Want to build or boost your credit score?

You know how important your credit score is, right? A good credit score opens the door to everything from lower rate credit cards, cheaper car loans and mortgages, to preferential loan terms (Kaching!! 🎰💰).

Contrast that with a weaker credit score which can mean credit denials, high-rate credit cards, steeper premiums on car and home insurance, and even missed job opportunities in some cases.

So good to know that you can now ask to factor your on-time cell phone, utility, and rent payments into your credit score, potentially boosting your efforts to build a good credit score faster.

New research conducted by the Urban Institute and sponsored by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) shows that rent reporting can help people get a credit score for the first time or tangibly improve their score.

Researchers concluded that "opt-in, positive rent reporting can be very beneficial to a segment of tenants who are eligible to have their rent reported, have no or low credit scores, and pay their rent on time."

Want to see if opt-in rent reporting could help you? For additional details, check with credit bureaus like Experian or opt-in services offered by companies like Zillow or Bilt.

A few things you might find useful: