Insider’s experts choose the best products and services to help make smart decisions with your money (here’s how). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners, however, our opinions are our own. Terms apply to offers listed on this page.
On Experian Boost’s website
Pros & Cons
Highlights
Unless you have perfect credit, you’d probably jump at the chance to easily increase your credit score for free. After all, the higher your credit score, the better your options for savings, favorable interest rates, credit cards, and more.
Experian Boost is a service that can raise your FICO score instantly. It’s offered for free by Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus. You should know how it works, and exactly what it can and can’t do.
What is Experian Boost?
Experian Boost is a free credit-building product offered by Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus. It allows you to include your on-time payment history to your Experian credit report for various monthly charges including utility payments, phone bills, streaming service subscription fees, and even rent.
By reporting these monthly payments, Experian Boost builds up the “payment history” portion of your credit report. Payment history is the most important factor considered by credit scoring algorithms from data companies FICO and VantageScore, making up 35% and 40% of your overall score respectively.
How does Experian Boost work?
To start with Experian Boost, you first need an Experian account. This account, on its own, gives you access to a number of free tools including your FICO Score 8 credit score as well as free credit monitoring. Once you’ve set up an Experian account, you can navigate to the Credit Tools tab, where you’ll find Experian Boost.
Once you agree to the terms and conditions, you will be prompted to add your credit card and/or checking account. If your bank is not eligible for Experian Boost, you can request that it be added.
Experian Boost will scan these accounts and identify eligible payments it can add to your credit report. Once you’ve approved each payment, it will recalculate your credit score on the spot so you can see what benefit your credit score saw as a result of your additional payment history.
For a payment to be eligible, the Experian Boost service needs to see three months of payments during a six-month timeframe. Experian Boost will then show you what bills it found that qualify, and you’ll have the ability to exclude any payments that you don’t want to be considered.
That said, Experian Boost does not report late payments to your credit report, so the service won’t hold any missed payments against you. The same can’t be said for the people you’re making those payments to, so it’s best to keep up with those payments regardless.
What bills qualify for Experian Boost?
Experian Boost will report a wide range of monthly payments. You can select which payments you want to be reported and opt in or out at any point.
- Mobile and landline phone
- Internet
- Cable and satellite
- Streaming services (Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Disney+)
- Utilities
- Residential rent with online payments
Upsides to Experian Boost
Experian Boost offers a great opportunity for building payment history. The average FICO score increase is 13 points per user, and Experian says many have jumped into a new score range.
Experian Boost is free: Not only is Experian Boost a free service, but it allows you to build credit on payments you’re already making. Meanwhile, credit-building products like credit builder loans or secured credit cards grant you new lines of credit that you have to pay off.
Experian Boost doesn’t report late payments: With no late payments reported, Experian Boost can’t hurt your credit score. On the other hand, missed payments on secured credit cards are often reported to the credit bureaus, which will lower your credit score.
Downsides to Experian Boost
Experian Boost is a free service that can help your credit, but there’s only so much it can do.
Doesn’t repair negative information: Obviously, Experian Boost can’t erase the consequences of any late credit payments or reduce the impact of an excessive level of debt. Nor will it have any effect on previous bankruptcies or foreclosures.
Experian Boost only boosts Experian score: Experian Boost doesn’t affect your credit reports from the other two credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. If your lender happens to pull your credit report from one of those other two credit bureaus, you won’t be able to take advantage of that.
You need a credit file: In order to report payments on your credit report, you need to have a report in the first place. This means you’ll need to have already taken out a line of credit previously. Alternatively, you can use another of Experian’s services, Experian Go, to create a credit file.
Doesn’t affect mortgage scores: Credit scoring models have multiple versions for different use cases. Experian Boost primarily affects your FICO Score 8, which is used for most decisions. However, mortgage lenders usually use older versions of FICO, which aren’t impacted by Experian Boost.
Who is Experian boost for?
Experian Boost is most helpful for people with very little credit history. This is because once you’ve built your credit to a certain degree, a few additional payments won’t make a significant impact on your credit score.
Additionally, the higher your credit score is, the harder it is to further improve upon it. It’s easier to increase your credit score from 600 to 650 than to increase your score from 650 to 700.
That said, Experian Boost is a free service that can’t hurt your credit score, so there’s no harm in giving it a try. The chances are that some of your most commonly used credit scores will improve, but there’s no guarantee. By understanding exactly what Experian Boost can, and can’t do, you won’t be disappointed by the results.
Experian Boost frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Yes, Experian Boost is safe to use. To use Experian Boost, you will have to link your checking account with Experian, which may raise some security concerns. That said, according to their website, Experian Boost gains read-only access to your bank statements for payment reporting purposes, so they don’t store any bank credentials. This means your checking account login information should remain secure even if there’s a data breach.
While Experian does not guarantee a change in your credit score, the average increase in score was 13 points. Experian Boost is most effective for people with thin credit files where additional reported payments are a significant presence on your credit report.
Experian Boost, on its own, cannot hurt your credit score since it does not report any late payments. That said, if you miss a utility bill or rent payment, your provider or landlord can report those late payments to the credit bureaus, which will lower your score.
If for some reason Experian Boost ends up lowering your credit score, you can disconnect your bank account and your score will revert to its original value.
Insider’s experts choose the best products and services to help make smart decisions with your money (here’s how). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners, however, our opinions are our own. Terms apply to offers listed on this page.
On Experian Boost’s website
Pros & Cons
Highlights
Unless you have perfect credit, you’d probably jump at the chance to easily increase your credit score for free. After all, the higher your credit score, the better your options for savings, favorable interest rates, credit cards, and more.
Experian Boost is a service that can raise your FICO score instantly. It’s offered for free by Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus. You should know how it works, and exactly what it can and can’t do.
What is Experian Boost?
Experian Boost is a free credit-building product offered by Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus. It allows you to include your on-time payment history to your Experian credit report for various monthly charges including utility payments, phone bills, streaming service subscription fees, and even rent.
By reporting these monthly payments, Experian Boost builds up the “payment history” portion of your credit report. Payment history is the most important factor considered by credit scoring algorithms from data companies FICO and VantageScore, making up 35% and 40% of your overall score respectively.
How does Experian Boost work?
To start with Experian Boost, you first need an Experian account. This account, on its own, gives you access to a number of free tools including your FICO Score 8 credit score as well as free credit monitoring. Once you’ve set up an Experian account, you can navigate to the Credit Tools tab, where you’ll find Experian Boost.
Once you agree to the terms and conditions, you will be prompted to add your credit card and/or checking account. If your bank is not eligible for Experian Boost, you can request that it be added.
Experian Boost will scan these accounts and identify eligible payments it can add to your credit report. Once you’ve approved each payment, it will recalculate your credit score on the spot so you can see what benefit your credit score saw as a result of your additional payment history.
For a payment to be eligible, the Experian Boost service needs to see three months of payments during a six-month timeframe. Experian Boost will then show you what bills it found that qualify, and you’ll have the ability to exclude any payments that you don’t want to be considered.
That said, Experian Boost does not report late payments to your credit report, so the service won’t hold any missed payments against you. The same can’t be said for the people you’re making those payments to, so it’s best to keep up with those payments regardless.
What bills qualify for Experian Boost?
Experian Boost will report a wide range of monthly payments. You can select which payments you want to be reported and opt in or out at any point.
- Mobile and landline phone
- Internet
- Cable and satellite
- Streaming services (Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Disney+)
- Utilities
- Residential rent with online payments
Upsides to Experian Boost
Experian Boost offers a great opportunity for building payment history. The average FICO score increase is 13 points per user, and Experian says many have jumped into a new score range.
Experian Boost is free: Not only is Experian Boost a free service, but it allows you to build credit on payments you’re already making. Meanwhile, credit-building products like credit builder loans or secured credit cards grant you new lines of credit that you have to pay off.
Experian Boost doesn’t report late payments: With no late payments reported, Experian Boost can’t hurt your credit score. On the other hand, missed payments on secured credit cards are often reported to the credit bureaus, which will lower your credit score.
Downsides to Experian Boost
Experian Boost is a free service that can help your credit, but there’s only so much it can do.
Doesn’t repair negative information: Obviously, Experian Boost can’t erase the consequences of any late credit payments or reduce the impact of an excessive level of debt. Nor will it have any effect on previous bankruptcies or foreclosures.
Experian Boost only boosts Experian score: Experian Boost doesn’t affect your credit reports from the other two credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. If your lender happens to pull your credit report from one of those other two credit bureaus, you won’t be able to take advantage of that.
You need a credit file: In order to report payments on your credit report, you need to have a report in the first place. This means you’ll need to have already taken out a line of credit previously. Alternatively, you can use another of Experian’s services, Experian Go, to create a credit file.
Doesn’t affect mortgage scores: Credit scoring models have multiple versions for different use cases. Experian Boost primarily affects your FICO Score 8, which is used for most decisions. However, mortgage lenders usually use older versions of FICO, which aren’t impacted by Experian Boost.
Who is Experian boost for?
Experian Boost is most helpful for people with very little credit history. This is because once you’ve built your credit to a certain degree, a few additional payments won’t make a significant impact on your credit score.
Additionally, the higher your credit score is, the harder it is to further improve upon it. It’s easier to increase your credit score from 600 to 650 than to increase your score from 650 to 700.
That said, Experian Boost is a free service that can’t hurt your credit score, so there’s no harm in giving it a try. The chances are that some of your most commonly used credit scores will improve, but there’s no guarantee. By understanding exactly what Experian Boost can, and can’t do, you won’t be disappointed by the results.
Experian Boost frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Yes, Experian Boost is safe to use. To use Experian Boost, you will have to link your checking account with Experian, which may raise some security concerns. That said, according to their website, Experian Boost gains read-only access to your bank statements for payment reporting purposes, so they don’t store any bank credentials. This means your checking account login information should remain secure even if there’s a data breach.
While Experian does not guarantee a change in your credit score, the average increase in score was 13 points. Experian Boost is most effective for people with thin credit files where additional reported payments are a significant presence on your credit report.
Experian Boost, on its own, cannot hurt your credit score since it does not report any late payments. That said, if you miss a utility bill or rent payment, your provider or landlord can report those late payments to the credit bureaus, which will lower your score.
If for some reason Experian Boost ends up lowering your credit score, you can disconnect your bank account and your score will revert to its original value.
