How to Check Credit Score For Credit Cards?

by Arjit Chalmela Finance Student

When it comes to a credit card, proper vetting of the cardholder is necessary. This is because they give a credit limit to each holder. Spends are not due for at least three weeks after the month in which they are made.

One tool that credit cards exhaustively rely on for the purpose of loan application verification is the applicant’s credit score. A credit score is an indication of a person’s repayment capability. There are different credit unions which calculate your credit score based on the following information:

Repayment of outstanding loan installments
Part repayments and pre-payment of loans
Payment of credit card debt
Number and periodicity of loan applications
How long you have had an outstanding loan
Number of outstanding loans
Type of credit
Hard inquiries on your credit reports

All this information is generally reported by financial institutions. In India, there are four major credit unions, however, CIBIL TransUnion is the most popular one.

Each credit union calculates the score using a different formula. All the information collected above has a different weightage that finally calculates the credit score. Your credit score is calculated out of 900. The higher the score, the better your chances of getting a loan, especially unsecured loans like a personal loan.

How to check it?

The procedure for free credit score check is simple. It gets done online entirely. You can even get a free CIBIL score from the CIBIL website. The first step is to go to the CIBIL website and fill up a form. The form requires details such as:

Personal details
PAN number
Aadhar number

Once these details have been entered, CIBIL TransUnion will send a One Time Password (OTP) to verify your identity. In case the OTP doesn’t work, they may call to ask you additional information. One important thing to remember is that CIBIL will not ask for any personal financial information like bank account number or PIN. Generally, these calls are scams and if you receive them, you must protect your information from these phishers. Do not share such personal information under any cost.

The next step is to answer questions regarding credit cards, outstanding loans, etc. Based on this information, your score will be calculated.

CIBIL TransUnion may also offer a detailed report in lieu of some fees. However, a one-time report is available free of cost. The system will create an account in your name. You will need to verify your email ID. Once you verify your email address, your account gets created.

It is better to check your credit score frequently especially the credit report. There may be wrong information communicated by financial institutions or some transactions may be omitted. Checking all of this is better if you are planning on making any loan applications in the future. If you find any mistakes, you can approach CIBIL TransUnion to make corrections.