Boost Your Credit Score

By: Russ Riesinger | WSAV News 3
Published: January 06, 2009

If you need a loan or want a new credit card, a high credit score will help get you a good rate.

Problem is financial institutions are getting tougher about how good a score you need.

We found some ways to help you boost your credit score.

Consumer Harly Golub: "I took a look at my credit score and I wasn't happy with the number, so I closed some of my accounts to reduce my outstanding credit limits and that brought my score up."

Kelli Grant of smartmoney.com: "About two years ago, you could have had a score of about 620 or so to get a lender's best rate on something. Now, lenders are really looking at a rate of 760 at the least."

To get your current credit score you'll have to pay for it. You can go to myfico.com and order from any one of the three credit bureaus.

"You get a lot of great personalized information that will tell you why your score is the way it is and then what you can do to improve it."

To raise your score, try paying off more on your credit cards than you have been.

"Paying your bills on time: that is the most important thing you can do. One late payment is really going to trash your score by about 100 points or more."

And although paying with cash might help your budget, it won't help your credit score.

"You can't just go to a cash only basis and expect your score to improve. They need to see good borrowing behavior for you to see a major improvement in your score."

Credit bureau information is available on our Consumer page .