Experts Offer Advice On Improving Credit Score

While there is no "magic bullet" to instantly improve your credit score, a couple of Cheyenne  financial experts say there things you can do that will eventually improve your score.

First Education Federal Credit Union President Jim Yates says it's important to understand that nothing you do will have an instant impact. That's because most creditors don't report more than once every 30 days, so any steps you take will not have an effect for at least a month and more likely two months.

But he says one of the first steps to take, if you can afford to, is to completely pay off any large credit card balances. First Education Vice President Ann Lucas says another step you can take is to talk to your bank about increasing your credit limit. She says most banks will do this because they expect you to spend more.

But she says the key is to not increase your spending even with the increased limit, which she says "takes some discipline".

Yates also says that people who have no credit need to understand that making monthly payments on things such as rent and utilities generally won't give you a credit score. So he says if you don't have credit you may want to consider applying for a credit card and paying it off monthly.

He says another option for building credit is a share secured loan, where you make a deposit to guarantee a loan. But he says if you do that you should make the payments as scheduled, because paying the whole loan off the next month actually won't help your credit as much.