cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

quickest way of improving my credit score

tag
uptown4784
Established Member

quickest way of improving my credit score

My credit score is around 590. I want to improve it asap.

 

I have three credit cards with a balance of

 

Capital one- 549

 

Express-580

 

Capital One- 148


 Should I pay off capital one with 148 balance? Or use the 150 to pay off the other ones? thank you

Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
denver133
Frequent Contributor

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score

What's the CLI on each card?

My Cards: CSP: $5,000 // Hyatt: $5,000 // Cap1 Venture: $5,000 // US Bank Plat: $3,500 // Discover: $1,000 // AMEX BCE: $1,000 // Lowes: $5,500 // Furniture Row: $3,500 // Buckle Store Card: $750

Current MyFico Scores: EX 687 EQ 696 TU 687 Gardening from 5/15 till 5/16

Message 2 of 9
denver133
Frequent Contributor

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score

Sorry. CL.

My Cards: CSP: $5,000 // Hyatt: $5,000 // Cap1 Venture: $5,000 // US Bank Plat: $3,500 // Discover: $1,000 // AMEX BCE: $1,000 // Lowes: $5,500 // Furniture Row: $3,500 // Buckle Store Card: $750

Current MyFico Scores: EX 687 EQ 696 TU 687 Gardening from 5/15 till 5/16

Message 3 of 9
DaBears
Senior Contributor

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score

What is the credit lines of the cards? Keep all but one card between 1-9% UTIL will give you the fastest score bump it also depends what else is on your credit reports. CO's? Collections?

Message 4 of 9
DrJim
Frequent Contributor

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score

Pay them all off.  I would start with the lowest balance and work my way to the highest.  With a 590 there are other issues on your CR.  If you share them with us I am sure you will receive plenty of help.  At this level leaving a small balance on one account won't help much.



Starting Score: TU 672 EQ 654 10/20/09
Current Score: TU 775 EQ 783 EX 799 (PLUS)
AMEX Delta Platinum $35K, NFCU Visa Signature $30K, HHonors Reserve Visa $35K, WF $13.5K, IHG Rewards Club MC $25K
Message 5 of 9
DaBears
Senior Contributor

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score

Fico doesn't like to see all cards at a $0 bal. It will look like the cards are not being used.Fico has no memory, just a snap shot of each month the cards are reported. 

Message 6 of 9
KRAMathKY
New Contributor

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score

Without knowing what your credit limits on each of those cards, it would be hard to determine your utilization percentage (UTL).  The ideal UTL is between one and nine percent.  Basically, carry forward a zero balance on all cards with the exception of a small balance on one card.  For most people (myself included), this is hard to do.  Most of us are works in progress.  Smiley Happy

 

I believe UTL is calculated per card so paying off the one card would help.  I would consider putting the money toward the card with the highest interest rate.  This will help ensure you aren't paying as much in interest on your next statement.  This will save you money as well.

 

Also, I imagine there are some negative items on your credit report.  Have you pulled your free annual reports?  If not, I would suggest you do that first (Annual Credit Report website).  Look over the reports and find anything that may be inaccurate.  If there are inaccuracies, then contact the creditors to fix those errors.  If there are COs and/or collections, then you should send PFD for those that are not paid and GW letters for the ones that are paid.  This will be help improve your score.  There are great example of these types of letters in the stickies at the top of this forum.  

 

Message 7 of 9
KRAMathKY
New Contributor

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score


@DaBears wrote:

Fico doesn't like to see all cards at a $0 bal. It will look like the cards are not being used.Fico has no memory, just a snap shot of each month the cards are reported. 



You all are just faster typers than I am... Smiley Very Happy

Message 8 of 9
uptown4784
Established Member

Re: quickest way of improving my credit score

capital one with 148 balance has 500 CL

 

The other capital one card CL is 750

 

Express CL is 1,200

 

I have had 3 cards go to collection but paid it in full. I currently have nothing in collection

Message 9 of 9
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.