Credit CardsCredit Score·May 5, 2026
How to Boost Your Credit Score by 100+ Points
A step-by-step plan that's helped readers cross 750 in under six months — without paying for credit repair.
What actually drives a FICO score
- Payment history (35%)
- Credit utilization (30%)
- Length of credit history (15%)
- Credit mix (10%)
- New credit (10%)
Focus on the first two — they're 65% of the score.
The 6-month plan
- Pull all three reports free at annualcreditreport.com. Dispute errors.
- Pay every account current.
- Drop utilization below 9% on every card.
- Pay before statement closes.
- Request credit-limit increases.
Bottom line
Going from 620 → 720 in 6 months is realistic, and the mortgage savings alone can be $30,000+ over 30 years.