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

Mutual Fund Exit Load Changes

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 Mutual Fund Exit Load Changes AMCs don't communicate about any change in exit load directly with investors, but do update on their website   The exit load applicable to your investments is the load which existed at the time when you invested in the particular fund. Any subsequent changes in the exit load will not be applicable to your investments.   However, Asset Management Companies ( AMCs ) periodically publish addendums in the newspapers, which state any change in exit loads of specific schemes managed by them. Such changes are also posted on their websites. However, a direct communication to an investor is not made, considering the costs involved in doing so. In their own interests, investors should not only track the performance of the funds they i...
Read more

Atal Pension Yojana contribution Tax Benefit for spouse

Contributions to Atal Pension Yojana (APY) are eligible for the same tax benefits as the NPS. This means that the contributions can be claimed under Section 80CCD (1B). The current limit for Section 80CCD (1B) is   Rs   50,000, over and above the   Rs   1.5 lakh limit under Section 80C. Section 80 CCD (1) is a different one, meant to cover employers' contribution towards NPS . You cannot get tax benefit by investing in the name of your spouse under Section 80 CCD . ------------------------------ ----------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2016 Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in India for 2016 1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund 2. Axis Tax Saver Fund 3. Religare Tax Plan 4. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 5. Franklin India TaxShield 6. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund 7. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 8. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 9. ...
Read more

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund Launches Birla Sun Life NIFTY ETF

Birla Sun Life has launched a new fund namely, Birla Sun Life Nifty ETF, an open ended exchange traded fund. The new fund will be open for subscription from 4th July to 18th July 2011, at an offer price of Rs 10 per unit. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate returns that closely correspond to the total returns of securities as represented by S&P CNX Nifty, subject to tracking errors. No exit load will be charged under the scheme. The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked against S&P CNX Nifty and will be managed by Satyabrata Mohanty.   -----------------------------------------------------------------   Also, know how to buy mutual funds online:   1) DSP BlackRock Mutual Funds: http://prajnacapital.blogspot.com/2011/05/buying-dsp-blackrock-mutual-funds.html   2) Reliance Mutual Funds: http://prajnacapital.blogspot.com/2011/06/buying-reliance-mutual-funds-online.html   3) Birla Sunlife Mutual Funds: http://prajnacapital.blogspot.com/2011/...
Read more

Mutual Fund Reivew: Birla Sun Life Asset Allocation Conservative

Birla Sun Life Asset Allocation Conservative has numbers on its side to prove its credibility… Don't be surprised to find this Fund of Funds ( FoF ) in our recommendations. It has earned its place. And despite the difference in the structure of the product, there is no arguing with the numbers.   Of the total 6 years of its existence, the fund has been among the top 10 funds in its category in four of them. Last year it put up an average show and the only year it underperformed its peers was in 2008.   One aspect to look at when investing in an FoF is the expense ratio. The expense ratio of an FoF is capped at a lower limit of 0.75 per cent (2.50% for an actively managed fund). However, the FoF not only has its own expense (though lower) but even the expense ratio of the fund it is investing into. Fortunately, the fund manager takes that into account. "Expense is one of the important criteria used for fund selection and is the main reason for our investment in BSL Ind...
Read more

Short-Term Investment Options in Mutual Funds

Mutual funds offer liquid funds and ultra short term funds in the debt category, which are suitable for short investment periods. Ultra short-term funds were earlier known as liquid plus funds. Liquid funds invest in money market instruments with a maturity of 91 days or less. However, there are no such restrictions for ultra short-term funds. Who should invest in these? These are open-ended schemes. Investors with a short investment horizon or with surplus cash and low risk appetite should look at these. These could include corporate as well as retail investors. Those interested in staying invested for less than 15 days can opt for liquid funds. Retail investors who want to remain invested for two-four months, can look at ultra short-term funds. The short duration for both liquid and ultra short-term funds shields them from any interest rate volatility.   What kind of returns do they offer? In terms of an investment period less than 15 days, these funds are comparable to a ba...
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