A good credit score goes hand and hand with good savings. By boosting your credit score you are only opening up doors to lenders who can help you save money. A good credit score is typically thought to be between a 670 and 850 in the FICO credit score modeling. No matter whether your credit is helping you buy your first home or simply a new car, it can go a long way to making your monthly payments more affordable. Here are a few tips to help you boost your credit score!

1. Check Your Credit Score

In order to improve your credit, you need to have a general idea of what your credit score is. Pull a copy of your credit report from each of the three major national credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Using these reports can show you what is helping and hurting your credit score. On-time payments and low credit balances can benefit your credit score, whereas late payments, high credit balances, and collection items can contribute to a lower credit score.

2. Don’t Miss Payments

Your payment history is one of the biggest factors when it comes to determining your credit score, and having a history of being on time can greatly boost your credit score. Setting up automatic payments can help you avoid any late payments. If you are struggling to pay your bills on time, make sure to reach out to them to discuss any potential hardship options. Subscriptions and memberships will not help build your credit score but if not paid on time they could hurt it.

3. Guard Your Personal Information

Hackers and identity thieves might try and seize your personal information in order to open fraudulent credit accounts. Often times they do this under the radar and wreak havoc on your credit without you even knowing. Protect your personal information by choosing strong passwords, limiting where you give out your information, and being more aware of the potential risk that comes from identity fraud.

4. Get Credit to Improve Credit

If your credit is too low for a loan then sign up for a secured credit card. With a secured credit card, you put down an initial deposit, and that deposit acts as your credit limit. Make sure the credit card you use reports to all the major credit reporting services in order to boost your credit.

Are you trying to view your credit score for free?

Consider viewing your FICO Credit score through the ALLIANCE Mobile banking app or online banking.