How can I increase my credit score fast?

There is no magic bullet to boost your credit score fast, unfortunately. If you’re trying to boost your credit, the best things to do are:

1. Start or keep building a positive payment history. Making on-time payments every month is a must, so if you’ve had trouble with that in the past, start there. Payment history accounts for 35 percent of your credit score, meaning making your monthly payments on time goes a long way toward boosting your credit.
2. Pay down your balances. The lower you can get those balances, the more available credit you’ll have, which is good for your credit utilization ratio and even better for your credit score. Keeping a low credit utilization — below 30 percent at least, but ideally within single digits — is another surefire way to keep a strong credit standing.
3. See if you can increase your available credit. You might be able to increase your available credit by requesting a credit limit increase on an existing card or applying for a new credit card (watch out for the temporary ding a “hard inquiry” or credit check might do for the second option though).
4. Check your credit score often. Keep up to date with your credit by checking it regularly. Checking your credit report — you can get a free one at AnnualCreditReport.com — and verifying that all the information is accurate is a good idea too.