How fast does credit go up after paying?

For most people, credit scores are a mystery; even credit experts don't know every last thing about how credit scores are calculated -- and what makes them change. If you pay off credit card debt, for instance, will your credit score go up -- or down? Here's what you need to know.

If I pay off my credit card, in full, will my credit go up?

Yes. (Usually.)

Here's a short chart showing different methods of paying off credit card debt and how they usually impact your credit score.

Note: Depending on your circumstances, you may not see these effects on your credit score. We'll explain more about how your credit score is calculated below so you can take all factors into account.

What goes into my credit score calculation?

Every consumer's credit history is unique. And most credit scoring agencies don't publish their formulas.

However, FICO -- the most commonly used credit scoring agency -- does publish what types of data it considers, and how much it weighs each factor.

Here are FICO's official scoring factors:

• Payment history (35% of score)
• Amounts owed (30% of score)
• Credit history length (15% of score)
• Credit mix (10% of score)
• New credit (10% of score)

To understand your credit score, ask yourself these five questions:

• Do you pay all your debts on time every month? (Payment history)
• Are you maxing out your credit cards? (Amounts owed)
• Do you have a solid history of paying back debt? (Credit history length; older is better)
• Do you know how to manage a variety of types of debt? (Credit mix)
• Have you applied for several new loans, credit cards, or other forms of credit recently? (New credit)

What is my credit utilization rate?

When companies are deciding your credit score, they compare how much you've borrowed compared to how much credit you have available. The comparison of how much you could spend on credit vs. how much you do spend on credit is your credit utilization rate. It factors into the "Amounts Owed" category of credit scoring.

Here's an example:

FICO looks at your utilization across all of your credit cards, but they also consider the individual utilization of each card. For a good credit score, try to keep your credit utilization at about 30% or less.

Since lower utilization is better, reducing your utilization typically increases your credit score. This is the main part of your score affected when you pay off credit card debt.

How much will credit score increase after paying off credit cards?

The amount your credit score improves depends a lot on how high your utilization was in the first place.

If you're already close to maxing out your credit cards, your credit score could jump 10 points or more when you pay off credit card balances completely.

If you haven't used most of your available credit, you might only gain a few points when you pay off credit card debt. Yes, even if you pay off the cards entirely.

TIP

Don't close your credit cards

Because your utilization is a ratio of how much you owe versus how much available credit you have, it's important to keep your credit cards open. $0 owed on a card with a $1,000 limit is impressive. $0 owed when you have 0 credit cards doesn't pack the same punch.

How long after paying off credit cards does credit score improve?

You should see your score go up within a month (sometimes less).

Your credit card issuer typically sends an updated report to the credit bureaus once a month when your statement period ends. A new credit score is calculated every time your credit is pulled, and the new score uses the latest balance information. So you should see the results of these payments as soon as your credit card balances update on your credit reports.

This is pretty fast compared to other methods. Some ways of boosting your credit can take months, or even years.

Why did my credit score go down when I paid off my credit card?

In general, the only time you should see a decrease in your credit score when you pay off credit card debt is if you also close your account. Why? Once again, it mostly comes down to utilization.

As we saw, your credit utilization decreases when you pay off credit card balances. But this only works if your total available credit stays the same.

When you close a credit card, you lose access to that credit line. This means your total available credit decreases. If you have balances on your remaining credit cards, a decrease in your total available credit can cause your utilization rate to rise.

To avoid this, you may want to pay off credit card balances without closing your accounts. Of course, if you have problems using your card responsibly or the card has an annual fee, it may be worthwhile to close the account despite the potential impact to your utilization. In this case, try to pay off all of your credit card balances to keep your overall utilization low.