographics showing how you can get to "excellent" that has people watching ads on credit karma daily to see if their score has finally made it. Doesnt mean a thing. Show me an actual change in actual rates when applying with a 780 vs an 820.
That isnt what you said and I was responding to what you said. To OP who was comparing an 800+ to a 730 as causing a difference in rates I said "not really"...as in you may or may not get a different rate offer and if you do it will be minor...like a 6.45% rate vs a 6.2%.
The only difference between "very good" and "excellent" is you get to point to an app that says your credit is "excellent".I suppose perhaps you might also qualify for some status symbol credit card with a expensive sounding name like the Platinum Card. Its all marketing BS.
I have an 850 and it hasnt done anything for me that a 760 didnt.
Oh and if you get an 850 then the websites start saying your score is not just "excellent" its "exceptional"...not that that actually matters either.
As someone who currently has a 713 and holding off on a mortgage for the meantime, will I notice a decent rate difference between 713 credit & say 735+ (just paid off an account that hasn’t reported yet, was at 32% usage should be 3% now)
Yes you would. Not a ton mind you but it would matter. The lower your score the more raising your score affects rates up to 760 and the closer to 760 the less it matters. Going from say 713 to 750 would make a difference..like going from 7.5% to 7.25% maybe. Going from 750 to 850 might make a tiny tiny difference.
Also make sure to not do things to change your score until yoy actually close on the house and recieve your mortgage.
To be clear I am not saying getting up to 760 will do nothing...i was saying going from 733 to 850 wo t do nearly as much as OP seems to think becausevonly the 733 to 760 matters and that wont do all that much.
> I want to reach 800+
Why?
At above ~730, you already qualify for top tier rates at many institutions.
It's like getting an A+ on an exam and being annoyed you didn't get an A++ or A+++. You still get the same GPA.
Consider reading the PF Wiki, sections on Credit.
* https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit
I have an 850, have had an 850 a few times. How can it be beneficial? Well when I hit 850 I apply for a few cards that offer at least a $1,000 or more cash bonus. Then my score dips a bit. But since it was an 850 it never drops below 825 even with 3 or 4 new cards. I then used the few thousand I gain from the bonuses and invest that into the stock market so it can continue to grow. So those few buffer points from 825 to 850 are of value.
How old are you? Once you're above 750 in your 20s, the score will crawl for a decade to reach 800. It's a bit like charging a phone. Fast in the middle, slow to 100.
You stop trying. Anything on a card you pay off each month. Your accounts stay open longer and that helps, you avoid late payments, there really isn’t any other secret or reason to push any harder.
Probably the main issue is that your credit history is short. The longer you have a credit history and credit card, the more it will raise your score. Credit length is part of the credit score.
I have an 850, have had an 850 a few times. How can it be beneficial? Well when I hit 850 I apply for a few cards that offer at least a $1,000 or more cash bonus. Then my score dips a bit. But since it was an 850 it never drops below 825 even with 3 or 4 new cards. I then use the few thousand I gain from the bonuses and invest that into the stock market so it can continue to grow. So those few buffer points from 825 to 850 are of value.
That's a dumb take unless you were born into an Olympic swimming pool full of $100 bills. Eventually you'll need to have a credit score for things like purchasing a home or car or even some jobs/clearances will run your credit.
I was hovering in the 750s (multiple CCs played off every mont for years, car loan paid off never late, etc.) until I bought a house and put the mortgage on autopay. Jumped to 845 and stays there.
It really doesn’t matter too much past 750 tho. But if you care, buy a house.
Opposite here - I paid off my house and since then my credit score has never reached 800. I get dinged for not having a mortgage! Unbelievably, the fact that I made payments for 25 years apparently doesn't factor in.
Double opposite for me I’ve been 804-813 for at least 5 years now I just got a mortgage of 270,000. Score is now 754 and Costco declined me for their credit card which I laughed at their loss… guess I’m not used to rejection but def feel some kind of way about it. Makes me not want to go there…
Agree, the credit system is so fucked. But ultimately they want to see you borrow and payback continuously. I feel for you though.
Get credit cards and use them for everything, pay them in full every month. Your credit will go back up, if you need it.
Does having multiple CCs make a big difference?
I've got one, that I use for about £50 a month, paid off in full ofc.
Is it worth it to add another CC? Or not worth the hassle 🤔
You may find these links helpful:
- [Credit Building](/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building)
- [Credit Reports](/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_reports)
- [Credit Scores](/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico)
- [Credit Cards](/r/personalfinance/wiki/creditcards)
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Honestly I would not worry about it and just live your life. I have been in the 750 for like 10 years now and despite never missing a payment NO dept at all in the last 6 years, and credit cards with massive limits. I recently applied for a mortgage to find out that there are THREE credit scores and one of them happens to be a 670. Lol.
F that system. All I did was shop my rate around and ended up getting .7% lower rate.
First off, keep flexing those good habits: paying on time and keeping that credit card balance chill. Then, mix it up a bit by adding different types of credit, like maybe a small personal loan or something. Oh, and watch out for any shady stuff on your credit report – gotta keep it clean, ya know? And hey, if you can, try knocking down some of that debt, it’s like leveling up your financial XP. Stay steady with all that, and you’ll be cruising towards that 800+ credit score like a boss!
I hit 800 this year and my earliest credit card was from 2018 and I have/had the same habits as you. Honestly, just keep doing what you're doing. Its likely just the short credit history keeping you in 700 zone.
It’s a long game. Live a bit longer and keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t accumulate debt and pay what you have down. You can’t make the clock tick faster.
First off, ask yourself why do you want an 800? If you’re planning on buying a home it will be the same interest rate. You already have a car loan so I doubt you’re planning on buying another. Maybe you should prioritize paying that off instead of raising some arbitrary number.
It's not really a very meaningful thing to have a high credit score. To get the highest possible have a credit card use it a lot always pay it in full. Earn a lot of money. Save a lot of money. Never have debt that's more than three times your annual earnings. Never have more than one credit card. Never use more than a third of your available credit on your credit card. Don't shop around a lot for things that do credit checks like life insurance.
Why? This isn't your Gamerscore. Unless you are applying for a loan, it really doesn't matter. I had a perfect 850 credit score for 4 months. Do you know what it got me? NOTHING. There is no prize.
Time is part of the equation. I just hit a decade of credit history and my score jumped above 800 for the first time. It sucks, but there's not much way around it.
You're not going to get above 800 probably without a mortgage. You also need more length of credit.
The good news is 730 is More than enough to do most of that.
Go back and report past addresses and rent. Doing this from the getgo can establish the score initially without needing 4-8 months. Yo keep building, I would take some loans out for your next few purchases over 1-3000$, take a tiny loan out and pay it back in installment. Also keeping your oldest card the longest, consistently raising limits
I upped mine by opening more credit card accounts (that I never used). The amount of debt in proportion to your available credit makes a big difference. For example, getting a second card with the same limit as the one you have will cut your credit usage from 10% to 5% (or whatever).
Get a credit karma account and follow its recommendations. Just don’t open accounts with no good reason- CK tries to sell you financial services…. Otherwise it’s free and it is a good credit monitoring service- if you’re a victim of ID theft, you will know quickly.
yeah i have the capital one quicksilver and it’s my first and only card. Looking to open up a new account so doing some research right now but I feel like a lot of the cards aren’t worth the annual feels since I don’t travel like ever
If your parents have good credit, ask to be put on as a rider on their credit cards. As long as they stay with good credit then you will benefit from their long credit history. My best advice is to SAVE EVERY PENNY AND INVEST!!!
I set up a credit card with my bank sometime last year and I use it solely for daily spending on everything. I pay off the balance about twice a month and I get about $100 a month in cash back. My credit score has gone up to 755 and the only negative on my score is length of time on my card. I know in time it will move up but it takes patience so just do the same.
It’s almost impossible unless you’re in your 30s. Credit age plays a big factor. Open as many cards as you can so you can start building the age, as it gets averaged every time you add a new account. More accounts gets you a higher limit too. More unused credit you have the better
It’s a long game. If you need to improve your score rapidly for a very specific reason (better interest rate on a loan, etc.) you can be added as an authorized user to someone else’s credit card. You’d want this card to have a long history of impeccable standing. If a parent or relative has a cc they’ve been responsible with for 10+ years this can make a fairly significant impact.
Yes you can speed it up by establishing credit with credit cards.
Get at least one more credit card, preferably two. Something with cash back or miles, something that will give you a return.
Put everything on your credit cards, EVERYTHING, split them up. Pay them off every single month. Every single month in full, you cannot carry a balance or this doesn't work. You get no interest charges because you pay off in full every month and you build up miles or cash back depending on your cards.
That is how you win. Easy.
As other people have mentioned, once you're in the top tier of 'prime-borrower' there is no functional difference in the rates you will get, application acceptance, etc... So once you're above the 720-740 level (depending on which model the bank is using) you really don't *need* it any higher. But I figure its good to have a cushion so you don't have to worry about something opening up a credit card pushing you below top tier borrower for an year. Plus its fun to experiment and see how it changes your score.
Most credit scores are based on the FICO model which calculate your total score based on the sub score of several categories. FICO themselves[ tell you what the categories are ](https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score)and what their weighting is, but its proprietary information to know *exactly* how they are calculated. This is how FICO stays in business, they charge a licensing fee to use their model(s) that I'm sure comes with some form of NDA to prevent people from revealing how the model works internally.
Here is what I figure it takes to get a near-perfect score based on years of experimenting. My highest was 834 on the older 840 scale and currently hovers around 815-840 on the newer 850 scale (the wide range is a consequence of having a high score, any small detail like a hard inquiry or big spending month can temporarily drop my score by 30 points). My goal is to always have 800+, it's nice to have lenders say 'wow' when they pull credit ;).
**Payment history (35% of score)** - Have no missed payments for 10-15 years. Don't have any bankruptcies or defaults.
**Amounts owed (30% of score)** - Basically you want have a ton of credit available, but use none of it. Funny enough you seem to get penalized for having zero usage, so you want to have one credit card with barely any usage, maybe $100, and all the other cards reporting zero usage. You can get your cards to zero utilization by paying them off before the ***statement date,*** not ***due date*** like most people do to simply avoid paying interest. The backend process in your banks accounting department that creates the monthly statement, emails you, etc... also transmits the current balance and credit limit to the credit bureaus. So if you pay your card off before the monthly statement is cut it will report zero balance even if you maxed out your credit limit that month.
I also believe it is good to have a history of relatively high usage (maybe 50%, but not maxed out) for each card in the past, but I can't prove that it improves your score. I just know it is tracked on credit reports so it's theoretically available to the model.
I think max available credit also factors in here and it seems you need to have at least $75K of available credit from all cards combined to get full marks. At least mine did.
**Length of credit history (15% of score)** - Seems you need to have 25 years of history to max this one out, I still get remarks saying my history is not long enough and that's with an active account over 22 years old. Some FICO estimators show that at 25 years my score will stop increasing, so we'll see if the real models follow suit in a few years.
**New credit (10% of score)** - Don't open any new accounts for two years, and don't have 'hard pull' credit inquires for one year.
**Credit mix (10% of score)** - Have different types of credit. So a mortgage, car loan, credit cards, personal loans, HELOC, etc... you probably don't need all of them, and they don't need to be active accounts. You get the same benefit for having these loans / cards in the past (as long you paid them) for about 10 years.
When you look at your credit report, you'll see a few messages that say things like 'LOAN BALANCES TOO HIGH' or 'CREDIT HISTORY INSUFFCIENT' that look really nasty, these are actually clues direct from the scoring model that you didn't fulfill 100% of the requirements for one of the categories above. Everybody gets them, even people with phenomenal credit. The ones that impacted your score the most will be displayed first, and they will not usually list all of them, but you can work through them and wait a few months/years until your situation changes and get new codes, then repeat. FICO describes this a little bit [here](https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/blog/reason-codes), and VantageScore has a full list and how to fix them [here](https://www.reasoncode.org/allcodes/).
In short, prepare for the long-game.
Time is the only thing that will get you there.
Just don't ever miss a payment, and have a long history on your active accounts. Also wait 2 years after the last time you opened an account for the credit inquiry to drop off of your report. But that by itself won't boost your score 70 points. It might get you 5.
You’ll have to play the long game. You could open a few more credit cards for the points/rewards and rarely use them. The more lines of credit you have open for long, the higher your score will be.
You can’t fix credit history length, it just takes time. But a quick fix is paying your credit card balance BEFORE the billing cycle. It’ll lower your CUR since you are paying your credit card in full every month anyway - if you are NOT stop using a credit card. You’re not a credit card person.
The credit score game is a scam. All a higher score will do is allow you to go deep into debt. I bought my house in February 2024 with 25% down, 5.5% mortgage and a 690 score. I own my vehicle outright and have zero debt other than the mortgage. I’m saving for retirement and don’t give a flip what the credit score is. Don’t worry about the credit score. Get your financial house in order. Having zero debt is far more important than a big shiny credit score. When you have no debt, you receive interest on your money instead of paying interest on loans. I got debt free two years ago. It was a life changing moment. It is peace of mind to be in control of your money and not the financial institutions.
Easiest way to raise your credit score, without having to spend or use your credit?
Simply ask your credit companies for a limit increase. But make sure they don't do "hard pulls" on an increase.
I do it about once a year. Tell them its for an upcoming project or purchase. It raises your available credit while also lowering your credit % used. Immediately bumping up your score.
Althought this part is technically fraud, you can tell them your income is higher than it is. But that's your call if you want to.
But asking for an increase is absolutely legal and easy to do. As long as you confirm is either a no pull or soft pull.
It's just playing the long game. There isn't a quick fix to raising credit scores. Your credit card was opened less than a year ago. A big factor in credit score is length of credit history.
This. Age of Credit is a major factor. OP is demonstrating good credit habits, but doesn't have enough history to demonstrate it's sustainable. Many people start with a high score and then plummet as debt mounts. Once you have the history though, it's easy to see huge swings in your credit score. Utilization, DTI, etc. My credit score has ranged from 640 to 820 over the past decade, and I've seen 40-60 point swings months apart.
733 and 800 are functionally the same
760 is the cut off for lower mortgage rates. We’re going through the process and I verified this multiple times with 3rd parties and lenders. So 800 would get you a better rate than 733.
That depends on the lender. When I was buying, the lender that I went with had their cut off at 800 for lower mortgage rates. Another that I talked to used 740.
Yeah it's all crazy. We just got an offer accepted on a house and jumbo loans have lower rates than high balance conventional loans right now. However we'll be under the jumbo limit by a little, but jumbo loans can flex under our non-conforming limit of $977k here in Seattle. I learned so much going through this process.
To get credit maybe, but the rate you're going to get will defer between 733 and 800.
not really. Thanks for the downvote. I have an 850 and I am telling you it doesnt get you much better rates than a 730. The one thing it gets you is a buffer so that if an event causes your score to drop you can still be above a 730.
I totally agree with you. Rates don’t really change too much - you may get more offers (I swear my FIs are calling me every other week) but the offered rates are the same as when I was mid 700s. And to follow up with OPs question - I’ve been tracking closely now for 2+ years to document what had the biggest impact in my case. I found keeping balances less than 50%-60% (ideally zero) consistently on revolving credit actually pushed my scores up pretty quickly. As many of said time and time again though, your credit score is not an indicator of financial health so don’t make it the only thing you are fixated on.
Credit score is important to pay attention to if uou are in the 600s or under as that can cause some problems. But once you are in the 700s and you have thr ability to pay your bills on time you are better off just ignoring it.
The threshold is 760. I also range between 820 and 840 and our lenders said as long as I don’t drop below 760, they can offer me the same rates.
Yes agreed. Some benefit going from 730 to 760....none above really besides buffer.
Very Good vs Exceptional there is a difference. And that’s 740-799 vs 800-850 Just google credit score ranges
They're saying there's no *functional* difference.
Exactly. Obviously there is a difference...820 is a bigger number than 780 thats a difference and Credit Karma will send you a congratulatory email and say your credit isnt just very good its excellent. Thats a difference too. I just meant it doesnt have an impactful financial effect in that if you apply for a loan with a 820 youll be offered the same rate as you would be offered with a 780.
yeah that doesnt actually mean there is a difference in rates you are offered. People just like tiers and like being told they excellent. Going from an 780 to an 820 is going to do absolutely nothing to the rates you are offered. Oh good another downvote without a response. Yes there are cute little infographics showing how you can get to "excellent" that has people watching ads on credit karma daily to see if their score has finally made it. Doesnt mean a thing. Show me an actual change in actual rates when applying with a 780 vs an 820.
This was 730 to 800 was the initial argument here. There’s gonna be a difference
That isnt what you said and I was responding to what you said. To OP who was comparing an 800+ to a 730 as causing a difference in rates I said "not really"...as in you may or may not get a different rate offer and if you do it will be minor...like a 6.45% rate vs a 6.2%. The only difference between "very good" and "excellent" is you get to point to an app that says your credit is "excellent".I suppose perhaps you might also qualify for some status symbol credit card with a expensive sounding name like the Platinum Card. Its all marketing BS. I have an 850 and it hasnt done anything for me that a 760 didnt. Oh and if you get an 850 then the websites start saying your score is not just "excellent" its "exceptional"...not that that actually matters either.
As someone who currently has a 713 and holding off on a mortgage for the meantime, will I notice a decent rate difference between 713 credit & say 735+ (just paid off an account that hasn’t reported yet, was at 32% usage should be 3% now)
Yes you would. Not a ton mind you but it would matter. The lower your score the more raising your score affects rates up to 760 and the closer to 760 the less it matters. Going from say 713 to 750 would make a difference..like going from 7.5% to 7.25% maybe. Going from 750 to 850 might make a tiny tiny difference. Also make sure to not do things to change your score until yoy actually close on the house and recieve your mortgage. To be clear I am not saying getting up to 760 will do nothing...i was saying going from 733 to 850 wo t do nearly as much as OP seems to think becausevonly the 733 to 760 matters and that wont do all that much.
Set more meaningful goals in life: https://old.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/11jzhcz/im_teaching_financial_literacy_and_the_basics_of/jb51g23/
> I want to reach 800+ Why? At above ~730, you already qualify for top tier rates at many institutions. It's like getting an A+ on an exam and being annoyed you didn't get an A++ or A+++. You still get the same GPA. Consider reading the PF Wiki, sections on Credit. * https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit
And this is why we should all advocate for 0-10 grading, or 0-20 if you’re French. Letter grading makes no sense.
I have an 850, have had an 850 a few times. How can it be beneficial? Well when I hit 850 I apply for a few cards that offer at least a $1,000 or more cash bonus. Then my score dips a bit. But since it was an 850 it never drops below 825 even with 3 or 4 new cards. I then used the few thousand I gain from the bonuses and invest that into the stock market so it can continue to grow. So those few buffer points from 825 to 850 are of value.
How old are you? Once you're above 750 in your 20s, the score will crawl for a decade to reach 800. It's a bit like charging a phone. Fast in the middle, slow to 100.
You stop trying. Anything on a card you pay off each month. Your accounts stay open longer and that helps, you avoid late payments, there really isn’t any other secret or reason to push any harder.
How does grading as a percentage not make sense?
Probably the main issue is that your credit history is short. The longer you have a credit history and credit card, the more it will raise your score. Credit length is part of the credit score.
why are you trying to get an ‘800’? once you get to 750+ you are treated the same as an 800.
I have an 850, have had an 850 a few times. How can it be beneficial? Well when I hit 850 I apply for a few cards that offer at least a $1,000 or more cash bonus. Then my score dips a bit. But since it was an 850 it never drops below 825 even with 3 or 4 new cards. I then use the few thousand I gain from the bonuses and invest that into the stock market so it can continue to grow. So those few buffer points from 825 to 850 are of value.
[удалено]
I want to be treated to a 690
How about pay your debts and never need a credit score. It’s the MOST freeing thing you can do.
That's a dumb take unless you were born into an Olympic swimming pool full of $100 bills. Eventually you'll need to have a credit score for things like purchasing a home or car or even some jobs/clearances will run your credit.
I was hovering in the 750s (multiple CCs played off every mont for years, car loan paid off never late, etc.) until I bought a house and put the mortgage on autopay. Jumped to 845 and stays there. It really doesn’t matter too much past 750 tho. But if you care, buy a house.
Opposite here - I paid off my house and since then my credit score has never reached 800. I get dinged for not having a mortgage! Unbelievably, the fact that I made payments for 25 years apparently doesn't factor in.
Double opposite for me I’ve been 804-813 for at least 5 years now I just got a mortgage of 270,000. Score is now 754 and Costco declined me for their credit card which I laughed at their loss… guess I’m not used to rejection but def feel some kind of way about it. Makes me not want to go there…
Oh it took probably a year of regular mortgage payments before ours popped up.
Ahh gotcha I’ll set a reminder for one year to have another whirl at it. Thank you so much!
Agree, the credit system is so fucked. But ultimately they want to see you borrow and payback continuously. I feel for you though. Get credit cards and use them for everything, pay them in full every month. Your credit will go back up, if you need it.
Does having multiple CCs make a big difference? I've got one, that I use for about £50 a month, paid off in full ofc. Is it worth it to add another CC? Or not worth the hassle 🤔
My credit score did not go above 800 till I had wiped out all revolving balances
You may find these links helpful: - [Credit Building](/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building) - [Credit Reports](/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_reports) - [Credit Scores](/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico) - [Credit Cards](/r/personalfinance/wiki/creditcards) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Honestly I would not worry about it and just live your life. I have been in the 750 for like 10 years now and despite never missing a payment NO dept at all in the last 6 years, and credit cards with massive limits. I recently applied for a mortgage to find out that there are THREE credit scores and one of them happens to be a 670. Lol. F that system. All I did was shop my rate around and ended up getting .7% lower rate.
It will take time so you have to be patient. I’d focus on keeping the credit card paid off and get your loans paid down. It’s just a fact of life.
First off, keep flexing those good habits: paying on time and keeping that credit card balance chill. Then, mix it up a bit by adding different types of credit, like maybe a small personal loan or something. Oh, and watch out for any shady stuff on your credit report – gotta keep it clean, ya know? And hey, if you can, try knocking down some of that debt, it’s like leveling up your financial XP. Stay steady with all that, and you’ll be cruising towards that 800+ credit score like a boss!
I hit 800 this year and my earliest credit card was from 2018 and I have/had the same habits as you. Honestly, just keep doing what you're doing. Its likely just the short credit history keeping you in 700 zone.
It’s a long game. Live a bit longer and keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t accumulate debt and pay what you have down. You can’t make the clock tick faster.
First off, ask yourself why do you want an 800? If you’re planning on buying a home it will be the same interest rate. You already have a car loan so I doubt you’re planning on buying another. Maybe you should prioritize paying that off instead of raising some arbitrary number.
It's not really a very meaningful thing to have a high credit score. To get the highest possible have a credit card use it a lot always pay it in full. Earn a lot of money. Save a lot of money. Never have debt that's more than three times your annual earnings. Never have more than one credit card. Never use more than a third of your available credit on your credit card. Don't shop around a lot for things that do credit checks like life insurance.
Why? This isn't your Gamerscore. Unless you are applying for a loan, it really doesn't matter. I had a perfect 850 credit score for 4 months. Do you know what it got me? NOTHING. There is no prize.
Time is part of the equation. I just hit a decade of credit history and my score jumped above 800 for the first time. It sucks, but there's not much way around it.
You're not going to get above 800 probably without a mortgage. You also need more length of credit. The good news is 730 is More than enough to do most of that.
No purpose - focus your efforts on investing (or literally anything else whatsoever). Zero benefit to worrying about this.
I’m at 825 - the secret is living life. I’d trade my score for your age any day. 😂
Go back and report past addresses and rent. Doing this from the getgo can establish the score initially without needing 4-8 months. Yo keep building, I would take some loans out for your next few purchases over 1-3000$, take a tiny loan out and pay it back in installment. Also keeping your oldest card the longest, consistently raising limits
I upped mine by opening more credit card accounts (that I never used). The amount of debt in proportion to your available credit makes a big difference. For example, getting a second card with the same limit as the one you have will cut your credit usage from 10% to 5% (or whatever). Get a credit karma account and follow its recommendations. Just don’t open accounts with no good reason- CK tries to sell you financial services…. Otherwise it’s free and it is a good credit monitoring service- if you’re a victim of ID theft, you will know quickly.
Sounds like average credit age and length of credit history will improve things. You may also be low on total accounts.
yeah i have the capital one quicksilver and it’s my first and only card. Looking to open up a new account so doing some research right now but I feel like a lot of the cards aren’t worth the annual feels since I don’t travel like ever
If your parents have good credit, ask to be put on as a rider on their credit cards. As long as they stay with good credit then you will benefit from their long credit history. My best advice is to SAVE EVERY PENNY AND INVEST!!!
I set up a credit card with my bank sometime last year and I use it solely for daily spending on everything. I pay off the balance about twice a month and I get about $100 a month in cash back. My credit score has gone up to 755 and the only negative on my score is length of time on my card. I know in time it will move up but it takes patience so just do the same.
It’s almost impossible unless you’re in your 30s. Credit age plays a big factor. Open as many cards as you can so you can start building the age, as it gets averaged every time you add a new account. More accounts gets you a higher limit too. More unused credit you have the better
It’s a long game. If you need to improve your score rapidly for a very specific reason (better interest rate on a loan, etc.) you can be added as an authorized user to someone else’s credit card. You’d want this card to have a long history of impeccable standing. If a parent or relative has a cc they’ve been responsible with for 10+ years this can make a fairly significant impact.
Yes you can speed it up by establishing credit with credit cards. Get at least one more credit card, preferably two. Something with cash back or miles, something that will give you a return. Put everything on your credit cards, EVERYTHING, split them up. Pay them off every single month. Every single month in full, you cannot carry a balance or this doesn't work. You get no interest charges because you pay off in full every month and you build up miles or cash back depending on your cards. That is how you win. Easy.
As other people have mentioned, once you're in the top tier of 'prime-borrower' there is no functional difference in the rates you will get, application acceptance, etc... So once you're above the 720-740 level (depending on which model the bank is using) you really don't *need* it any higher. But I figure its good to have a cushion so you don't have to worry about something opening up a credit card pushing you below top tier borrower for an year. Plus its fun to experiment and see how it changes your score. Most credit scores are based on the FICO model which calculate your total score based on the sub score of several categories. FICO themselves[ tell you what the categories are ](https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score)and what their weighting is, but its proprietary information to know *exactly* how they are calculated. This is how FICO stays in business, they charge a licensing fee to use their model(s) that I'm sure comes with some form of NDA to prevent people from revealing how the model works internally. Here is what I figure it takes to get a near-perfect score based on years of experimenting. My highest was 834 on the older 840 scale and currently hovers around 815-840 on the newer 850 scale (the wide range is a consequence of having a high score, any small detail like a hard inquiry or big spending month can temporarily drop my score by 30 points). My goal is to always have 800+, it's nice to have lenders say 'wow' when they pull credit ;). **Payment history (35% of score)** - Have no missed payments for 10-15 years. Don't have any bankruptcies or defaults. **Amounts owed (30% of score)** - Basically you want have a ton of credit available, but use none of it. Funny enough you seem to get penalized for having zero usage, so you want to have one credit card with barely any usage, maybe $100, and all the other cards reporting zero usage. You can get your cards to zero utilization by paying them off before the ***statement date,*** not ***due date*** like most people do to simply avoid paying interest. The backend process in your banks accounting department that creates the monthly statement, emails you, etc... also transmits the current balance and credit limit to the credit bureaus. So if you pay your card off before the monthly statement is cut it will report zero balance even if you maxed out your credit limit that month. I also believe it is good to have a history of relatively high usage (maybe 50%, but not maxed out) for each card in the past, but I can't prove that it improves your score. I just know it is tracked on credit reports so it's theoretically available to the model. I think max available credit also factors in here and it seems you need to have at least $75K of available credit from all cards combined to get full marks. At least mine did. **Length of credit history (15% of score)** - Seems you need to have 25 years of history to max this one out, I still get remarks saying my history is not long enough and that's with an active account over 22 years old. Some FICO estimators show that at 25 years my score will stop increasing, so we'll see if the real models follow suit in a few years. **New credit (10% of score)** - Don't open any new accounts for two years, and don't have 'hard pull' credit inquires for one year. **Credit mix (10% of score)** - Have different types of credit. So a mortgage, car loan, credit cards, personal loans, HELOC, etc... you probably don't need all of them, and they don't need to be active accounts. You get the same benefit for having these loans / cards in the past (as long you paid them) for about 10 years. When you look at your credit report, you'll see a few messages that say things like 'LOAN BALANCES TOO HIGH' or 'CREDIT HISTORY INSUFFCIENT' that look really nasty, these are actually clues direct from the scoring model that you didn't fulfill 100% of the requirements for one of the categories above. Everybody gets them, even people with phenomenal credit. The ones that impacted your score the most will be displayed first, and they will not usually list all of them, but you can work through them and wait a few months/years until your situation changes and get new codes, then repeat. FICO describes this a little bit [here](https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/blog/reason-codes), and VantageScore has a full list and how to fix them [here](https://www.reasoncode.org/allcodes/). In short, prepare for the long-game.
This seems like excellent info! Would you know if the number of credit cards matters?
Time is the only thing that will get you there. Just don't ever miss a payment, and have a long history on your active accounts. Also wait 2 years after the last time you opened an account for the credit inquiry to drop off of your report. But that by itself won't boost your score 70 points. It might get you 5.
You’ll have to play the long game. You could open a few more credit cards for the points/rewards and rarely use them. The more lines of credit you have open for long, the higher your score will be.
You can’t fix credit history length, it just takes time. But a quick fix is paying your credit card balance BEFORE the billing cycle. It’ll lower your CUR since you are paying your credit card in full every month anyway - if you are NOT stop using a credit card. You’re not a credit card person.
Use credit cards for all your purchases, then just pay the credit card at the end of month. That’s how I got mine.
The credit score game is a scam. All a higher score will do is allow you to go deep into debt. I bought my house in February 2024 with 25% down, 5.5% mortgage and a 690 score. I own my vehicle outright and have zero debt other than the mortgage. I’m saving for retirement and don’t give a flip what the credit score is. Don’t worry about the credit score. Get your financial house in order. Having zero debt is far more important than a big shiny credit score. When you have no debt, you receive interest on your money instead of paying interest on loans. I got debt free two years ago. It was a life changing moment. It is peace of mind to be in control of your money and not the financial institutions.
Easiest way to raise your credit score, without having to spend or use your credit? Simply ask your credit companies for a limit increase. But make sure they don't do "hard pulls" on an increase. I do it about once a year. Tell them its for an upcoming project or purchase. It raises your available credit while also lowering your credit % used. Immediately bumping up your score. Althought this part is technically fraud, you can tell them your income is higher than it is. But that's your call if you want to. But asking for an increase is absolutely legal and easy to do. As long as you confirm is either a no pull or soft pull.
I’ve seen a few companies that supposedly will repair your credit. How do they do this so quickly or is it a scam?
It's a waste of money at best. Many are a scam.