Credit score Archives - Trade Brains

In this world of the internet, everything is possible. From paying your gas bills to checking off your loan repayment or even how much credit score you have, everything is near our face and at the palm of our hands. Earlier it was a huge deal to check your credit score because people had to get permission from their respective banks and get the work done. But this is not the case anymore. If you can sit at the comfort of your own home and create an account, you can check your cibil score or credit score if you have a laptop, a desktop and even your mobile phone with an active internet connection.

So why you need to check it?

Lenders are always trying to fish into your credit score. Your credit score matters to you, and even when the time you are obtaining personal or home loan. Your credit score is the primary determinant as to how fast you will get your loan right on time.

Whether you have a credit card or you have opted out for a mortgage, your credit score will follow you everywhere you go. So it becomes practically inevitable for you to escape from the worst which could happen. It is a score that reflects on your credit track record, and the more you make your payments on time, use the better or lesser loan, etc., the better your score will be.

So how can you check your credit score?

If you want to check your credit score, then you have to go through the CIBIL check. You might think that this is yet another complicated term up in your way, well it is not.

CIBIL means Credit Information Bureau India Limited. It is leading credit rating agency which helps to keep track of all your credit transaction and records. It helps to shine a light on your creditworthiness as well.

Due to the presence of CIBIL, the people of India are financially stable now and can check off their credit rates on the online. It has managed to make the financial markets permanent with the knowledge of educating the people to what they want and how they should process their spending. It is because of CIBIL that the financial market is transparent.

And it has sown a structure for the Indian people to rely on so that they can do the best for themselves and make sure that they can manage the risks as well as control their lousy loan from the bank that they are taken their amount in.

Also read: 10 Best Credit Cards in India [With Exploding Benefits]

How do the CIBIL works?

When you want to check your credit score from the online source, then you have to take the help of the CIBIL here. Banks and financial institutions from all around will first get their access through the CIBIL before they grant you any loan.

The CIBIL check which is done is based on the generation of the credit score. It is a three-digit number which works and ranges basically from 300 to 900. If you have a credit score below 300, then it is said that it is inferior. This is when the lenders will often time hesitates before granting you the personal loan. The next thing is if your score is around 900, then it is ideally the best credit score that you can have.

(Source: NerdWallet)

Every month, all the banks and the institutions that grant your credit will check off your CIBIL score to understand how they can give you permission for certain things. This, in turn, helps the bank and the employees to judge your credit rating and choose the right applicants for granting the loan amount.

This way, they can get the repayment right off the bat without having to put a second thought to it. If the banks and the financial institutions are checking your credit score, then you need to make sure that your score should be above 700. If it is below that, then most of them won’t avail you to make usage of their service that they have.

Also read: Everything You Need to Know About Your Credit Score.

Steps to check off your credit score

Here are the steps you need to follow if you want to check off your credit score with the help of the CIBIL records.

You need to initiate the whole process by filing for a form which is present onto the official site of the cibil website. If you have filled up the way, then it will be right for you and easy for you to check off your credit score too.
Now you need to enter your personal details. This is your name, your phone number, your address, etc.
If you want to opt-out for the CIBIL Transunion score or which is also known as the CIR, you have to pay a nominal fee for the same.
Once you have submitted your form, and with the nominal fees, your credit or your CIBIL score will be mailed to you.

For those who have not yet found to work out through the internet life, you can check your credit score with the help of the offline function too. You need to fill in the form of application and then bring in your documents to the official CIBIL office which is located in Mumbai, and your work will be done. It will help you to understand your credit score better.

Now here is some trick you need to know before you apply in for your credit score check through CIBIL.

Checking CIBIL score is FREE. You will be firstly offered a lot of paid options if you are trying to check off your score. If you want to check your score of once then you can click onto the No thanks option which is located at the bottom.
If you don’t have your account, then you have to make one but If you do have then you can log in using your password and username. For those who are creating their account for the first time, they will be prompted to open an account with a pseudo password. Once you have opened the same, you will be mailed to change your password ASAP.

Note: If you are yet to get a credit card, here is a quick link to check your eligibility and apply for credit cards online.

Check your credit score for good

If you ask me, it is not advised to check your credit score only once because it can fluctuate over time. Check your credit score every quarter or six months. So if you wish to keep an eye on your score, then there is a plan which you can select which is present onto the website. This way, you can save a check on them and help to maintain a good credit score with an overall well impact.

Hello readers. Many a time, you might have heard that you should keep a high credit score. You should not default that EMI or else it will hurt your credit score.

An obvious question that may come to your mind is what actually is a credit score? How are they measured? Moreover, why should you care whether your credit score is high?

Today, we shall be covering this hot topic in personal finance which we believe is central to addressing the financial health of any individual.

The topics we shall be covering are as follows:

What is a credit score?
Why is credit score important to you?
How is credit score measured?
Where can you get your credit report?
How can you improve your score and how long does it take?

This is going to be a very interesting post, especially for the youngsters. Therefore, let’s get started.

1. What is a credit score?

Credit score is a metric used by banks and lenders to provide a comprehensive risk profile of a borrower. It is provided by four companies in India namely TransUnion CIBIL, Equifax, Experian and Highmark. The most popular agency of this being TransUnion CIBIL which provides the fabled CIBIL score.

The score is basically a reflection of your monetary habits derived from your transaction history upto three years which banks give these agencies periodically.

2. Why is credit score important to you?

Every time you approach a bank for a loan or credit card, the bank tries to gauge the risk that comes along with your loan application. Gone are the days when your branch manager used to engage you in a long and mundane conversation asking about everything from your family background to your parents’ monthly pension before sanctioning the loan you asked for. Nowadays, they just send a mail to the credit agencies asking them for your credit score.

Upon receiving this request, the credit agencies aggregate your transaction data from multiple banks to ratify your profile into a scale of 300-900 to give a simple quantified data point for banks to make a judgment. After analyzing your score, the banks decide whether to accept or reject the application for the new credit card or loan, period.

The score bands used by banks for making an inference about your risk profile are as below

Credit score band	Rating	Comments
800-900	Excellent	You have done great work on your score, make sure it doesn’t dip.
700-800	Good	You most likely a couple of hiccups in your payments but that shouldn’t stop banks from rejecting your applications. You could improve your score through minor improvements
500-700	Average	Although you may not be able to get loans immediately. You could improve your score within a matter of 2-3 months through planned action.
300-500	Poor	You have several missed payments and defaults. Most banks would reject you right away.

Since a lot of things in life is unpredictable like the occurrence of disease or death of a family member, it would be beneficial to keep a healthy credit score so that one can always avail a line of credit when needed.

3. How is credit score measured?

The credit score may vary slightly due to the difference of calculation between each of the credit agencies but they more or less look at the same things to arrive at your score.

The following are the different parameters the credit agencies use to judge your score along with the weightage attributed to each of them.

Parameter	Weightage
Credit History	30%
Credit Utilisation	25%
Credit Mix and Duration	25%
Other Factors	20%

Credit History: This is the most important factor in determining one’s credit score. The agencies look at one’s loan repayment data provided by the banks complete with the loan schedules, EMIs, late payments, and outstanding loans.

Credit Utilisation: This basically the percentage of loan one has outstanding to the total loan amount that can be availed. Ideally lower the loan one has outstanding the higher one’s score.

Credit mix and duration: The type of loan you avail also has a bearing on this aspect of one’s credit score, a higher amount of unsecured loan could lower credit score faster than an equivalent amount of secured loans. The reason for this being that secured loans are backed by property or any other asset that the bank can claim in case of default making it less risky than an unsecured loan.

Other factors: These include miscellaneous activities such as the number of hard inquiries made at the bank for loans and credit card applications. The banks often construe this as a sign of a person being under financial stress. This may have a negative impact on the credit score.

Also read: 10 Best Credit Cards in India [With Exploding Benefits]

4. How can you get your Credit Report?

As per the RBI directive in 2016, every customer is entitled to one free report from each of the credit agencies in a twelve month period. This means that you can get a total of four credit reports from all agencies together. We at Trade Brains advise that our readers avail this every quarter or at least semi-annually from different credit agencies.

You can avail your reports from the websites of the four credit agencies. (TransUnion CIBIL, Equifax, Experian, Highmark)

It is advisable that you don’t use a third-party website to obtain your credit reports since your confidential information could be stored by them.

5. How can you improve your score and how long does it take?

A seven-point roadmap to improving your score can be as shown below:

Make all your EMI payments on time and close your outstanding debt as soon as possible
Avoid making unnecessary credit limit extension or loan applications
Reduce unsecured loans such as credit card loans and personal loans and pay them out as soon as possible
Try to keep surplus cash in your accounts so that you can avoid the use of a credit card
Keep checking your credit report for mistakes, if you spot them to take it up with your agency
Avoid accepting settlements for your loans from banks even though your dues may be reduced significantly. The banks report this to credit agency which adversely affects your score
Avoid being co-signee or a guarantor to friends or family who tend to habitually make late payments on their loans.

We believe that if you follow these steps, you should witness your score improve within the duration of three months to a year depending on your past scores.

Note: If you are yet to get a credit card, here is a quick link to check your eligibility and apply for credit cards online.

Bottom line

Credit Score is the most important metrics banks and financial institutions use to gauge your risk profile. It would be beneficial for an individual to maintain a high credit score so that they can avail a line of credit in times of need.

Although not easy, a credit score can always be improved through planned and disciplined action on the side of an individual. We at Trade Brains hope our readers make the best efforts to maintain a high credit score.