The higher your credit score, the better opportunities you have for attractive interest rates, credit cards with incentives, and the best loan terms. When your credit score is excellent, lenders know that loaning to you poses very little risk to them. If your credit score is 800 or higher, you’re in the top category, and your score is considered exceptional. Let’s look at an 800 credit score: how you can get there.
Steps to Take to Improve Your Credit Score
If you already have a good credit score, taking a few simple actions can bring your credit score as high as 800 or higher. If you’re just starting to build or rebuild credit, taking these steps will help to improve your score, and consistent action toward being financially responsible will be reflected in your credit score over time.
- Pay bills on time. The single most important thing to do to improve your credit score is to always pay bills on time, if you’re not doing that already. Your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your credit score in many credit scoring models. To avoid missing a due date, set up automatic payments.
- Keep credit utilization low. Another major factor in your credit score is your credit utilization. This refers to the percent of available revolving credit that you’re using. It’s a good idea to avoid borrowing more than 30 percent of your credit card limits. If your credit utilization is higher than that, pay down balances to bring up your credit score.
- Pay down overall debt. Potential lenders look at not only the percent of available credit that you’re using, but also the total amount that you owe. If you have a lot of debt, paying down your total debt can help to improve your credit score.
- Avoid applying for new credit too often. Whenever you apply for new credit, the potential lender requests a copy of your credit report from the credit bureau, a process known as a hard inquiry. Frequent hard inquiries can hurt your credit score.
- Improve your credit mix. If you only have one type of credit, such as a credit card, consider getting another type of credit, like a car loan or a personal loan. Your credit mix has a small impact on your credit score.
- Avoid closing old accounts. The age of your accounts has a small effect on your credit score. If you pay off the balance of a credit card you’ve had for some time, don’t rush to close the account. Doing so affects the age of your credit and can have a slight negative impact on your credit score.
Check your credit report at least annually to make sure there’s no incorrect information. If there is, it may be hurting your credit score. Dovly is an automated credit repair engine that can help you dispute errors you find on your credit reports. Get in touch with Dovly today.
