A vital part of learning how to handle credit cards and making the best of them is understanding the concept of credit scores. While you could apply for a Kotak credit card and pay your Kotak credit card bill online, it helps to put some time into understanding credit scores.
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What is a CIBIL score?
Before you get a credit card, you need to know what a CIBIL score is.
CIBIL is short for Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited. In a nutshell, it is a three-digit number that represents your credit profile and history.
What makes a good CIBIL score?
Your credit score ranges from 350-900. An excellent score is somewhere between 700 and 900. If you manage to maintain a good CIBIL score, you get access to a variety of benefits, including low-interest rates on credit, more substantial loan amounts, easy and quick approval, more time for repayments, etc.
What can you do to improve your CIBIL score?
Since you know what a CIBIL score is what makes a good one, here are a few things you can do to boost it:
Monitor your credit reports
This step is vital if you want to boost your CIBIL score. You need to check your credit report and keep up with it. Your credit report shows you a list of all the loans and credit cards where you may have defaulted or made late payments, resulting in a reduced credit score.
Additionally, your credit report contains essential information that you can and should use to correct your credit score if you find errors. Sometimes you can find errors in your payable interest, principal amount, date, etc. In such a situation, you need to go to the bank and have them rectify it. However, you need to do this soon as possible, or you will end up paying much more than you should.
Correcting errors and inaccuracies as soon as possible
Another option is to head over to the official CIBIL website. As mentioned earlier, you need to do this as early as possible, preferably within the first 30 days. Once they make changes in your credit report, you can expect your credit score to improve. However, do this before you apply for other credit cards.
Increase your credit limit
You can boost your credit score by increasing your credit limit. If you boost your credit limit, keep in mind that it is not a license to splurge. Increasing your credit limit allows you to reduce your credit utilization ratio, thereby keeping your credit score intact. This strategy works great especially if you do not use your credit card too much.
Pay on time
You might be planning to make a huge purchase, like a car or a house. If that is the case you may want to be on top of your EMI payments. By doing so, you are effectively showing your lenders that you are capable of making repayments.
CIBIL and other scorers generally take all this into account while gauging your credit ratings. You may have a huge savings sum. However, a poor CIBIL score can stop you from making that big purchase. One of the best ways to keep your creditworthiness intact is to pay your EMIs on time.
Eliminate your Credit Card Balance
Getting rid of your credit card balance is another vital thing for you to do. Unpaid dues on loans and EMIs qualify as balances. Make sure you spend only when required so that you are able to make timely payments. If you have unpaid dues and balances every month, you can expect your credit score to get affected. It is a myth that carrying a credit card balance every month helps your credit score. In reality, you are likely to pay more interest and other charges, resulting in higher payments overall.
Want to boost your CIBIL score? Get rid of your credit card balance at the earliest. Ideally, do not use more than two credit cards, or you run the risk of getting delayed with your repayments on multiple cards.
How can you make your Credit Repayments?
Now that you have a fair idea about credit scores and how they work, here’s how you can handle your Kotak credit card payment.
NEFT and RTGS
Consider using the National Electronic Funds Transfer System (NEFT)to make your payments from your bank account to your credit card within the same day. You are allowed to use any bank account that you hold. Activate your online banking services and go to the ‘Funds Transfer’ option. Then, select the NEFT payments option and make the payment. NEFT payments are known to get credited on the same day. Just make sure you make them before the cut-off time.
Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is another payment option you should consider using. RTGS lets you transfer funds to your credit card on the same day if you authorize them ahead of the cut-off time. This payment method is perfect for large payments. Making large credit card payments is an excellent way to make sure you clear your balance well-ahead of time without having to pay interest.
Visa or MasterCard
Both these payment options allow you to make credit card payments. You can visit their respective websites to do so. Keep in mind that you will need to submit your credit card details, credit amount to be paid, bank information, and branch IFS code or IFSC. If you do not know your IFSC, you will have to check the official website or contact customer service. These payments take two business days to get cleared. Keep that in mind as you make your payments.
Through bank accounts
Using your bank account is a convenient way to handle your credit card payments. Login to your account, submit your card details, and make the payment. Just like with NEFT and RTGS, you can expect your payment to get cleared on the same day. Once you enter the details, you can make the transfer to your card.
If your bank gives you the option to list the billers you need to pay, consider adding your credit card to that list. This way, you will get due dates and due amounts, just as you would for your regular bills. Additionally, you could set up automatic payments (or auto-pay) that allow you to pay your credit card bill on a specific date every month. Doing this will keep you safe from late credit payments and the interest you could potentially incur as a result.
Using cash to pay
Like cheques, using cash for credit card payments is an offline and easy-to-follow method. You can head to your bank and pay cash over the counter to ensure your funds are transferred on the same day. If you do not have much time to pay your credit bill, you should consider paying by cash.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are tons of ways to clear your credit card bill. The ones mentioned here are some of the most commonly used ones. Be sure to look up the rest and see what works for you, while at the same time keeping your credit score intact.
