A bank is an organization. An organization made of people. When there is human element involved, errors are bound to happen. While the errors have substantially reduced ever since the banking processes have been computerized, sometimes mistakes do creep in, just like it happened with Raj Mundra, a Bangalore-based techie.
Mundra had pulled out his personalized credit score last year from Cibil.com as a routine. It stood at a healthy score of 785. A couple of months ago, he had applied for a home loan for a property in Bangalore, which was rejected as his credit score had gone down to 554. Being a financial disciplinarian, Mundra was shocked. He had always paid his EMIs (equated monthly instalments) and loan payments on time. So, he pulled out his Cibil (Credit Information Bureau India Limited) score again, only to find that a multi-national bank had reported a credit card with 150 days past due (DPD) and an overdue amount Rs 65,000.
Being a disciplinarian that he is, he checked his old records to find that it was an unsolicited credit card account and he had returned the credit card to the bank. The bank had also spelt his name incorrectly. After requesting the bank to close his account, he had not received any communication from the bank. So, he considered it as a closure and forgot about it.
He immediately contacted the bank and took up the matter sternly. He also produced the statement, which the bank had sent demanding for a fee of Rs 2,000. He declined, as the card was returned to the bank. The bank realized its mistake immediately and communicated the following to Mundra:
"We wish to confirm you that your card account has been permanently invalidated in our records. As on date, there is NIL balance in your card account.
Accordingly, the appropriate status with regard to your account will be updated in the Credit Information Bureau India Limited (CIBIL) records. This will reflect in your CIBIL Database within 45 working days. Please bear with us till then in the period."
So, if this is the situation of a financial disciplinarian, then imagine the situation of someone who is not that much of a disciplinarian. Hence, we always advice our customers to pull out their credit score once in every six months. Take help of an expert to analyse your credit report to prevent any unpleasant surprises.
Disclaimer: All information in this article has been provided by Creditvidya.com and NDTV Profit is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the same.
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