Your Rich BFF Vivian Tu Says This Can Raise Your Credit Score in 3 Minutes. Does It Work?

It's a good tip, but there are some caveats you should know about.

Normally, building your credit isn't something that happens overnight. It takes months, or in some cases years, depending on where you're starting from. But financial influencer Vivian Tu recently shared a way to raise your credit score in just three minutes on her channel, Your Rich BFF. Sounds too good to be true? Although this method can work in some cases, there are some key details the video didn't mention.

Vivian Tu's method to raise your credit score in three minutes

Here's how Tu says you can quickly raise your credit score:

1. Call the phone number on the back of your credit card.
2. When you get through to a representative, say that you'd like to request a credit limit increase.
3. Provide your annual income, including your salary and any bonuses you make.

If your request is approved, you'll have a higher credit limit on that card, effective immediately. That can lower your credit utilization ratio, one of the biggest factors in your credit score.

Here's how credit utilization works -- every month, your card issuer reports the current balance and credit limit on your credit card. This information is then used to calculate your credit utilization. If you have a $500 balance and a $1,000 limit, then your credit utilization would be 50%.

When it comes to credit utilization, lower is better, and a good guideline is to keep it below 30%. In the example above, your 50% utilization would most likely be hurting your credit score.

Let's say you then followed Tu's advice and asked for a credit limit increase. Your card issuer agrees to raise your credit limit to $2,000. Now, you have a $500 balance and a $2,000 limit, for a credit utilization of 25%. With one phone call, you've significantly improved your credit utilization.

In that situation, Tu's advice would improve your credit score. But there are a few other things to know about this tip before your expectations get too high.

It won't work for everyone, and it won't work in three minutes

A higher credit limit will only help if your credit utilization is currently an issue. If you're using more than 30% of your credit limit, then it's worth your time to request a credit limit increase. But if you aren't using much credit to begin with, a higher credit limit won't have an impact.

For example, imagine you have a $100 balance and a $1,000 credit limit. That's only 10% credit utilization. Even if you increase your credit limit, any improvements to your score will be minimal, at best.

Here's the other thing -- this won't raise your credit score in three minutes. You can make the request and get a higher credit limit in three minutes. But it won't actually affect your credit score until the next time the card issuer reports your balance and credit limit. Remember that card issuers report this information once per month, so it could be anywhere from about one to 31 days before you see results.

It's also worth mentioning that even though Tu says to call in, many card issuers let you do this online. If you're not keen on calling, sign in to your online account first and see if there's a "Request a credit limit increase" option.

For those who have credit card debt, it makes sense to follow Tu's advice. Request a higher credit limit on all your credit cards. The more credit you have, the lower your credit utilization will be. Just keep in mind that your card issuers may or may not approve your request, and if they do, it's still going to take time for this change to impact your credit score.