Paisabazaar.com, an online marketplace for lending products, announced that it has launched a credit advisory service for consumers who take their free credit report from its platform.
The service is aimed to assist consumers in building a high credit score, which will help them get the best loans and credit cards at low cost.
Paisabazaar.com runs India's biggest credit awareness initiative by providing consumers their free credit report with monthly updates for life. The new credit advisory initiative would entail Paisabazaar.com's credit experts helping consumers with low score understand their credit report in detail and explain the necessary steps required to increase their score.
"We have witnessed a massive footfall of consumers generating their free credit report from our platform in the last 18 months. While consumers get to know their score through this initiative, a majority are not aware about how to improve it. So, the natural next step for us was to introduce an advisory service that would guide consumers towards building a healthy credit score," said Naveen Kukreja, CEO and Co-founder-Paisabazaar.com.
"While awareness around the importance of credit score has risen over the years, all of us as consumers need to know about the various aspects that determine the score. As Paisabazaar.com's bureau partner, we believe in empowering consumers by promoting responsible credit behaviour and increasing their access to more lending products," added Vaishali Kasture, Managing Director and Country Head-Experian India.
Paisabazaar.com says over 20 percent of the customers who have taken their free credit report from its platform in the last 18 months, have a low score (500 to 700), while another six percent have very low score (less than 500). A credit score of over 750 is usually preferred by lenders while considering a consumer's application for a loan or a credit card.
"Consumers are often clueless why their credit score is low. Our credit advisory service would help them first identify these reasons, and then prepare a plan of action to tackle them. This could be through healthy credit behaviour, like maintaining a good credit utilization ratio, timely payments of EMIs and bills, or through customised product recommendations. We will also actively assist the consumers in rectifying any errors in their report and closing outstanding loans, all aimed to build a strong credit score for consumers," added Kukreja.