Your credit score is a complicated mix of factors, such as how much you owe, how timely your payments are, the kind of credit you have and how long you’ve had that credit. Rating companies use proprietary formulas to come up with your credit score, which is used to determine how credit-worthy you are. Lenders use this to decide whether to loan you money and, if they make the loan, how high your interest rate will be.
Paying off your debts can help to raise your credit score and make it easier for you to get new credit, such as a mortgage or a new car loan. Exactly how much paying off a credit card helps you varies, but there is no question that paying off even a single card will help.
FICO Scores
The Fair Isaac Company is one of the most commonly used sources of credit ratings, a number often referred to as your FICO score. While the company won’t reveal exactly how they come up with the number, the company’s consumer information page reports that it bases 35 percent of your FICO score on whether you make your payments on time and 30 percent on how much money you owe to creditors. Changing either of these two things can have a major impact on your credit score.
Credit Card Payoffs
Reducing the amount of debt you have will raise your credit score, but how much depends on your situation. Generally, the higher your credit score, the more damage a negative account can do. Every maxed-out credit card you have can drop your credit score by anywhere from 10 to 45 points, depending on where your score started. It stands to reason that completely paying off a maxed out credit card can raise your score by the same amount.
If you have a lot of debt and pay off a credit card with a small balance, it may only improve your FICO score by a few points. Still, any increase is to your benefit. If you pay off a larger credit card balance that substantially reduces your level of debt, it will increase your score significantly.
Payment Impacts
If you choose to pay off a credit card by making regular payments, it is important to make them on time. This not only lowers the amount you owe, but it also helps to boost your score by adding to your history of on-time account payments. Because these are a significant factor in your credit score, carrying more weight than your overall debt level, making regular payments as you pay off a credit card significantly increases the benefit to you.
Additional Considerations
If you pay off a credit card, then close the account, it can actually lower your credit score because it decreases your available credit. Older accounts help your score by showing a long-term credit history, and when you close them, you lose that. Opening new accounts so that you have credit available can also affect your score negatively, as can having too many credit inquiries show up on your credit report. The impact of these actions is more pronounced if you have a short credit history, but they can affect people who have had credit for a long time as well.
