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If a stranger on the internet promises to add 200 points to your credit score overnight, run. They’re either lying, or about to charge you $499 to do something you can do yourself for free.
The average FICO® Score in the U.S. is 714 right now, and the majority of Americans are still building, improving, or trying to squeeze out a few more points.
I cover personal finance for a living, and there are no overnight miracles to get higher. But there are a few real, perfectly legal moves that genuinely move the needle.
1. Piggyback off your grandma’s credit
“Credit piggybacking” is when you get added as an authorized user on someone else’s credit card, and their payment history starts showing up on your credit report.
This only works if the primary person has healthy credit habits, like keeping utilization low and a strong payment record. Your grandma might be a fit — assuming she’s been paying her Chase card on time since the Reagan administration.
But honestly, any family member or friend you trust is fair game. Just make sure 100% that they have solid card habits. Adding yourself to a maxed-out card with late payments will hurt you, not help.
2. Pay your credit card bill 4 times a month
This one is my favorite score hack because it costs you nothing extra and works almost immediately.
Imagine you spend about $2,000 on your credit card each month. Instead of making a single $2,000 payment each month when the bill is due, you could instead make 4X payments of $500 each throughout the month.
It’s the same money out the door for you. But because you’re paying down the balance throughout the month, what gets reported to the credit bureaus might sit closer to $500 instead of $2,000.
Here’s why this works… Credit utilization (the percentage of your credit limit you’re actually using) makes up roughly 30% of your FICO® Score.
Spreading those payments out keeps your reported balance lower vs. letting it build up all month when the statement is due. And when your utilization drops, your score can climb without changing any of your spending.
Another way to lower utilization is asking for a credit limit increase, or opening a new card with a fresh credit line. See our top-rated cards of 2026 to find a good fit.
3. Play detective with your credit report
Consumer Reports did an investigation into errors on credit reports, and shockingly, 34% of participants found at least one mistake in their credit report.
And these errors aren’t always small. We’re talking about accounts that aren’t yours, balances reported as unpaid when you settled them years ago, or late payments that never actually happened.
The fix is free. Grab your Sherlock hat and magnifying glass and pull your reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, which is the only federally authorized source. Go through each page carefully, then dispute anything that looks funky.
A few “hacks” that don’t actually work
Before you go down a rabbit hole on Reddit, here are three popular credit score myths that aren’t worth your time:
- Closing your old credit cards to “tidy up” your credit. This actually shortens your credit history and raises your utilization. Both hurt your score.
- Carrying a small balance month to month to “build” your credit. This is the worst myth out there. Carrying a balance does nothing for your score — it just costs you interest. Pay your card off in full every month.
- Hiring a credit repair company to “delete” accurate negative items. If the information is accurate, no one can legally remove it. That’s not a hack — that’s a scam with good marketing.
The bottom line
There’s no shortcut to an 800 credit score. But there are a few legal cheat codes to increase your score without changing your spending or habits.
Now you know three of them. Pick the one that fits your life, give it a few months, and watch what happens.
And once your score is in great shape, put it to work with one of our favorite top-rated credit cards.
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Motley Fool Money does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from Motley Fool Money is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Joel O’Leary has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
