What is the Quickest Way to Raise My Credit Score?

A credit score is a measure of your ability to handle credit. It is a number between 300-900. Having a high credit score makes it easier for you to avail loans as well as credit cards. Banks and lenders refer to your credit score before approving your loan or credit card application. Here are some of the quickest ways to increase your credit score: 1. Pay bills on time: It is extremely important to pay all your bills on time. Avoid making delayed payments as they negatively affect your credit score. Set up simple reminders to pay the bills on time as this will help you improve your credit score. 2. Pay all the outstanding bills: Make sure to pay off all the outstanding bills to improve your score as soon as possible. Payment history is one of the factors that is taken into consideration while calculating the credit score. A history of delayed payments affects your credit score. Also, avoid paying only the minimum amount due on your credit card. Try to pay the full bill to keep the outstanding amount low. 3. Check your credit report: It is important to check your credit report regularly as it may have errors. If you find errors in your credit report, you can report to the credit bureau immediately and get it fixed. As per the directive from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it is mandatory for all the credit bureaus in India to offer one free credit report in one financial year. 4. Do not remove old accounts from the report: Do not remove old accounts, deactivated accounts or accounts with negative history from your credit report. Your credit score will be harmed if you remove old accounts that may have a good repayment history. Also, if you have paid your debts, then you should keep them in your report as they will improve your score and also show your creditworthiness. 5. Maintain a low credit utilization ratio:  The utilization amount should ideally be lower than the credit limit of a card. Maintaining a low credit utilisation ratio is important to improve your credit score. Higher credit utilization ratio shows that you are overusing your money and will not be able to pay back the balanced amount. You can get a higher credit score if you follow these simple steps. Keeping a track off all the aforementioned steps will help you get a quicker loan or credit card application.