A good credit score goes a long way in maintaining your financial credibility. It makes you an eligible candidate when you apply for loans and establishes a sense of trust among lenders. It is also a very important indicator of your financial health and gives an idea of how responsibly you use credit. Additionally, a good credit score opens doors to more benefits like lower interest rates. There are 4 popular credit bureaus in India that determine your credit score by pulling up your credit history and repayment details - TransUnion CIBIL, Equifax, Experian, and CRIF Highmark. Most lenders and banks follow these bureaus. Credit score range anywhere between 300 and 900 and a good credit score is anything closer to the 900 mark. Anything between 300 and 549 is considered a poor score and 550 to 700 is considered average or fair. However, your aim should be to maintain a score between 700 and 900 which is excellent and gives your profile an instant green light when you apply for loans.

Let’s say you found out that your current credit score is not up to the mark. What can you do to improve your credit score? This article tells you how.

Pay your dues on time The smartest, quickest and easiest way to increase your credit score is to ensure you pay those monthly loan EMIs and credit card bills on time. The impact of one missed EMI or delayed credit card payment on your credit score can prove to be quite substantial. It instantly puts you in the defaulters category and has a direct impact on your credit score. Be disciplined, set reminders and stay on top of your due dates - these tiny steps will go a long way to drastically improve your credit score in a span of a few months.

Don’t drown in debt To keep your credit score in check, try not availing of multiple loans in an overlapping timeline. Repay one loan and then apply for another. Also, avoid accumulating too much debt as it is usually considered as an indicator that you are stuck in a toxic cycle of insufficient funds. Ensure you don’t go overboard and borrow only when absolutely necessary.

Customize your credit limit The way in which you utilize your credit has a significant impact on your credit score. The more you restrict your credit usage, the better. Let’s understand this. Maxing out or using the full limit on your credit card every month may have a negative impact on your score and lower it further. Speak to your lender and customize your borrowing limit to match your expenses if possible. Taking a small step like this can have a drastic effect on your score and improve it.

Choose different forms of credit Maintain a healthy credit mix by opting for different kinds of loans. It’s always a good idea to have a good balance between secured and unsecured loans. Secured loans consist of home loans, auto loans amongst others and most commonly borrowed unsecured forms of credit include personal loans and credit cards. So, ensure you borrow from a balanced mix of both forms of credit for short and long tenures to build a stronger credit score.

Review your credit score throughout the year There are cases where the credit reports issued by these credit bureaus have had errors due to a delay in updating records or because of incorrect information about details of repayments made by you. Ensure that you review your credit reports at regular intervals and if you spot any errors, take measures to rectify them immediately. In some cases, these errors cause your credit score to fall and getting them rectified on time can significantly improve it.

It’s really easy to check your credit score via one of the four credit bureaus where you may have to pay a certain sum to generate the full report. However, as per RBI guidelines, the bureaus are required to generate free credit reports once a year.Also, in case there are discrepancies in your report, here are a few steps you can follow to have them rectified -

Raise an online dispute with the bureau - usually there’ll be a provision to fill a form in case of any disputes Once you fill the form, the bureau will reach out to your bank to verify the information shared by you It takes around 30 days for the dispute to be resolved and once it is, you’ll be notified via email

Too many hard inquiries on your credit report When a lender makes an inquiry into your credit history, it’s called a hard inquiry and a soft inquiry occurs when you check your own credit report. Too many hard inquiries can leave a negative impact on your credit score. These inquiries are made usually to check your eligibility for a loan that you may have applied for. Ensure you don’t apply for multiple loans at the same time and if you’re in need of credit, plan it better and do it over a period of time so it doesn’t impact your score negatively.

These are some best practices to help increase your credit score and otherwise also to help you maintain a healthy financial portfolio for yourself. However, most of these steps may not result in an immediate hike in your score and may take up to 6 months to reflect a change. So be patient and follow the above mentioned steps and don’t forget to monitor your credit score and review it every few months.

Want to know how to increase your credit score? Get in touch with Finwisely to get your first consultation. No charge!

What can Finwisely do for you? From helping you compare and understand your options and recommending financial institutions that will best suit your needs to walking you through the importance of a good credit score, Finwisely can play an important role in helping you implement best practices when it comes to building a good credit report. Finwisely is an end to end solution that understands your financial needs and gives you the personalized attention you deserve.

Client feedback We should add one more point on hard and soft enquiry on the credit score.

Avoid multiple mentions of CIBIL. Replace with Credit Score. You can mention names of other bureaus like Experian and others in addition to CIBIL. We are tied up with Experian and a little detail about their credit scores in the intro will be useful. Sorry, we should have mentioned in the brief.

In the last point, if possible pls add, bullet point steps to Check and correct Credit score.

Original Content: (808 words) A good credit score goes a long way in maintaining your financial credibility. It makes you an eligible candidate when you apply for loans and establishes a sense of trust among lenders. It is also a very important indicator of your financial health and gives an idea of how responsibly you use credit. Additionally, a good credit score opens doors to more benefits like lower interest rates. Let’s understand what a good credit score looks like!

There are 4 popular credit bureaus in India that determine your credit score by pulling up your credit history and repayment details. One of the most popular bureaus is CIBIL and it is one that is followed by most lenders and banks. CIBIL scores range between 300 and 900 and a good credit score is anything closer to the 900 mark. Anything between 300 and 549 is considered a poor score and 550 to 700 is considered average or fair. However, your aim should be to maintain a score between 700 and 900 which is excellent and gives your profile an instant green light when you apply for loans.

Let’s say you found out that your current credit score is not up to the mark. What can you do to improve your credit score? This article tells you how.

Pay your dues on time The smartest, quickest and easiest way to increase your credit score is to ensure you pay those monthly loan EMIs and credit card bills on time. The impact of one missed EMI or delayed credit card payment on your credit score can prove to be quite substantial. It instantly puts you in the defaulters category and has a direct impact on your credit score. Be disciplined, set reminders and stay on top of your due dates - these tiny steps will go a long way to drastically improve your credit score in a span of a few months.

Don’t drown in debt To keep your credit score in check, try not availing of multiple loans in an overlapping timeline. Repay one loan and then apply for another. Also, avoid accumulating too much debt as it is usually considered as an indicator that you are stuck in a toxic cycle of insufficient funds. Ensure you don’t go overboard and borrow only when absolutely necessary.

Customize your credit limit The way in which you utilize your credit has a significant impact on your credit score. The more you restrict your credit usage, the better. Let’s understand this. Maxing out or using the full limit on your credit card every month may have a negative impact on your score and lower it further. Speak to your lender and customize your borrowing limit to match your expenses if possible. Taking a small step like this can have a drastic effect on your score and improve it.

Choose different forms of credit Maintain a healthy credit mix by opting for different kinds of loans. It’s always a good idea to have a good balance between secured and unsecured loans. Secured loans consist of home loans, auto loans amongst others and most commonly borrowed unsecured forms of credit include personal loans and credit cards. So, ensure you borrow from a balanced mix of both forms of credit for short and long tenures to build a stronger credit score.

Review your credit score throughout the year There are cases where the credit reports issued by CIBIL or any other credit bureaus have had errors due to a delay in updating records or because of incorrect information about details of repayments made by you. Ensure that you review your CIBIL reports at regular intervals and if you spot any errors, take measures to rectify them immediately. In some cases, these errors cause your credit score to fall and getting them rectified on time can significantly improve it.

These are some best practices to help increase your credit score and otherwise also to help you maintain a healthy financial portfolio for yourself. However, most of these steps may not result in an immediate hike in your score and may take up to 6 months to reflect a change. So be patient and follow the above mentioned steps and don’t forget to monitor your credit score and review it every few months.

Want to know how to increase your credit score? Get in touch with Finwisely to get your first consultation. No charge!

What can Finwisely do for you? From helping you compare and understand your options and recommending financial institutions that will best suit your needs to walking you through the importance of a good credit score, Finwisely can play an important role in helping you implement best practices when it comes to building a good credit report. Finwisely is an end to end solution that understands your financial needs and gives you the personalized attention you deserve.

How to increase credit score?