ATM :: Four Things Your Credit Report Will Not Tell You


Rajiv Raj | Aug 12, 2014, 03.07 PM IST | LifeHacker.co.in

ATM

In order to assess your loan eligibility or your eligibility for a credit card, it has become mandatory for lenders to check your CIBIL report. CIBIL, India’s premier credit bureau, maintains a record of your past loans and use of credit. As a consumer, you must check your CIBIL report at least once a year to see whether there is any discrepancy in it.

With increased awareness of credit history, people are often seeking their credit reports these days. But most of the times, they expect it to be a progress report of sorts and are thus disappointed and unable to figure out its purpose when they have access to it. To make things simple for you, here is a low-down on the stuff you will not find in your credit report.

1. Credit score
Although credit report and credit score are terms that are used interchangeably, you should know that they are not the same thing and you will not find your credit score if you only make a request for your credit report. A credit report is a detailed report of all your past and present financial transactions while a credit score is a three-digit numeric summary of your credit history that is derived based on your credit report. In order to check your credit score, you must purchase it separately. For instance, you can purchase your CIBIL report for Rs 154 but in order to purchase your CIBIL score along with the report, you need to pay Rs 470.

2. Areas that need improvement
Your credit report has all the details of your financial transactions, but it is not a report card. Therefore, it does not tell you where you need to improve. Once you have your report in hand, you must do the math yourself and add up all your credit card balances and credit limits to find out if your credit utilization rate is high. Ideally, your credit utilization rate should not exceed 30%. You also need to figure out if you should make repayments at a better pace in order to improve your credit score.

3. The interest rates you are likely to be offered
Don’t expect your credit report to tell you whether you are eligible for a particular type of loan you have in mind. Nor will you come to know the interest rates for which you qualify. However, it is advisable to take a look at your credit report at regular intervals to ensure that discrepancies in your report do not derail your financial plans.

4. Unexplained enquiries on your report
You may be surprised to see a number of enquiries on your credit report that have been made without your knowledge. These may be individuals, companies who may wish to review your report to figure out whether they can extend a job offer to you or a partnership, if you are a business person. However, you need not worry about such enquiries as they are soft enquiries and do not impact your credit standing.

Now that you know what your CIBIL report will not provide, it is time to figure out how it impacts your chances of getting the loan you may have been planning. If you still find it difficult to figure things out, it is a good idea to discuss it with your financial planner.

About the author: Rajiv Raj is the Director and Co-founder of http://www.creditvidya.com.

Source : http://goo.gl/2AsfWu

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