I know firsthand how a low credit score can ruin a person’s buying power. I was once denied buying a $400 couch on credit because my credit was in such bad shape.
That was many years ago, and I’ve since rebuilt my score, but it took a long time. That’s why I was curious recently when I saw Experian Boost®, which says it can potentially instantly raise your credit score for free.
While the results of using the service vary, I boosted my score by 28 points in just minutes. Here’s how.
The Experian Boost® process is relatively simple. You have to link your bank account to Experian, which may be a dealbreaker for some people, and then the company looks at two years of payment history for specific bills.
Experian looks for qualifying bills with at least three payments in the last six months. These bills may include phone bills, rent payments, utility bills, insurance, internet, and even video streaming payments.
Once Experian finds them, you can choose which bills you’ll connect. In my case, I connected my water, electricity, and internet bills to my credit file. The entire process took about two minutes, and my score jumped 28 points from 752 to 780.
If your score improves, Experian says the average increase is 13 points. It’s worth mentioning that your score can go down using Experian Boost®. But Experian says on its website that if this happens, you can unlink your bill accounts, and your score should return to its previous number.
How your score is calculated
Credit reporting agencies use five main categories to calculate your credit score, and the top three account for 80% of your score. The categories include:
- Payment history (35%)
- Amounts owed (30%
- Length of credit history (15%)
- The types of credit you have (10%)
- Account inquiries (10%)
Your FICO® Score can range from 300 to 850, with everyone’s score falling into a category of poor (300 to 579), fair (580 to 669), good (670 to 739), very good (740 to 799), and exceptional (800 to 850).
The best thing you can do to improve your score
One of the best things you can do to improve your score is to pay your bills on time. Payments over 30 days late may be added to your credit report and can last up to seven years. The good news is that the influence a late payment has on your credit score decreases over time.
One way to avoid late payments is to set automatic payments through your bank account. If you think you might miss a payment, it’s important to contact your creditor immediately and talk to it about a payment plan. Contacting the creditor before you miss a payment and working out a schedule may help keep a late payment off your credit report.
Additionally, reducing the money you owe on your credit accounts can dramatically improve your credit score. For example, if you have three credit cards, each with $3,000 on them, paying down one of those accounts — or, ideally, paying it off entirely — will help raise your score because you’ve lowered your debt.
No matter what your credit score is right now, if you have on-time payments you want linked to your credit file, Experian Boost® may be worth trying. If your score doesn’t improve, you can always unlink your accounts for now and try again later when your on-time payments have improved.
Alert: our top-rated cash back card now has 0% intro APR until 2025
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a lengthy 0% intro APR period, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee! Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.