Once you know your credit score, you can follow these tips to improve your rating:
1. Pay your bills on time.
Delinquent payments can have a negative impact on your credit score- while the longer you pay your bills on time, the better your score. For example, someone with an average credit rating of 707 can raise their score by as much as 20 points by paying all their bills on time for one month.
2. Keep balances low on credit cards.
High outstanding debt can affect your credit score. Maxing out your credit cards could lower your average score by as much as 70 points.
3. Don't open new credit cards that you don't need.
New accounts will lower your average account age, which could actually lower your score by up to 10 points.
4. Have credit cards - but manage them responsibly.
In general, having credit cards and installment loans (and making timely payments) will raise your credit score. Someone with no credit cards, for example, tends to be higher risk than someone who has managed credit cards responsibly.
5. Closing an account doesn't make it go away.
A closed account will still show up on your credit report and may be factored into the score.
