How Long Does It Take for Credit Score to Update?

Table of Content

How often does credit score update?
How is your credit report related to your credit score update?
What is the meaning of rapid rescoring?
Ways to increase your credit score

If you happen to be working towards building a good credit score, then you must also be wondering about the duration it will take for your credit report to reflect a positive credit score. In these scenarios or when you are in a hurry to get your loan approved as soon as possible, questions like ‘how long does it take for credit score to update’ may often cross your mind. To be honest, there is no exact timeline or deadline for updating your credit score.

How often does credit score update?

Whenever credit lenders update their information for your credit accounts with the national credit reporting agency of the UAE (al etihad credit bureau), your credit reports also get updated. Normally, this occurs once every month, or at least once every 45 days. However, occasionally your credit report may get updated more frequently than the specified period.

For example, let us assume you have recently paid off your credit card bill. Your credit record may not reflect the changed account amount right away. Sometimes, you might notice a line with the words ‘Date Updated’ while going through your credit report. These words are not cautionary information, rather it informs you of the most recent day on which the Al Etihad Credit Bureau in UAE received the account information. Similarly, there may be several updates to your report every single day since lenders don't always provide updates at the same time.

Your credit score is directly related to your credit report because without your credit report your credit score will not get updated at all. More importantly, you will also be able to understand the patterns and movements of your credit score by thoroughly checking your credit report.

Generally, whenever the Al Etihad Credit Bureau in UAE receives financial statements and information from credit lenders they update your credit report. Whenever the information on your credit report changes your credit score may also change (however it also depends on how much financial information is updated on your credit report).

For example, if you keep on making timely payments it may not necessarily reflect any positive changes on your credit report. Nevertheless, positive score movements may occur if you significantly reduce your balances across your credit cards. Keep your credit on track by paying your bills on time and keeping your balances low. With these positive behaviours, your score ought to rise over time.

What is the meaning of rapid rescoring?

If you're searching for ways to get approval for a credit product (for example, a home loan), and your credit score is very close to good but does not meet the requirement of a lender then rapid rescoring can assist you in this case.

Any lenders (a bank or financial organisation) can request the Al Etihad Credit Bureau in UAE to add the information in case you have lately made good credit decisions (but they are yet to make an appearance on your credit reports). Instead of needing to wait until the following cycle, your credit report and credit score may be updated as a consequence of rapid rescoring within a few days.

In this case, you also need to remember that:

With rapid rescoring, you won’t be able to rectify any previous mistakes or cannot make any changes to the negative information.
You cannot request rapid rescoring by yourself.
Any financial organisation including banks can request rapid rescoring on your behalf and more importantly, you may also have to pay a particular fee to request the same.

Ways to increase your credit score

While you are pondering on ‘how long does it take for credit score to update?’ you can work on your credit score and make it better through different methods such as:

Adding yourself as an authorized user: You can ask one of your trusted family members and become an authorized credit card user of their credit cards. You can utilize this particular strategy on someone who is financially responsible and always makes their bill payments on time.
Keep your credit card utilization rate low: If you are using a credit card then you should keep your credit card balance in check and keep your credit card utilization rate as low as possible. Your revolving balance should generally not exceed 30% of your available credit at all times.
Regularly pay your bills on time: Your payment history is also a necessary factor that determines your credit card score and influences your credit report. If you already have a home loan, student loan, etc, then always do your best to pay them on time.

To conclude

If you are working your way through to properly build a good credit score, it may sometimes feel exasperating to see that your hard work has not been rewarded or recognised yet. However, you need to be very careful and patient in this case and wait for the financial organisation to provide you with an updated credit score and credit report. Meanwhile, keep your credit habits healthy by adding to the momentum.