5 tips to boost your credit score fast

The Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card is no longer available to new applicants.

A good credit score can help you get better rates on loans, lines of credit and insurance. However, it can be difficult to boost your credit score quickly.

To get started, you need the right tools and knowledge of the strategies to increase your score.

"Understanding the specific circumstances as to what is impacting your score is your first step in understanding how to quickly increase your credit score," Jim Triggs, president and CEO of nonprofit credit counseling agency Money Management International, Inc (MMI), previously told CNBC Select.

Below, Select walks you through how to quickly increase your credit score — and tools to make it happen.

Experian Boost allows you to pull on-time payments you've made — like those for rent, utilities and Wi-Fi — onto your credit report.

People who use Experian Boost typically see an average 13-point increase, Experian claims. Plus, it's free.

In addition, you can also use this service to run an identity security scan.

If you have the funds to pay more than your minimum payment each month, you should do so. Chipping away at your revolving debt can have a major impact on your credit score by helping keep your credit utilization rate low. 

"How quickly [your score can go up] depends on how quickly the individual creditors report the paid balance on the consumer's credit report," Triggs said. "Some creditors report within days of the payment, some report at a specific time each month." 

Credit card companies typically report your statement balance to the credit bureaus monthly, but this could vary depending on your issuer. If you're unsure, you can call or chat online with your card issuer to find out when they report balances to the bureaus.

The sooner you can pay off your balance each month, the better. You can also make multiple payments toward your balance throughout the month, which makes it easier to track your spending and keeps your balance low. While it helps to pay off a portion of your debt, paying off the entire balance will have the biggest and fastest impact on your credit score.

Another way to do this is to take out a personal loan to pay down the debt. On top of lowering your credit utilization, this type of financing will usually come at a lower rate, which means you'll pay less over the life of the loan. However, you may not get a lower rate and you typically have to pay an origination fee, which can be 1% to 5% of the overall loan amount.

You can increase your credit limit one of two ways: Either ask for an increase on your current credit card or open a new card. The higher your overall available credit limit, the lower your credit utilization rate — as long as you're not maxing out your card each month. Before asking for a credit limit increase, make sure you won't be tempted to spend more than you can afford to pay off.

If you are considering opening a new credit card, do your research beforehand. How often you apply for and open new accounts gets factored into your credit score. Each application requires the card issuer or lender to pull your credit report, which results in a hard inquiry on your report and dings your credit score a few points.

"Usually the negative impact of those factors is much less than the benefit to your score of reducing your credit utilization ratio," Triggs said. Just make sure you don't apply for too many credit cards in a short period of time and send a red flag to issuers.

It's more important now than ever to do your research before applying for new credit because issuers may have stricter terms and requirements.

Most of the best rewards credit cards require good or excellent credit to qualify, but there are some cards designed for those with less-than-stellar credit. The Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card has no fees whatsoever, offers cash back and allows applicants with no credit history to apply. If you have a credit file, it does factor into the application process. The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card accepts fair or average credit and offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

One way to quickly increase your credit score is to review your credit report for any errors that could be negatively impacting you. Your score may increase if you are able to dispute them and have them removed. 

Some 27% of Americans surveyed in a 2024 Consumer Reports and WorkMoney study found errors in their report, so it's important to take the time to review. Some common errors to look out for include fraudulent or duplicated accounts, as well as misreported payments.

"Most of the clients we meet with have not reviewed their report within the past year, and are often surprised by what we find to discuss with them," MMI Vice President of Public Relations Thomas Nitzsche told CNBC Select for a previous version of this story.

You may have a series of late payments on your credit report, or perhaps an old collection account that's since been paid off still shows up. If this is the case, ask that they be removed. And if you do have a collection account that's unpaid, make this a priority. Unpaid collection accounts can negatively impact your score.

This step may take more time and effort on your end, but it could be worth it. Triggs suggests speaking to the collections agency, debt buyer or original creditor (depending on who now services your account) to remove a paid-off account from your credit report. 

"You'd most likely have better results using this method with collection agencies or debt buyers versus the original creditor," he said.

Try to convince them to not only show the account as paid, but to remove the account altogether, which could have a much bigger impact on your credit score. "Having even a paid collection account or paid charge-off on your credit report could deter creditors in issuing you future credit at all," Triggs said.

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