Mar 12
Hi everyone. About five days ago I paid off both my credit cards finally. I’m trying to increase my FICO score so I can consolidate my student loans and reduce the interest rate. However, I only have 8 more days that I’ll be able to consolidate as the grace period ends this month. I was unaware that the FICO score doesn’t update automatically as ones credit status changes. Does anyone know how long this process takes and if there is anyway to speed it up? Thanks for your help.
-Curt
-Curt
No way to speed it up, since its up to each individual company to report to the agencies. Updates are normally done every month, some within 2 weeks of your paying your statement.
You can, however, ask your credit card company(s) for proof of your new zero balance (or even log in online and print); the loan agent can use that information and add points manually.
8 more days won’t do it for you. Most companies report credit changes about once a month and then the credit reporting agency will incorporate that data into their database. You can contact the big 3 credit agencies and tell them you have paid off x accounts and they may contact the reporting company for verification. However, this will take more than 8 days to get it entered into their systems.
At least a month. Either way, don’t excpect a big change in your score. Maybe a few points depending on what the balance of the cards were and how much of the credit you were using. If they were nearly maxed out, that will help you the most. But if they were only at 20-30% of the available credit, I doubt you will see any change.