Whether you have bad credit or you’re just curious on how you can improve your FICO score, there are a lot of things that come into play when it comes to improving your score.  While some things can be uncertain, there are a few points you should comprehend in order to rise your credit score.

Pay down your credit cards – One of the most important things you can do when it comes to improving your FICO score is by paying down your credit cards.   When you generally have a higher debt to income ratio, this can affect your credit score.  While paying off your auto and mortgage loans can help, paying off your credit cards completely helps the most.

Watch your balances – If you’re in debt or you tend to use your credit cards a lot, you’re probably hurting your credit score.  The more you use your card and the more you don’t pay off that card in full, you’re just adding more money to the debt hole.   Try and not use your credit card as much.  Instead, use a debit or card or even cash, this will refrain you from using your credit card as much as you used to.

Haggle with the companies – If you’ve been a good customer to the credit card companies as of late, you  might want to look at that credit card’s history.  If you have made a late payment in the past and that has come to haunt you on your credit report, you may want to call up the company and ask them if they will knock that old mark off.  If you’re a good customer as of late, they may do this for you.  Remember, late payments will kill you when it comes to a credit score!

Look at the past – If you’ve had some negative marks in your past, you can simply call up the collection agency and dispute it.  A lot of the times, the agency won’t go through on the dispute and this record will simply drop off your report.  If this happens, your credit score can improve significantly.