6 Ways to Boost Your Credit Score — Fast

Here are ways to boost your credit score if it's in the doldrums.

The words credit score being drawn on glass
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Is your credit score in the doldrums? If you're in the market for a loan, for example, you need your score to rise — fast.

The good news is that you might be able to give your score a quick lift, depending on why it's sagging in the first place. A large amount of credit card debt, for example, may be more easily and speedily resolved than an account that's in default.

Here are six ways to elevate your credit score, from those that can produce fast results to ones that require a slow and steady approach.

Lisa Gerstner
Editor, Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine

Lisa has been the editor of Kiplinger Personal Finance since June 2023. Previously, she spent more than a decade reporting and writing for the magazine on a variety of topics, including credit, banking and retirement. She has shared her expertise as a guest on the Today Show, CNN, Fox, NPR, Cheddar and many other media outlets around the nation. Lisa graduated from Ball State University and received the school’s “Graduate of the Last Decade” award in 2014. A military spouse, she has moved around the U.S. and currently lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and two sons.