 TITLE: Will Paying Off a Loan Improve Credit? CONTENT: Other Ways to Improve Your Credit\n---------------------------------\nYou have plenty of other options if improving credit is your biggest goal. Continue to make timely payments on all of your accounts and keep credit card balances to a minimum, ideally charging no more than 30% of your credit limit on each credit card at any point. This will ensure your credit utilization rate doesn't negatively impact your credit score, but to see credit improvement, the lower your utilization is, the better.\nIt's also important to maintain a healthy average account age, which means you should avoid closing your oldest credit card accounts unless they carry a fee that makes it a financial burden to keep it open. That doesn't mean you have to use them very frequently. One small purchase per month that you pay off immediately will signal to lenders and the credit bureaus that you have a handle on responsible credit usage over time. END