Experian Boost is a free service offered by Experian that can help you improve your credit score in an automated way. Whether you have fair credit, poor credit, or no credit and are trying to build or rebuild your credit score, the time and effort involved can be grueling. But what if some of your on-time recurring payments (payments that are not typically reported on your credit report) could count towards your credit score?
Experian Boost allows you to connect your accounts and add positive payment items to your credit history, therefore improving your credit score instantly and automatically. As an example, here is a list of the on-time bill payments you can link to Experian Boost:
- Cable and satellite
- Gas and electric
- Internet
- Mobile and landline phones
- Netflix
- Power and solar
- Trash
- Water
Keep in mind, though, that each on-time payment must be a separate bill. For example, if your water is billed with your trash, the on-time payments for your water bill will not be captured.
With less than good to excellent credit, getting approved for credit cards, balance-transfer cards, or low rate loans can be equally challenging. So, what can you do to improve your credit score?
Companies like FICO’s or TransUnion’s have introduced products that can help you boost your credit score. However, Experian Boost is faster, more convenient, and effective. Rated as one of the most accurate platforms available, Experian Boost was introduced in 2019, and it is the most established credit-building platform of its kind.
What is Experian Boost
Experian Boost is a free platform that helps individuals “boost” your credit score instantly by incorporating your on-time payments to utility companies and other recurring payments you make through your bank account. For those who have limited or less than good credit, it is a service that can help you establish and increase your credit score, improving your chances of getting better interest rates, getting approved for a car loan, credit card, etc.
One of the prerequisites to signing up for Experian Boost is that you have a credit report already established, either by having a loan or another credit card. Experian Boost cannot create a credit report for you.
Additionally, not all lenders subscribe to the same reporting bureaus. If the lender uses TransUnion or Equifax, a boost in your Experian credit score may not necessarily improve your qualification odds for a credit card or loan. So, your higher credit score will only show up on Experian.
Something to keep in mind is that Experian Boost cannot fix any late payments. The good news is that Experian Boost calculates your score using only the on-time payments — late payments don’t count.
How Experian Boost Can Bump Your Credit Score
Your credit score is simply an indicator of your credit risk level.
- A low score = you are high risk.
- A high score = you are low risk and can pay your bills responsibly.
The algorithms within Experian Boost can calculate your credit score based on your payment history and determine to an accurate degree your ability to pay your lines of credit, bumping it up to where it should be. Although Experian Boost only needs three months of payment history within six months, it may collect positive payment data for up to 24 months. Late payments are not reported.
One of the requirements is that you will need to grant viewing privileges to Experian Boost so that they may review your bank accounts for recurring payments. Since they can only view the transactions, your account is safe from any unauthorized withdrawals. Other platforms, such as Fico’s UltraFico Score, take a deeper dive into your daily activity.
You can be selective as to which payments you want to be reported. However, late payments on your other obligations can and will negatively impact your credit score. By off-setting the on-time payment history, you have worked so hard to accomplish. It helps if you stay caught up with all your payments.
How Much Does Experian Boost Your Credit Score?
Experian Boost can help raise specific FICO and FICO Score 8 credit scores calculated using Experian data by an average of 13 points. The better your credit report looks, the higher your score.
This service is made available by Experian, so it does not affect your Equifax or TransUnion credit scores. Results vary based on your credit profile; you may not see any change to your credit score.
How to Get Your Experian Free Credit Score
Once Experian Boost assembles the data it can report in your credit score, it will show you the qualifying bills; you can select which payments you want to exclude from consideration. Once you sign up and connect your accounts, you’ll instantly receive your new credit score, which may reflect an increase.
Experian Boost provides updates to your FICO and Experian credit report scores every 30 days. You will receive free credit monitoring alerts for your Experian credit report changes, such as new account openings and balance updates.
How to Sign Up
- Go to Experian’s website and create an account.
- Connect any bank account(s) used to pay your bills.
- Select and verify the positive payment data you want to add.
- Receive an updated FICO score instantly.
Besides instantly boosting your credit, Experian Boost updates your FICO score and Experian credit report every 30 days. Any changes to your Experian credit report will trigger an alert so that you are always in the loop on new account openings and score updates.
FAQ About Experian Boost
One credit score isn’t more “accurate” than another; they have different applications. For example, VantageScore was created by the three major credit reporting agencies — Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. The scoring methods are similar to FICO but yield slightly different results.
Scores may differ in all three credit bureaus. This is due to your creditors not reporting to all of them. They may only report to specific ones, so each credit bureau gets slightly different credit information.
Experian Boost updates your FICO credit score and credit report every thirty days.
Experian Boost will also update and alert you whenever there is a change to your credit report and every 30 days.
Experian Boost uses complex algorithms to arrive at a credit score. However, if your FICO® Score decreases after you’ve connected your bank accounts, simply disconnect your linked accounts, and your score should return to what it was previously.
If Experian Boost is not working out well for you, you can disconnect your bank accounts; this will remove your payment history from your report, and your credit scores could drop.
If you don’t see your bank listed, you can let Experian know by clicking the “I can’t find my bank” tab. Enter your bank’s name; this will alert Experian Boost. You will receive a message letting you know that they are looking into adding your bank and letting you know when added.
What’s Next?
If you are being held back from that dream home, dream car, home improvement project, or vacation that you deserve because your credit score is too low, take action now. Visit Experian and boost your way to a better credit score and into a brighter future.
