Showing posts with label pay off. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pay off. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 July 2015

Go debt free!

If you get tangled in a debt trap, what should you do? The most obvious advice you will receive is to cut down on your expenses and save up to pay off your debt. You need some quick steps in order to stay pumped enough to get out of debt completely. When you start knocking off the easier debts, you will start to see results and you will start to win in debt reduction.
                           young couple worried need help in stress at home couch accounting debt bills bank papers expenses and payments feeling desperate in bad financial situation
Forecast debt plan
The principle is to stop everything except minimum payments and focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise, nothing gets accomplished because all your effort is diluted. List your debts in order with the smallest payoff or balance first. Do not be concerned with interest rates or terms unless two debts have similar payoffs, then list the higher interest rate debt first.
Low interest rate
One can low the credit card interest rates by doing a balance transfer. This refers to move your credit card to another bank that might lower the interest rate to get your business. Shop around and try to get the lowest interest rate for the longest duration.
First repay your expensive debt
You should look over the interest rates of every credit card you use to make purchases and sort them from highest to lowest. By paying off the balance with the highest interest first, you increase your payment on the credit card with the highest annual percentage rate while continuing to make the minimum payment on the rest of your credit cards.
Allocate your investments
You may need to do a little reshuffling. Ideally, begin by liquidating any investments, other than insurance products, that are paying you a low tax adjusted rate of return. Then pay off your higher cost debt before lower cost ones. To put it simply, the credit card bills and personal loans must be the first to go. At the same time, you would need to insure that you continue making payments of EMIs on asset loans, used to purchase a home or an automobile, etc.
Negotiate with creditors
Try to explain creditors that you got trapped in bad financial duress and about the hardship the business is going through. Then, ask if they have a plan that may provide better payment terms. If the creditor doesn’t offer one, request a payment plan or a reduced settlement amount.

Visit: www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary

Wednesday, 8 July 2015

Pay off with credit card to increase your CIBIL score.


Credit reports are used by loan companies to help them determine whether you are a good risk or not and if you are likely to repay any loan taken out. There are some very simple steps you can take to raise your credit rating. Many of these actions are things not to do also.

"If you consistently pay off your bill as soon as you receive it, your balance will remain lower. If, on the other hand, you continue to charge up the card between receiving your bill and paying it off on the due date a couple of weeks later, your reported balance will be higher. This increases the chances that when the credit bureau takes the snapshot, your credit utilization ratio will be higher."



Avoid jumping from credit card to credit card.: If you "transfer your balance" - a scheme that doesn't hurt you, and gets you 0% interest on your balance for a period of time, sometimes as long as a year – unnecessary don't open the new account. Your credit history looks better to the credit bureaus if you have long-standing, established accounts.


Rely on your seniority in age: You can't do anything about, being older, but at least there's something good about ageing! Age is one of the personal factors which bureaus take into account while giving the credit ratings.

Regularly pay your bills on time: This is actually first in the order of things you must do to better your credit score. Each late payment is affecting your credit score and presents a picture of unreliability. You must determine that, if you want to improve your CIBIL score, you should pay your bills on time. The biggest hunk of your credit score is based on your payments history.

Source: Secondary

Get loan with almost NO or bad Credit score?

An individual with low or no credit score has a hard time getting a loan as they are looked upon as a lending risk that may default and leave the lender in losses. People with no credit find themselves into a muddle state since, banks refuse to give them credit as they have no credit history and they need credit to build themselves a credit history. So what do you do in such situations? How do you get credit to build your credit history:

Be ready to pay a deposit: 
Understand that you do have a bad credit score and you’ll be needing to pay a deposit to get a card or loan. Many people shy away from secured cards as they have to pay a deposit against it. But remember that, a secured card is the best way to improve your credit score, as in almost all cases you’ll be denied a card or loan with bad credit. So, this is the easiest of all to build your credit score quickly and then apply and get accepted for better loans.

Also, make sure you apply for a secured card which reports your on-time payments to the credit bureaus. Some cards do not do so, and all your efforts of being credit responsible will go to waste as your good habits aren't reported to your credit report and there will be no difference to your credit score.

Credit builder Loan: 
This is something similar to a secured card but in the form of a loan. Here, the bank will lend you a small loan for an object you needed to buy. The object is being held by the bank while you make monthly payments to the bank and the possession is given back to you when you pay off the whole loan. This not only gets you the object which you wanted to buy but also helps you build a good credit record.

Avoid Multiple credit applications:
In all these though, you need to avoid applying for multiple credit lines. Applying for multiple credit lines  at the same time does more damage than help. Multiple credit applications leads to several hard inquiries against your credit report which lowers your credit score. So be slow, research well and be selective about the credit you apply for. It is very dangerous for people with no credit as they look as an individual having no credit to bursting into the credit scene which can be bad for their credit health. Don’t waste your time on credit cards or loans which require excellent credit- it is a waste of time as well as a dent in your score due to the multiple inquiries.

Discuss with lenders:
Talk to your lenders before you apply for a loan. Some lenders have services wherein they can pull out your data, which may be not be included in your credit score but may show your repayment patterns and credit worth. Though, it is not included in your credit score, but the lenders may be willing to take a risk and give you a loan despite your bad credit.

Source: Secondary

Paying Debts Early : Good or Bad

If you have extra money, it’s always a question for people whether to use this money in paying off your debts or rather investing somewhere. Would paying off the debt early affect our credit score? Would it help us go ahead with our finances? Check these points before deciding on where to use your extra money.


Dangerous debts: 
Some debts are very dangerous for your financial health as they can result in jail time or monetary penalties. Such debts should be prioritized and paid off first. Examples of such debts are delinquent taxes, debts given to collection agencies etc.



Check the terms of the debt:
Check and see if there are penalties for paying off a loan early. Some creditors put a fee for the early repayment of the debt. Go back to your paperwork and check your fine print for prepayment fees.

Enough Cash:
After you strike through the dangerous debts checkpoint, next is the cash on hand. You want to have enough savings to cope during a financial crisis. Having cash militia helps you to go through a rough financial patch without having to rely on more debt.

Invest:
Do the maths! If you are earning more from the after cutting taxes rate of the investment than what is piling up due to the debt interest rate, then it is better to go for the investment. Paying off a debt early may not give you a benefit- that is why you are better off using your extra money for investing. In fact, use the money earned on the investment to pay off your debt in future. 
Act smart! Visit: www.cibilconsultants.com
Source: Secondary


Monday, 22 June 2015

When to check your credit report and improve your credit score?


Whether you are planning to buy a home, a car or even a new credit card, your credit score has immense affect on your loan processing. A credit score is a 3 digit number that shows numeric summary of your credit health. Such score is derived by credit bureaus by analyzing your credit history. The score usually ranges from 300 to 900 points and the higher score suggests more chance of getting approval of your loans. If you are in dilemma to find how to improve credit score, following tips may help you:


ñ      The first and foremost easy action to improve your credit score is to pay off all your bills on time and pay regular installments on your loan default. Even, if your credit score is trembling, you just follow the technique of paying all the bills on time. You need to maintain no late payment status for at-least seven years.

ñ      It is important to put a limit on your credit card use and utilize it only for certain ways. Your credit score would be on the higher side if you will make less use of credit cards as well as will avoid using too many credit cards. The ideal would to be use between 10% and 20% or less of the total credit available.

If you don’t have any idea how to get credit report and improve your credit score, it is better to take help of professional credit agencies. These agencies become your friend and guide in showing you the right way to improve your credit score.
Visit www.cibilconsultants.com and book an appointment now !

Source: Secondary

Restore your CIBIL score this way

Banks and credit card companies use credit scores to determine your credit worthiness and whether to qualify you for a loan. The higher credit score you have, the lower interest rates banks offer you and vice versa. Even some employers check your credit report before giving you the job and even landlords check before signing the lease. That is why, it is of utmost importance to have a good credit score.



Check errors:
Checking your credit score at regular intervals is one of the good financial habit. Most of the times the credit score dropping is cause of errors on the report. If you find errors, contact the bureau as soon as you can and go as per the procedure to rectify it.

Talk to the creditors:
If you are having financial problems, contact your creditors as soon as you can. They can help you with lower interest rates, and counsel you about balance transfers and debt consolidations.

Make your payments:
The hardest part- Try to make pay off all your debts and don’t accumulate any more debt. Turn to cash payments and cut down on your expenses till you pay off your debts.

Your credit score is your emergency financial tool for the future. If you don’t restore your credit it will keep going down and risk your chances of getting a loan in the future.

Source: Secondary

Friday, 19 June 2015

Rare ways to improve credit score

When it comes to your credit score, you are known to the common routine to raise and maintain your good credit score; paying your bills on time, not closing old accounts, keeping the credit utilization ratio low etc. But other than these common rules about your credit score, most people are not known to some other uncommon ways which may increase or decrease your credit score.

Payments before due date:
The banks report your balances to CIBIL or other credit reporting agencies on the statement date, not necessarily on the due date. The balances can be reported before the due date too so you paying the balances on the due date may not make it to your credit report. This may increase your credit utilization ratio thereby affecting your credit score. Try to make all the payments before your due date and by the date of the statement, as that is most necessarily the date till when banks send reports to bureaus. You can also make multiple payments to periodically pay off your balances before the due date.


Collection agencies:
Sometimes our debts go for collections when we are not able to pay them off. Debts going into collections can affect your credit score negatively to a very great extent. You can talk to these collections agencies and many of these agencies will agree to remove the debt from your credit report if you pay it off your debt. But get it in writing before paying off such collection debts.

Deletion by ‘good-will’:
If you are a person who regularly serves his debt and is credit responsible but have 1-2 small things which are hampering your credit score, then  you can get these things sorted by the bank. If it is one of the rare instances when you have made a late payment, talk to your bank ; they might cut you some slack and you can get your credit score improved.

Source-secondary

Source: Secondary

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

It is important to stay credit healthy

A sound credit history can be your most precious financial assets. If your credit health shows that you had been prudent in paying off your debts, you will not only be able to qualify for credit whenever you need it, you will also be able to borrow money at the lower interest rate. Lenders use these credit reports to evaluate your ability to repay, your character and any joining to take a decision to entrust you money. These ratings are also used by debt financing firms, investment banks and dealers to know your credit potential. If you find that there are discrepancies in your credit report but neither have time nor knowledge how to remove name from CIBIL defaulters list, it is better to hire an experienced and professional credit repair agency.





By delegating responsibility of eliminating errors from your credit report into the hands of professionals, you can utilize your time and efforts in completing your other essential tasks. Also, professional firms make sure that your credit repair process is completed without any procrastination by taking immediate action on all procedural formalities. 
There are many who believe to take help of professional credit repair agency at-least once in a life time so as to understand all the procedures and tricks to eliminate problems with CIBIL report as well as to understand the procedure so next time, they can do it themselves.

Remain credit healthy and creditworthy by opting for appropriate credit health packages at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

How much debts are beneficial for you ?

Debt is an important tool which helps you finance large purchases, open a business or even help build your credit score. It is a topic on which different people have different opinions; some find it acceptable till the time you have enough resources to pay it back while some think it is not necessary and that it would become a big liability on your finances.

But we have to remember that debts do help you finance big purchases when you don’t have enough cash flow and it also forms a big part in shaping up your CIBIL score, we just need to know where to draw the line. But when debt become too much? Till How much debt is beneficial for your credit health?



There are guidelines by the lenders on how much debt you should have. Your debt shouldn't exceed a certain percentage of your income. You should have enough income to cover off your debts as well your interests.

When you start missing out on payments, work overtime to pay off your debts, use up your savings- that’s the time when you have crossed the ‘beneficial debt’ line. The debt is no longer beneficial to you and it would start harming your credit score now. Till the time you use it responsibly, debt is a great credit tool but if not it becomes a big dent in your finances.

Before taking additional debt, keep these points in mind.

• The most important one- you should have enough income and savings to cover your payments for the debts( including interest)

• Always go into debt when you are confident you receive a ROI (return on investment).  If you don’t get  good returns, there's no point in going for the debt. Research well on the debt’s ROI value before you go for borrowing.

• Check if you are qualifying for a good interest rate. Calculate the overall charges in the long run. For e.g. - if getting a house at a low interest rate would be better than renting. If you are not getting a good competitive rate, then take a little time look at your options or if you have a bad credit score, rebuild it and then go apply again.

If you'll follow above mentioned measures, then the debt you are going for is not too much, but if you can’t then that debt is obviously gonna too much.

Repair and enhance your credit score by just selecting suitable package available at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Sunday, 7 June 2015

Should you pay off student loans early?

When the subject of debt freedom comes up, it’s often accompanied by the idea that all debt must be paid off as quickly as possible — no matter what.




Advantages of paying off student loans early

Of course, the biggest advantage to paying off student loan debt early is the fact that you are getting rid of debt, and no longer pay the interest. Another advantage to paying off the student loan debt early is the peace of mind that comes with being debt-free. Student debt is one of those things you can’t just discharge in a bankruptcy, and not paying on your student loans can result in other consequences when it comes to government jobs and benefits.
If you pay off your student loans early, you have the potential to save money in interest, and achieve greater peace of mind.

When paying off student loans early doesn’t make sense

While I can see some attraction in paying off student loans early, financially it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me.
First of all, I am fortunate to have an low interest rate .Instead of putting extra money toward paying down my low-interest student loan debt, it makes more sense for me to invest that money. My potential for return is much higher than interest rate if I put more money toward retirement instead of paying off my student loan early.
Secondly, the interest is tax-deductible. So, while that doesn’t completely make up for the fact that I’m paying interest, the reality is that the tax deduction does alleviate some of the pain of paying interest. Add that to the better returns in an investment portfolio, and I come out pretty far ahead financially, even while keeping my student loans to term.
Finally, I know that if I run into financial difficulty, I can be placed on income-based repayment, or defer my loan payments. My student loan payments aren’t likely to be a real problem if my finances break down. I can put them “on hold” while my emergency fund goes toward other expenses.
It may be a bit of an unconventional approach, but I like to acknowledge that not all debt is created equal. Run the numbers. It might make more financial sense to put your money to work elsewhere, instead of pay off the student loans early — as long as you are comfortable with the idea of carrying debt a little bit longer.

Use Your Balance Transfer Card Wisely

Balance transfer cards are cards that offer very low or zero interest rates. If you have high-interest debts to pay like loans, credit cards then you can go for a balance transfer card to preserve money on the high interest rates. You can transfer your due balance to a balance transfer card with a low or zero interest rate and pay off the balance without worrying about the interests piling up. But to get approved for a balance transfer card, you need to have a good score. A good CIBIL score also helps to get the balance transfer deals. But you should also know that balance transfer cards have an expiry period ranging from 3 months to a year.


So how should one use a balance transfer card wisely? 

Your main aim should be paying off that balance before the low interest rates for the balance transfer card expires and interests start piling up again. Don’t transfer a balance if you are not sure of paying off the debt before your low interest rate expires. Transferring a balance when you are not sure about paying it does more hurt than help because in the end you’ll be stuck with a bigger interest rate than the one in last account, once your low interest rate expires.  You would lose money than, what you were thinking of saving, while transferring the card. Make sure you understand all the terms and cinditions of the card before you make a transfer. Try to get the lowest fees & lowest interest rates and the longest period of time.

Balance transfer card don’t make the balances go away- they optimize your debt by making it less expensive for a limited period to help you pay it off. 
So, follow these steps and use your balance transfer card wisely!

For any assistance regarding credit score visit www.cibilconsultants.com

source-secondary

Saturday, 6 June 2015

How to get Healthier Personal Finance ?


What defines our finances may not be in our hands always but most of the times it. Our Finances define many of the important factors so it is necessary to have a healthy financial life.

Prioritize your financial goals:
Write down the financial goals you are aiming for and focus on the ones which rank high on your priority list. Having goals set is very important and the first step to healthier finances. 


Get a Credit Report
Credit Report is a major factor defining the health of your finances. Checking your credit report at regular intervals is good financial practice and helps you spot any deceitful activities on your reports immediately. You can correct these errors before they devastate your finances.

Reduce Debt: 

Optimize your debts to pay less. Pay off any pending balances to keep your credit report clean. Because the better credit score you will have, the more money you can save. Higher credit score not only gets you lower interest rates but also gets you more ways to pay off your debts with debts consolidations, balance transfers etc.

Insurance:
To tackle the risks in our financial life, insurance is a must. Search for the best insurance deals with lower costs and enough protection. It makes your finances safer and gives you a safety net.
 
 
Follow these steps to healthier personal finances and know more @ www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

First Time Credit Card users should know these.

First time using credit card seems fun and quite exciting to users. But it is important to keep in mind that a credit card isn't your money but it is borrowed money which you have repay back to the credit card issuer. 
Given below are some tips to use your credit card smartly and in turn helps in strengthening your CIBIL report and credit score:

Pay Off the Balances Monthly:
It won’t be a problem for you if you use your credit card well within your budget. To avoid interest, make sure to pay off your balances every month. Not paying off your balances will result in the interest piling up and eating away your wealth. That is why make sure to pay off whatever you use on the card every month.


Pay Your Bills On Time: 
As you know payment history is the most importance influence of your credit score. So, make sure that you pay your bills on time. Because late fees would add up quickly and late payments would impact your credit score.

Read the fine print before signing for a credit card:
You should know all the details like the duration of the grace period, interest rates and any other fees being charged. Also many people don’t know that interest rates can be negotiated so do a full research before applying for a credit card.

Access your credit score and report:
Checking your credit score and report at regular intervals helps you in managing finances better and identifying incorrect information on your credit report and also alerts you when there is a case of possible identity theft.

Don’t give out information casually :
Make sure that you keep your credit card information safe and secure. See to it that you don’t give out your passwords, account number or any other information when people ask for it online or on telephone. Before giving out information, find out if the person is trustworthy and is asking you for a specific purpose. Check if the site is secure before giving out credit information.

All first time users should consult a credit monitoring agency for knowing the pros and cons of using a credit card and its effect on credit score.
For more details visit www.cibilconsultants.com and book an appointment for getting services to renew, revamp and retaining your credit score !

Source: Secondary

Credit card cancellation affect your CIBIL score !

The decision to cancel a credit card usually comes in mind when we want to avoid excessive spending or if the terms of the credit card are not friendly anymore but you have to make sure to do it in such a way that it gives the least damage to your CIBIL score.


Choose which credit card to cancel wisely:
If you are carrying multiple credit cards, always make sure, never to close all your credit cards at the same time. Your credit score may be badly reflected if you close too many cards at once, it may also hamper your chances of getting a credit card or a loan in the future. Credit card cancellation must go according to the terms of the banks exit policy or it will go on to reflect a very bad credit score. Try to compare the rewards and schemes the card gives, the interest rates and the other details and then choose which card will give the best advantage. Also, remember that is better to close the credit cards which have been attained recently than the older credit cards to avoid any dip in the credit score.



Pay off any pending balances:
The bank will cancel your credit card only if it does not have any pending balances due to the bank. Pay off the balances on the card in full, or transfer the balance to a balance transfer card if you have found one with better terms. If you don’t want any more dues till the time you pay off your earlier dues, you can get your card frozen till the time you clear the balance and close off your card. If you want to close your credit card accounts without impacting your credit score then you need to make sure that you have zero balances on your CIBIL report for all your active cards.

Keep checking your CIBIL score for updates:
When you close a credit card it reduces your credit limit, which eventually gets reflected in your credit score. Keep checking on your CIBIL report after you cancel your credit card. This will allow you to keep an eye on how much damage the cancellation of the credit card had on your credit score. The credit utilization ratio goes down after the cancellation of each of your cards, thus hurting your credit score temporarily. Also remember that is easier to improve your bad credit score than to fight off the huge debt traps of the dues on your credit card.

Credit card utilization is an important factor in determining your credit score so deal with it efficiently and effectively.
For Assistance regarding credit score optimization visit www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Make your business creditworthy !

Is your business credit worthy is one of the main things asked when you apply for a loan or credit card. Here are some ways to make your business credit worthy-


Make yourself personally creditworthy:
Your personal credit score pays a big role in building your business creditworthiness. If it is low, you should focus on repairing it. Pay off all your dues on time i.e. any past amounts which are due and/or also those in process of collection. Pay down any revolving balances on your credit cards and in future try to avoid carrying such debts. If that is not possible for you, then make sure you pay more than the minimum amount which is due and also make these payments on time.

Establish a separate business identity:
As and when your business starts getting settled and well established and you are looking for specific credit score for your business, then set up a separate business entity from your personal affairs. Get advice from your legal advisor or attorney on which would be the best possible legal structure for your business. Register for a federal tax ID or an EIN (employee identification no) in your state. Then lastly, establish a business banking relationship to segregate your business from your personal finances.

Establish separate credit record for business:
After you've set up a separate business identity for your business and been there for a while, you would like a separate credit record different from your personal credit record, for your business too and for this you need to apply for a separate credit card for your business.

Keep up with your business credit reports:
Most businessmen say they don’t get time to check their business credit reports when in reality they are just afraid to check them. You should not be afraid because the faster you would check the reports, the sooner you’ll be able repair them or fix any discrepancies you find. The credit reports should be checked at least annually to make sure there are no mistakes; if you have a frequently changing business situation then check them quarterly. Get your most recent credit report when applying for a loan.




Keep checking up with the credit rating:
Keep checking up with the credit rating about your reports. If you find any inaccuracies or error in your business credit reports, report to the credit bureau directly and challenge them.These bureau are supposed to contact the lenders with the incorrect information; the creditor would then, either contact the credit bureau and correct the information or would respond to you, explaining their reasons on why they do not agree with you on issue of the disputed payment.

When you settle this issue, your credit score is most likely to go up. However, keep checking it till it does.
Now that your credit score has improved it would also improve your credit worthiness. This credit line can be a safety net for your business, as it makes sure that you have required cash for your day to day business activities and for handling an emergency.

For any assistance regarding credit scores and report book an appointment now only at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Wednesday, 3 June 2015

What's good for your credit score: Settlement or Full payment?

There is an old debt in your account for a long time and the bank offers you a settlement to pay less than you owe. So what do you do? You may be in two minds, where on one hand you would be tempted to pay the settled amount and clear the debt while on the other hand, wait for some time and pay the full amount. People are confused on what effect any of these options may have on their credit score?

Settlement of a debt is when the bank offers you a lower amount than your actual debt in exchange of you making a one-time full payment for the settled amount. It is basically you pay off the amount in one time to have your debt forgiven. Settlement is usually an option for unsecured debts like, credit cards and personal loans where the credit has no collateral backed up and which could be sold off to pay your debt. Since, the creditor has a risk of getting no payment, he goes in for settlement where at least he would receive a smaller one-time payment than no payment at all.



But as tempting settlement can sound due to the lower amount, it does affect your credit score in a negative way. Firstly, it would show up on your credit report as ‘Settlement’. Whenever you pay an amount less than what you owe, it does hurt your credit score and credit history. In addition to all that, a ‘settlement’ on your credit report looks bad to potential lenders in future as it shows a history of not paying off what you owe.

But if you already have missed payments and your debt has been taken over by a collection agency, then your credit score already has been damaged. Taking a settlement would further have little or negative effect on your CIBIL score.

Full Payment is always the best option to eliminate a debt. When you pay off the borrowed amount in full it gets wiped off from your debts. It also affects your credit score positively in two ways- one, by reducing your total debt and other, building a good payment history.

If you are looking for a loan in near future, then settlement would be a very bad option and full payment should be the only option. If you can wait for some time and pay off the debt in full, then that would be very good for your credit score. But, if you think the interests are piling up and there is no way you can pay off the whole amount then settlement is the way for you.

Find out your credit score at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

How does Balance transfer affect your Credit score?

Balance Transfer is when the credit card company gives you a service for a limited period of time, where you can transfer your debt to a new credit company which has low or zero interest. Balance Transfer is basically the bank giving you time to pay off your loan and not be held down by high interest rates too.


But the main question is- whether balance transfer affects your credit score? The answer depends on how you go about the process and how you use it. Depending on many factors, it can either hurt or help your credit score.If balance transfers are used responsibly, they can help you reduce your debts and even give a boost to your rating. And though it does help you in saving money, we should consider the overall impact of it on our credit score.


Inquiries:
When you apply for multiple balance transfer cards with low interest rates, you can negatively affect your credit score. Applying for several cards means several “hard inquiries” against your report. Hard inquiries stay for 2 years on your report and can take your score by several points. They also reduce your chances of approval and indicate that you may be a lending risk. Do proper research and then apply for one card than multiple cards. Also compare the balance transfer cost and the long term cost of keeping that high interest debt,

Average credit account age: 
The longer the lengths of your accounts, the higher your score. When you open a new balance transfer account, since it doesn't have a long credit history, the average age of your credit accounts comes down. Also most people tend to close their old accounts after balance transfer, which further decreases their average age and in turn decrease the credit score. So even if you opt for balance transfers, keep your old accounts open- they’ll help you in the long run.

Credit utilization rate:
The lower your credit utilization rate, the higher your credit score. When you open a new balance transfer account, since you will be using all of the account to pay off your debts, your credit limit is fully utilized which will lower your credit utilization ratio and then your credit score. So it is better to get an account which has a credit limit more than what you need for your debts. Don’t close your old account, it’ll keep the available credit more and won’t let your credit utilization ratio go up and thus, won’t decrease your credit score.

For any assistance regarding credit score contact us by booking an appointment at www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary