How Long Does It Take to Raise Your Credit Score 100 Points?

There are many reasons why people would like to have a higher credit score and the good news is that there are many ways to try and raise your credit score by 100 points. The length of time that this change occurs can differ but is based upon the methods you use to raise it. Your FICO score (beacon score) can range from 300-850, also, please note that there are three scores available, via Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

Payment History

Thirty-five percent of your score is based upon payment history, so every month that you make a payment on time is positive to your account. You receive bonus points every year that you continue paying your accounts on time. You will lose points if you have a late payment, collection account, charge-off, foreclosure or judgment placed on your report.

Utilization

Thirty percent of your score is based upon your utilization of credit. This is talking about the balances you have on each credit card. This is the fastest way to increase your credit score in a short amount of time. You get the maximum amount of points when your balance is 1 percent to 9 percent of your available credit line. The good news is you also gain points for every 10 percent you reduce your debt, so if you go from a balance of 80 percent of your credit line to 40 percent of your credit line, you will also gain points. The other important thing to note is that you should also only have balances on about half of your credit cards. You will get extra points if you pay off a card that leaves you with less cards carrying balances.

History

Fifteen percent of your score is from your established history. You receive points every year that you have a positive trade line open.

Inquiries

Ten percent of your score is based off of inquiries. Who has been checking your credit and how many people? If you have too many inquiries you will lose points in your scores. Inquires remain on your report for two years, however they stop deducting points for those inquiries after one year.

Mix of credit

Ten percent of your score is based upon the mix of credit that you have. This is referring to the different types of credit mortgages, car loans, credit cards, student loans, etc. If you only have one type of credit, you will gain points by diversifying your credit file and using another type of credit.

Timeline

Credit bureaus update your scores daily based upon the information that they are given by your creditor. Therefore, if you substantially pay down your debt, make sure you have a good mix of credit, pay on time and don't try to open too many new lines of credit at once, you can raise your score by 100 points in as little as a few days (depending on how often creditors update your files--many do it every month), to a few months, or to years if you don't have anything else to do aside from letting history set in.