I bought an Airline ticket for 1 lakh on my card (though the ticket cost more) and invested that lakh on shares for exact period of 40 days, I got a profit of 5,500 Rs and paid back the full amount when it was due, that was cool profit. this you can do only if you are using it as Credit card and do not have any outstanding balance otherwise it is not WISE to have a credit card, NEVER BUY anything if you do not have the money to pay for it when the bill comes
I carry both a credit card and debit card as well.
Reg credit card i follow a simple rule I always clear my credit card bill IN FULL (the cplete amount due) positively by the due date (a couple of days earlier to be safe). Never ever even look at that "Minimum Amount Due" column. Thats where the trap is. If u go for this "Minimum Amount Due" you have immediately started paying interest through ur nose (around 36% per annum). I dont agree that owning a credit card might make u spend more than what u should. Its a question of self restraint. Even with debit card u might end up wiping of ur whole bank balance. With credit card; u can manage some flexibility (interest free if u use it wisly) in paying back ur spendings. To sum it all; a Credit Card is a good device to use interest free spendings for few days (normally 15 to 50 days depending upon how efficiently u use it). But if u intend use it for more that many days; u will be murdered by the interest. Reg Debit Card Its a simple device whch lets u carry ur own money (bank balance) with you in a plastic format; without worrying about any interest costs, any spending limits (u spend what u have); any currency, any denomination. There are many many places (Airline Check in Counters at many airports is the first example that comes to my mind; besides there are many small shops and restaurants also) which would not accept debit cards but all would accept credit cards. For accepting debit cards the establishments should be electronically connected (say thro a phone line or something). Sometimes the line is not working fine; ur transaction will not be approved. Normally making a transaction using debit card takes slightly longer time that ur credit card MORAL OF THE STORY : IF U GOT HEAD ABOVE UR SHOULDERS; IT IS MORE CONVINIENT AND MORE ECONOMICAL TO USE UR CREDIT CARD INSTEAD OF DEBIT CARD. ____________________________________ RUCHIR DEWAN
Wisely used a credit card can be a boon There are times...months, years...when there is no money with you..That's definitely not the time to go for purchases, luxuries but God forbid if there is a compelling need for expenses for education of your children, self, medicare, where no neighbour, no government and at times no relations or friends can extend you any help, a credit card can provide the much needed instant relief or help.
It is good to keep a clean, straight credit line No Government helps No one except money when needed most and surely not for enjoyment No one can offer you a job when you need it most Wisely built up, it can help a lot and a stictc in time alone saves nine
A blatant rejection of any instrument may not be the right thing but it is equally necessary to ward off heavy late payment, interest charges and any hidden charges that must be questioned for refunds or compensation At times credit card issuing agencies/banks silently levy very heavy penalties, when a poor customer can hardly ever even reach them, question them when their services are temporarily suspended for reasons of failures in communication network/systems, ATMs.
Dear Sir, I accept all positive points of holding credit cards. While you look into the interest rate, other charges made, even if you are making regular minimum payments, your balance never comes down. The interest rates are too high. Once I had 7 cards. Now I have only 2 cards. ICICI PETRO CARD AND HDFC SILVER CARD. I have lost huge money in using credit cards towards late payments, interest etc. Usage is good. Looking into our economic standard, it is too difficult to maintain proper payment level for middle class people. Some of the people known to me has resigned their jobs and settled the credit card dues based on the tortures and harasement made by the collection agencies. A diplomatic move can be maintained by the banks for recovery. They go too low below from the human standard to collect. If the service providers consider the interest rates, some flexible policies in collection methods etc., it is really good to have credit cards. Most of the banks are operating through their Direct Sales Associates, Associates etc. These associate people are spoiling the bank's images many times due to their non-diplomatic moves with the customers. This has to be eliminated. Kaliappan
Hi, I have multiple credit cards. The best part if you have mutiple cards. Take for example you do some purchases worth Rs.10,000 at a single point of time. You obviously get around 50 interest-free days if the shopping is done 1-2 days before-after the bill generation date. And nowadays almost every card offers 0% balance transfer for 90 days. So if I transfer, say Rs.10,000 to another card and pay it over a period of 90 days, I get 50+90=140 days of interest free period i.e. almost 4.5 months!!! And just in case even if you dont pay off the entire Rs.10,000 in 140 days, you can again do balance transfer to third card, or again to the first card and get another 90 days interest free period :))
Once upon a time i use to own too many credit cards but then slowly gradually after paying banks i discontinue those cards and now stick to two that too from CITI BANK ...i like to recall those days when one of my bosom friend was away from his house with his family leaving alone his mother at home ...the day he left on the same afternoon , i got a call from my wife saying "AUNTI" got brain hammorage ( in the mean time my wife called my family doctor who advised to take her to the hospital) , as usually , private big nursing homes take advance payment , so the case ,as aunti's neighbour' son brought her to hospital by his car having not sufficient fund at that point of time , i then used my credit card and ask the hospital superintendent not to waste any further time on this ...they immediately take her and scanned her brain but then b'coz of her age factor,she could not recover , in the mean time , i called up my friend and ask her to rush back to home ,he came at midnight and aunti expired next day early morning ...i thank to Citi Bank for giving me this oppurtunity to use their card ..thanks ! CITI BANK once again who really helped me at that crucial time, Samir
RE:Plastic card
by satish on Jul 18, 2005 09:36 PM
Are you an employee of Citibank. In fact, all the people praising and thanking their credit cards must be employees of respective banks or something. I have a very bad experience with HDFC Bank. Typical as these days it is, the sales agent promises you free credit card, so I opted for one, because I hadnt any. When I received the card, it specified annual charges of Rs 1000 and joining fee of Rs 300. I have not used the card even a single time and I have not signed on the card, since I did not want to accept their lies (free cards ,etc). As per the manual of HDFC CC (with lot of fine print ;) ), if I use the card for the first time or sign on the card, it means that I accept the terms of agreement. The matriculation failed kids who sell credit cards, do not even spell addresses and forms correctly, and their aim is just to complete their target, and they will tell as many lies as possible. So when you buy a card, better confirm the claims of the kids with the bank.
Cards are good if you pay back on due date. Really good for travelling and emergencies. I use these cards in foregin travels. I keep small amount of dollars and make all expenses through cards. I do not have to keep accounts while travelling.
Using a card for some special purpose could be troublesome. I use many cards. One of the cards are standard chartered. I pay on due date always as a rule. So have good history. Sales people of Standard Chartered started me approaching for a loan without any formality. I was afraid of hidden things. After receiving many many calls for abt 3 months I decided to try a loan of rs. 40, 000.00 on conditions that there shall be no hidden cost, no processing fee and some special reward points. They sent me 2 DDs each of rs. 40,000.00. I was away so advised my office to use one. One was returned.In one of the covering letters they specified processing charge as nil but in other they specified to charge 0.5%. Unfortunately the DD used had a covering letter specifying 0.5% processing. Now no body is listening to waive processing charge and issue reward points. Their help line says they are not concerned with what their sales people say while selling
I guess the comments shared by the people saying that credit card are good are credit card sales person and is just an advertisement gimmick by card company's. They all tell you about the free gifts. Dear friends nothing comes free. The free gifts that you get are out of your pockets. to Illustrate it. Its very simple. Wherever there is credit card options, the prices for the products are very high compared to other shops. If a shoe is say about Rs 2500/- in any of the malls the same shoe you would get it for Rs 1500/- outside this includes the brands. So when you buy a shoe of Rs 2500/- the bank takes a certain percentage out of the product bought from the vendor which was ultimately paid by you. Out of the percentage taken by the bank 0.01 percent is given back to you in reward points. So a big deal in it.
