528 Credit Score – What does it mean & How to Improve It? (2023 Update)

See what can a 528 FICO score get you
Good or Bad? Credit Cards Personal Loan Car Loan Mortgage Home Loan Buying a house
528 Bad Credit Score

Having a high credit score is a very important key that potentially unlocks so many financial benefits for you. In case you are planning to get a new house, car apartment, loan, credit card or any other gadget important to you and you are not yet capable of paying fully for it, it’s very important to understand is 528 credit score “good” or “bad”. A good credit score presents you to a potential creditor as a reliable person to borrow money.

In case you apply for a loan, quite a number of lenders, landlords as well as cell phone service providers will look out for your credit score before considering whether your application should be accepted or not.

Is 528 credit score good or bad?

528 Credit Score

Well, it may not be that bad and it can be really bad depending on your scope for standard of living. A credit score under 528 is considered a bad score, but if you don’t care if you are perceived as someone who will never pay pack by a potential lender, then there is nothing wrong with having a 528 credit score.

If you don’t mind finding it difficult to secure a new accommodation because the landlord did not trust you because of your low credit score; or don’t mind having issues with your cell phone service provider because they mistook you for a perpetual debtor, then a 528 credit score is no big deal. Below is the breakdown of a credit score rating:

Credit Score Rating
750 – 850 Excellent
700 – 749 Good
650 – 699 Fair
550 – 649 Poor
549 and below Bad

What does a 528 credit score mean and how it affects your life?

Scores below 528 are generally considered as low. No one wants to part away with their money especially when they have any reasons no matter how slight it is to doubt the person who wants to borrow from them.

In reality you may not be a bad debtor. You may actually be a credible person indeed but a low credit score will present you to a potential benefactor as a person that cannot be trusted to pay back.

You don’t have to risk being denied the opportunity to get credit cards as well as loans. In the rare occasion when you even get loans, you will end up being subjected to having to pay a high interest not because you are a bad person but because your credit score is low.

What happens if you improve your 528 credit score by 50 or 100 points?

Well, an improvement in your credit score comes with a lot of unprecedented benefits. It opens up for you doors of opportunities that have once been slammed on you.

An improved credit score shows to a potential creditor that you have become more responsible with the way you go about handling money. An increase in your 528 credit score notifies your potential benefactor that you are now way more credible than you use to be.

It gives your potential lender a kind of guarantee that money given to you is not thrown away but has been handed over to someone who will manage it well and pay back as promised. Simply put, it rings a lot of positive bells around your personality.

… and if you don’t?

You don’t want to risk a decrease in your credit score. It portrays you to someone you plan persuading to borrow you money as a person who can no longer be trusted. It raises a kind of negative alarm about you.

A reduction in your credit score paints you to a potential helper as someone who used to be faithful with money but no longer cares about that anymore. The credit score below 528 tells your potential lender to be careful and think twice before giving you his money.

A reduced credit score tells your potential employer to watch out for you because you are not likely to work with the company in honesty. It tells your cell phone service provider to be wary of you. It makes your potential lender guard themselves by raising the interest rate you will pay back.

Breakdown of a credit score rating

We shall proceed by looking at the various credit score range and their implication.
Credit Score Groups

  • 750-850 score is excellent. People who are within this score range are above the national average and creditors will easily have no issue granting them loans. Only 1% of individuals in this category end up not paying back.
  • 700-749 score is very good. People who are within this score range are above the national average and it is of great benefit because they will not really have any difficulty in getting loan and they will get the loan at lower interest rate. Around 2% of individuals with this score range don’t pay back.
  • 650-699 score is great. This score recognizes a borrower as “worthy” which implies he or she won’t get as low a loan cost as those in a higher FICO rating range. Around 8% of loaners with credit of 650-699 are probably going to end up defaulting.
  • 550-649 score is reasonable. Since this score go beneath the national normal, these borrowers will have a more troublesome time getting credit and, in the event that they are endorsed, will almost certainly up paying a higher loan cost than those with better credit. Just around 28% of those with FICO ratings of 550-649 end up not paying back.
  • 549 and lower score is not good enough. Purchasers who fall inside this range are viewed as a poor credit hazard and might be rejected. Numerous who fall inside this range would frequently put down a deposit before getting credit cards or home utility services.

    Individuals with 528 FICO score find it very difficult or almost impossible to get loans because they are perceived as a risk too high to take by potential lenders. 61% of purchasers within this range end up not paying back.

The most essential factor in deciding your score is your history of payment. It is basically just a record of how consistent you are with paying back when borrowed money. The second more essential factor is how much you owe. This describes the amount you’re utilizing of the aggregate credit you have accessible and it is otherwise called your “utilization ratio.”

Moneylenders trust that borrowers who are near maximizing their credit will probably miss installments. The third factor is the length of history and is controlled by how long you operate your accounts, and in addition to what extent it’s been since those accounts were utilized.

The two factors that seem to play a very minute role in determining your credit score are the rate at which you start up new accounts as well as whether you do change account types incessantly. This is important because it shows lenders how responsible you are when it comes to managing an account.

Credit score distribution by age


Dealing with negative information which impacts your 528 credit score

If you have concrete plans to avoid things that ends up winding down your credit score and presents you to a potential lender as a perpetual debtor who just cannot be trusted to handle finances responsibly; then you need to be more watchful of how you handle your spending.

Having a low credit score is not an accidental event, there are things that has led to the other or are simultaneously acting in conjunction to make your 528 FICO credit score low thereby denying you the requisite purchasing power to chase your dream.

The following are things you should watch out for if you don’t want your credit score to keep reducing:

Keep an eye on your credit report

You need to deliberately request your credit report so that you can by yourself analyze how well you are doing in terms of keeping up with payment of the money you are. This will help you make deliberate steps to avoid having a low credit score.

You have the right to request for your credit report for free and you should take advantage of that to improve your chance of getting loans.

Pay to get the report when necessary

In case you no longer have access to free credit report because you have used up your free credit score report that is free for the year, go ahead to order for it from the bureaus though you may have to pay for it.

The fact that you are paying for it however should not deter you from getting the report because you have more to gain from having access to your credit report than the money you may spend on requesting for the report.

It is however advisable you get the three reports from the bureaus because this will help you to do a complete evaluation of your spending activities. What is what doing at all is worth doing well, hence, it is better you get all you can so that you can fully keep an eye on your credit score and avoids it reduction.

When you get the report

Check out for the times you have provided wrong information that portrays a false identity of your person and also watch out for your accounts in the past that were not handled responsibly as well as ensure that you are maximizing accounts that are above the credit limit.

How to raise your 528 FICO score?


What can a 528 FICO credit score get you?

Let us evaluate the things you are entitled to and things you may find it difficult to access when your FICO credit score is 528 in regards to credit cards, personal loans, Auto loans, Mortgage and Home loan.

Credit cards for 528 credit score

Having low credit score ensures that you don’t have access to secure credit cards because you will be requested to pay an initial deposit and your low credit score presents you as a high risk for credit card issuers.

528 credit score means that you will have to settle for unsecured Credit cards such as First PREEMIER Bank Matercard Credit card, Fingerhut Credit card and Surge MasterCard.

Card Credit Score
Capital One Mastercard (secured)Bad (528 – 538)
OpenSky Visa Card (secured)No check
Credit One VisaBad
First PREMIER Bank ClassicBad/Poor (528 – 533)

Getting personal loan with 528 credit score

A low credit score of course does not mean that you can never have loan granted. It does not mean that all doors of getting the loan you seek is closed; however, you will not find it easy to get your request for a loan easily granted.

It also means that by the time you are afforded a loan request, it will not come easy without it cost. Your 528 credit score presents you as a high risk for a potential lender and you will be granted loan at a high interest rate than those with a high credit score rating.

Read more about getting personal loan with 528 credit score.

Name Loan
Amount
Term APR*
estimated
Monthly Payment*
estimated
OneMain Financial$800060 Months24.98%$235
Marcus$800060 Months22.98%$225
Upstart$800036 Months15.8%$280

What is car loan interest rate with 528 credit score

Just like getting a personal loan, getting a car loan with a 528 credit score also lands you in a similar kind of stress. A low credit score of course does not mean that you cannot obtain an auto loan, it is just that it becomes a little bit more complicated.

It makes a potential lender see you as someone that cannot be trusted to pay back and this will be detrimental to your chance of getting an auto loan as you will be required to pay deposit so that the lender can reduce the risk taken.

Name Loan
Amount
Term APR*
estimated
Monthly Payment*
estimated
SpringboardAuto$2000060 Months7.66%$402
CarFinance$2000060 Months9.5%$420
CarFinance$2000036 Months9.5%$641

Mortgage

Mortgage agencies, like every other lender is wary of a person with a low credit score. They want assurances for mortgaging their house to you and a 528 FICO score says any other thing about you apart from the assurance of payment.

You end up having access to what is known as the “sub-prime mortgage” which is not altogether bad but of course cannot be compared to what you would have had access to with a better credit score.

Home Loans

The inevitable consequence of a low credit score in regards to getting a home loan is that you may have to settle for a lesser grade home or have to bring more to the table to convince a potential lender.

Your low credit score of course may have been a product of mistakes and negligence, not because you are a bad person. A potential lender is more concerned about their money rather than your person and this will make them more careful before granting you a home loan.

Free credit reports and scores from all 3 bureaus

It is important to note that various agencies exist when it comes to the measurement of your credit score and every agency has its own focal point and considerations they look at when summing up your credit score.

Vantage, Karma and FICO are some of the agencies that measure, evaluated and sum up your credit score. Ensure that when checking your credit score, you check out the premises for evaluation of the particular agency measuring your credit score.

Not keeping an eye on this may give you a false sense of security when you are not actually truly having a good credit score or an exaggeration of how bad you are handling your finance. Hence, make sure you check the credibility of the agency before accepting the rating of your credit score.

How to improve 528 credit score?

Once you have understood the pros and cons of having a good credit score. You need to look at practical ways to improve your credit score rating. Do the following things to improve your credit score rating:

  • Pay back on time consistently – This is the best way to guarantee that your 528 credit score keeps improving.
  • Don’t just close up an unused account incessantly – This will make potential lenders suspect foul play.
  • Don’t be afraid to negotiate with your creditors – Lenders are not monsters. Don’t just give a time frame you may end up not being able to fulfill. Your sincerity with them can be a double edged sword that ensures that your credit score rating does not reduce and yet offers you the chance of obtaining the loan you desire at the same time.
  • Avoid being bankrupt as much as possible – As much as possible, ensure you don’t put too much pressure on your finance to the point of running bankrupt. Culture of responsible spending will see to this.
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