Why your credit card is not a tool for investing or debt repayment
April 02, 2026
Credit cards promise ease and rewards, but RBI rules draw sharp lines on their use. From travel and gadgets to rent, insurance and investing, here’s what’s allowed—and what isn’t.
Ann Jacob
Ann Jacob is a personal finance correspondent with Mint. She writes for Mint Money, where she works to make the complex world of finance feel clear and worth paying attention to through stories that actually make sense to her readers. She holds a BA in English, with a triple major in mass communication, literature and journalism. As an alumna of the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, she also holds a postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism. She has earlier worked with NDTV Profit, where she spent a year and a half decoding markets, personal finance, commodity, earnings, and everything in between. Ann is particularly drawn to stories where life and money collide, right from decoding Gen Z’s changing spending habits and figuring out what really goes into building a good credit score, to exploring the everyday art of budgeting well. Her work leans into features and trend-driven stories that zoom into how one can earn, spend, and save well. In her stories, she aims to strip away the jargon, provide actionable insight from experts and write personal finance stories that are closest to reality.
Ann Jacob is a personal finance correspondent with Mint. She writes for Mint Money, where she works to make the complex world of finance feel clear and worth paying attention to through stories that actually make sense to her readers. She holds a BA in English, with a triple major in mass communication, literature and journalism. As an alumna of the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, she also holds a postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism. She has earlier worked with NDTV Profit, where she spent a year and a half decoding markets, personal finance, commodity, earnings, and everything in between. Ann is particularly drawn to stories where life and money collide, right from decoding Gen Z’s changing spending habits and figuring out what really goes into building a good credit score, to exploring the everyday art of budgeting well. Her work leans into features and trend-driven stories that zoom into how one can earn, spend, and save well. In her stories, she aims to strip away the jargon, provide actionable insight from experts and write personal finance stories that are closest to reality.