Showing posts with label finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finance. Show all posts

Saturday, 15 August 2015

No Credit Score Can Negatively Impact Your Finances

If you aren’t planning to borrow, it seems like it might be pointless to worry about building up your credit profile. After all, if you don’t have a credit score, it doesn’t matter if you aren’t going to get a loan, right?
The unfortunate truth is that this isn’t always the case. In fact, there are many situations in which your credit score matters more than you think. Even though you might not think it’s fair, having no credit score says something about you to financial service providers and others. The lack of a credit score is an indication to others that they can’t trust your ability to be responsible with your finances.
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Financial Setbacks Due to a Lack of Credit Score

Not having a credit score can actually cost you money. A landlord can charge you a higher security deposit on a rental if you don’t have good credit (and having no credit is often seen as just as bad as — or worse than — a poor credit score). You might also find yourself with less than ideal terms when it comes to signing up for a cell phone plan or getting Internet service.
Additionally, in some states, it’s legal for insurers to check your credit score when determining your premiums. 
When you think about the extra costs of not having a credit score, and how they can add up over time, it becomes clear that you could easily be missing out.

When You Decide to Buy Something Big...

The biggest issue you run into, though, is when you decide to make a major purchase that practically requires that you borrow. You might decide to never get a credit card, or even to pay for your cars with cash. But if you make buying a home a priority, having no credit score means you will have a very hard time qualifying for a mortgage.
No one wants to loan tons of money to an unknown entity with no history of making loan payments (and credit cards count as loans). While you might find some lenders willing to take a chance on you, you will likely have to pay a subprime rate to make it happen.
You don’t have to go into debt to build your credit history. If you get a credit card, use it, and then pay it off every single month, you can get a good credit score without the accompanying debt. You’ll be able to further your finances, and get a house when you’re ready.

Visit: www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Tuesday, 28 July 2015

Lifestyle factors to consider: Own house or rent?

One of the biggest debates in the world of personal finance is whether or not you should buy or rent when it comes to housing.
“There are pros and cons to each side of the debate,”. “What it comes down to, though, is your personal lifestyle and what works for you and your long-term financial goals.”
Proponents of buying a home point to the fact that you have the opportunity to build equity that can serve you well in the long run. When you own a home, you own a large asset that can be useful down the road. Not only that, but there is the potential for appreciation, especially if you live in a desirable real estate market that sees home values increase at a strong annual rate.
On the other hand, supporters of a renting lifestyle point out that most homes aren’t located in areas where you’re going to see an appreciation of 5% to 10% annually. For most real estate markets, the annual appreciation is going to be closer 2% to 3%. On top of that, you have costs including interest paid, maintenance, repairs and property taxes. Many home buyers will be lucky to break even.

The reality is that whether you buy or rent a home should depend on your personal situation and your goals. What’s right for one person might not be right for another. In fact, your preferences might change at different points in your life. As you consider the choice to rent or buy, here are some lifestyle factors to consider:

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How long you plan to stay?

“Buying a home essentially ties you down to a location, “If you know that you are going to move around a lot in the next few years, it might make more sense to rent.”
Unless you plan to become a landlord and rent out the property after you leave, buying for a short period is likely to result in losses to your budget. Renting offers more flexibility in living arrangements since you can leave with greater ease, and you don’t have to worry about trying to sell the home before you take off for your next living arrangement.

Convenience

There are a lot of inconveniences that come with owning a home. You handle maintenance and repairs. If you have a yard, you need to take care of it. When you rent, though, many of these items are taken care of by the landlord. You don’t have to worry about maintenance, and if something breaks, it’s someone else’s responsibility.
“Many rental communities, especially if you live in a luxury apartment or condo community, come with conveniences and amenities you might not get if you buy.” Amenities like a workout room, pool, clubhouse and even walking trails might be present in some rental communities. If you like these amenities close to your home so that you don’t have to drive to the gym or if you like the idea of having nearby facilities for gatherings, renting can match your idea of lifestyle convenience.
While some suburban communities have HOAs that provide some amenities, they often cost extra, while access to rental amenities are often included in your monthly payment.

Location and market

You should also consider the location and the real estate market. If your lifestyle preferences are for a big lot and lots of privacy, buying a home outside of a city center might make sense — and be less expensive. However, if you like living near urban amenities, it might be too expensive to buy, and renting might make more sense.
In some markets, the cost of buying comes with a lower monthly price tag than renting. In these markets, even if you prefer to rent, you might be better off buying. If renting is much cheaper on a monthly basis, though, that could be the right choice for now. You can invest or save the difference in cost and later when circumstances are different, you might be able to change your approach.
“No matter your preferences, it might be worth it to rent for six months or a year before deciding, especially if you are in a new area,”  “This allows you to get a feel for the location and get to know what you like or don’t like about it. You don’t want to be in a position where you buy in a new area, and then end up leaving less than a year later — and are stuck with this house to unload.”

Risks

Finally, don’t forget to weigh the risks associated with buying and renting. “With buying, you run the risk of ending up needing to sell even if the market drops,”  “Even homes lose value, and you could be out tens of thousands of dollars.”
However, there are risks associated with renting as well. Landlords can increase rents to the point where you are priced out of your housing, and you are forced to move. You also don’t build equity. Unless you are investing (and that comes with its own risks) to increase your net worth without the help of a home, you could wind up in financial trouble down the road.
Carefully think about your financial situation, and make a decision to buy or rent based on what is likely to work best for you and match your lifestyle.

For any credit related information or advises, visit: www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Friday, 24 July 2015

CIBIL Score and Credit Card Limit

Credit Card Limit is basically “Spending Limit” allowed on your credit card. Credit Card is riskiest business for any bank. The default rate is very high on credit cards as it is totally unsecured credit extended to customer. Now a days banks are extra cautious while issuing a credit card. A credit card is issued only after due diligence. Every credit card has different credit limit depending on risk profile of the customer. Credit card limit is decided based on income, current loan portfolio, expense pattern and overall risk assessment of customer by the bank. Banks pull out CIBIL report of a customer to check most of these point. If CIBIL sore is less than 750 or there is a default on payment in past then Credit Card application is not be approved. Basically CIBIL score is a credit report card of a customer i.e. how he manages his personal finance and credit discipline followed by the customer.

Credit Card Limit and CIBIL Score

When the credit card is issued, banks play safe and keep Credit Card Limit on lower side. Based on the usage of customer and payment history, banks keep revising Credit Card Limit at regular intervals normally 12-18 months. At macro level, higher credit limit shows that bank has high confidence on customer that he/she will not default on credit card payment. Credit Card Limit is good pointer how your CIBIL score is moving. If bank offer to increase your credit limit then you should grab the opportunity. It also implies that you are following good credit practices.
As a thumb rule, you should never use your credit card limit more than 30% of approved credit card limit. If current limit is not sufficient then you can always request bank to increase your credit card limit. It is not necessary that bank will oblige. As a back up plan, you may opt for 2nd credit card which will give slight cushion. Credit limit will not increase drastically until unless you are eligible for enhanced eligibility based on usage patter and credit history. An increase of 20%-30% is decent. It is always advisable not to keep more than 2 credit cards.
In normal scenario, financial advisers suggest not to increase credit card limit even if the bank offer to increase the same. Their main concern is that with increase in credit card limit, a customer will tend to spend more. The point is that Bank offer to increase Credit Card Limit only when they observe that customer is following good credit practices. It also imply that customer is using credit card responsibly and making all payments on time. As it is mentioned that as and when bank offer to increase the credit then you should opt for it. At the time, increase in credit limit does not mean that you should stop following good credit practices. Obviously with increase in income level, credit card usage will increase. In order to maintain discipline you should never utilize more than 30% of available credit card limit.
As it is highlighted that higher credit limit means high confidence of bank in your re-payment capability therefore high Credit Card Limit has positive impact on CIBIL Score. Normally Credit Card Limit is around 2.5 to 3 times of monthly gross salary. Assuming a person's monthly gross salary is 1 Lakh. His credit card limit should be between 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh. This cumulative limit is across credit cards in case he is carrying multiple credit cards. If he have 2 credit cards then my cumulative credit limit should be in this range. Credit Limit of more than 3 times monthly gross salary will have positive impact on your CIBIL Score. 
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High Credit Card Limit will reduce my future Loan Eligibility

This is the biggest misconception that increased credit limit will eat into your Loan eligibility. Credit Card limit is somewhat similar to overdraft facility extended to the customer i.e. facility is extended, customer is availing or not is different. Credit Limit should not be misunderstood as Loan or Mortgage. Reason being, till you utilize this limit it will not be considered as Loan or credit. Therefore it is advisable to utilize only 30% credit card limit at any given point of time. A parallel can be drawn between Credit Card Limit and Home Loan Eligibility. In case of Home Loan, assume based on his eligibility bank fix his Home Loan eligibility as 1 Cr. If a person only opt for a Home Loan of 40 lakh. In this case his loan/credit liability is restricted to Home Loan availed i.e. 40 lakhs not 1 Cr (Home Loan Eligibility). Similarly in case of a Credit card, if a person's credit limit is 3 lakh and he only utilize 75k then his credit/loan liability is 75k which will eat into his total loan eligibility.

Holding Period of a Credit Card

Some people have habit of churning credit card as and when they receive new credit card offer. It is not advisable to churn credit card because holding period of a credit card i.e. from how long the customer is using particular credit card also impact Credit Limit thus CIBIL Score. It require atleast couple of years time to understand the credit behavior of a customer. Normal credit cycle is of 1 year because credit usage vary from month to month. A person's credit card usage is high during the month of April as he pay all his annual insurance premiums during April. Similarly, usage can be drastically low during September and February. In order to discount all these seasonal variations, credit cycle of atleast 2-3 years is considered to understand credit behavior. Besides credit cycle, longer holding period of credit card shows stable credit behavior of a customer. Holding Period directly impact CIBIL Score therefore if you are using same credit card from last 5 years then there is high probability of better CIBIL Score.
To summarize, Credit Card if used judiciously and intelligently can help to improve CIBIL Score in long run. Some people have misconception that since they don’t use Credit Card therefore they should have high CIBIL Score. Answer is CIBIL score is a derivative of Credit history. If you don’t have any credit history then how financial institutions will check your Credit history. Only a good credit history can help to build good CIBIL Score of more than 750 in long run. Credit Card is one of the easiest and convenient way to improve CIBIL Score & you should not miss this opportunity.
Hope you liked the post and remember that good CIBIL score is result of good credit practices. It cannot be improved overnight. Beware of agencies or companies which promise overnight improvement in CIBIL Score through fraudulent ways.

Source-secondary

Sunday, 12 July 2015

Home Loan from Housing Finance Company

1. Higher Loan to Value Ratio: This is the biggest plus point for a Housing Finance Company. As HFC is not governed by RBI therefore they can include stamp duty and registration charges towards the cost of the property. Let’s understand from an example if a person is buying a property worth Rs 100. The stamp duty and registration cost of the property are Rs 6 i.e. 6% (Average). In this case, total cost of the property is Rs 106. Depending on my Home Loan Eligibility, Bank will approve LTV of 80% on Rs 100 i.e. Rs 80 as bank will not include Rs 6 towards the cost of a property. In short, he avail loan from a bank, he have to pool in Rs 26 from his pocket and his effective loan to value ratio is 75.47%.
Considering, he avail Home Loan from Housing Finance Company. In this case cost of property for Home Loan will be considered as Rs 106 and Loan to Value ratio of 80% effectively means that he can avail Home Loan of 80% of Rs 106 i.e. Rs 84.8. In this case, he have to pool only Rs 21.2 from my pocket. For simplicity purpose, he explained with an example of Rs 100 but it will be substantial amount considering the High Value of Home Loan. To summarize, Own contribution in case of Home Loan from Housing Finance Company is lower compared to bank thus higher home loan value.
2. Tie up with builders: Builders also deserve equal credit for the success of Housing Finance Company. It’s a win-win situation for both the parties as HFC’s offer higher commission to builders, are bit lenient on the legal process and most importantly, offer subvention schemes. Banks cannot offer subvention schemes due to strict RBI guidelines. Builders push loan from HFC very hard especially small  builders. USP is Pre Approved Project, therefore, minimum documentation and hassle free processing. Buyer is not able to understand the disadvantages of this trap. Builders de-sell, banks or Home loan providers who have not approved his project. As a thumb rule, you should never invest in a project which is not approved by at least 5-6 Home Loan Providers including 2-3 Banks. Buyers fail to understand that HFC’s are very lenient on Legal Check process therefore they have to be careful. Any project which is not approved by any of the banks and only by HFC/s is a big NO. The strategy of the builder is to get the project pre-approved at the time of launch and then there is a large scale deviation from approved layout plan. Banks don’t approve such projects.
3. Higher Home Loan Eligibility: A Housing Finance Company is a bit lenient in fixing the Home Loan Eligibility depending on the income, liabilities, risk assessment etc. As mentioned there is high pressure to re-deploy the funds due to high cost. Moreover, they have to compete with big boys. As a thumb rule, you can expect 10% more Home Loan Eligibility through Housing Finance Company compared to Banks. It’s a big incentive for the borrower as it means less burden on their pocket.
4. Self Employed & Businessmen: In India, we suffer from the colonial mindset of being a Servant. In Hindi, Private Job is called “Naukri” and though we don’t like but an employee is “Naukar”. We prefer “Naukri” over entrepreneurship because of steady income. The same mindset is a roadblock at the time of availing loan. It is very difficult for self-employed and small businessman to avail Home Loan. Loan requirements are stringent compared to Salaried class. At the same time, Housing Finance Company is a bit lenient in terms of calculation and consideration towards business income of non-salaried class. It is observed that non-salaried class i.e. self-employed and small businessman prefers Housing Finance Company for Home Loan requirement.
5. Low weightage to CIBIL Score: A Housing Finance Company especially small HFC’s are lenient on CIBIL score consideration. Seen cases wherein people with CIBIL Score of 700 received Home Loan approval. Whereas with banks score of less than 775 means end of the dream to own a house. This point is very subjective and depends on case to case basis. There is no general rule, but normally HFC’s are also bit lenient on CIBIL Score requirement. The only word of caution is that Many people with low CIBIL score paid a commission of 5% – 10% of Home Loan value to DSA to get Home Loan approved. It’s an unethical practice. Please note that DSA’s of HFC’s take undue advantage of the borrowers. They can’t influence even 0.1% of Home Loan Process. Always deal with a responsible employee of Bank / Housing Finance Company to process Home Loan. You may utilize the services of DSA only for the operational part.
To summarize, Selection between Bank and Housing Finance Company is a sort of prisoner’s dilemma. By being lenient on Home Loan process, a Housing Finance Company is doing more harm to a borrower than good. Whereas borrower perceive it otherwise. Because of this reason, you may observe that Home Loan default is more common among HFC’s Borrower compared to Big banks. Risk Assessment of a borrower should be non-negotiable. From borrower’s perspective, it better that Loan is rejected at initial stages instead of EMI default at later stages. It is always suggest buying a property with min 40% self-contribution.
Source-secondary

Thursday, 9 July 2015

Is Your Home a Collateral for Other Loans?

Collateral means to pledge an asset as a security against repayment of a loan. A collateral can be forfeited if there is a default on the loan. When you take Home Loan, you pledge your Home as a collateral for repayment of a Home Loan. But what if bank say that besides Home Loan, you have to give your Home as a collateral for any other loan or borrowing from the bank. On top of it, you also provide the commitment that this clause will cover all the past, present or any future borrowings from the Bank. Sounds Scary !!! But it is TRUE. Knowingly or Unknowingly, whenever you avail Home Loan, under Home Loan Agreement you also agree to clause “Indebtedness of the Borrower“. This is also known as Cross Collateralisation. By agreeing to this cause, you give your Home as a collateral for other loans or borrowings from the bank. Not all Home Loan Providers include this clause, but experts observed this clause in Home Loan Agreement of most of the Banks.
Ref to the sample copy of Home Loan Agreement of an Indian bank available online. Refer Article 1, clause 1.1, sub-clause “m” on page no 4. The definition is as follows
“Indebtedness of the Borrower” means any indebtedness of the Borrower to the Bank at any time for and in respect of monies borrowed, contracted or raised (whether or not for cash consideration) or liabilities contracted by whatever means (including under guarantees, indemnities, acceptance, bond, credits, deposits, hire purchase and leasing by the Borrower or by a person or entity related to or connected with the Borrower); and shall also be deemed to include any indebtedness of any associate or affiliate of the Borrower or any entity related to or connected with the Borrower, towards the Bank or any associates or affiliates of the Bank.”
To understand, let’s take an example of one lady. Her husband expired 4 years ago which put the entire family into financial problem. She was serving Home Loan from her salary. For her daughter’s education, she took the personal loan from the bank. Her Home Loan provider “Bank” happily approved the personal loan without any hassles. As her Mother in law is Class I legal heir of her husband’s wealth therefore under family settlement it was decided to sell the house. The proceeds will be divided equally between her and her Mother in Law. Recently, she closed the Home Loan but to her surprise Bank refused to issue NOC against Home Loan. Without NOC, she cannot sell the property. Bank put a condition to clear Personal Loan before they issue NOC for Home Loan. In short, Bank revoked Indebtedness of the Borrower clause in the Home Loan Agreement. In laymen terms, besides home loan her home is also a collateral for Personal Loan without her knowledge. Legally, the Home Loan Agreement is signed by her therefore she cannot claim ignorance.

Implications of Home as Collateral for Other Loans:

1. Indebtedness of the Borrower usually covers all loans/borrowing of a borrower i.e. Past, Present & Future from the bank.
2. Your Home will be collateral till you clear all the balance outstanding against all the loans with the banks.
3. The bank may include the clause to cover its associates, affiliates or subsidiaries under this clause. What it implies is that suppose you availed Home Loan from Bank A. Now, you availed Consumer Loan from ABC Finance Limited. ABC Finance Limited is a subsidiary of Bank A. In this case, your Home will also act as a collateral for your Consumer Loan.

4. Though you are securing your unsecured loans like Personal Loan, Consumer Loan etc by giving your Home as a Collateral. Unfortunately, you are paying higher interest rate for unsecured Loans. Normally loans which are backed by collateral are secured loans and charged at lower Interest Rate.
5. Bank reserve right to set off any amount against other borrowings without any intimation and consent of the borrower. For example, person defaulted on the credit card in past. It was reflecting in his CIBIL score also. Both credit card and Home Loan was availed from the same bank. Now the bank was smart enough and adjusted few Home Loan Installments against the credit card default. Normally, the borrower doesn’t check Home Loan statement but while going through some other details. As the balance outstanding against credit card was cleared willingly or unwillingly him. When we requested to update the same in CIBIL. Bank replied that since the account is closed therefore Bank cannot update the same in CIBIL. On raising the dispute, Bank referred the relevant clause in Home Loan Agreement.
6. Bank also reserves the right to encash PDC’s (Post Dated Cheques) deposited for availing Home Loan for other loans with the bank.
In short, by availing Home Loan from the bank you are giving your Home as security or collateral for all the Borrowings/Cross Default. All the amounts due to the bank or its affiliates/associates/Subsidiary will be due under Home Loan Agreement. It will be backed by Home as a collateral.

How to Safeguard your Financial Interests?

Though Home Loan agreement is standard format and bank will not exclude clause related to Indebtedness of the Borrower for one borrower. It is important to follow these points to safeguard your financial interests.
1. Read the Home Loan Agreement Carefully: You should read the document before signing. If you don’t understand certain clauses then it is always advisable to take professional help. In case, you have any apprehensions about the clause related to Indebtedness of the Borrower i.e. giving your Home as collateral for other loans then check other options. Before you apply for Home Loan, you should ask for a sample copy of Home Loan Agreement. If you will back out at later stage then it may impact your CIBIL Score.
2. Selection of Home Loan Provider: You should select your Home Loan provider carefully. Even if you have agreed to the inclusion of Indebtedness of the Borrower clause then you should ensure that you don’t have any existing financial relationship with the bank. In future also you should not avail any financial products especially loans, credit card, overdraft etc from the same bank.
3. Check your Statements Regularly: Many people have a habit of not going through the monthly/quarterly statements, but it is important to check them as and when you will receive. For any suspicious transaction, you should immediately bring to the notice of the bank.
Visit: www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

Can a car loan be rejected?

In today’s modern life, every individual thinks to have the best for himself and his family. To give his family the best of everything, they work day and night. An individual first tries to get a safe shelter for his family and then other luxuries. Now luxury includes good interior, expensive clothing and of course a means of transportation i.e. a car.

In the present time car has become necessary for every individual, rather be a salaried person or a businessman. Every individual wish to provide an easy mean of transportation for his family. Earlier it was quite tough for every individual to get a car, but now a days due to easy financing options provided by financial companies have made it easy for the individuals to get their vehicle easily.
 
But can a car loan be rejected? Does an individual have low credit score affect his decision to get a car loan?
 
Yes, even a car loan can be rejected. Mr. Ajay, a salaried individual applied for a car loan and it got rejected.
 
Mr. Ajay is IT professional. Being an IT professional had a decent salary. As he had taken a home loan which was currently continued, could not get a car by full payment. So he applied for a car loan. Looking at his salary, it was easy for Mr. Ajay to get approved for a car loan. But he was shocked to know that the financial institutions had rejected his loan.

But even after having a decent salary, why was the loan application of Mr. Ajay rejected. The reason behind denial of loan stated by the financial institutions was “Credit score of Mr. Ajay was low, due to which the loan application was being denied.”
 
Credit Score? Mr. Ajay had never heard of such word. But can this credit score be the reason for denial of a loan?
 
Credit score is basically a three digit numerical figure which ranges from 300 to 900. This score is generally rates an individual as per his credit history. Generally a credit score of 700 and above is considered as a good score.
 
Credit history is the snapshot of past and current credit relationship of an individual. It states whether the individual has been consistent in making all his payments. Credit history nowadays has become an important part of finance. But people are not much responsible as they should be which can make their credit history poor.

These credit scores and credit history of an individual are calculated by credit bureaus. The banks and the financial institutions provide all the information of every individual to these bureaus to check their creditworthiness. The major credit bureaus in India are CIBIL, Experian, Equifax and High Mark. Every bureau has a different method of calculating their score. Based on the score calculated by the bureaus, banks and other financial institutions check the creditworthiness of individual.
 
After knowing everything about credit score and credit history, Mr. Ajay felt that all these are very important aspects of finance for every individual.
 
Mr. Ajay realised the truth that individuals with bad score and poor history would face rejection in their each financial attempt. Banks and financial institution will be able to provide financial help to such individuals. As these individuals will gain trust of these institutions as their history is poor.
 
Now where there are many individuals who have low credit score and poor credit history, these people need someone who can assist them to get out of such situation and improve their finances. Credit repair companies are those institutions are those companies whose aim is to help all the people to restore their finances.

Sunday, 5 July 2015

Biggest Misconceptions About Credit Score Debunked

Bangalore: Nowadays to apply for a loan or credits it has become mandatory that you should have a high credit score. According to rating on your credit scores the insurance companies, cable companies and even utility providers will decide on the rates or deposit amounts that will be charged on you. But often it is seen that like many other important things in life, even the credit scores are often misunderstood. There are many myths about the credit card scores that are going around about what hurts or improves.
Let’s have a look at seven popular myths about credit scores and credit reports:
I cannot check my credit card report as it will hurt my credit card score : 
There is no harm in checking your personal credit report. Usually while you review your own credit report that is called as a “soft pull,” or “soft inquiry,” that will be seen on a personal credit report and in addition to that this will have no impact on your scores.  It is advisable that everyone should at least annually check their credit report.
When lenders or others check your credit card score then it is called as a “hard enquiry” and this can affect your credit card scores.  Sometimes hard inquiries are shown to other lenders in order to represent new debt that might not be shown on a credit report as an account. Thus hard inquiries can really affect your credit scores but soft enquires don’t.
Employers should not check a job applicant’s credit : 
This myth is wrong it is actually legal for an employer to pull and review a credit report of a job applicant before hiring him or an employee. But yes the employer should seek job applicants or employees permission for this reviewing. In some of the fields like finance, government and banking agencies have to often review credit reports before hiring any person as they might have access to large amount of money or any confidential information. But it is advisable for employers to just check the financial habits or failings of a job applicant instead of checking their credit report.
By paying cash instead of using credit card might increase my credit score : 
Using cash every time instead of credit cards will not help you increase your credit scores, instead using credit accounts is the best way to help you establish and build credit. As both cash and debit cards are just like an electronic check these are not the better options. In order to get qualified for the best rates in order to for instance apply for a home loan or a student loan you need to prove that you can manage your credit responsibly. Second way to build your credit score is to make sure that you make loan and rent payments on time and in addition to that when you have high scores you will be offered with best and new services.
My academic background can affect my credit scores : 
Your Academic background or education level is never part of a credit report, so it will not affect your credit scores. Only debt related information is included in credit reports. Therefore, information about loans, credit cards and payment history, as well as bankruptcy, tax liens and civil judgments will be reported.
Other information like income, investments or assets such as stocks or bonds will also not be included in a credit report. In addition to that there is no information about savings accounts, checking accounts, certificates of deposit or other non-debt banking relationships etc. Additionally, factors like race, gender, marital status, national origin or religion are also not included in credit report.

Source-secondary