 TITLE: Can a Personal Loan Hurt My Credit Score? CONTENT: Ways to Limit a Personal Loan's Negative Credit Impact\n------------------------------------------------------\nIf you ultimately decide that a personal loan is the right choice for your finances, there are steps you can take to limit its effect on your credit score:\n*   **Apply for loans within a two-week period.** The FICO® Score algorithm will recognize that you're rate shopping, or comparing rates across multiple loans within the same category, if you submit applications within a specific time frame. That period is 14 days for older FICO® Score versions and 45 days for newer versions. To be safe, submit all loan applications within the 14-day time frame, since lenders may use an older version of the FICO® Score to assess your creditworthiness.\n*   **Make all payments on time.** Paying every bill on time is essential to maintaining a strong credit score. The same is true for your new personal loan. If 100% of your personal loan payments are made on time, the loan can help future lenders see that you can be trusted to follow through on your financial obligations.\n*   **Pay off the loan in full.** In addition to making on-time payments, it's important to make every payment until the load is paid off. Paying off a personal loan early won't necessarily improve your credit score, however. Once paid off, the account will be considered closed, and your score won't benefit as much from your on-time payment history as it would if the account were still open and being managed responsibly. END