For many, the difference between having bad credit and average credit is like night and day. With fair credit, searching for a place to live or shopping for a car suddenly becomes much easier. You can even qualify for lower interest rates with fair credit credit cards, which could save you a bundle in the long run. If you’re looking for ways to boost your score, here’s where you should start: Identify the problem If you don’t know why your credit score is low, it’s difficult to fix it.