In 2019, Experian rolled out a feature to help consumers attempt to raise their credit score by using Boost. What Boost does is allow a consumer the ability to report on time payments they make for bills such as rent, electricity, cable, and other similar items. The consumer can link their bank accounts to Experian so that the pay history can be found from monthly transactions. Once the payment history is determined, a trade line for that bill is placed on the credit report.
When researching how many consumers have utilized this feature from Experian, I found that in May of 2022, around 9 million people had connected to this service. In 2021, consumers had seen a boost of over 50 million total points on their credit. Experian reports that on average, a consumer may see their scores rise by around 13 points. With this success, it would appear that this is a beneficial feature to add to your credit report. Or is it?
Experian Boost increases FICO score 8. Because there are approximately 28 different versions of FICO scores, whether FICO score 8 works for you will depend on what type of financing you are looking to get. In the auto industry, there are 4 different models used and the base model FICO score 8 is not included. The same applies to the mortgage industry. There are 3 models that mortgage lenders use to determine the risk scores of a mortgage and FICO score 8 is also not included on that list.
Is Experian Boost a Benefit?
One of the important things to remember about credit scores is that there are 3 bureaus that provide you with a score based on the information that creditors provide to them. With Boost only being available from Experian, if the creditor you have applied with uses a different credit bureau, then the information will not be part of the report they pull. If you are trying to boost your score to buy a house, it would be best to speak to a mortgage lender who can give you a specific plan to improve your mortgage scores over a specific period of time.
For more information on how to boost your mortgage scores, please reach out to me at 502-523-3323.
Kelly Byrne Lee
Home Mortgage Consultant
502-523-3323