If you've been looking for ways to improve your credit score, you may have come across something called Experian Boost.
It's a free tool from Experian — one of the UK's three main credit reference agencies — that could give your credit score a lift using payments you're already making. Here's everything you need to know.
Experian Boost uses Open Banking, a government-backed initiative that lets you safely share your bank data with approved companies. You give Experian permission to connect to your current account — you don't hand over your login details, and the connection uses bank-level security.
Once connected, Experian looks back over your last 12 months of transactions. It identifies regular payments to things like streaming services, savings accounts, and council tax. If those payments are consistent and positive overall, your score gets a boost.
It's worth knowing that the Open Banking connection only lasts 90 days, after which you'll be asked to renew it if you want to keep your Boost active. If you don't renew, Experian will no longer have access to your transaction data and your Boost may be affected.
Bear in mind that Experian Boost only affects your Experian credit score. The UK's other two credit reference agencies — Equifax and TransUnion — are not involved, and your scores with them won't change.
Your score updates as soon as the Boost is applied, and it's recalculated regularly as your spending patterns change. If you stay connected and keep up those regular payments, your Boost can grow over time. A higher score could improve your chances of being accepted for credit.
Experian Boost looks for regular, recurring payments from your connected current account. Qualifying payments typically include:
Experian is looking for patterns of consistent, on-time payment — not one-off transactions. To qualify, a payment generally needs to appear regularly over a period of months.
Not all payments will count, and Experian won't include anything negative. If your payments don't show a positive pattern overall, the Boost simply won't be applied.
Traditional credit scores are built around credit products — loans, credit cards, mortgages — and how reliably you pay them back. The problem is that plenty of financially responsible people don't have much of that kind of history, which can keep their score lower than it should be.
Experian Boost fills in some of those gaps. Payments like council tax and Netflix subscriptions aren't usually factored into your credit score, but they do show consistent, on-time financial commitments. By adding them into the picture, Experian can recognise good financial habits that would otherwise be invisible.
The boost is applied directly to your Experian credit score and, if positive, can raise it by up to 101 points.
Yes, Experian Boost is completely free. You just need a free Experian account — there's no charge to connect your current account or to use the Boost feature.
Yes, Experian Boost is safe to use. The connection to your bank is made via Open Banking, which is a regulated, government-backed system. Experian uses end-to-end encryption and you never have to share your bank login details with anyone. Open Banking gives Experian read-only access to your transactions — it cannot move money or make changes to your account.
As with any service that accesses your financial data, it's worth making sure you're signing up through the official Experian website and that you're comfortable with what you're sharing.
It can do — but results vary. Back in 2021, Experian reported that more than two thirds of users saw their score go up, and those who do see an improvement can gain up to 101 points. That figure may have shifted since, but it gives a reasonable indication that Boost can work for many people.
That said, not everyone will see a change. If your transaction history doesn't show the kind of regular, positive payments Experian is looking for, your score may stay the same. Experian has confirmed that connecting to Boost will never cause your score to go down.
💡Not all lenders use Boost data when making decisions, so a higher Experian score doesn't automatically translate into a better outcome with every provider you approach.
It's likely to be most useful if you:
If you're planning to apply for a mortgage, it's worth having a conversation with your mortgage broker first. Some mortgage lenders factor in Boost data; others don't.
And because Boost looks at outgoings from your account — including payments to savings — some lenders may count these as regular financial commitments when assessing affordability. It doesn't necessarily work against you, but it's worth knowing about before you apply.
Once you've connected your current account, Experian scans your recent transactions and applies your Boost straight away if it finds qualifying payments. The whole process takes around five minutes, and any change to your score happens immediately.
Your Boost is then updated regularly — every time your Experian score refreshes. Free Experian account holders have their score updated every 30 days when they log in. If you're a CreditExpert customer, your score updates daily.
Signing up to Experian Boost will not cause your score to fall. Experian only applies a Boost if it finds positive information — if it doesn't, nothing changes.
Your Boost can go down over time if your qualifying payments change. For example, if you cancel a subscription that was contributing to your Boost, your Boosted score may reduce slightly. But your underlying credit score — the one built from your credit history — stays the same. Only the Boost element would be affected.
The usual things that cause a credit score to drop, such as missed payments or applying for lots of credit at once, can still affect your score while you're connected to Boost. Boost doesn't protect against those.
Yes, you can disconnect from Experian Boost at any time. You can do this through your Experian account settings online or via the Experian app. Once you disconnect, the Boost element is removed from your score, usually within 24 to 48 hours. Your underlying credit score returns to what it was before the Boost was applied.
If you reconnect later, you'll need to go through the sign-up process again.
To use Experian Boost, your bank or building society needs to support Open Banking. Most major UK banks do, but not all. If your bank isn't listed when you try to connect, it may not currently be supported.
If your bank doesn’t support Open Banking, there are other ways to work on your credit score, such as making sure you're on the electoral roll, keeping your credit utilisation low, and avoiding multiple credit applications in a short space of time.
Most credit-building tools require you to take on new financial products — a credit card, a loan, or a credit builder account. Experian Boost is different because it works with payments you're already making, with no new credit required.
It's also one of the only ways to see an instant improvement to your score, rather than waiting months for changes to show up.
That said, it shouldn't replace good long-term credit habits. Paying bills on time, keeping credit card balances low, and not applying for too much credit at once are all still important. Boost works best as one part of a broader approach to managing your credit health.
Disclaimer: We make every effort to ensure content is correct when published. Information on this website doesn't constitute financial advice, and we aren't responsible for the content of any external sites.
Fiona is a personal finance writer with over 7 years’ experience writing for a broad range of industries before joining Ocean in 2021. She uses her wealth of experience to turn the overwhelming aspects of finance into articles that are easy to understand.
