This article is very informative, particularly for youngsters who are hording to get themselves credit cards, without caring for its payments (often parents pamper their kids by being careless about the billing and payments..!) Also it will be useful for those who've recently entered work force - They should be cautious of the 'eye wash' created by Credit card companies.
If one can strictly monitor (and control) the credit transactions (which should never exceed one's monthly paying capacity) and timely payback " in full", only then Credit cards prove to be extremely useful - rightly pointed out at the beginning of this article.
Bought a cell with my card, had purchase protection upto 20000. When I claimed ICICI Bank said they could not pay unless it was lost in a fire or burglary that too only from my residence. Rediculous I think.... I think they are a big conbank when it comes to additional benefits on your card.....just make long lists of benefits only to garner more customers...and ditch them when they are most in need...their promise of "hum hai nah" really doesn't match up to their service - pathetic I would say. Just another marketing scam....
thanks rachna, it was nice to see that most of the banks getting exposed of what exactly they do. i was one of the victim of ICICI. they never said anything about interest calculations. when i looked my bills ,i was shocked. my first bill was Rs 1000 with min due payment of Rs 100. i paid Rs 900 with a balance of Rs 100. in the next transaction i made a purchase of Rs 10,000. i expected that they wont be applying interest rate on this 10,000 , since i was within my 50Days timelimit. But to my surprise , they charged an interest Rate of RS 350 on that amount. when i asked for the reason to Customer care executive, they said that i didnt pay the full amount of my previous balance. and out of 1000 RS , i paid Rs 900. so for not paying 100 of my first statement, i was charged 350 Rs interest. i am glad that columnist like rachna are exposing them at right time. thanks rachna.
Apart from the cases mentioned by the author Rachna, I personally have faced this problem, when Banks increase the Interest Rates aswell, without any HIGHLY VISIBLE intimation mails/letters to the user.
This inspite the fact that any 'decrease' in Interest Rates, other fees and "So-called Attractive Offers on your Card" are highly advertised & marketed very actively by the Banks, without regards to privacy & nuisance caused by unsolicited E-mails/letters/Phone Calls etc.
Its right that RBI has initiated some action against these erring Banks.
Now the Banks are offering Credit Cards free of cost persons in the age group 18 - 65yrs can have a card. To own a card you have not to pay any charges. The services like mediclaim & Insurance Coverage would be provided to the Card Holders or on the usage of Card is not clear. Most of the foreign Bank Cards do not give the above facility if the Card has not been used at least for one time in the last 3months. Credit Card is a polished way of borrowing for those who pay the minimum amount everytime. It is more suicidal than the Money Lender coming and shouting at YOU IN PERSON.
This article is waste of time. Whenever a credit card company sells credit card, it gives all rules and regulations and so this article doesnt make sense at all.
It's of no use to compare one card to the another bcoz, as per RBI, every bank cannot charge less or more than the rate of interest fixed by them.It is all the way they are presenting themselves. One bank might give the revolving rate lesser, but the service charge higher...If you calculate all the charges and compare, everything is going to be the same. It is all the matter of how good the service is and how far we are satisfied with the bank.That's all of it!!
thank you for your informative article. this is indeed helpful to the people who fall prey to card representative who generally get a rosy picture before getting somebody to sign for the card. ashutosh meher
