In order to maintain your financial health, you should be mindful about your credit health.

Here are a few things which positively affect your credit score

• On time loan EMI payments in case of loans.
• On time credit card bill payment and in full rather than paying minimum due.
• Longer and stable credit history.
• Proper utilization of approved credit limit
• A good mix of credit : if you are taking only one type of credit consistently rather than a mix of different types of loans viz. secured and unsecured, and personal loans, credit card usage, car loans etc.
• Maintaining strong finances (example : a healthy income to debt ratio).
• Regularly checking your credit reports are correct and error-free and ensuring financial institutions that you deal with submit your data to credit bureaus.

Here are a few things which negatively affect your credit score

• Irregular or late loan repayments.
• Defaulting, being late or regularly paying part of credit card bills.
• Cheque bounces.
• High utilization of approved credit limit or overshooting the limit.
• Multiple credit report enquiries by banks and other institutions.
• Multiple unsecured personal loans applications and/or rejections.
• Defaulting as a guarantor.
• Errors in records by banks and finance institutions.

Always ensure you have good credit health. You never know when you will need to borrow money, for emergency or otherwise!