Skip to main content

How can Credit Counselling agencies help you?

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

 

 

 

In today’s world, credit has become an integral part of our lives - in the form of credit cards, home loan, vehicle loan and personal loans, to name a few. Not only individuals, but corporates also are giving this aspect keen attention. Specialised agencies offer services in various credit-related areas to both individuals and corporates, which can be both beneficial in the short run, as well as make sense in long term financial planning.

Credit counselling for individuals:

Now as you may all know, an individual’s ability to borrow and take credit (including credit cards), depends on his credit score and credit report. These credit reports and scores are provided by the credit bureaus which act as a repository system to store, maintain, update and generate scores based on the data. In India, currently there are four credit bureaus – CIBIL, Equifax, Experian and Highmark that maintain the credit history of all individuals and supply this information to banks and other lending institutions. These lending institutions evaluate an individual’s credit worthiness based on the credit report, score and their internal credit policies.  You, as an individual can also access your credit score and credit report from the credit bureau by paying a fee.

Obtaining and reading a credit report could be easy but interpreting or decoding the technicalities is where the difficult part kicks in! An expert’s guidance and counselling could help a great deal in such situations. Analysing the credit report helps in finding out why you were rejected a particular loan or what are the factors which affect your credit score, either positively or negatively. Credit counselling agencies help you do this. Sometimes, factual errors in the credit report can also affect your credit score and credit counselling agencies can help you resolve this as well.

Credit counselling for corporates:

Credit counselling agencies offer their services across a wide spectrum of activities. There are agencies offering consulting services to new and existing credit bureaus. Agencies also offer their services to corporates to optimize the credit intake, mitigate credit risk through various strategies and also devise policies which bring about an improvement in the credit health of the company. Not only lenders, but corporates in other sectors can also make use of such specialised services. 

 

What you should look for in a Credit Counselling agency:

When you choose a Credit Counselling agency, it becomes necessary for you to divulge all your credit related information to the agency. Hence, it is important to choose a trustworthy agency. Your credit counselling agency is going to take charge of your credit life and facilitate you in improving and rebuilding your credit health. It is therefore important that you choose the agency keeping in mind factors such as:

  • Trained counsellors
  • Domain expertise  
  • Confidentiality of information
  • End – end counselling and handholding

Also make sure to take all advices in writing and also make the agency sign a confidentiality agreement with respect to your personal information.

Different Credit Counselling agencies:

There are many private players which can help you with your credit situation for a fee. Following Reserve Bank of India’s directive, banks have also started credit counselling centres, which generally do not charge a fee for the services rendered. Service centres supported by banks handle cases related to other banks as well, and help individuals in both rural as well as urban areas.

Here, we discuss some popular credit counselling options:

1.       Athena Credit Counselling Private Limited: Known by the name Credexpert, this company offers its credit counselling services to both individuals and corporates and charges a fee for the same. Analysis of an individual’s credit report, developing solutions for score improvement, credit bureau consulting, consulting lending institutions on optimization of credit scores, consulting for corporates on credit related issues,  are offered by Credexpert. There are different packages for you to choose from. The highest package offers execution help for you to improve your credit score and also track disputes. The company also offers support if you are caught in a debt trap or if you find your loan applications getting rejected repeatedly. This Mumbai based company has associated itself with GDS Link which is an international risk solutions provider.


2.       DISHA Trust: The DISHA Trust is an initiative by ICICI Bank and has centres across 9 cities in the country. This centre helps in overall financial counselling for the individual, dealing in various areas such as investment advice, advice about financial products, debt management and general money management. Financial education and financial counselling are thus the two broad areas of service. Please click here to understand more about DISHA Trust.

3.       ABHAY Credit Counselling Centre: Started in 2006 with the support of Bank of India, ABHAY advises individuals to manage their debt situation and also creates public awareness about financial management. The credit counselling centres by ABHAY are present in Mumbai, Wardha, Chennai and Gumla. It is a non-profit setup and the customers are not charged any fee for the advice given. Click here to read more about ABHAY Credit Counselling Centre.

4.       Grameen Paramarsh Kendras: This credit counselling initiative has been started by Bank of Baroda, and as the name suggests, is particularly for the rural community. Financial awareness, information sharing, credit counselling and solving financial problems of rural India are the main services offered. The centres are spread across 52 centres in the country, in various rural areas. Please click here to read more about Baroda Grameen Paramarsh Kendra.

Does it make sense to opt for the services of credit counselling agencies?

Yes, if your low credit score or poor credit history is hindering your loan applications or your financial life is debt ridden and you find yourself spending a bulk of your monthly income in servicing costly debt, then, in the long run, it can do you good to spend some money today and take the advice of experts to manage your credit situation.

For further information contact Prajna Capitalon 94 8300 8300 by leaving a missed call

Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300

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

Invest Any Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Any 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. Franklin India Bluechip
      4. ICICI Prudential Top 100 Fund

B. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online

      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
      5. Franklin India Prima

C. 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
      5. Birla Sun Life Dividend Yield Plus
      6. SBI Emerging Businesses Fund
      7. HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
      8. ICICI Prudential Discovery Fund

D. Small and MicroCap FundsInvest Online

      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund

2.Franklin India Smaller Companies

E. Sector Funds Invest Online

      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
      3. ICICI Prudential Banking and Financial Services Fund

F. Tax Saver Mutual Funds Invest Online

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan

2. HDFC Taxsaver

      1. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      2. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

G. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online

      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Gold

H. International funds Invest Online

1. Birla Sun Life International Equity Plan A

2. DSP BlackRock US Flexible Equity

3. FT India Feeder Franklin US Opportunities

4. ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity

5. Motilal Oswal MOSt Shares NASDAQ-100 ETF

Popular posts from this blog

ULIP Review: ProGrowth Super II

  If you are interested in a death cover that's just big enough, HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is something worth a try. The beauty is it has something for everybody — you name the risk profile, the category is right up there. But do a SWOT analysis of the basket, and the gloss fades     HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is a type-II unit-linked insurance plan ( ULIP ). Launched in September 2010, this is a small ticket-size scheme with multiple rider options and adequate death cover. It offers five investment options (funds) — one in each category of large-cap equity, mid-cap equity, balanced, debt and money market fund. COST STRUCTURE: ProGrowth Super II is reasonably priced, with the premium allocation charge lower than most others in the category. However, the scheme's mortality charge is almost 60% that of LIC mortality table for those investing early in life. This charge reduces with age. BENEFITS: Investors can choose a sum assured between 10-40 times the annualised premium...
Read more

Am you Required to E-file Tax Return?

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   Am I Required to 'E-file' My Return? Yes, under the law you are required to e-file your return if your income for the year is Rs. 500,000 or more. Even if you are not required to e-file your return, it is advisable to do so for the following benefits: i) E-filing is environment friendly. ii) E-filing ensures certain validations before the return is filed. Therefore, e-returns are more accurate than the paper returns. iii) E-returns are processed faster than the paper returns. iv) E-filing can be done from the comfort of home/office and you do not have to stand in queue to e-file. v) E-returns can be accessed anytime from the tax department's e-filing portal. For further information contact Prajna Capit...
Read more

Section 80CCD

Top SIP Funds Online   Income tax deduction under section 80CCD Under Income Tax, TaxPayers have the benefit of claiming several deductions. Out of the deduction avenues, Section 80CCD provides t axpayer deductions against investments made in specific sector s. Under Section 80CCD, an assessee is eligible to claim deductions against the contributions made to the National Pension Scheme or Atal Pension Yojana. Contributions made by an employer to National Pension Scheme are also eligible for deductions under the provisions of Section 80 CCD. In this article, we will take a look at the primary features of this section, the terms and conditions for claiming deductions, the eligibility to claim such deductions, and some of the commonly asked questions in this regard. There are two parts of Section 80CCD. Subsection 1 of this section refers to tax deductions for all assesses who are central government or state government employees, or self-employed or employed by any other employers. In...
Read more

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds - Tranche 2

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds What are infrastructure bonds? In 2010, the government introduced a new section 80CCF under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (" Income Tax Act ") to provide for income tax deductions for subscription to long-term infrastructure bonds and pursuant to that the Central Board of Direct Taxes passed Notification No. 48/2010/F.No.149/84/2010-SO(TPL) dated July 9, 2010. These long term infrastructure bonds offer an additional window of tax deduction of investments up to Rs. 20,000 for the financial year 2010-11. This deduction is over and above the Rs 1 lakh deduction available under sections 80C, 80CCC and 80CCD read with section 80CCE of the Income Tax Act. Infrastructure bonds help in intermediating the retail investor's savings into infrastructure sector directly. Long term infrastructure Bonds by IDFC IDFC issued an earlier tranche of these long term infrastructure bonds on November 12, 2010. This is the second public issue of long-te...
Read more

Bharat Bond ETF

Top SIP Funds Online   The government of India has paved the way for the launch of India's first corporate bond ETF called as Bharat Bond ETF. Edelweiss Mutual Fund will be managing it. The fund is mandated to invest in AAA-rated bonds of select public sector companies (see the table 'List of constituents and their proportions in the portfolio'). The government has a threefold objective behind launching this product. One, to deepen the liquidity of the Indian debt markets and provide a gateway for easy retail participation. Two, to solve investors' dilemma of picking premium bonds. Lastly, to help the underlying government-owned companies raise funding for their operations. But does it make sense for you, the investor, to invest in it? Lets find out. What is the product? As the name suggests, it is an exchange-traded fund which will be listed on a stock exchange from where its units can be bought and sold post launch. It will have two variants - one maturing in 3 ye...
Read more
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