Four ways to raise your credit score

InvestigateTV - Credit scores are key to your financial success: they impact your ability to borrow money, sign up for services like utilities, and while potential employers can’t see your actual score, they do have access to certain aspects of your credit report and could potentially make hiring decisions based on your credit history.

According to the financial website Nerdwallet, “Employers sometimes check credit to get insight into a potential hire, including signs of financial distress that might indicate risk of theft or fraud.”

Your FICO score, the most commonly used credit score, constantly changes with your credit activity with fluctuations reflecting your buying and spending patterns.

FICO ranks scores from poor to exceptional

· <580 Poor

· 580-669 Fair

· 670-739 Good

· 740-799 Very Good

· 800+ Exceptional

If you need to improve your score, it could take you a few months especially if you’re trying to improve it by a hundred points or more.

Cherry Dale a financial coach with the Virginia Credit Union shared advice for anyone wanting to improve their score.

Pay your bills on time: 35% of your score comes from on time payments

Don’t over borrow: Try to use only 30% or less of your available credit lines.

Don’t max out credit cards: A maxed out card will lower your score

Keep your accounts open: The length of your credit history makes up 15% of your FICO score, with accounts over two years old having a more positive impact than newer accounts.

MyFICO has an online education center with in-depth explanations of scoring, plus a free score estimator. Most major banks and credit cards also offer free FICO scores with accounts.

Edit – A previous version of this story said your credit score could be used by potential employers as a hiring factor. Prospective employers can only get access to parts of your credit report, but not your credit score.

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