Quick Ways to Improve Credit Rating

Quickly improving your credit rating could help you qualify for loans at lower interest rates, potentially saving you thousands of dollars in finance charges. Microsoft Money reported on its website in 2010 that more than 30 million people in the U.S. had credit scores below 620 -- the so-called cutoff for good credit and competitive rates on loans. For the best interest rates, you should increase your score to at least 740, Microsoft says.

Credit Repair

Removing negative entries from your credit report could result in an immediate boost in your credit score. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute any information on your credit report that is inaccurate or outdated. Microsoft Money says you should regularly review your credit report for accounts that are not yours; accounts that are reporting as late when you have always paid on time; and any negative information that is more than seven years old. You can have inaccurate or outdated information removed from your credit report by writing letters to the nationwide credit bureaus. Federal law requires them to remove the inaccurate or outdated information within 30 days after being contacted by you.

Major Credit Cards

Opening a new MasterCard or Visa credit card account -- and maintaining a flawless payment record -- could also boost your credit score, according to Microsoft Money. The site says a good track record with a major credit card can improve your score faster than through the use of a gas station or department store card.

Timely Payments

Making on-time payments on all of your accounts is a must, according to the credit website BCS Alliance. The site says the quickest way to get back on track or to start improving your score is to simply pay your bills on time. Being late on just one of your credit cards or loan accounts could cause your scores to drop.

Debt Reduction

Paying down your balances could also help improve your credit score. Equifax, one of the leading credit bureaus, says maxing out your credit cards is a mistake -- even if you are making the minimum payments on time. To quickly raise your credit score, pay down your balances as much as possible. Equifax reported on its site in 2010 that on average, people in the U.S. with revolving credit accounts were using only 22 percent of their credit lines.