Dine your Way to a Better Credit Score

Before the dreaded work-week resurges, a tradition that has found its way into our lives is the Sunday Brunch. Picture a group of 6, 7, sometimes 10 sitting around a table conversing over food about the week that passed by.

Enter the Bill

Of course, our normal course of action would be to split the bill equally. This time, however, the server declined our request. With a tone, peppered with a hint of power, he claimed that it was ‘restaurant policy’, and one of us would have to pay the entire amount. The next thirty or so seconds would be doused in sullen fracas, eyes quickly bouncing off each other with questioning gazes all around.

“Just PayTM it over to me”, exclaimed a friend in a surge of graciousness. “I’ll cover it on my credit card, you guys can send in your shares.” With the now ubiquitous payments system operating in full gusto, this did seem like the logical option. It was during that celebratory discourse that followed, when I realised that this act of momentary generosity would go a long way in terms of his credit card score based on an article that I had read back in 2016. Whether he realised this or not is a different question, but in hindsight, it was an option that each one of us sitting at the table could have availed for given our spending power.

Inadvertent as though it may have been, my friend was racking up credit card points while we switched on our phone data to send the balance over to him.

The Indian ‘Venmartyr’

In 2016, Business Insider coined the term Venmartyr, referencing the US based social payments app — Venmo.

As the amount of physical cash carried by the average urban Indian faces a slow decline, card payments have become the norm for social spending. Consequently, PayTM has given birth to the Indian equivalent of the Venmartyr. Being slaves to convenience, our propensity to simplify group spending has seen itself as a sneaky method to spike your credit card points.

A Haven For Diners

Simple credit score maintenance aside, there lies a plethora of dining offers powered by the credit card which is carefully tucked in your wallet right now. Based on the multitude of notifications you might receive each day, they can be broadly classified into the following sectors:

Discounts — Ranging from 5% all the way up to 50%! The discounts could be on your total bill, just food bill, or food and soft beverages. For the PayTM-martyr amongst you, it would be make sense to know who has the credit card which would minimise the cost.

BOGO Offers — ‘Buy 1 Get 1’ on starters or drinks, a free item on a minimum purchase, the list may go on. The perfect option for a Friday night pub crawl around the city.

Complimentary Dessert / Wine / Starters — If you’re not in a fancy restaurant getting yourself a complimentary cake and special discounts on your birthday, you’re not doing birthdays right. Most fine dining destinations provide a range of complimentary items, especially on certain dates when backed by your credit card. You can even find a range of cafes and lounges offering a free beverage.

Managing your credit score can seem as a daunting task at first, but with the right information and tactics, it can go a long way into managing the entirety of your personal finance. Follow us here at WalletBuddy to keep up to date with all debit and credit card news and recommendations.