Your credit score is the key to many things in your financial life, but learning how to improve or repair it can be a challenge. If you take one thing from this blog, it should be that responsibly using your credit card is the first step toward improving your credit score. Here’s how you can achieve financial greatness:
- Pay your bills on time. Making on-time credit card and loan payments is the most important factor for calculating your credit score. Make sure you always pay your loans on or before the due date. If you have trouble remembering when your payment is due, set up text and email reminders in Online Banking under the Account Management tab by clicking Alerts and Notifications.
- Don’t max out your credit line. Not only does a maxed out credit card leave you with a maxed out bill, it also hurts your credit score. To show that you're a responsible borrower, you should never carry a high balance on your card. To keep your balance low, pay off your credit card each month or pay more than the minimum payment. You can also set up balance alerts in Online Banking to receive a text or email when you've spent above a certain amount on your card.
- Build up your credit over several years. Since your credit score shows lenders how responsible you are, it's important to make good credit habits part of your routine. Keep your credit cards open and make consistent on-time payments over several years to build a good credit reputation.
- Open new accounts responsibly. After you've been approved for a new loan or credit card, you don't want to open another account too soon. Opening several accounts within a few weeks or months makes you look risky to lenders and can drive down your credit score. Only open new accounts when you need them.
Improving your credit score is more attainable than you might think. We offer seminars, webinars and tools to help you improve your credit, make a budget, prepare to buy a home and more through the Delta Community Financial Education Center.
