5 things you wrongly believe impact your credit score

Mint

13-06-2025

As more borrowers in the country become credit conscious and monitor their credit scores, myths and speculations about what truly influences creditworthiness continue to circulate. Today as things stand due to rapid increase in personal loan defaults, credit awareness is at an all time high. Yet misconceptions persist, often leading to unnecessary anxiety along with poor financial decisions.
Several Indians, especially first time borrowers, still believe that factors like income level, marital status, or even checking their own credit score can negatively impact it. That's far from the truth.
'Many first-time borrowers wrongly think income, marital status, or checking their own credit score affects their rating. In reality, only how you manage credit—like timely repayments and low balances—matters,' says Sumit Sharma, Founder of Radian Finserv. 'For young and rural Indians, busting these myths is key to financial empowerment.'
Echoing the same, Akshay Aedula, Product and Growth at CRED, adds 'Your credit score reflects how you manage credit, not your income, spending, or how often you check it. The key is responsible usage: pay on time, keep utilisation low, build a solid history, and maintain a healthy credit mix.'
1. Checking your own credit score: One of the most persistent myths is that checking your own credit score will lower it and harm your overall credit profile. In reality, any self check done by you is categorised as 'soft inquiries' that is why it has no influence on your credit score.
On the contrary, professionals encourage consistent monitoring of your credit profile as it helps in staying informed and spot errors or fraud early.
2. Your income level: Many borrowers believe that a higher salary or income guarantees a better credit score. In reality the truth is far from this as this is never the case. Your income has no direct relation with your credit score.
Your credit score basically is determined by factors such as your credit history, payment behaviour, credit utilisation, level of debt and not your salary. Due to the same issue, someone earning ₹ 5 lakh per year can have a higher credit score whereas someone earning ₹ 10 lakhs may have no score at all if they have never used credit earlier.
3. Debit card usage: Using a debit card for purchasing products or services does not build or impact your credit score. Debit cards draw directly for your bank balance and do not involve any kind of credit facility. That is why do remember that only credit cards, personal loans and other credit products contribute to your credit history.
4. Bounced cheques (Unless for EMI):A cheque bounce is an offence under the Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Still, a bounced cheque does not affect your credit score until and unless they were issued to pay an EMI of a personal loan or credit card pending payments along with any other credit related products payment.
In all such cases the missed EMI would be reported but otherwise bounced cheques do not influence your credit score. Lenders check at how you manage your credit and not your general banking habits.
5. Marital status or joint accounts: This is another extremely important myth that needs to be put to rest. Your marital status and joint bank accounts have no bearing on your individual credit score.
Credit bureaus such as CIBIL, CRIF High Mark, Equifax among others assess every individual's creditworthiness separately. This is done regardless of whether you have joint accounts or are married. On a fundamental level your spouse's credit behaviour does not influence your credit score.
Hence, consistently checking your credit score is a wise decision but rest assured self checks, debit card usage, income level, bouncing of credit non related cheques (unless for EMI) along with marital status do not influence your credit score. Getting a hold on these simple concepts can help you make smarter financial decisions and avoid unnecessary stress.
Disclaimer: Mint has a tie-up with fintechs for providing credit; you will need to share your information if you apply. These tie-ups do not influence our editorial content. This article only intends to educate and spread awareness about credit needs like loans, credit cards and credit scores. Mint does not promote or encourage taking credit, as it comes with a set of risks such as high interest rates, hidden charges, etc. We advise investors to discuss with certified experts before taking any credit.