Guides

The questions people ask before they borrow. Answered plainly.

Each guide answers one question in its first two sentences, then shows the reasoning. No lender is promised, no rate is guaranteed; the Key Fact Statement from your lender is always the final word.

Credit score
Can I get a personal loan with a 700 credit score?
Yes — a 700 score on the 300–900 scale is inside the range most Indian banks and NBFCs lend to, though the best rates are usually reserved for 750 and above.
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Personal loan
How much personal loan can I get on my salary?
Lenders do not size a personal loan from your salary; they size it from the EMI you can carry after the EMIs you already pay, usually keeping the total under about half of your net monthly income.
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Balance transfer
Is a personal loan balance transfer worth it?
It is worth it when the rate you can get today is meaningfully below the rate you are paying — usually more than one or two percentage points — and the saving over your remaining tenure exceeds the new lender's processing fee plus any foreclosure charge on the old loan.
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Consolidation
Should I consolidate my loans into one?
Consolidate when one new loan can carry a rate below the average you pay across your existing loans and cards, without stretching the tenure so far that the total interest rises.
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Top-up
Top-up loan or a new personal loan — which is better?
If you are repaying an existing loan well, a top-up from the same lender is usually the cheaper and faster route: less paperwork, often a rate close to your current one, and one EMI instead of two.
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Credit score
Does checking my credit score lower it?
No — checking your own credit score or report is a soft enquiry, visible only to you, and it never affects the score however often you do it.
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Personal loan
How do I close a personal loan early?
You close a personal loan early either by part-prepayments — lump sums against the principal that shorten the tenure — or by foreclosing it in full.
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Personal loan
What is a Key Fact Statement, and what should I check in it?
A Key Fact Statement is the standardised sheet RBI requires a regulated lender to give you before you sign a loan, showing the annual percentage rate, every fee, the repayment schedule and whom to complain to.
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Credit score
Why is my Equifax score different from my CIBIL score?
Because they are two different companies scoring two slightly different files: India has four RBI-licensed credit bureaus, each lender reports to them on its own cycle, and each bureau runs its own model on the 300–900 scale.
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Personal loan
What is a Lending Service Provider, and is it safe to use one?
A Lending Service Provider is a company that acts as an agent of an RBI-regulated bank or NBFC, finding borrowers and helping with the paperwork, while the regulated lender alone decides, prices and disburses the loan.
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Credit score
Can I get a personal loan with no credit history?
Yes, but from fewer lenders and usually on tighter terms: with no file to score, a lender looks at your salary credits, employer and bank statements instead, and many prefer to start you on a smaller amount or a card.
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Balance transfer
Does a personal loan balance transfer hurt my credit score?
A little, briefly: the new lender's hard enquiry and a freshly opened account can shave a few points for a few months, and the closed old loan stops adding age to your file.
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Personal loan
Can I get a personal loan without a processing fee?
Sometimes: banks and NBFCs do run zero-processing-fee offers, usually for salaried borrowers with strong scores or during campaigns, but a waived fee is often recovered through a slightly higher rate, so compare the annual percentage rate on the Key Fact Statement, not the fee line alone.
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Balance transfer
Can my EMI be reduced?
Yes, in four ways: move the loan to a lender charging a lower rate, stretch the tenure with your current lender, prepay a lump sum and ask for the EMI rather than the tenure to be cut, or fold several loans into one.
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Credit score
What happens if I miss an EMI, and what should I do?
The same day your bank charges a bounce fee and the lender adds a penal charge, and once the EMI is 30 days late it is reported to the credit bureaus as a missed payment, which lowers your score for years.
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Credit score
Is there a CIBIL defaulter list, and can a defaulter get a loan?
No public CIBIL defaulter list of individuals exists; the lists that do are RBI-mandated registers of wilful and large defaulters, starting at ₹25 lakh and ₹1 crore of dues and aimed at businesses.
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Credit score
What is a loan settlement, and how is it different from closing a loan?
Closing a loan means repaying everything owed and the account is reported as closed; settling means the lender accepts less than the full amount and the account is reported as settled, which every future lender reads as a negotiated default.
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Personal loan
What is the difference between a flat interest rate and a reducing interest rate?
A flat rate charges interest on the full original loan for the whole tenure, even as you repay it; a reducing rate charges interest only on what is still outstanding each month, which is how banks price personal loans.
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Credit score
Does a no-cost EMI affect my credit score?
Yes, in the ways any credit does: on a card the converted amount stays part of your outstanding until repaid, which raises your utilisation, and a no-cost EMI from a finance company is a new loan account with a hard enquiry behind it.
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