Your CIBIL Score is a three-digit number that summarizes your credit history. Based on this history, financial institutions check your creditworthiness and provide you with credit if the risk involved is low. When you apply for a credit card or loan from a bank or NBFC, having a higher credit score may entitle you to additional benefits such as a significantly higher loan amount, a relatively lower rate of interest, and an option to repay your loan amount for an extended period. You can check CIBIL Score for free by PAN Card through credit bureaus or platforms like Paisabazaar. Read on to learn more about the ways to check your CIBIL Score.
How to Check CIBIL Score Online
Through CIBIL Platform (Paid): You can check your credit score directly from the bureau, however, you may have to pay a subscription fee to get monthly updates on their platform. You can get your free credit report once a year through the TransUnion CIBIL website. However, if you buy their subscription online, it will give you access to check your CIBIL Score and report as many times as you want. Below-mentioned is the subscription plan of CIBIL:
| Subscription Period | Fee |
| Basic (Monthly) | Rs. 550 |
| Standard (6 months) | Rs. 800 |
| Premium (12 months) | Rs. 1,200 |
| Credit Bureau | Subscription Plan |
| CIBIL |
|
| Experian |
|
| Equifax |
|
| CRIF High Mark |
|
Through Third-party platforms (Unpaid): Multiple platforms like Paisabazaar.com allow you to check your credit score for free. There are multiple ways to check your CIBIL Score through third-party platforms namely by visiting their website, downloading their application, through WhatsApp, etc. To check your CIBIL Score on these platforms will require you to share your basic details such as your PAN number, full name, email address, and mobile number. The simplest way to get your score is by checking credit score at Paisabazaar for free.
What you need to know
Your credit score is generated on the basis of several factors such as your payment history, the amount you owe, the length of your credit history, credit mix, new credit, high credit utilization ratio, missed payments, and types of credit accounts.
Lenders check your credit score at the time of assessing your credit application. When they request your credit report from the bureau, it is considered a hard inquiry as it shows your intent for availing credit. This may have an impact on your credit score.
When you enquire about your credit report to stay updated with your credit behaviour and worthiness, there’s no intent for availing credit. It is meant to self-assess the credit behaviour and thus has no impact on your credit score.
| Hard Inquiry | Soft Inquiry |
| A hard credit inquiry happens when you apply for a loan or credit and the lender checks your credit score to decide your creditworthiness | A soft inquiry happens when you check your credit score on your own |
| This inquiry takes place with your permission | This inquiry takes place with/without your permission |
| Multiple hard inquiries over a brief period can hamper your credit score | Soft inquiries do not hamper your credit score |
Important to note: Hard inquiries affect your credit score because lenders run a credit check to decide on providing you credit. One hard inquiry will not hamper your credit score. However, multiple hard inquiries in a short period might drop your credit score drastically as it may portray you as credit-hungry and someone who is going through a financial crisis making you a high-risk customer.
It is advisable to be thoughtful before applying for too many loans or credit cards in a short span of time. Hence, keeping an eye on your credit report regularly is crucial so that it makes it feasible for you to spot errors that might impact your credit score negatively. It can help raise a dispute for the same before you actually need credit. In addition, disputes can only be raised for hard inquiries that have been made without your consent and not anything else.
To Conclude
It is imperative to note that checking your CIBIL report will not have any impact on your score and it is a good idea to keep analysing your score from time to time because it will help you know of discrepancies or errors in your report if any. Also, checking credit report regularly helps you stay updated with your standing for credit approval in future giving you a better negotiating capability. Checking your credit score before you apply for any type of credit is considered healthy since it gives you a better understanding of your chances of approval of the credit.