We’ve all been there. £3 million burning a hole in your pocket and a track-going version of Aston Martin’s latest hypercar sat in front of you. But as a shrewd, savvy business-type, you know that dropping £3m in one go on a 1,100bhp car could be considered a questionable, perhaps even ‘baller’ move. But what about putting it on finance?

When it comes to the best way to build up a credit history, conventional wisdom is to take out a credit card and use it for everyday purchases, while paying it off (on time) at the end of every month. There’s plenty to support this advice too, as a credit card allows you to spend as much or as little as your limit will allow, while building a history in a reasonably short amount of time.

Whenever you rent a property, you will be required to pass some checks set by the landlord or letting agent to prove that you will be a good tenant and that you’ll be able to afford to rent the property.

For many people, a student loan is the single largest chunk of borrowing they ever take out, second only to a mortgage. With course fees alone now coming to more than £9,000 per year and then the added maintenance loan on top of it, you can easily end up borrowing £40,000 during your studies.

For your recent payment history information, your credit file has everything you need; that’s why it’s given so much importance by lenders whenever you apply for credit. But if you’re looking for information that’s six years old or more, it’s probably not be the best place to start.

Recently news stories have emerged alleging that a “John” might be more likely to get a cheaper car insurance quote than a “Mohammed”, and that someone with a Gmail account could be offered a lower premium than someone with a Hotmail email address.

Your credit file is compiled from a number of different sources, including payment history from each of your lenders (past and present) and public data as reported by local authorities and courts. The majority of people find that everything held about them is correct, but due to the large amount of information being shared, errors in the information reported can happen, which can lead to issues when you go to apply for credit.

On 13 January, the UK banks embarked upon arguably one of the biggest changes to personal finances since the introduction of computers. Open Banking is aiming to make it easier for banks, lenders and consumers to access and share information, with a view to creating new products and opportunities through innovation and increased competition.

From 13 January 2018, it will no longer be possible for consumers to use a personal credit card to make a payment on HMRC’s Self-Assessment tax portal. Historically, this has been a popular option as it allows what is often a considerable sum to be deferred.

Buying a new car is both exciting and expensive, but if you know where to look and when, you can grab yourself a bargain. If you take a little time to look into finance or loan deals as well, you can bring down the overall costs significantly.