According to Experian, more than 4 million people have connected utility and telecom accounts such as Netflix and Hulu to Experian Boost, and they're seeing an average 13-point increase in their credit score.
Americans who subscribe to Netflix (NFLX) can now use their streaming payment history to help their credit score. Experian added the streaming service to its Experian Boost tool that allows you to add your utility and telecom — and now Netflix — bill payments to your credit report at the bureau.
Each month as you make payments, your card issuer reports them to the major credit bureaus. This information then shows up on your credit report, and, if it's positive news, could improve your credit.
If you're a long-time Netflix user, paying your Netflix account balance every month can count as an on-time payment on your credit report.
By federal law, a late payment cannot be reported to the credit reporting bureaus until it is at least 30 days past due. An overlooked bill won't hurt your credit as long as you pay before the 30-day mark, although you may have to pay a late fee.
Your 800 FICO® Score falls in the range of scores, from 800 to 850, that is categorized as Exceptional. Your FICO® Score is well above the average credit score, and you are likely to receive easy approvals when applying for new credit. 21% of all consumers have FICO® Scores in the Exceptional range.
Update October 28: Experian Boost™ now lets you improve your FICO® score with on-time HBO™, Hulu™, Disney+™ and Starz bill payments. Starting today, July 27, consumers can now include their Netflix® on-time payment history on their *Experian Boost™ accounts, which can help improve their credit scores.
Paying utility and cable bills on time won't help your credit, though, because most utilities don't report to the credit bureaus. As with other recurring bills, however, if you put them on a credit card and pay on time, that builds a good payment history and helps your score.
Use a credit card for any recurring payments.
Any recurring payments you have such as subscription services that renew every month or year like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Spotify are good to put on your credit card, especially an older one that you no longer use as much.
Check your own Credit Rating
As things stand, having paid your Spotify bill last month won't influence your Credit Score, but the way you've managed any accounts that are actually reported definitely will.
Key Takeaways. When you encounter a financial event that affects your credit, it normally takes 30 days or less from the close of the current billing cycle to see it on your credit report. Such an event may include a loan application, missed payment, or bankruptcy, for example.
*Experian Boost™ previously added Netflix® to its list of eligible bill payments, and now HBO™, Hulu™ and Disney+™ join the growing list of qualifying streaming payments. If you're looking to improve your credit score, Experian Boost is a free feature that lets you get credit for paying monthly bills on time.
For the first time ever, get credit for your Netflix®, Hulu™, Disney+™, HBO™, phone and utility bills—only with Experian Boost. Connect the bank account(s) you use to pay your bills. Your information remains private. Choose and verify the positive payment history you want added to your Experian credit file.
The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus. This means a couple of things: The scores we provide are actual credit scores pulled from two of the major consumer credit bureaus, not just estimates of your credit rating.
Hulu: Our ad-supported plan costs just $6.99/month (or $69.99/year) and gives you access to our ad-supported streaming library. Hulu (No Ads)*: For $12.99/month you can watch most of those same shows and movies without the ad breaks.
Credit Karma touts that it will always be free to the consumers who use its website or mobile app. But how accurate is Credit Karma? In some cases, as seen in an example below, Credit Karma may be off by 20 to 25 points.
Credit scores can drop due to a variety of reasons, including late or missed payments, changes to your credit utilization rate, a change in your credit mix, closing older accounts (which may shorten your length of credit history overall), or applying for new credit accounts.
Payment History Is the Most Important Factor of Your Credit Score. Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO® Score. Four other factors that go into your credit score calculation make up the remaining 65%.
Utility bills don't usually appear on your credit reports—unless you fail to pay them. This can be both a good and bad thing: good because late payments don't always automatically count against you, and bad because your on-time payment history doesn't help your score.