Isn’t festive season the best time to cash on impulse? Consumers are already spending heavily either shopping, taking a holiday or planning a lifestyle upgrade. That’s why discounted loan advertisements become pretty hard to avoid! Before you opt for the festive schemes, offers and loan discounts, just keep your credit score and this quick read to in mind!
What’s in it for me?
Festive loans give you special waivers in the processing fees or lower interest rates for the loan tenure. Banks tie-up with several merchant segments like travel, lifestyle, automobile, real-estate, etc. to get you quick disbursement on loans for travel & holiday packages, home appliances, fashion, electronics, and accessories! Banks are thrilled to offer personal loans or credit cards within a day since they are unsecured, i.e. do not require collateral, which makes them easy to offer!
How does it work?
Loans are for a genuine requirement and a liability that needs to be paid back. The festive offers do make a lucrative bet, but make sure you read the underlying terms and conditions before riding on the debt wagon.
Related Read: What is a no-cost EMI and does it work in your benefit?
Need to Know!
Recently, RBI has clarified that the term Zero interest or No-cost EMI? does not exist as banks or lenders only earn from the interest rates. So, they either charge you a lump sum when you are availing the loan, or give you a higher monthly EMI, perhaps charge you a higher processing fee. You will find kiosks outside banks offering quick loan, requesting you to fill up the application forms.
When you apply for a loan, the lender has the authority to pull out your credit report to check your loan eligibility. This is called a hard inquiry and can knock off a few points of your score. If you do have to borrow this festival, make sure you don’t apply for several festive loans at once, anticipating which one will go through!
Good to Know!
Millennials today survive on debt, quite literally! Either with an ongoing car loan or a home loan, or at least a credit card. Paying in EMI’s instead of a chunk out of your corpus seems easier to sustain your lifestyle needs, but it’s important to know that you only own things when you pay them off completely. In the festive mood, loan discounts may seem like a savior in need, especially with living costs going through the roof. Ensure you do thorough research on the lender options and the type of loans you can apply for before you make a hurried application.
What should I do?
It is not uncommon to make big purchases during the festive season but it is essential that you know how much you need.
Analyze
Analyze your personal financial goals and the benefits it actually gives you instead of making low prices the sole reason to apply for it. Do you really need a car upgrade? Is a foreign journey on your to-do list? Have you been waiting to buy a home? Having a credit mix of loans, credit cards and other credit lines can boost your credit score and thus your creditworthiness but only if you make timely repayments on them. Hence, planning your finances for the credit repayment tenure is the first step towards managing debt well.
Prepare
Take a quick informative tour online and prepare the documents you require for the loan application like income statements, tax receipts, and identity proofs. Check how much income you are left with after you pay your credit card dues, household expenses and taxes to estimate loan EMIs beforehand, making it easier to pay off without hurting your monthly budget!
Check
Once you are ready with your research on lenders and loan types, give your credit score a quick check to confirm loan eligibility that’ll help you avail it effortlessly. A credit score is an important tool that lets lenders study your credit history through an automated report that determines your creditworthiness. If you are worried about a low score, here are ways to repair it before you apply.
You can check your free credit report with CRIF and prepare to make the festive season memorable by fulfilling your wishes!
