Understanding When Credit Scores Update

Whether you’re rebuilding your credit score or waiting until it (hopefully) goes up before applying for a loan, it’s understandable wanting to know how often your credit score updates. The answer depends on whether there is information to update and how soon your creditors submit the information to the credit bureaus. To understand when you may be able to expect your credit score to update, we’ve answered some of the most common questions asked.

How Often Do Credit Scores Update?

How often your credit score changes will depend on information lenders share with the three main credit bureaus — Equifax®, Experian™ and TransUnion®. As new information is reported regarding your credit history, your scores are updated to take that into account. If there is no new information reported, you guessed it – no update.

Most lenders report information to the credit bureaus monthly. While there is a 30-day cycle, your information won’t necessarily be reported starting on the 1st of the month. Meaning, creditors can send their reports any time of the month. Keep in mind that any new credit activity — positive or negative, like opening an account, paying off debt, or late payments – will be reported and used to calculate your credit score.

For example, if you pay a credit card bill on the 29th and your credit card issuer’s reporting date is the 30th, you may see an update reflected in a few days since you paid it close to the reporting date. However, if you were to make that same payment on the 1st, you will most likely need to wait at least 30 days for your score to update.

Certain activities like credit inquiries are typically added instantly to your credit report and could be reflected on your credit score within days. While soft credit inquiries won’t affect your credit score, hard inquiries do, so you may want to consider carefully when and how you apply for loans.

If you’re unsure of when your lender or creditor reports your credit activity, reach out to them and ask.

How Often Should You Check Your Credit Score?

Credit scores are an important measure of your creditworthiness in the eyes of lenders. Knowing your credit score will help to determine which lenders are more likely to work with you, and whether you should try and raise your score before applying for a loan.

You can check your credit score as often as you want — there are many free tools available to do so, such as ones from your credit card company, or free apps like Rocket Money^SM. Once you have a good idea of how often your credit score changes, you can check it when you know it is probably most up to date.

How Long Does Information Stay On Your Credit Report?

Your credit report features information about your credit behavior, and different types of information stays on it for different periods of time. While most negative remarks will be removed after some time, positive information tends to stay indefinitely on your credit report.

The following are various information that can show up on your credit report, and how long it can remain on there:

• Open accounts in good standing: Indefinitely
• Credit inquiries: 2 years
• Closed accounts in good standing: 10 years
• Late or missed payments: 7 years    
• Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 10 years
• Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 7 years
• Collection accounts: 7 years

How Long Does It Take To Improve Your Credit Score?

It can take anywhere from several months to years to improve your credit score, depending on your credit activity. There are a lot of factors that go into calculating your score and different strategies to impact each one.

If you don’t see a change in your score, there may be several reasons for that, including:

• The new information has not yet been reported
• There may be other changes in your credit history that are offsetting the positive steps, such as other outstanding debt affecting your debt-to-income ratio
• You may have had other items go into collections

Also remember, it’s at the lender’s discretion when and if they report changes to your credit history. Lenders that have a lot of borrowers may stagger the dates when they report, doing so in batches versus all at once. Though most updates are made within 30 days, if you haven’t seen a change in 60 days, review your credit report to determine why. If you are expecting a change and planning to apply for new credit, get a report first to make sure the updates are reflected.

How To Improve Your Credit Score Fast

There are several best practices to try and improve a credit score fast, such as:

• Lower your credit utilization ratio by decreasing spending or requesting a credit limit increase on your revolving credit accounts
• Pay down revolving credit balances
• Check your credit report and dispute any errors
• Consider asking your lender for a rapid re-score, knowing they may decline

The Bottom Line

Knowing how often your credit score updates can be important if you’re about to apply for a loan or need to rely on your credit score for another purpose, like applying for an apartment lease. It’s also important to regularly check your credit report for errors so these remarks don’t negatively affect your score.

There are plenty of free tools available to help you monitor your credit score, such as the Rocket Money app. Not only does it track your credit score, you can use the app to access your credit report history. Download the Rocket Money app today.