How to Get an 800 Credit Score: 7 Methods to Success
When the average across the whole US is 711, asking how to get an 800 credit score can seem like a pipe dream.
That’s why we at Grow Credit are here to help.
Growing your credit score can be a confusing mess of managing different accounts, stressing over repayments, and despairing at recovering from negative marks in your history. However, in this post we’ll show you that not all is lost!
All you need to do is to understand your current score, what getting an 800 score would mean for you, and how to get there. We’ll even throw in the easiest way to grow your score at the end, so stick around!
In this post we’ll cover:
What is an 800 credit score?
What makes up your credit score?
How to get an 800 credit score
How long does it take to reach an 800 credit score?
The benefits of a high credit score
The easy way to get an 800 credit score
It’s time to destroy the average.
What is an 800 credit score?
As we’ve previously highlighted, your credit score is a measure of how reliable lenders and agencies consider you to be in repaying your debts. Generally this is denoted by a measure called a FICO score, and can change over time based on your actions.
Your credit score is denoted as a number between 300 and 850. In other words, a credit score of 800 is practically perfect.
This means that lenders and credit agencies consider you practically foolproof for repaying any debts you might incur. Although many options are open for taking out loans and mortgages at a lower score, having a higher score decreases the perceived risk and so can increase the maximum limit you’re allowed to borrow.
What makes up your credit score?
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To learn how to get an 800 credit score, you first need to know what makes up your credit score. It’s made up of these elements:
Payment history (~35%)
Credit utilization (~30%)
Length of credit history (~15%)
Credit mix (~10%)
New credit (~10%)
I won’t go into full details here since we’ve already done that multiple times before, but I will give a quick summary.
Payment history is exactly what it sounds like - how quickly you’ve repaid debts in the past, and whether you’ve missed any repayments. Since it’s the largest part of your credit score, it’s also the biggest thing that can hold you back from an 800 score.
Credit utilization means how much of your available credit that you’re using. Lenders like to see that you’re using a small amount (typically under 30%) of your available credit, as this means that you’re typically being sensible with your money and not biting off more than you can chew for repayments.
Length of credit history is simple. The longer you have a good credit score, the more positively it will affect your current score.
Credit mix is the number of different types of credit you have on your credit history. If you have a few different kinds of credit (credit cards, mortgage, etc) it proves to lenders that you’ve got experience with different kinds of loans, thus boosting your score.
New credit, meanwhile, can negatively affect your score. This includes any recent “hard” enquiries made into your credit score, and taking out multiple credit cards at once. The more stable your credit situation (the “older” your situation is), the better it reflects through your score.
How to get an 800 credit score
Awesome - you know what your credit score is made up of, and want to get it to that “excellent” score of 800. There’s a number of ways of doing this, but before I dive into them there’s something you should always keep in mind.
Getting a credit score of 800 can be very difficult depending on your current situation.
Not everyone has the luxury of having owned (and consistently paid off) a credit card for over a decade, and there’s a good chance that your credit has been negatively impacted by someone else’s if you’ve ever shared a credit card or loan.
For example, I’m about to buy my first house. We’ve almost finished with the whole ordeal and the contracts are ready to be exchanged. My sister is in much the same situation.
I’m currently taking out a mortgage by myself, while my sister is taking hers out jointly with her partner. This has allowed them to borrow more money and get a larger house, but at the cost of sharing the risk (and, obviously, larger repayments).
If I fail to make a mortgage repayment on time, it’s only my credit score that’ll take a hit. If my sister fails to make one, both her and her partner’s credit scores will fall as a result.
Warnings aside, let’s get into it!
1. Make your payments on time
At around 35% of your credit score, the biggest way to reach that 800 target is to make your payments on time. This is the best (and only) way to get full marks for your payment history, and shows lenders that you’re responsible with sticking to your agreed dates.
Not to mention that it will also reduce your stress levels, as you can structure your repayments to a specific day so that you don’t have to spend the rest of the week or month worrying about it.
2. Increase your credit limit
An easier (albeit less impactful) way to boost your credit score is to decrease your credit utilization. Remember, this is the percentage of credit available to you that you’re currently using.
The best way to do this (especially if you can’t reduce your current debts) is to talk to your credit card provider and get them to increase your limits. This can usually be done by demonstrating that you’re borrowing well within your means already.
3. Use less of your total credit allowance
The second way to decrease your credit utilization is to simply use less of it.
Pay off any outstanding balances you have. Closely watch your account and make sure that any debts are paid off as soon as possible. You get the idea.
4. Start as early as possible
In some ways, the length of your credit history playing such a large part towards your 800 score is both a good and bad thing.
On one hand, there’s no way you can see quick gains. If you haven’t already got a good credit history behind you, you won’t be getting anywhere quickly from this alone.
However, it also means that the only way to go is up.
Whether you’ve had some bumpy patches down the road or you have literally no credit history at all, starting your trail “as early as possible” means that the earlier you start, the bigger benefits you’ll receive. So get started already!
5. Pay bills under your own name
Speaking of getting started early, it’s becoming more difficult to do so. Roughly half of young adults in the US are still living with their parents and are still on their parents’ phone contracts.
In other words, young people are taking longer to start building their own credit history. That isn’t a judgement either - for most it’s out of necessity!
If you’re in a similar situation, one way you can get around this is by getting your name on one of the household bills.
For example, when I was 18 (and before leaving for Uni) I lived with my family, and they encouraged me to get a summer job and to get my own phone contract. They still paid a little towards it, but the point was that O2 were now writing to me, meaning that my credit history had started.
Again, it doesn’t matter if you’re only paying part of the bill yourself and getting either family or your roommates to help out. As long as your name is on the paperwork, your credit history will be starting as early as possible.
6. Take out a mix of credit (if possible)
While you don’t want to be taking out every type of loan under the Sun, diversifying your credit can be an easy way to boost your credit score towards that “excellent” rating.
However, bear in mind that this isn’t always possible.
Credit cards are easy enough to take out, but student loans and mortgages are mostly a once-in-a-lifetime thing that shouldn’t be taken out simply for boosting your credit score.
So, unless you don’t already have a credit card, the best way to help with credit mix is to take out an auto loan the next time you need to get a new car! This new account might drop your score in the beginning, but having the additional loan type will reap rewards over time.
7. Avoid adding multiple “new” credit lines in a short period of time
A great way to tank your credit score is to take out a bunch of new credit cards at once. Doing this (or taking out multiple loans close together) shows that you’re being frivolous with your money and not necessarily planning out your repayments effectively.
Avoid doing this and you’ll naturally get a higher credit score.
How long does it take to reach an 800 credit score?
How long it takes to reach an 800 credit score depends on two things; your current credit score, and how consistently you manage to raise it.
We’ve covered in-depth how long it takes to rebuild credit before, so I’ll give you the cliffnotes version here.
If you have a clean credit history, you can reach a score of 800 in anything from a couple of months to a few years, depending on your current score. The closer you already are, the less time it will naturally take.
However, if you have any negative hard credit checks on your record it will take up to 2 years for these to be wiped and stop affecting your score.
Bankruptcies, foreclosures, and late payments are an even bigger negative mark, and will take longer to clear. These will be wiped after up to 7 years, unless you filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. That can take anywhere up to 10 years to clear from your record.
The benefits of a high credit score
Simply put, the higher your credit score, the better offers and interest rates you’ll get.
For example, if you have a score of 700 you’re sitting in the “good” range for most lenders. This means that you’ll be accepted for a wide range of loans and credit cards.
Achieving a credit score of 800 puts you firmly in the “excellent” range, and will only increase your options.
Not only will you be accepted for the vast majority of loans and credit cards, but your squeaky-clean track record will often qualify you for lower interest rates on whatever you take out.
In other words, the higher your score, the less you’ll have to pay back when borrowing because you’ve proven that you’re a safe option for lenders to get their money back.
The easy way to get an 800 credit score
What’s easier and safer than taking out a credit card and using that to build a positive credit history? Using Grow Credit to do it for you.
The virtual Grow Credit Mastercard lets you pay off your monthly subscriptions in a single place without the temptation to go on a spending spree and pay it all back later.
This means that you can keep your credit utilization low, build your credit history, and make sure that everything gets paid off on time, every time.
Been turned down by traditional credit cards but you’re looking to turn over a new leaf and get back on the credit horse?
No worries - we’re offering our card without any prior credit checks.
Strapped for cash? No problem. Grow Credit’s new products only required a secured card with a small ($17) security deposit. You can get started on improving your prospects and reaching that 800 credit score without already having stacks in the bank.
That’s just one of the many reasons NerdWallet named us as one of the best cards you can get without the need for a credit check.
All you need to do is to add your subscriptions to your card and watch as your score starts climbing.
Sign up for a Grow Credit Mastercard today!