Tips to increase your credit score

Tips to increase your credit score

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Story Published: Jan 2, 2009 at 8:12 AM PDT

Story Updated: Jan 2, 2009 at 5:11 PM PDT

By Herb Weisbaum & Good Housekeeping

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SEATTLE -- If you want to get a good interest rate on a loan or credit card, you need a good credit score. Financial institutions are getting tougher on how high that score needs to be.

"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," said Kelli Grant with www.smartmoney.com

She says you can find your current score at www.myfico.com

"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," Grant said.

To raise your score, try paying off more on your credit cards than you have been. And no matter what -- don't be late.

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

You may be tempted to go to a cash-only basis. But that won't improve you score. It takes good borrowing behavior to reduce the impact of bad things like late payments.

For more information:

www.pueblo.gsa.gov

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