How to Boost Your Credit Score With a Secured Credit Card

Secured credit cards are one of the ways to increase your credit score. You use your own money to generate a credit line with the bank. The bank then issues you a Visa or Mastercard that you can use to make purchases. The regular, on-time payments you make when the monthly statements arrive build a history of responsible payment that increases your credit score.

Instructions

1

Deposit money into the account that will serve as collateral for your card. You need from $50 to $500 cash to deposit into a secured credit card account.

2

Get your credit report and find out your current credit score to give you a starting point to build up your score. Get your credit report for free every 12 months by applying through AnnualCreditReport.com. Once you get your report(s), purchase your score for a fee from any third party credit score service or directly from any of the three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Transunion or Experian.

3

Apply for a secured credit card. Search online for secured credit cards or apply at a local bank. Start by applying at a bank where you have a checking or savings account.

4

Start making credit purchases with your new card. It's a good idea to make small purchases including groceries and gasoline first, before making larger purchases that may be more difficult to pay on time.

5

Make payments on time every month. Also, making payments above the minimum payment will accelerate the improvement of your credit score.

6

Request credit line increases after 90 days of paying on time.

7

Open additional secured credit accounts at different banks. This will increase the number of accounts that are reported to the credit bureaus. The more current accounts you have open, the better your credit score will be.

8

Check your credit score again after 90 days. If you made payments above the minimum by the due date, then you should start noticing improvements in your score.