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Since 2019, Experian Boost®ø has made it possible for consumers to get credit for on-time payments of bills including phone, utility and streaming services. Now, paying rent could boost your credit scores instantly too.
When you use Experian Boost to add your eligible rent payment, you make it possible for one of your largest and most consistent bills to improve your credit score. Here's how.
What Is Experian Boost?
Experian Boost is a feature that can help you boost your FICO® Score☉ when you add on-time payments through the platform for utility, telecom, video streaming services and more. Boost now includes rent, which can be added along with your other payments.
To use Experian Boost, simply connect your bank accounts or credit cards that you use to pay bills to your Experian account. Boost searches your payment data looking for eligible payments. You'll verify any payments you want to add, and then sit back and wait for your credit score to improve.
Experian Boost is a first-of-its-kind feature that gives consumers the control to add information to their credit report and potentially raise their score in just minutes. As a completely free feature, Boost makes it easy for consumers to get credit for positive financial habits without extra cost or time commitment.
How to Get Credit for Rentals With Experian Boost
You can add your rent payment to Experian Boost like other eligible bills. Payments must be for more than the qualifying amount and made online to eligible landlords or property managers or through a rent payment platform. You must make at least three residential rent payments within six months, with at least one occurring in the past three months.
To get credit for your rental payments, follow these steps:
- Connect the bank account or credit card you use to pay your rent from to Boost.
- Verify the records of on-time rental payments that Boost automatically finds.
- Watch your score get boosted. In seconds, you could see results from adding your qualified rent payments.
Who Can Benefit From Experian Boost?
Because Boost records your positive financial management, anyone with a history of making on-time bill payments can benefit from Boost. It can have the biggest impact on those who are just starting their credit journey and have little to no credit and very poor to fair credit scores.
Even if you don't yet have a credit history, Experian Boost can help you—but there's a step to take first. Enroll in the Experian Go™ program, which helps you create an Experian credit report immediately. You can use Boost to add payment information to Go, potentially making you scoreable sooner.
5 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score
There are many ways to continue improving your credit on top of using Experian Boost. These include making positive changes to your credit use as well as trying out some new credit moves. Try these five ways to improve your credit score.
- Make all payments on time. Your payment history is the most important factor in your credit scores, accounting for 35% of your FICO® Score. Making sure to meet your due dates is one of the best ways to improve your score.
- Pay off debt. Paying down your credit cards can improve your credit score by lowering your credit utilization rate, or how much of your available revolving credit you're using.
- Remedy any past-due accounts. Though payments made 30 days late or more stay on your credit report for seven years, bringing your accounts current can help you get back on track and improve your credit score.
- Manage different types of credit. Responsibly managing a mix of different types of credit accounts can help build your credit file. Credit scoring models like to see that you are able to pay back multiple different types of credit, including revolving debt (like a credit card) and installment debt (like a student loan).
- Take on new credit only when necessary. The hard credit inquiry associated with credit applications can cause your credit score to drop by a few points temporarily. Applying for many credit accounts at once can be a red flag for lenders and have a bigger negative effect on your score.
Get Credit for Paying Your Rent
Your rent is one of the biggest, most consistent bills you pay. If you can get credit for paying your rent, you're one step further on your credit journey. See if your rent is eligible for Experian Boost today to start boosting your credit score with your rental payments.
