Skip to main content

Use your credit card right

Buy Gold Mutual Funds

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Your credit card can be the single most important factor in improving and increasing your credit score. On the other hand it can also plummet your score to dark depths if you are not careful. Think smart and use your credit cards to your advantage. Here are some pointers on what to do and what not to do in order to achieve this reality.

1. No debts so far. Opting for a brand new credit card for the first time.

This makes sense for your credit score. Making use of a credit card judiciously will help you improve your credit score. Just make sure you open your credit card with a respected and popular brand name.

2. Opening a new credit card account.

When you already have a couple of credit cards, opening a brand new credit card account can cause a dip in scores. By all means obtain a new credit card if you are not planning to get into more debt, else think several times before opting for one.

3. Low credit limit.

Keep a tab on the credit limit of your credit card. Open a credit card account with a company that will provide you with the highest credit limit possible. High credit limits, even if they are not used will add merit to your credit score and improve it.

4. Closing credit card accounts.

Even if you do not use your credit cards, don't rush to close them. Keep them as long as you can. If you must close them, then do that over a period of time. Closing too many too quickly will harm your credit score significantly.

5. Choosing the ideal credit card to close.

The number of years you hold a credit card account has an impact on your credit scores. Hence, let your oldest credit card be, if you must close a card opt for the most recent cards and close them one at a time, maybe once a month over a period of time.

6. Rotate usage of multiple credit cards.

It is a smart move if you utilise different credit cards for your various different expenses instead of constantly using only one credit card for most of your purchases. Make it a point to use each credit card you have once in six months. Some credit card companies might even close your account if they feel you don't use the card at all. In such instances, it affects your credit score. To be on the safer side, try and use every card from time to time.

7. Bargain for a lower interest rate

If you have never defaulted on a payment for a few years, make use of your good repayment track record and speak to the bank officials for a better bargain. Request them to lower your interest rate citing the good track record you hold with them. Keep following up with your bank from time to time and you may just get your wish!

8. Request for an increase in credit limit

You may have purchased your most recent card because of the higher credit limit. If at a later date you wish to close some of your cards and you know it makes better sense to close the most recent card, you have a dilemma. The most recent card has the highest credit limit. The oldest card has the lowest credit limit. What do you do? In such instances, if you have a good repayment track record, approach the bank and negotiate for a higher credit limit especially since you have been their customer for quite a few years. Most banks will oblige and you can then proceed to close the most recent card if you absolutely must do so.

9. Keep a self-imposed credit limit, which is much lower than the actual credit limit

Never exceeding 40% of your credit limit has a very beneficial effect on your credit score. This shows your credit limit is high but you have not burnt it up and have plenty in reserve. This logic helps you attain a much higher credit score. This is the same logic that suggests you should not close any credit card accounts, as they collectively will provide you a high credit limit, which is good for the score.

10. Paying off credit card dues quickly will dramatically improve your credit score.

Try not to encourage too much credit card debt. Be wise and pay the dues quickly and keep rotating your cards. Paying off dues will cause a spike in your credit score, which is highly favourable.

Happy Investing!!

 

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

                        OR

You can write back to us at prajnacapital [at] gmail [dot] com

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Transact Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds        Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds     Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    1. Mid and SmallCap Funds    Invest Online
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    1. Small and MicroCap Funds             Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    1. Sector Funds              Invest Online
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    1. Gold Mutual Funds             Invest Online
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding Your Cibil Credit Information Report

   WE ARE all familiar with the anxiety and uncertainty that we feel when applying for a loan. After all, it's the lender who decides whether we can own our dream home, our first car, or whether our children can pursue higher education. In a nutshell, a better life depends on the lender's decisions.    While other factors do play a part in the lender's decision, the Cibil Credit Information Report ( CIR ) plays a crucial role in a lender's decision to approve a loan application.    Previously, lenders would treat all loan seekers equally. Each applicant, if approved by the lender's internal credit policy, would be charged at the same interest rate for a particular loan size and purpose. The lenders would charge a higher interest rate to all the borrowers, in order to compensate for the possible default of a small portion of the loan disbursed. In other words, it's like a professor (the lender) punishing an entire class (borrowers) for the mischief played b...

What are the factors affect the changes in Interest Rate of Fixed Deposits?

  What are the factors affect the changes in rate of Fixed Deposits? Fixed Deposits are now considered to be a very old fashioned method of saving, but still attract many investors since they have guaranteed returns at the end of the tenure of the investment at a decent interest rate. There are various factors that affect the rates of interest for a Fixed Deposit. Policies of the Reserve Bank of India   - The several norms and restrictions posed by the Reserve Bank of India , in order to gain optimum control over credit and inflow and outflow of fund throughout the country. The repo rate changes, cash reserve ration tends to change and these changes affect the banking products like Fixed Deposits, loans etc. Recession   - When unemployment in a country crosses the benchmark set Recession hits, and slowly the country faces an economic slow movement, affecting the purchasing power of the people in the country, forcing the Reserve Bank of India to release more funds in the financial marke...

Capital Protection Oriented Funds

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   Capital Protection Oriented Funds   Erosion of capital is one of the key concerns for investors wanting to invest in equity mutual funds. To address this concern, asset management companies have launched Capital Protection Oriented Funds (CPOFs). What are CPOFs? CPOFs are generally three to five-year, closed-ended funds where 70-80% of the portfolio is invested in fixed income securities, which mature on or before the scheme's tenure. The investment in fixed income securities grows to 100% at the end of the tenure, providing the investor with capital protection. The remaining portion (20-30%) is used to take exposure to equity, which provides the upside. Exposure to equities is either by directly buying equity stocks (plain vanilla CPOFs) or by b...

Myths about Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

1) ETFs Are Similar to Individual Stocks: Like MFs, ETF consist of an underlying portfolio of securities that's designed to follow a specific index or investment strategy. Hence, they are as diversified as various mutual funds. 2) ETFs Only Invest in Equity: Since they are listed on the exchange, the general belief is that ETF only consists of equity asset class. Globally, ETFs are available across asset classes – equity, debt, commodities, real estate and so on. In fact, over the past couple of years, India has also seen the emergence of Gold ETFs. 3) All ETFs Are Index Funds: ETF started as a fund which used to track indices and hence they were branded as index funds that are listed. However, ETFs have progressed rapidly and are no longer associated only with passive index funds. Globally, we have seen the launch of actively-managed ETFs. In India, also we recently saw the emer gence of fundamentally-weighted ETFs on Nifty, which busts the myth that ETFs are index funds and can...

REC Tax Free Bond Issue

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Current open Infra Bond Application form   Download REC Tax Free Bond Application Forms REC (Rural Electrification Corporation) is going to issue tax free bonds and the issue will open on March 6 2012 and will close on the 12th of March 2012 When you buy 80CCF infrastructure bonds, the amount you invest in those bonds get reduced from your taxable income but in these bonds that's not going to be the case. The interest on these bonds will be tax free and they are similar to the other tax free bonds like the HUDCO, NHAI and PFC issues. For the two of you interested in knowing this – these bonds are tax free under Section 10(15)(iv)(h) of the Income Tax Act. Now on to the issue itself and let's start with the high credit rating that the issue has got. The REC tax free bond issue has been given the highest rating by all issuers since the government owns the majority stake (66.8%) in REC, it has been consistently profit making,  this is a se...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now