I just found out my Indian credit card was closed due to inactivity, and my CIBIL score dropped drastically! Since it was my oldest account, my credit history got shortened, and now I’m stuck trying to fix it from abroad.
Has this happened to any other NRIs? How do you keep your credit score healthy while living overseas? Any tips to prevent this?
A family friend experienced the same problem when his inactive Indian credit card resulted in account closure which caused his CIBIL score to decrease.
He solved the problem by using an Indian credit card for minor payments including subscriptions and utility bills through automatic payments to prevent late fees. He kept a fixed deposit in their NRO account to demonstrate financial transactions. Over time, his score improved.
You should verify whether your bank enables you to restore your closed card or provides a new replacement. Checking your credit report on a regular basis enables you to detect unexpected developments. Hope this helps!
This happened to me, and I had no idea until I randomly checked my CIBIL score—it had dropped a lot! Turns out, my old Indian credit card was closed because I wasn’t using it, and that hurt my score.
To fix it, I got a new credit card linked to my NRO account and started using it for small things like a Netflix subscription. I also set up auto-pay so I wouldn’t forget payments. Slowly, my score improved.
If this happens to you, check if your bank can reopen the card or get a new one. Just keeping some activity in India helps a lot!