Short answer…
- Pay down your current balances
- Increase your current Credit Limits
- Dispute Inaccurate Information
- Consolidate Debt
- Re-open closed account
Longer answer…
The phrasing of your question is extremely important and we are glad you asked it that way as only you can improve your Credit Score.
Before we go further it is important to note that we are not fans of Credit Repair as it is unreliable and are the companies who offer it and are not effective long term.
So, what do you do? In short, focus on your present and future Credit profile and not so much your past.
You may or may not know this but the more you have in available credit the higher your credit score and of course it goes without saying that you must make your payments on time. After all, a Credit Score is numerical representation of your ability to enter financial agreements and keep them as promised, no mortgage lender wants to lend money to homeowners who do not have a track record of keeping their agreements.
How then can you focus on your credit present and future when your credit past is keeping you from getting approved for new credit cards? That is a fair question and one we get asked often and the answer is Secure Credit Cards.
The Credit Card companies’ reluctance to issue credit has to do with a consumers current credit rating and a Secure Credit Card allows you to leverage some on your already existing money for an equal to or higher credit balance. You basically give the Secure Credit Card company $500 and they give a Credit Card with an available balance of $500+.
The key now is responsibly manage your new Credit Card so that you are able to get approved for more credit in the future.
We have found that keeping your outstanding balance below 50% of your available balance and less than 20% for maximum results.
For example, if you have a $500 available credit limit, you do not want your balance to exceed $250 and it best to keep it less than $100.
The reason for this is you want to communicate to the Credit Bureaus that you are so financially responsible that you do not need to use their credit as you have your own means/income of making purchases. So, all this said again, the key to good credit is:
- Focus on the Present and Future
- The more available Credit you have, the higher your Credit Score (keep balances less than 50% and for the best results less than 20%
- Always make on time payments
