Credit Cards

Around 700 for most unsecured cards, and 750 or above for premium products. Entry-level cards from the bank where you hold a salary account are sometimes issued at lower scores. With no score or a damaged one, a secured card against a fixed deposit is issued without a credit assessment and builds history from scratch.

Purchases made just after your statement date get the longest grace, up to about 50 days; purchases just before get as little as 20. The period only applies if you clear the previous statement in full. Carry a balance once and the grace period disappears entirely — new purchases start accruing interest from the transaction date until the whole balance is cleared.

It keeps your account from being reported late, but it is financially damaging. The minimum is typically 5% of the outstanding, so the balance barely moves while interest of 3 to 4% a month accrues on the rest. A ₹1 lakh balance serviced at the minimum takes over a decade to clear and costs more in interest than the original amount.

Usually not, if there is no annual fee. Closing a card reduces your total available limit, which raises utilisation on your remaining cards, and closing an old one shortens your average account age. Both lower your score. Keep no-fee cards open with a small recurring charge on them. Close fee-charging cards you genuinely do not use, ideally just after the fee cycle rather than just before.

Only if you would have made the spending anyway and you clear the balance monthly. A typical reward rate is 0.5% to 1.5%, while revolving interest is 36% to 48% a year — a single month of carried balance wipes out a year of rewards. Also check the redemption route. Points redeemed against a statement credit are usually worth far less than the same points against airline miles or a specific catalogue.

A cash advance fee of 2.5 to 3% of the amount, plus interest from the day of withdrawal with no grace period at all, plus GST. Withdrawing ₹20,000 and repaying it a month later typically costs ₹1,200 to ₹1,500. Treat the ATM function on a credit card as unavailable.