Find Out How Online Rent Payments Can Boost Your Credit

If you’re looking for ways to increase your credit score, we have an easy answer for you: Try making a rent payment online! A 2017 TransUnion study of 12,000 renters found that renters’ scores rose an average of 16 points within six months, and the benefit was greatest for those who started with a credit score below 620.

Try paying your rent online and see what it does to your credit score! Paying online ensures your payments are reported, shows credit bureaus what they are looking for, and can combine with credit card payments to increase your score even more. Here’s how.

Ensures Your Payments Are Reported

Did you know that at The James Apartment Homes , we offer an online rent payment system that reports information to the credit bureaus? Yes! Our renters who pay online have a record of their on-time rental payments sent to the credit bureaus.

That’s because “simply paying your rent will not help you build credit,” as Bev O’Shea at NerdWallet explains . “But reporting your rent payments can help you build credit—especially if you are new to credit or do not have a lot of experience using it.”

Makes You Look Good

To understand how online rental payments make you look good, it helps to understand what goes into a credit score. Experian, for example, calculates credit scores through the following elements :

So, when you make an online rent payment, those payments become part of your payment history. As you pay on time and in full and continue to do so, that becomes part of your score, too.

Combines with Credit Card Payments for Higher Score Gains

You probably already knew that paying off your credit card can boost your credit score, so here’s an idea to try: Get a credit card specifically for paying your rent!

“Open a credit card and use it to pay your rent . . . then pay your credit card balance in full each month,” says LaToya Irby, credit expert for The Balance. “The timely credit card payments will help boost your credit score.”

Increase your credit score by paying your rent online through our online rent payment system . You’ll get your payments reported and look good to the credit bureaus. And if you use a credit card exclusively for rent, you may see even more of a boost. Best wishes in your journey towards the best credit score of your life!