Advanced Tactics

If you’re really trying to improve your credit score in a hurry, there are some other techniques you can use. For example, your credit reports will reveal the date each month on which your creditors report your information to the credit bureaus.

Most creditors provide this information just once a month, and the odds are that the date does not correspond with your payment due date. So, if you want to pay off a balance and have it show up as paid ASAP on your credit report, you need to make sure the payment reaches the creditor in time to be processed before that company’s reporting date.

In addition to finessing your payment dates, you also may want to consider rapid rescoring. This is useful if you’re in the middle of trying to qualify for a loan and you need your credit score updated right away—as fast as within 72 hours.

You can’t take care of this one yourself. You will need to work with a lender that has a relationship with a rapid rescoring service.

But if, for example, you just paid off a big outstanding balance on a credit card or you just paid off a car loan—or if there’s a major error on your credit report—rapid rescoring will make sure your credit score reflects the new information quickly.

However, you will have to pay for this service, usually around $50 for each account that needs to be updated for the new rescoring. Still, the $50 or $100 you pay can be well worth it to save tens of thousands of dollars in interest over the course of a 30-year home loan.

Next: Playing With the Numbers