CIBIL Score Myths That Are Silently Killing Your Loan Chances (A Banker Tells All)
A banker reveals the silent credit score mistakes costing Indians their loans daily. The biggest culprit? Advice from trusted people. These 5 CIBIL myths sound completely logical — but every one of them is financially devastating. Is your score already damaged without you knowing?
There is a particular kind of heartbreak that happens inside a bank branch that nobody talks about.
It is not loud. There are no arguments, no raised voices. It is the quiet devastation on someone’s face when I have to tell them their loan application has been declined — not because they don’t deserve the money, not because their business plan is weak or their need isn’t genuine, but because their CIBIL score tells a story they never meant to write.
And almost every single time, when I trace the problem back to its root, I find the same culprit: a myth. Something they heard from a colleague, a relative, a social media post, or a well-meaning neighbour who genuinely believed they were giving good advice.
I have been working in banking long enough to know that financial literacy in India is improving — but the gap between what people believe about credit scores and how credit scoring actually works remains dangerously wide. This article is my attempt to close that gap, one myth at a time.
If you are planning to apply for a home loan, a vehicle loan, a business loan, or even a credit card in the next year, read every word carefully. What you are about to unlearn could save your loan application.
Why Your CIBIL Score Matters More Than Ever in 2025
Before we get into the myths, let us be absolutely clear about what is at stake.
Your CIBIL score is a three-digit number ranging from 300 to 900, generated by TransUnion CIBIL based on your credit history. Every bank and non-banking financial company in India checks this number before making a lending decision. A score of 750 and above is generally considered strong. Between 650 and 749 puts you in a grey zone where lenders will scrutinise your file very carefully. Below 650, most lenders will either reject your application outright or offer you terms that are financially punishing.
What has changed in recent years is how aggressively lenders are now using CIBIL scores to make automated decisions. Where a decade ago a personal relationship with a bank manager could smooth over a rough credit profile, today’s lending environment is increasingly algorithm-driven. Your number speaks before you do. And if it says the wrong things, the conversation ends before it begins.
This is precisely why the myths below are so dangerous. They aren’t just incorrect — they lead to behaviours that directly damage the very number that now controls access to financial opportunity in India.
Myth 1: Checking Your Own CIBIL Score Will Lower It
Where this myth comes from: People confuse two completely different types of credit enquiries and collapse them into one terrifying belief.
The truth: There are two kinds of credit enquiries in the CIBIL system. A hard enquiry occurs when a bank or lender pulls your credit report as part of evaluating a loan or credit card application. This type of enquiry is recorded on your file and, if it happens too frequently in a short period, can marginally reduce your score because it signals credit hunger.
A soft enquiry is what happens when you check your own score. This is also recorded — but it carries zero weight in your score calculation. Absolutely none. CIBIL itself, the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines, and every credible financial institution in the country will tell you the same thing: checking your own credit score does not affect it in any way.
In fact, not checking your score is the actual financial risk. Errors in CIBIL reports are more common than most people realise — outdated accounts, payments incorrectly marked as missed, even accounts that don't belong to you appearing on your profile due to data entry errors. If you're not regularly reviewing your report, these errors sit unchallenged and continue dragging your score down silently.
The habit I recommend to every customer I counsel: check your CIBIL score and full report at least twice a year. Download it, read through every account, every payment record, every enquiry. Treat it the way you would treat your health check-up. Prevention is always cheaper than cure.
Myth 2: If You Earn Well, Your CIBIL Score Will Be High
Where this myth comes from: It feels logical. Higher income means more capacity to repay. More capacity to repay should mean better creditworthiness. The reasoning seems airtight.
The truth: Your CIBIL score contains no information about your income. Not your salary, not your turnover, not your tax returns, not your bank balance. None of it. The score is calculated purely on the basis of your credit behaviour — how you have borrowed and repaid over time.
I have personally reviewed loan applications from senior corporate professionals earning upwards of ₹3 lakh per month whose CIBIL scores were in the 500s. Conversely, I have approved loans smoothly for government school teachers earning ₹28,000 a month with scores above 800. The difference had nothing to do with income and everything to do with habits.
The five factors that actually determine your CIBIL score are your payment history, the amount you currently owe, the length of your credit history, how many types of credit you hold, and how recently you have applied for new credit. Notice that income doesn't appear anywhere in that list.
What your salary does is strengthen your loan eligibility in terms of how much you can borrow. But it cannot rescue a damaged credit score. A high-income borrower with erratic repayment behaviour will struggle more than a moderate-income borrower with disciplined credit habits.
Discipline, not salary, determines your score. This cannot be repeated enough.
Myth 3: Missing One EMI Once in a While Is Not a Serious Problem
Where this myth comes from: It sounds minor. One payment out of dozens. Surely the system is sophisticated enough to look at the overall picture?
The truth: Payment history is the single most heavily weighted factor in your CIBIL calculation, accounting for roughly 35% of your overall score. A single missed or delayed EMI — even one that is just 30 days late — can reduce your score by 50 to 100 points depending on your existing profile.
But the damage doesn't stop at the score. When a bank officer or credit analyst reviews your detailed CIBIL report during a loan assessment — and most do, especially for larger loans — they can see your payment history month by month, account by account, going back 36 months. A pattern of occasional late payments, even if your current score appears acceptable, raises serious concerns about your financial reliability.
I have seen applications for home loans crumble at the final stage of approval because a six-month-old missed credit card payment appeared in the detailed analysis. The applicant had completely forgotten about it. The bank had not.
The practical solution is simple and non-negotiable: set up automatic payment mandates for every loan EMI and credit card minimum due. Do not rely on memory or manual transfers. Make on-time repayment the default setting in your financial life, not something you manage reactively.
Myth 4: Closing Old Loans and Credit Cards Will Improve Your Score
Where this myth comes from: The instinct to eliminate debt and simplify your financial life is understandable and usually healthy. The assumption that zeroing out credit accounts will improve your score feels like common sense.
The truth: Credit scoring models reward the age and cleanliness of your credit history. An old credit card you have held for eight years and always paid on time is not a liability on your CIBIL profile — it is one of your most powerful credit assets. It demonstrates long-term financial discipline across an extended period, which is exactly what lenders want to see.
When you close that account, two things happen simultaneously. First, the average age of your credit history decreases. Second, your total available credit limit drops, which can push your credit utilisation ratio upward even if your actual spending hasn't changed. Both outcomes can reduce your score.
This doesn't mean you should keep every account open indefinitely regardless of fees or circumstances. But before closing any old credit account, especially one with a long clean history, consider the credit score implications carefully. Sometimes the right financial decision is to keep an old card active with minimal usage rather than shutting it down for the illusion of simplicity.
Myth 5: Having No Credit History Is a Safe, Conservative Position
Where this myth comes from: Many Indians, particularly from older generations, associate debt with risk and pride themselves on never having borrowed. No loans, no credit cards, no credit history. Surely this signals financial strength?
The truth: From a lender's perspective, no credit history is not a clean slate — it is a blank page that they cannot read and will not take a chance on. Banks are in the business of assessing risk. If you have no repayment history, they have no data to assess. And in the absence of data, the default position is caution, which translates into rejection or extremely high-interest offers.
The solution is counterintuitive but well-established: build credit deliberately and early. A secured credit card, a small consumer durable loan, or a modest personal loan repaid meticulously over 12 to 24 months will create a CIBIL footprint that works in your favour for decades.
You are not going into debt recklessly. You are building a financial reputation that will eventually allow you to access home loans, business funding, and other significant financial tools on favourable terms.
Five Non-Negotiable Habits for a Healthy CIBIL Score
Knowing the myths is half the battle. Here is the other half — the practical framework I share with every customer I counsel:
Pay every EMI and credit card bill on or before the due date, every single month, without exception. Set up auto-debit. Remove human error from the equation entirely.
Keep your credit card utilisation below 30% of your total sanctioned limit at all times. If your combined card limit is ₹2 lakh, keep your outstanding balance below ₹60,000. Lower is better.
Never apply to multiple lenders simultaneously. Each application triggers a hard enquiry. Research your options first, then apply selectively to the lender most likely to approve your profile.
Download and review your full CIBIL report at least twice a year. If you find errors — and you might — dispute them immediately through CIBIL's official grievance process.
Think in decades, not months. Credit scores are built through years of consistent, disciplined behaviour. There are no shortcuts, no hacks, no quick fixes. The good news is that the habits required to build an excellent score are exactly the habits that build lasting financial health in every other area of your life too.
The Final Word From Someone Who Has Seen Both Sides of the Counter
Your CIBIL score is not a bureaucratic formality or a technicality to navigate around. It is the numerical expression of your financial character — the record of every promise you made to repay borrowed money and whether you kept it.
In lending, discipline beats income. It beats connections. It beats charm and it beats desperation. The most powerful thing you can do for your financial future right now — today — is to understand exactly how your credit score works and start making decisions accordingly.
The myths in this article are not harmless misconceptions. They are costing real people real opportunities, every single day, inside branches across this country. Share this with someone who needs to read it.
