THERE was a time not so long ago when I was the king of the world. I had no less than seven credit cards, three personal loans and an accumulative loan of no less than Rs.2 million. Not bad for a bachelor who had nothing to fear, no responsibilities to bear and the world at the flash of the card, at his calling. Those were the times. Indeed, they were!

Having a bunch of credit cards in the wallet meant that you were pretty well to do at the time. Because, of course, theoretically the holder of seven credit cards was in essence, at any given point in time, in possession of more than a million rupees in his pocket.

Bank representatives used to call me and make me feel important. ‘Sir, your credit history is outstanding. We will hike your credit limit to Rs300,000.’ For a bachelor with endless expenses and no accountability, this truly sounded amazing. I just couldn’t say no. Yes. Yes. Keep it coming. I genuinely felt like the poster kid of the financial sector.

Credit card, if you haven’t used one, is a trap. Especially for disorganised people like me. When I had my first one made, it was with a Rs25,000 limit. The plan was to spend only as much as I could pay. And I kept this process in play. The bill used to come and the full payment was automatically deducted from the account.

However, the gloss of the card is too hard to resist for many. And I too fell for it a few months later. Imagine for the first time, when the bill in thousands, at some fancy restaurant, came and before dad could make the payment, I promptly slipped the card into the folder and that was that. Dad was impressed, I tell you. Probably felt the burden of supporting his growing sons lessened considerably.

Then of course there were friends. I was basically indulging in buy now, pay later.

Sometime later, the bank people, happy with my increasingly extravagant lifestyle, gave me a jump. Rs50,000 was the limit now. Word soon started circulating that I was a rich, happy guy.

Other banks started calling with offers of bigger credit limits. A hundred thousand soon doubled up and then some more. I swear the world was one big happy happening place.

And it was not just me. Senior colleagues too were going crazy. Their family cars were soon transformed into luxury 4x4 vehicles. Lunch was always at an exclusive eatery. And all thanks to the loans and the ever ballooning credit limits.

A few of us who were shrewd enough made use of home loans to secure assets. They probably could see clouds over the horizon. But for us, who couldn’t, it was party time.

Instead of focusing on the outstanding on the bill, we all were counting the brownie points we were getting; 1 point for every Rs50 we spent. Redeeming the points, we could get free fuel. Have 15,000 points and a free air ticket to Dubai was due.

My debt burden was immense. One-third of my salary was being used to service my credit card debt. In exchange, I was popular at restaurants. My name was among the privileged clients list. Sometime later though the honeymoon was over. First came the house. Then came the jobless life.

In this country where a lot of things are undocumented and corruption is rife, leading to people going about doing whatever they want to, banks’ interests have been safeguarded by a proactive regulator called the State Bank of Pakistan. And one of the tools that the SBP uses to safeguard the interests is called the Electronic Credit Information Bureau (eCIB).

The eCIB is an organisation that collects and collates electronic credit data (read credit card) on borrowers from its member financial institutions. The major purpose of this database is to enable the financial institutions to know the credit history of their prospective customers, thus enabling them to make a more prudent decision.

And that is why when we applied for a home loan, the first thing the bank did was access my eCIB and tell me that I already have too big a credit burden to be involved in another.

Either I had to do away with the bulk of my credit cards or forget about owning a home. With no other option at hand, I immediately banked my Provident Fund in order to settle a few of credit cards; just enough to level my eCIB report and have the bank give me a home loan.

This was the first time when I wondered, had I not devoured meal after meal, and used my credit card to pay off the bill, I might just have saved enough on my Provident Fund for the rainy day.

And the coup de grace came when during the credit crunch season, I lost my job. Credit card repayment plans have not heard of such a thing. They only know that a payment has to be made before a designated date whether you have a job (source of money) or not.

This was one of the toughest times I have ever experienced. Apart from bringing three square meals a day, I also had to take care of my credit card payments. The jobless period is one tale that needs a different telling. Somehow that period passed and at the end of it, I had grown to be wiser to the follies of the past.

Last month I paid the last instalment of a personal loan I had taken five years back. The amount borrowed was Rs150,000. The amount paid was rs300,000. Credit cards and personal loans had also eaten into my savings. I now have a credit card that has a Rs150,000 credit limit, that though is maxed out, still gives me a sense of achievement that this amount is within reasonable limits.

Enthusiastic phone bankers still call, still try to persuade (pressure) me of the benefits of carrying credit around. With a smile and a sigh, I simply excuse and appreciate the effort they still put in calling. But my reply to them is, now I buy now and pay now. Credit has been replaced with debit and there is no turning back … hopefully!