On a regular basis, I get around 30-40 emails as well as comments asking me “How To Get Credit Card Without CIBIL Score?” and I can’t answer them all. However, since I have a blog up and running, I thought why not share the journey of how I started collecting credit cards and how you can as well.

Disclaimer: This is not a short cut to apply and instantly get hands on Credit Card. Banks have tedious internal policies which you need to pass in order to get approved for the credit card application. I am sharing only the work arounds which will be spread across a period of 6-12 months which you can follow and increase your chances of approval by 85% of the time.

How Do I Increase or Generate My CIBIL Score?

Let’s keep this simple. A CIBIL Score is nothing but a number ranging between 300-900. It keeps fluctuating on the basis of many factors, such as timely repayment of loans, credit utilization, amount of loans opened, & credit inquiries.

The time-tested rules by experts out there are effective and if you stick to these rules, your credit might increase effectively

  • Keep all expenses on a card under 30% of your overall limit
  • Pay at least 3-4 days before the due date to avoid any late payments. Late payments impact your score the most.
  • If you ever used more than 30% of the limit, pay off some of the bills before bill generation and you’re good to go.
  • Don’t apply for new credit or loan multiple times in a short period of time. 1-2 inquiries within a month are okay but keep it down as much as you can.

Suppose you have taken a loan of any kind previously in your lifetime, you might already have this score generated. However, for those who never took any kind of loan then it’s not generated.

How To Generate CIBIL Score?

To generate a CIBIL score, you might need to take a loan and repay it on time in order to generate the score. There are multiple workarounds to do this, I will share the most possible cases below. All these workarounds need a time of 6-12 months to generate a good CIBIL Score and Credit History.

  1. Try to purchase electronic devices or smartphones if needed via offline EMI. Most likely they will provide you with the loan for the EMI, you will need to repay EMI on time and you will see your score generated within 2-3 months. (Recommended but can be a hard task)

  2. Sign up for the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) they usually assign you a limit without any proof and you can use them while repaying timely. This way, your score can be generated. (Not recommended, as many BNPLs don’t report often)
    Ex: LazyPay, PostPe, etc

  3. Get yourself a secured credit card. All you have to do is open a Fixed Deposit and get the Credit Card with an 80-110% of your Fixed Deposit, it can vary depending on your credit card issuer. (Recommended & Tested Method)
    Ex: OneCard (110% Limit of FD), Kotak Dream 811 (80% limit of FD)

I hope you got the idea of how one can generate the CIBIL score. I highly recommend you to go for the third method and keep using the secured credit card for at least 6 months or more. The best time frame is 12 months as it increases your chances even more. I tested it out myself and holds 6 credit cards as of now. I am still a student, 21 years old and I have no income proof. Yes, so it’s possible. Read on, if you would like to know my part of the story.

How I Managed To Apply For 8 Credit Cards In Just Under 1 Year?

Before getting started, I must say I followed consistently whatever I mentioned here.

I was first introduced to Credit Cards in 2018, but I didn’t pay much attention to them since I wasn’t earning and never use to think about my own expenses. However, in 2020, I turned 20 and was pretty aware of the expenses and benefits I could get through if I use credit cards.

Initially, like everyone, I went ahead and check my CIBIL score and it was “Credit Bureau couldn’t fetch you score” and it’s because my score wasn’t generated as I never took any kind of loan.

By this time, I step in early, and luckily my bank was offering the secured Credit Cards, I went ahead immediately and ask them to issue me a secured credit on the basis of just Rs 15,000 Fixed Deposite. I got a limit of 80% of FD, which was 12,500.

I used the credit card casually like for the fuel expenses as it has a surcharge waiver, and for movie ticket offers, It was very casual use for the next 11 months. My monthly bills were in the range of 3000 only.

After using it for 6 months, I could see my score generated. I use the app called “OneScore” available on both Play & App Store.

My score instantly boosted to 771 and I was pretty happy. That’s when the journey actually started. 2020 started to get over, I step in April 2021 and I received an SMS from OneCard that I am approved for the very first unsecured Credit Card by them after being on a long waiting list. I was allotted a pre-approved limit of 40,000, I went ahead, did KYC, and my card was delivered to me in 7 days. Yes, my first unsecured card is a metal one.

I kept using OneCard intensively now as they have a fair reward system as well as good offers from time to time. I am an avid user of Amazon and rely on it for all day-to-day groceries as well as items.

Close forward to September 2021, I applied for ICICI AmazonPay Credit Card. I did Video KYC and no income proof was asked after applying mostly because of the credit history I already have now. In 4 days, my application was approved and I was assigned a 300% more limit than my first unsecured card. Yes, ICICI Bank is generous in giving out limits.

A quick summary of what credit cards I hold,

  • OneCard Metal
  • IndusInd Platinum
  • Axis Bank Flipkart
  • Axis Bank ACE
  • ICICI Amazon Pay
  • HDFC MoneyBack+

Edit (18/05): I recently got approved for two more cards.

  • SBI Home Center Lifestyle Select
  • IDFC First Millennia

A quick summary of what credit lines I have,

  • PostPe
  • LazyPay

Similarly, as time passed by, I made sure the time in between applying for credit cards by major banks was at least 3 months. Likewise, I got hands-on 8 credit cards in total. As of now, I am now again waiting, to apply for some good credit cards in the future like Standard Chartered, Yes Bank, Amex, and more.

The Key Learning Here Is:

  • Pay on time, timely repayment is very crucial.
  • Credit Card money is not your money. It’s bank money.
  • For generating scores, you should follow the workaround in a consistent manner and keep this same manner with unsecured credit cards in the future to avoid heavy interest charges by Credit Card issuers.