3 Less Obvious Ways to Boost Your Credit Score in 2024

A higher credit score could do a lot of important things for your finances. It could make you more likely to get approved for a new credit card or loan, and it could make it easier for you to rent a home, since it's common for landlords to run credit checks on applicants.

Now, you may be aware that paying bills on time is a good way to give your credit score a lift. Not owing too much money on your credit cards is another one. Those two factors combined account for 65% of your credit score, according to the FICO model (which is the most common one used in the U.S.).

But there may be some less obvious steps you can take to raise your credit score. Here are a few worth looking into.

1. Ask for a credit limit increase -- but don't use it

Your credit utilization ratio, which measures how much of your available credit you're using at once, accounts for 30% of your credit score under the FICO model. Paying off existing credit card debt is a good way to lower that ratio. But that's not so easy.

What may be easier, though, is getting a credit limit increase. If you have a higher income now than you did when you applied for your credit cards, you may find that your various issuers are willing to increase your credit line to some degree.

How does that help? Let's say you owe $4,000 on a total credit card limit of $10,000. That puts you at 40% utilization, which isn't so optimal from a credit score perspective. (Usually, utilization of less than 30% is considered positive, but the lower you can get that number, the better.) But if you were to get your credit limit increased to $15,000, that same $4,000 balance would put you at about 27% utilization, which could help your score improve.

If you're going to employ this tip, though, there's one big rule to follow: Do not then charge more expenses on your credit cards as your higher limit allows for. For this trick to work, you have to not add to your credit card balances as your limit rises.

2. Get added as an authorized user to an existing account

The length of your credit history accounts for 15% of your FICO® Score. It may be that all of your credit card accounts are fairly new. But if you get yourself added as an authorized user to an existing account that's been open for decades, it increases the average length of your open accounts. The result? A potential credit score boost.

Of course, just because you're added to someone's (like a family member's) existing credit card account doesn't mean you should feel free to charge expenses when you feel like it. You'll need to set ground rules, and you may even have to agree not to add to that card's balance at all. Be sure to follow those rules so you're not removed from that account (and also, because if someone is doing you a favor, it's the right thing to do).

3. Get a secured credit card

A secured credit card doesn't really give you much buying power. That's because with these cards, you put down a deposit from your own cash reserves that serves as your personal spending limit. For example, if you put down $1,000, that's your credit limit, and when you charge expenses, you're effectively just dipping into your own $1,000 pool of cash.

However, what a secured credit card does is help you establish a positive credit and payment history. So it's a fairly painless way to boost your credit score over time.

A higher credit score could have a positive impact on your finances. If your score needs work, try out these options. They might do your score a world of good.