5 Effective Steps to Help Raise Your Credit Score up to 200 Points

You can raise your credit score by 200 points by making every payment on time, paying down your debt, and being careful about which credit products you apply for. However, such a big jump in your score will take some time, and you’ll need to stay consistent to see results.

Factors that could be hurting your credit score

Having a good credit score can help you get lower interest rates, better loan terms, even premium credit card perks. Bad credit often means paying high interest rates, and sometimes it can prevent you from accessing credit at all.

The good news is that your credit history is like the weather. It changes frequently — even if it’s just a little bit at a time.

Here are the main factors that affect credit scores:

• Payment history (35%): Whether you make your payments on time or not has a big effect on your score. Late or missed payments will seriously lower your credit score. Make all your payments on time to raise your score.
• Amounts owed (30%): The closer you are to maxing out your credit cards, the riskier you appear to lenders. Paying down your balances can help boost your score.
• Length of credit history (15%): Although it’s possible to have a good credit score with a short credit history, a longer history should help improve your score.
• Credit mix (10%): Having only one type of credit account isn’t as strong as having multiple types, such as credit cards, installment loans, and mortgages.
• New credit (10%): Trying to open too many new credit accounts in a short time can appear to lenders like you’re desperate to get your hands on more cash. It’s better to space out your credit applications when possible.

Credit score ranges

A FICO credit score falls between 300 and 850. Raising your score by 200 points could mean the difference between rejected and approved, or between high and low interest rates, especially for big purchases like a car or home. For example, if you can take your credit score from 575 (“poor”) to 775 (“very good”), you could see big improvements in your ability to get affordable credit.

FICO score	Rating	What it means
300 - 579	Poor	Lenders see you as a risky borrower. It’ll be difficult or impossible to get credit.
580 - 669	Fair	Lenders consider your credit to be below average. You may find it tough to get approved, and likely will pay high interest rates
670 - 739	Average or Good	The average credit score in the U.S. is 717. Lenders view credit scores in this range as good.
740 - 799	Very Good	Scores in this range show lenders that you’re a dependable borrower with above-average credit.
800 - 850	Exceptional	Lenders see you as an excellent borrower. You’ll likely qualify for their lowest rates.

How long it will take your score to go up by 200 points

It’s impossible to deliver an exact timeline for how long it’ll take to raise your credit score by exactly 200 points, because there are so many variables involved. It could take a year or more of steady effort to see significant changes, especially if you’ve had negative information on your credit report in the past.

It's also worth keeping in mind that each of the three major credit bureaus weighs factors such as your payment history, credit utilization, and credit mix a little differently, so your score might vary slightly depending on which credit report you're looking at.

However, there are smart practices you can put into place starting today that will help improve your credit score in the coming months. And although you aren't going to score a 200-point increase overnight, you can definitely get a healthy head start by taking a few key actions now.

5 high-impact steps to boost your credit score

If I had to start over with my credit score, here’s what I would do to raise it fast.

1. Make every payment on time

Your record of on-time payments is the biggest factor of your FICO score. Lenders want to know you’ll pay them on time. Missing even just one or two payment deadlines can drop your score, and late payment information stays on your credit report for years. So make sure you make every payment on time, even if you can only submit the minimum balance due. It is absolutely the most important thing you can do.

If you’re bad with deadlines or can’t remember when you last paid your credit card balances, don’t make another move until you make sure you’re current on your accounts. If you’re overdue, make at least the minimum payment now. Automatic payments or calendar reminders can help you stay on top of due dates in the future.

2. Keep your credit card balances low

Paying on time is super important, but how much you spend on your credit cards is a close second. That’s because the next-biggest factor affecting your score is how much you actually owe your lenders in relation to how much you could borrow. This is known as your credit utilization ratio.

If you have a lot of credit card debt, focus on paying down those balances as quickly as possible. Many experts suggest limiting balances owed to no more than 30% of your available credit, but if you really want to impress the credit reporting agencies, consider spending even less. People with credit scores of 800 or above typically only use around 6% of their available credit, according to LendingTree. If you have $20,000 of total available credit spread across two or three types of credit accounts, for example, using just 5% of your credit would translate to a monthly balance of around $1,000.

3. Boost your available credit

If you’re not able to use less of your revolving credit, consider increasing the amount of credit you have access to. This is another way to help improve your score by lowering your credit utilization. There are a couple ways you can increase your available credit:

• Try contacting your card issuer to request a credit limit increase on an existing credit card. This can be as simple as a phone call to your credit card company.
• Apply for a new credit card account. Keep in mind that if you apply for a new card, it will typically result in a hard credit inquiry, and hard inquiries can lower your score by about five points.

Here’s the key: Make sure you don’t spend all that added credit. You want that newly available credit to stay available, or your utilization ratio won’t improve.

4. Review your credit report for errors

Make sure you know how to read your credit report and check it for errors that could be dragging down your score. Incorrect credit reports are a huge problem: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received more than 1.3 million complaints about consumer credit reporting in 2023. Clearing up any mistakes you find on your reports means you could boost your score significantly, and quickly, too. Here’s what to do:

• Request a free report: You can get a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus when you request it through AnnualCreditReport.com.
• Go through every page: Check the current balances and watch out for negative items, accounts, or other personal information you don’t recognize.
• Dispute any errors: If you find inaccuracies, you can dispute credit report errors to have the agency remove the information from your report.

5. Keep your old credit cards open

Age of credit relationships counts toward 15% of your FICO credit score, so resist the temptation to close old credit cards, if possible. Not only does an unused credit card help your credit utilization rate, but it also helps establish your record of maintaining long-term relationships with credit card companies.

Other ways to boost your score

If you consistently pay your mobile phone, insurance, and utility bills on time, you might consider signing up for Experian Boost. This free program uses your bank account and bill payment information to bulk up your Experian credit profile, which could raise your credit score.

Boost works quickly, and the average user observed a credit score increase of 13 points after signing up, according to Experian. The downside is that only Experian uses Boost, not the other credit bureaus, so you won’t notice a change in your Equifax or TransUnion reports.

FAQ

Bottom line

While there's no exact roadmap to raise your credit score by 200 points, making monthly payments on time is critical, and so is paying down debt. Taking actions like opening an installment loan or signing up for Experian Boost can also have an impact. But remember, just like credit scores can go up, they also go down. Keep your momentum going by making these tips more than one-time tasks. In order to really build credit, you need to turn these best practices into habits.

Finally, stay the course and remember that it takes time for credit and your personal finances to improve. You won’t see a 200-point increase right away, but with months of careful payments and responsible credit use, you should see your credit score begin to rise.