How to improve your credit score

President Donald Trump reiterated last week his call to temporarily limit credit card interest rates. But experts say consumers already have a powerful way to get better rates — improve their credit score.

“I’m asking Congress to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year, and this will help millions of Americans save for a home,” Trump said Wednesday during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Analysts say it’s unlikely Congress will act on this.

After Trump first called for a rate cap earlier this month, analysts at policy research and political forecasting firm Capital Alpha Partners put the odds of a 10% cap becoming law at 10% to 15%. “We haven’t seen anything since then that would prompt us to increase those odds,” Ian Katz, a managing director at Capital Alpha Partners, wrote in a research note Wednesday.

Consumers may not be able to count on lower rates stemming from Federal Reserve cuts either. Experts anticipate the Fed to hold rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting this week, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Prior cuts haven’t had much impact on the rates that credit card users pay either.

Bank of America is considering whether to offer a credit card with interest capped at 10% for a year, a person familiar with the bank’s thinking told CNBC on Sunday. “Nothing is definitive, but we are considering it,” they said.

Beyond the president’s proposal, many credit card issuers already have low-rate cards, as well as balance transfer or lower introductory rate promotions.

“We offer products that are well below 10% for an extended period of time,” said Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “What we don’t want to do is put in artificial price controls that could be harmful at a period of time where it matters most to Americans that need it.”

The average credit card rate was 19.62% as of Jan. 21, according to Bankrate.

However, “there are plenty of cards with 0% promotional offers on both balance transfers and new purchases,” Ted Rossman, principal analyst at Bankrate, wrote in an email. Finding cards that offer “12-24 months interest-free is pretty common,” he said.

Whether you can get these 0% interest or low-rate offers depends on your credit score. 

“Consumers who have better credit scores are going to get the better offers and get better interest rates,” said Michele Raneri, vice president and head of U.S. research and consulting at TransUnion. “You need to work on paying your bills today, so that the credit score is the best that it can be, and that you pay the least interest that you can.”

Here’s why your credit score matters to card issuers and other lenders: A higher credit score signals lower risk to lenders, resulting in lower annual percentage rates, or APRs. Meanwhile, a lower score indicates a higher risk, which in turn leads to higher interest rates. 

“You need good to excellent credit to get the best 0% offers, but most people are in the right ballpark,” Rossman said. 

Your credit score can vary depending on a couple of factors, including which scoring formula a lender uses (FICO or VantageScore) and which of the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) it pulls your data from.

The average FICO score was 715 as of April 2025. A FICO score of 670 to 739 is considered good, according to the scoring company. FICO scores of 740 to 799 are very good, while scores of 800 and higher are excellent.

More recent data shows “affordability pressure drove a subtle downward shift” on credit scores in December, according to a forthcoming VantageScore report shared exclusively with CNBC.  

The average credit score was 700 last month, down 1.5 points from a year earlier. That’s still above the 661 threshold VantageScore considers “good,” but below the minimum 781 required for an “excellent” score. 

There are three key steps to boost your score, said VantageScore CEO Silvio Tavares. 

“No. 1: Check your credit score. Know what it is,” Tavares said. “No. 2: make your payments on time, and it’s preferable if you pay more than the minimum payment.”

“And third, don’t max out your credit line,” he said. “Make sure that you have a healthy available credit limit, and that’s going to boost your score.” 

You can check your credit score for free or for a fee in a number of places, including the scoring companies and the major credit reporting agencies. Some credit card issuers and lenders will include your score on statements or in your account. 

“You can check your app daily to see what your credit score is. You can look at your balances and see how they’re doing,” Tavares said. “We’re in an unprecedented, I often call it ‘the golden age’ of credit innovation. You’ve got the power, consumer, use it.” 

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