How to build credit fast
Key takeaways
- High credit scores come with numerous benefits, such as lower interest rates, larger lines of credit and better rewards.
- Exploring the fastest ways to build credit can help you take advantage of these perks as quickly as possible.
- You’ll need to maintain your credit by making your payments on time and keeping your balances low.
A high credit score can make it easier to reach your financial goals, whether buying a new car or getting approved for a mortgage. If your credit score isn’t as high as you’d like — or you have no credit history — you may be eager to raise your score as quickly as possible.
While good credit doesn’t happen overnight, there are things you can do to start seeing improvements quickly.
How fast can you build credit?
How fast you can build credit depends on various factors, including your current score and the strategies you use.
You may be able to incrementally improve your score within a few months if you:
- Make on-time payments.
- Keep your credit card balances low.
- Diversify your credit accounts.
However, building a solid credit history is a gradual process that takes time and consistent effort. While you can see progress relatively quickly, a high credit score usually requires years of positive credit behavior. Rebuilding credit after a significant negative event, like bankruptcy or a defaulted loan, can take longer.
Keep in mind: Even when you’re sprinting toward a higher score, be patient, stay disciplined and track your progress to make adjustments when needed.
9 ways to build credit fast
While there’s no quick-fix way to get a good credit score fast, there are many tactics you can use to start building credit quickly. Some changes can take effect as soon as a single reporting cycle, while others may take a few months to pay off.
Note that positive information is weighed more heavily than older information, so the most important thing is to maintain good financial habits. None of these things will have as big an impact as making payments on time.
1. Dispute credit report errors
Almost half of people (44 percent) have errors on their credit reports. While most of those errors don’t cause negative credit effects, some do. Errors on your credit report may leave you with a score that’s lower than you deserve, and disputing those errors can help you quickly improve your score.
To get started, access your free annual credit reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. Carefully review each report for errors, including on-time payments wrongly reported as missed or incorrectly reported credit limits.
If you find an error, gather evidence to support your dispute, such as billing statements or correspondence with creditors. You can then submit your dispute to the credit bureaus online, by mail or over the phone. For many people, online disputes are the quickest option. You can visit the three major credit bureaus’ online dispute centers at:
Once your dispute is submitted, the credit bureau will investigate the error by contacting the creditor or lender. If the information is incorrect or unverifiable, the credit bureau must either remove or correct it.
A credit repair company can do the dispute process for you if you don’t want to do it yourself and can easily afford the service.
2. Pay down your credit card balances
Your credit utilization ratio is one of the most important factors affecting your credit score. It measures how much of your available revolving credit you’re currently using. As a general rule, aim to use no more than 30 percent of your revolving credit.
Credit scoring models look at both your overall and per-account credit utilization, and they typically only consider the most recently reported balances. You may be able to quickly improve your credit by paying down the card with the highest utilization ratio.
3. Become an authorized user
If you have a friend or family member with excellent credit, becoming an authorized user on their credit card can be an effective strategy to build credit. An authorized user is someone who has official permission to use someone else’s card.
To become an authorized user on someone else’s credit account, the primary cardholder must add you to their credit card. Typically, there’s no credit check required. You can use the card for purchases, but the primary cardholder is responsible for making payments. Your credit report may reflect the card’s full on-time payment history.
Becoming an authorized user on someone else’s account may help build your credit. However, there are some risks involved — if the primary cardholder racks up a large balance or pays the bill late, it could hurt your credit. It could also hurt your relationship with the primary cardholder if you spend more than they are comfortable with.
4. Deal with delinquent accounts
All credit accounts have a minimum payment for each monthly billing cycle. This is the amount required to keep your account in good standing. If your payment is more than 30 days past due, the account is considered delinquent. The lender may charge off the account or send the debt to collections.
Getting caught up on past-due accounts can help improve your credit. Once you’ve brought an account current, you can try writing a goodwill letter to ask the creditor to remove the negative mark from your credit report. This strategy may be more likely to work if you fall behind on payments due to a situation out of your control.
If the account has been sent to collections, paying the past-due debt may still help your credit. Some newer credit scoring models ignore all paid collections accounts. Another option to consider is a pay-for-delete arrangement, where you ask the debt collector to remove the negative mark on your credit in exchange for payment.
5. Open a credit card account
One especially effective way to build credit is to open a credit card account. Your credit score might get dinged a little when you apply, but on-time payments can offset that quickly. Responsible credit card use, such as making timely payments and keeping balances low relative to credit limits, can help you establish a positive credit history.
If you have no credit history or poor credit, you can explore credit cards that are easier to get approved for. Retail credit cards tend to require only a fair score, so check to see if your favorite store offers its own card. Student credit cards can also be a good option if you’re new to credit.
If you’re having trouble getting approved for a card, you may need to explore secured credit cards. You put down a deposit (like $500 or $1,000), and that amount becomes your credit limit. The lender will report on-time payments on the account to the credit bureaus.
6. Take out a credit builder loan
A credit-builder loan is designed to help anyone with limited or poor credit history build credit by making regular, on-time payments.
With a credit builder loan, the lender holds the loan funds in a savings account or certificate of deposit (CD) as collateral. While you make monthly payments toward the loan, these payments are reported to the credit bureaus.
Once the loan is paid off, you receive access to the funds, and your timely payments are reflected positively on your credit report, potentially improving your credit score.
7. Request a credit limit increase
If you already have revolving credit in the form of credit cards or lines of credit, you may be able to improve your credit fast by increasing your total credit limit. Once approved, an increased limit on one account can decrease your overall credit utilization, which can boost your credit score.
For example, imagine you have only one credit card. It has a $500 balance and $1,000 limit, meaning you’re using 50 percent of your available credit. If the lender agrees to raise the limit to $2,000, your $500 balance is now only 25 percent of your available credit.
Most of the time, you will only be approved for a credit increase when your account with the lender is in good standing. While each bank and lender has different requirements to approve credit increases, an increase may be more likely to be approved when accounts are paid off or have a low balance.
8. Keep a mix of different account types
Maintaining a diverse mix of credit accounts can be another way to build credit fast. Keep in mind, though, that while multiple accounts of various types can be beneficial, it won’t help if all of your accounts are maxed out.
Consider multiple types of funding like:
- Auto loans
- Credit cards
- Mortgages
- Personal lines of credit
- Student loansMaintaining variety with your credit shows credit bureaus that you can manage multiple types of credit responsibly. This can contribute to a higher credit score.
9. Get credit for your monthly bills
Payment history is one of the most important credit scoring factors. Paying back your loans as agreed helps build your credit, while late payments or missed payments can hurt your credit. If you’re trying to build credit from scratch, having your regular monthly bills or even rent payments reported to the credit bureaus could give your score a quick boost.
Experian Boost is one option to consider. With this free service, Experian looks through two years of your payment history for qualifying bills like rent, utilities and streaming services, then adds the on-time payments to your credit report. Experian says its service can instantly raise users’ scores by an average of 13 points.
There are also credit-building apps to help you get credit for paying your regular bills on time, though fees may apply.
Next steps
Building credit is a journey that requires patience, but there are many steps you can take to start seeing results quickly. Disputing credit report errors, becoming an authorized user and getting credit for your regular monthly bills are just a few of the strategies you may consider using, depending on your situation.
