Improve Your Credit Score With Amex’s Tool

Robin Saks Frankel is a former credit cards and personal finance writer and editor for Forbes Advisor. Previously, she covered credit cards and related content at other national web publications including NerdWallet, Bankrate and HerMoney. She's been featured as a personal finance expert in outlets including CNBC, Business Insider, CBS Marketplace, and has appeared on or contributed to Fox News, CBS Radio, ABC Radio, NPR, International Business Times and NBC, ABC and CBS TV affiliates nationwide. Follow her on Twitter at @robinsaks.

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Improve Your Credit Score With Amex’s Tool

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If you want to improve your credit score but aren’t sure where to start, American Express offers a free tool that acts like a blueprint to help you accomplish your objective. Called Score Goals, the program lets users enter the score they aspire to and then generates a personalized recommendation for how to get there.

What Is Score Goals?

The Score Goals site is an addition to the issuer’s My Credit Guide, a free credit score and report site available to cardholders of any stripe, not just those with an American Express card. Credit scores, reports and Score Goals’ recommendations are based on data from Transunion’s VantageScore 3.0 scoring model.

The ability to see your credit report and your score isn’t new. The site AnnualCreditReport.com offers anyone a chance to see their full credit report annually. Many card issuers offer a free FICO score when you log into your card account.

What Makes Score Goals Different?

What makes the Score Goals concept unique is it offers tailored recommendations based on your specific credit score aspirations. Users should choose a goal based on their unique financial circumstances and will be presented with achievement timeframe options of 6, 12, 18 or 24 months. The model offers recommendations based on each timeframe.

Depending on how close or far you are from your credit goal, it could take as little as a few months or up to a few years to achieve the score you’re seeking. Every time you log into the program, you’ll see updated recommendations and information about your progress.

Bottom Line

Aiming to improve your credit score is always a worthy financial goal. The better your score, the better the rates you’ll receive on all of your loans—like mortgages, auto loans and student loans. Although the Score Goals program can’t make you pay your bills on time or stop you from racking up debt on your credit cards, it can help nudge you toward better habits, at no extra cost to you.