Most people decide to improve their credit score when they’re preparing to apply for credit or if they’ve struggled to qualify for a credit card, loan or lease. In these instances, you want to build your credit as quickly as possible. While there’s no magic fix for poor credit, the solutions can be simple. Use these seven strategies to quickly build a rock-solid credit score. 1. Pay All Your Bills on Time On-time payment history is the most important factor when building credit. Your payment history, which is one factor that makes up your FICO score, accounts for 35% of your FICO credit score. This means you should always aim to pay your bills on or before the due date. 2. Get a Secured Credit Card A secured credit card is designed to help borrowers build their credit. When you sign up for a secured card, the provider will require a cash deposit to serve as collateral and act as the credit limit. For example, if you put down $200, you’ll have a $200 credit limit. If you don’t pay your credit card bill, the card company can take the deposit. 3. Become an Authorized User An authorized user is someone who is added to an existing credit card account. Authorized users can use the card but will not be responsible for any payments. When you become an authorized user, the card’s history will appear on your credit report. If the main cardholder has made on-time payments, then your credit score may receive a boost. 4. Pay Off Any Existing Debt To reduce your credit utilization ratio quickly and improve your score, use the debt avalanche or debt snowball method to pay down existing debt. 5. Apply for a Credit-builder Loan A credit builder loan is geared toward borrowers with no credit history who don’t want to open a credit card. 6. Request a Credit Limit Increase Paying down your debt is not the only way to decrease your credit utilization ratio. Another strategy is to increase the credit limit on your credit cards while keeping your balance at or below the same amount. To use a credit builder loan, you first decide on the amount and term. Instead of receiving the money upfront, every month you make a payment to the lender, and they report it to the credit bureaus. When the term is completed, you receive back the amount you paid, minus possible fees. 7. Consider Experian Boost or UltraFICO When you have no credit history, adding extra accounts can boost your score. You have two options that could help you: Experian Boost and UltraFICO.

35% for incomes over $231,250 ($462,500 for married couples filing jointly); 32% for incomes over $182,100 ($364,200 for married couples filing jointly); 24% for incomes over $95,375 ($190,750 for married couples filing jointly); 22% for incomes over $44,725 ($89,450 for married couples filing jointly); 12% for incomes over $11,000 ($22,000 for married couples filing jointly).