Creditworthy borrowers find it quite easy to get approved for home loans in India and across the world, primarily because such borrowers pose zero to very low risk to lenders. A CIBIL score above 750 implies high creditworthiness. All lenders assess a borrower's CIBIL score when they receive a loan application from them. Having a CIBIL score above 750 can make one eligible for low loan interest rates and other beneficial terms and conditions. All credit users are thus advised to maintain a CIBIL score in this range.
Frequent CIBIL score checks allow credit users to regularly take corrective measures and ensure a CIBIL score above 750. Many website owners allow users to perform a free CIBIL score check whenever they want. On such websites, you will be able to check CIBIL by PAN card details. Let us understand why these websites require PAN card details to check someone's credit score.
What is PAN and Why do People Need their PAN Details to Check their CIBIL Score?
PAN is a 10-digit unique identification number assigned to Indian taxpayers by the Government of India. While a PAN is a number, a PAN card is a legal document that details the PAN owner's name, date of birth, father or partner's name, etc. PAN is unique. In other words, no two individuals can have the same PAN number. TransUnion CIBIL, the credit information agency responsible for assigning CIBIL scores maintains records on more than 600 million individuals and PAN allows TransUnion CIBIL to ensure that information about and CIBIL scores of no two individuals gets mixed up. Thus, the PAN card CIBIL score websites ask for PAN details of credit users as these details allow the website owners to correctly match the user with their TransUnion CIBIL profile and therefore, get the right score.
These websites are entirely safe and your PAN information is secure. However, if you are worried about privacy breaches, you can check CIBIL by PAN Card on TransUnion CIBIL's website. You will have to pay TransUnion CIBIL a small fee based on the subscription plan you choose. However, know that this is the safest and most reliable way to check one's CIBIL score.
Do Changes in the PAN Card Affect One's CIBIL Score?
If you have lost your current PAN card and have applied for a duplicate copy, know that your CIBIL score won't change for your duplicate PAN card will have the same PAN as your original card. If you change any details on your PAN card, such as your address or your phone number, once again any changes in your PAN won't have any effect on your CIBIL score.
Tips on How to Maintain a High CIBIL Score
If your CIBIL score is below 750, take steps to improve your CIBIL score. Here are a few simple things you can do to maintain a good CIBIL score.
- When you apply for a loan or a credit card, lenders check your CIBIL score. They approach a credit information agency and enquire about you. Enquiries that lenders make about a borrower are known as hard enquiries and too many hard enquiries are considered a sign of a credit user being excessively dependent on credit. Thus, credit users must refrain from applying for too many loans and credit cards simultaneously, especially if their goal is to build a strong CIBIL score.
- Your repayment track record is important and makes up 35% of your credit score. So, individuals looking to improve their CIBIL score must most importantly develop the habit of paying loan EMIs and credit card bills on time.
- Having the right credit mix establishes one's ability to handle all kinds of debt. Therefore, all credit users must have a balance of both secured and unsecured loans.
- Maintaining a credit utilization ratio below 30% is important too. A high credit utilisation ratio is also perceived as a sign of high dependency on credit and thus, a high credit utilisation ratio leads to a low CIBIL Score
Summing Up
TransUnion CIBIL is the oldest credit information agency in India and most lenders approach it to enquire about potential customers' creditworthiness. It is thus important to maintain a high CIBIL score. Checking your CIBIL score frequently will allow you to take corrective measures from time to time and ensure a good credit rating. You can check your CIBIL score using PAN card credentials.