Credit Card Info

Credit card blocked by chance!

2010-01-07T04:45:00.000-08:00

Can a bank force a customer holding a free debit card to change over to, and apply for, a credit card and recover the initial charges? What is
the procedure for getting re-credit of the said charges debited to my salary savings banks account? I have neither consented, nor applied for the said credit card dispatched to my residence. If the bank does not agree to re-credit the amount to my savings bank account (correction entry), what is the legal recourse?

Banking cannot be done by force. Your bank should have obtained your consent and an application in writing before issuing the credit card. As per RBI guidelines, in case an unsolicited card is issued and activated without written consent of the recipient, and the latter is billed for the same, the card issuer has to not only reverse the charges forthwith but also pay a penalty amounting to twice the value of charges reversed. In addition to this, you can also approach the banking ombudsman who would determine the amount of compensation payable by the bank, ie, for loss of complainant’s time, expenses incurred, harassment and mental anguish suffered by the person.

I hold an SBI credit card and I’ve paid all the valid dues. A year ago, SBI Cards offered me an easy encash facility loan, and since then I have been regularly paying the EMIs. Now, with 2-3 instalments remaining, I requested SBI Cards to send me the details of EMIs paid by me since last one year, but they have not obliged, stating that they do not have such a system in place. In the meantime, they discontinued monthly statements. When I insisted, they levied finance charges and late payment charges for the same. This apart, they blocked my card, and are threatening to take legal action and share my credit history with CIBIL. Please advise .

Banking Codes & Standards Board of India has released a code of the bank’s commitment to customers, which has been adopted by most banks . According to code 8.14.3, the credit card issuer is required to offer free-ofcost details of credit card transactions every month either via mail or the Internet. Moreover, the issuer is supposed to dispatch the credit card statement on a predetermined date every month. You may take up the matter with the bank’s nodal officer, and if need be, these violations may be brought to the notice of BCSBI and RBI. The issuer might have charged interest for overdue amount and late payment charges as per their terms and conditions, and not because of your insistence for a statement. You should bring out the facts to the nodal officer’s notice and if there is no resolution within 30 days of

Mistakes to avoid while using your credit card

2009-12-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

With the festive and year-end preparations in full swing, several families are loosening their purse strings. Add to that the convenience that plastic money offers, and it’s very easy to let the itch to spend go out of control. If you are one of those who flash your credit card frequently, you would do well to steer clear of the following pitfalls:

Not reading the fine print

One of the primary causes of disputes is lack of awareness of the terms and conditions that govern the use of your credit card.

“Many people who come to us are not aware of the rate of interest, charges, etc, that their credit cards entail, which, many times, lead to overspending and penalties,” says Abhay Credit Counselling Centre head VN Kulkarni.

Several credit card users are under the impression that paying the minimum amount due every month specified by credit card issuers will reduce their outstanding amount in the due course.

However, the fact is that it will only push you deeper into a debt trap. The card issuer considers the remaining balance to be overdue and charges a hefty interest, which could vary from 42-49% per annum. Given this, the debt burden is unlikely to be eased by paying the minimum amount due.

Unresolved disputes

Several credit card users, in the event of a dispute, prefer to ignore the follow-up calls from the issuer to pay up. It’s best to resolve the same as soon as possible as the interest will continue to be charged till you repay the dues. In addition, late payment fees and other penal charges could be levied and significantly inflate your original outstanding amount.

Although you can withdraw cash from the ATM using your credit card, it’s certainly not a healthy practice as you may have to incur additional charges, which vary as per the bank.

Also, many are not aware that when a credit card is used at an ATM, the interest is charged that day onwards and not after the credit period of 45 days, as is usually the case with swiping the card.

Borrowing to invest

As the last date for making investment declaration falls on December 31 for many salaried individuals, there is a tendency to use the credit card to make tax-saving investments. Considering that the interest charged on credit card outstanding (if not repaid during the credit period) is exorbitant, using it to make investments will actually erode your capital. Therefore, ensure that you use it only if any cash inflow is expected within a month.

“Many credit card users are not aware that their credit limit encompasses any charges levied by the bank. Therefore, if you are paying an interest on the earlier outstanding amount, and yet use up the entire limit, the card issuer could levy overdrawing charges,” points out Disha Financial Counselling Centre chief counsellor Madan Mohan.

Delay in reporting loss

“We have had to deal with several cases where card users have reported loss or theft of credit card to their card issuers after 3-4 days, resulting in miscreants siphoning off the money,” informs Mr Kulkarni.

Remember, credit card issuers will not be held responsible for any misuse during the period they were

Multiple Credit cards

While opting for more than one credit card is not a cause for concern, there is a chance it could lead many users into a debt trap. Many borrowers end up using one credit card’s limit to repay another card’s amount outstanding, paying a huge interest in the bargain.

Also, many opt for certain credit cards only to avail of discounts and freebies that they offer. It is important to realise that credit cards should be maintained solely with the intention of tapping the same during emergencies. No-due certificate Absence

While paying dues to the credit card company under a compromise settlement, you must insist on a ‘no-due certificate’ stating that your dues have been cleared.

The letter should also contain an assurance that the settlement will be reported to CIBIL. This will ensure that you can produce the proof of repayment if your loan application is rejected by another lender, citing unfavourable credit history in the future.

Not keeping PIN under lock

While being secretive about passwords is common sense, many tend to share it with people who they consider trustworthy, disregarding the fact that cases where the trust was broken are not rare.

Although the introduction of a two-factor authentication system has tightened the security mechanism, it is extremely important to give top priority to safeguarding your personal identification number (PIN).

Credit card abuse costing City Hall

2009-12-15T02:16:00.000-08:00

Toronto civic employees have more than 1,000 City Hall-issued MasterCard credit cards to make small purchases more efficiently.

But policies and procedures designed to safeguard the taxpayer against abuse aren't being followed, says the city's fiscal watchdog.

Jeffrey Griffiths, the city's auditor general, is reporting his findings -- and making 20 recommendations for the four-year-old program -- to the audit committee tomorrow. Since the program was introduced in 2005, city-issued credit card purchases have grown from $2 million annually to $8.5 million a year.

In 2008, there were a total of 29,500 credit card purchases. The cards are limited to a single purchase limit of $3,000, and monthly purchases of $10,000. Card holders are also prohibited from taking cash advances or from buying fuel.

It's estimated if the were used for just half of the small orders acquired through Divisional Purchase Orders, the city could save $100,000 a year from increased efficiency.

But in his audit, Griffiths found that supporting documentation was missing from 2% to 3% of purchases, which means the city, Griffiths wrote, "cannot validate the legitimacy or accuracy of these transactions."

Also, Griffiths found "questionable" purchases made for business meetings.

Also, as an experiment, Griffiths' office submitted a credit card purchase with a fake name and it was approved. Some employees who no longer worked for the city still had active credit cards, but Griffiths pointed out no purchases have been made with them.

Which one you like to shop- Ipod or Mp3 player?

2008-11-07T01:57:00.000-08:00

Today if you have dollars to spend nobody could stop you from reaching to the luxury world. Apple's iPod line-up is comparatively simple compared to what other companies offer. But it still makes sense to see what each particular model can offer so you can make a well-informed decision.

The iPod Shuffle is the smallest iPod available. It forgoes the display and it's small enough to clip onto a shirt. If all you want to do is listen to music and you don't care about what particular song is playing, then this is the iPod for you.

You can get one in either 1GB or 2GB storage capacities. Each model can hold 240 or 500 songs respectively. Randomness is a key factor in all of this. If you like small form factors and a certain degree of uncertainty in the songs that play, then the Shuffle will suit you fine.

The iPod Nano melds a small form factor with the power of a full-featured media player. Even with its small size, you get a nice high-pixel wide screen display that can display pictures and video. MP3 players are the ultimate device for portable audio and seem to be one of the must-haves today. As the market offers numerous different models and makes it is difficult to make a purchase decision especially if it is your first MP3 players ever.

On first sight an Apple iPod seems to be the most obvious choice. But it's worth risking a second look at other portable audio products to determine whether they might offer more for your individual needs. The most important selection criteria are surely the sound quality, storage capacity, size and the functionality of a portable MP3 player. Apple iPods come from 1GB up to 160 GB and are still remarkably small. However, other manufacturers like Sony and Samsung have in their product range MP3 players with up to 30GB storage which is enough to store an entire music library on one single device. This storage capacity is recommended when playing videos or for those music enthusiasts who could not select a limited playlist from there library but need to have all their music on the go.

Simple MP3 players with less storage like the ipod shuffle are affordable, stylish and small enough to be carried with you at all time. Nevertheless, you might regret the choice soon when you get used to the comfort of having your favourite music at your disposal at any time.

Find the best online educational programs with us!

2008-11-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Nowadays, pursuing a degree through online education is common, and the value of online degree from a proper accredited university or college is equally weight than the traditional campus-based degree. With both campus-based degree and online education you have more options to choose from if you want to earn a degree for you career advancement. Online education has many advantages that can benefit its students, but it may not be a good option for all students; then what makes online education a better option for you?

Amongst the advantages of distance learning, online education, likewise, offline (traditional college) classes have the same course materials, merely one is expected to sign up for an online class. The online course structure is also the same as the normal classes themselves, but students are asked to order books from online book store. Students can entertain the class participation and discussion on problems they encounter in the course in the chat rooms and forums. Most students write their views on the issues. Students who have weak language skills can keep an easy pace with the discussion made and view posted. Online education's major source of face to face interaction is through live video and sound with special equipment.

For many people, in the today's busy world, a face to face class is very difficult. If a person works 8 hours on daily basis he could hardly manage taking regular college and ultrasound school. But an online course can put an ease on the time restriction because the person does the work at their own pace and time.

Career Education.net is a site to help consumers find online and offline educational programs to help them get the job they want. As the price of education is attaining its altitudes, the rates of students applying for online educational classes are continuing to get greater. Teachers can also record themselves on the required locations and the student can download the film in case the session is missed. This gives a student the chance to catch up on a class session if s/he missed out on that day.

Automotive training schools online!

2008-10-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Nowadays it’s very easy to buy a car but to drive it safely is quite risky so for that just join any automotive school. Online Automotive Training Schools offer instruction on the basic concepts and functions of automotive engines through instruction modules. Online Automotive Training begins with instruction on the fundamentals of electrical circuitry, fuels, batteries, motor functions, etc., presented in written, diagram, and sometimes animated forms.

Automotive Training curriculums must continually be updated to keep apace of rapidly changing technology in the automotive industry. Today electronic systems and complex computers run automobiles while measuring performance on the road. Students can expect to learn the essentials of maintenance and auto repair procedures from tires and suspension to computerized functions through Online Automotive Training modules. Courses will emphasize the development of a solid understanding of functions that will be necessary to effectively diagnose and analyze automotive problems.

Course studies in Online Automotive Training may include good communication skills and techniques in relation to customer service. Other skills that will serve an Automotive Technician are sound reasoning capabilities and a thorough knowledge of the complex components and interactions of auto bodies and motors.

Online Automotive Training programs may take up to a year. Completing an Automotive Technician Associate Degree, which includes laboratory studies, can take up to two years. Certified Automotive Technicians can expect to be subjected to regular review and recertification requisites.

Find out the best automotive schools online automotive-schools.us and begin your training for a career in automotive maintenance and repair.

Grab the right computer training program online!

2008-10-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

Nowadays computer education is must for all age groups and every field whether it is hospitals or mechanical engineering. In order to increase your chances in the job market you have to take up focused training programs, which will enhance your skills and enable you to accept challenges at the workplace. As the entire world is headed towards computerization, a course in computers will certainly brighten your chances to get a decent job. Computer training schools cater to the increasing demand for trained computer professionals in the industry.

Computer training schools can be found both online and near your workplace or home. Before you head towards any computer-training center, it is advisable to find about current trends in the software and hardware markets. Search on the net or talk to some professionals regarding the ‘in-demand’ training programs which will secure your chances to get hired by the employers.

Computer training is not only for students who major in computers. The training centers are filled with busy executives who regularly take courses to keep up with current trends. In this competitive world it is very important for these professionals to know the latest software packages and hardware tools available.

You can choose from an array of programs ranging from basic programming concepts to complex and comprehensive graphics and networking courses. Don’t be surprised to see housewives in a computer-training center near you. These ladies want to help their school going children in their studies and want to be updated in order to ensure a smooth sailing when they start work again. Start your child’s future with the best it schools so that he/she could make a strong base to face the competition.

The businesses have also realized the importance of training their employees on a regular basis. Since the workers find it difficult to take time from their busy schedules, these organizations hire reputable computer training schools to train their people either at their offices or in the specific computer training school. You may also contact at http://www.technical-schools.us/

Build your career in nursing programs!

2008-10-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

Are you searching the right nursing program to build your future? What type of nursing degree is best for you? What type of nursing school should you go to?

There are two basic types of nursing degrees: A degree in Licensed Practical Nursing, (called Licensed Vocational Nursing in some states) and a degree in Registered Nursing.

The LPN degree can be a good starting point for your nursing career. You need a high school diploma or GED to be accepted into an LPN school. Many community colleges and technical schools offer LPN degrees. Not many four-year state universities offer them. Some private, for-profit schools in your area probably offer them as well; Galen, Kaplan, Keiser, and the University of Phoenix are all examples of these types of schools.

LPNs earn less than registered nurses and work under the direction of registered nurses. Some hospitals will not hire LPNs and only hire registered nurses.

If you want to progress into a managerial position as a nurse, you will want to become a registered nurse. One way to do this is by becoming an LPN first and then, while you are working as an LPN, taking an LPN to RN program online or at your local community college. The advantage to this is that you will be working and bringing in a salary, and also, your employer will very likely help pay for your continuing education (usually in return for signing a contract that ensures that you will continue working for them for a specificfied period of time.)

So which option is better for you? There are a number of considerations, such as how quickly you want to get your degree and start working. An lpn school degree will get you working more quickly. However, if you know that you want to progress further in your career, possibly into a management position, and you have the time, money and ability to go to school for two to four years, you may want to consider obtaining a degree in registered nursing instead. Nursing-School.org helps people find the right nursing education program. We have a large directory of nursing related schools and plenty of information about jobs in the health care and nursing industry.

Best online fashion design schools

2008-10-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

Nowadays people are crazy about the latest fashion trends which celebrities wear. The world of fashion is one that has the eyes and ears of a vast amount of people; we watch television, read magazines, and stay tuned to see what the rich and famous are wearing from day to day – and we follow suit. Fashion can change perceptions, impact an entire retail economy, and influence a generation. It’s no wonder that more and more people are interested in joining the world of fashion design.

Fashion design entails the creation and manufacturing of clothing styles. Fashion designers work based on seasons – they design, create, and then introduce their line of clothing on the fashion runways. The clothing that is well-received suddenly makes its way to Hollywood where actors and actresses come decked out in the latest fashion to the latest movie premiers. And what happens on that carpet trickles down to the masses making its way to retail outlets all over the country in more affordable forms.

Fashion design can be a fantastic career journey but it requires a vast amount of skill, education, and hard work. Those interested in fashion design should already possess an innate ability to create beautiful design and effectively communicate them on paper. Following a school program – or even in conjunction with a school program – those pursuing a career in fashion design should be sure to involve themselves in an internship or apprenticeship with a reputable design house. The experience gained in this capacity is unmatched and will begin building your portfolio – your most important tool in a fashion design career.

Fashion-schools.org offers the best fashion design information which can be a wonderful career filled with adventure, creativity, and a chance to influence clothing choices all across the nation and even around the world.

Best online culinary schools for you!

2008-10-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Nowadays cooking has become crush for many teenagers. Culinary schools where cooking is taught. Today, cooking is an art, rather than just cooking. There are several specialties in cooking who can make you an expert chef, either for professional reasons or just for fun. They teach fundamental and traditional cooking while encouraging innovation and novelty. Getting trained at a culinary school may help you become an executive-chef, sous-chef, saucier, garde manager, pastry chef, or a sommelier.

There are also online culinary schools that provide training in culinary skills. These offer several courses relating to pastry preparation, wine tasting and selecting, knife skills, baking and dessert making, holiday cooking, healthy cooking, regional cooking, style cooking, safety and sanitation, cost management, food handling and identification, food and nutrition, special cuisines, gourmet cooking, catering and more.

Online culinary schools offer certifications that are applicable worldwide. They have good facilities and instructors, food service operations, job placement assistance, good credentials, teaching by experts, hands-on teaching, and so on. There are different kinds of certifications available: diploma programs, associate’s degrees, apprenticeship programs, bachelor’s degree programs, vocational programs and certificate programs. These programs are also offered in different levels, like level 1 for basic introduction, level 2 for more experienced cooks and level 3 for learning professional cooking.

There are many online culinary school that provide courses for beginners, amateurs and professionals. Many professional culinary schools are also offering online courses. Information can be found online or at the websites of these schools. For further assistance you may visit http://www.culinary-schools.us

Credit card companies may raise fees to skirt rate cap

2008-10-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Many leading credit card issuing banks have started upgrading their credit card customers’ higher range of credit cards i.e. to platinum or titanium cards.

In addition the banks are also making working on a back-up plan in case the Supreme Court turns down their petition against a consumer court decision to restrict the annual interest rate at 30 per cent.

The apex court will be giving its judgment on this matter in a few days time. Leading bankers told they might not be left with no other option but to impose a steep annual fee lest the Court agrees with the consumer court’s opinion.

Earlier in order to grab market share, most banks had waived the annual fee on credit cards. Leading banker pointed out, “We will have no option but to impose a hefty fee if there is a cap on the interest rate. In the process, the business itself would become unviable, forcing many of us to withdraw”.

Although many banks have already started “upgrading” their customers to platinum or titanium cards with a few free offers in return for an annual fee. But the numbers seems to be still too small and banks are taking the move of upgrading the customers very cautiously due to fear of losing customers.

Bankers state that credit-card business is not profitable in India because of high administration costs and the small ticket size of transactions.

“The average ticket size is just Rs 1,500 and the administration costs are too high. Besides, the default rate in this segment is also pretty high. Thus, it doesn’t make sense to cap interest rates at 30 per cent,” a foreign banker said.

Another banker stated that high rates also lead to lower mis-selling and raise the entry barrier. But others are of view that banks themselves are responsible for this mess. At present the default rate on credit cards is 8-15 per cent and this is going up mainly due to the practice of issuing free cards.

“Too many credit cards prompted many borrowers to spend beyond their means leading to delinquencies,” admitted a banker.

A few weeks ago, a group of foreign lenders including Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and American Express Bank had filed a case in the apex court challenging a consumer court’s judgment that a bank cannot charge beyond 30 per cent annually on credit cards, even in cases of defaults.

The banks argued that capping of interest rates on credit card payment is opposite to the Reserve Bank of India policy which gives banks the freedom to fix rates on non-priority sector personal loans, in spite of of the loan size.

The apex court has given the banks three weeks’ time for put forward their explanation and feedback on the high credit card rates, which range from 35 to 50 per cent.

Currently, Citibank is having over 3.7 million credit-card holders in India. HSBC, which manages about 2.8 million credit-card accounts here, charges annual fees in the range of Rs 750 to Rs 4,000 depending on the category of the card. ICICI Bank charge annual fees in the range of Rs 1,500 to Rs 25,000 according to the features of the card. About 50 per cent of the bank’s card-holders hold free cards.

Your mobile phone may soon be able to be used as credit, debit card

2008-09-30T03:51:00.000-07:00

New developments are being done in the mobile sector. With the latest development there can be complete liberalization in the mobile commerce, the department of telecommunication (DoT) will soon be putting forward an application to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for seeking guidance on linking telephone networks with banking services.

Recently RBI outlined certain guidelines for mobile banking in India, under which it has allowed only a few basic banking services which can be undertaken through mobile phones. But as per new DoT move the consumers will virtually be able to use their mobile phones as a debit or credit card.

Sources informed Sunday ET that the ministry will ask for RBI's consultation to provide full-fledged mobile banking services to the customers, as per discussions held between the 13th Finance Commission team and DoT officials on September 18, 2008. As per a senior DoT official, the ministry up till now has not taken up any program on linking telephone networks with banking services, but is eager on it as it will help in generating revenues, besides giving more value to telephone customers. "These services can increase the share of value-added services from the existing 7-8% of total revenues from the sector to almost about 25% which is the case in the developed countries," DoT said to the Commission's team. Sunday ET has been provided with a copy of the discussion paper prepared by DoT.

Shetty, director at KPMG India, while explaining how the new initiative will help Indian consumers, said it will change the entire face of banking in the country. "So far, consumers can make only a few basic transactions through the mobile, but this will mean using your mobile as your credit or debit card. All you have to do is to send a message to make a payment,” he said.

In India mobile segment is primarily limited to basic banking transactions, purchase of travel tickets and payment of some utility bills, checking your account balance and last few transactions. Sanjiv Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Telesoft, is providing mobile banking facility to the customers in collaboration with Barclays Bank think that both, banking and telecom industry, will have to come together to make mobile commerce a success in India. "There are certain laws to be considered regarding money remittances. Considering the IT security condition, coming together of both is a good sign," he said.

Vodafone is also offering services like querying bank balance, requesting for cheque book, making stop payment etc. These services are being provided in association with banks such as HDFC Bank, ABN AMRO and Kotak Mahindra Bank. "Mobile banking is necessary to create access to the remotest of areas. Any kind of convergence is good for promoting mobile commerce. There is nothing better than both the systems coming together to provide a framework," said a Vodafone official.

The DoT's interest in the subject is sending positive signals to industry. "If the ministry takes up the matter with the RBI, it will definitely speed up the process. It will not only help the mobile users but will boost banks and even mobile operators to grow further," added Mr Shetty.

The DoT has informed the Finance Commission's team that revenues from auction of spectrum for 3G and BWA services approximately can go up to Rs 30,000 cr. The 13th Finance Commission has asked the DoT to give the revenue details from the telecom sector between 2010 and 2015.

State police arrested city’s first credit card ‘skimmer’

2008-09-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

Ahemdabad police arrested Kalpesh Patel for credit card frauds worth Rs 1.5 lakh, though police believes that the fraud amount is much bigger.

Kalpesh is a young corporate executive who did purchases at a prominent departmental store on the SG Highway and made payment by credit card for his purchases worth Rs 5,000. By chance, the credit card swipe machine went offline and the transaction was completed to avoid customer inconvenience.

Much after the customer left the store the credit card company realized that they have been cheated. The CVV number used to complete purchase through credit card proved to be fake! Many more fake transactions were done in July, August and even in September and the card swipe machine would be always on the blink.
Satellite police station officials have finally caught the credit card fraudster. He turned out to be 32-year-old, Kalpesh Patel. Satellite police station officials told Kalpesh has been sent to judicial custody on Monday. He was interrogated by police officials and private sector major bank employees to know how he did it.

The cops are now more worried about the technique used by the fraudster. "Kalpesh could actually make the card swipe machines go offline. It is still not clear how. In the online mode, the machine sends transaction information, real time, to the central server which keeps a watch over all transactions simultaneously. Being offline, this interaction with central server did not take place and thus Kalpesh could make the purchases even with a wrong CVV number," said the police officials.

A private bank detected fraud when there was periodical ‘failure’ in the swipe machines of the credit card in several joints including petrol pumps, restaurants and shopping malls. The bank on further investigation found that the cards were used by impersonators.

"The transactions varied from Rs 300 to Rs 5000. As the amount was not very alarming, few of the card owners realized the fraud. In the primary investigation, we came to know that around 11 cards were misused in this fashion," said a Satellite police station official.

JJ Patel, inspector of Satellite police station, told TOI press person that Kalpesh has been booked for criminal breach of trust and fraud and forgery. Cop informed that he has been sent in judicial custody on Monday. "We have called upon experts to understand his modus operandi. As per primary information, he procured credit card database in electromagnetic format and copied it to some other credit cards. He then used these duplicate cards to make purchases," Patel said.

Police suspect there might be more people involved with Patel in this racket. "We are hunting for those who provided him the credit card details of other users, who him the know-how for making duplicate cards and making the swipe machine go offline," said police investigators.

The technique of credit card transaction

Usually swiping machines are connected to a leased line working on GSM or CDMA technology. The telephone line connects the machine to the main server of the bank and the service provider - Visa or Master Card. When credit card is swiped, the machine sends the information to the server that verifies the transaction. If the online mode is not available, the establishment can use offline mode after inserting three digit CVV code. Mostly the offline mode is used only for customers' convenience. In case of offline mode, the data is then sent to the server when the machine is back online.

Corporation bank in tie-up launched prepaid travel card

2008-09-11T01:45:00.000-07:00

Corporation bank, Mangalore-based public sector bank has launched prepaid travel card in a tie-up with JP Morgan and Visa. Bank has used JP Morgan’s expertise in prepaid card solutions and its proprietary technology platform. Bank has launched the card in three foreign currencies -- US dollar, British pound and Euro. Corporation Bank has become the second public sector bank, for launching a prepaid travel card, earlier only State Bank of India had launched a prepaid travel card.

Bank is offering the benefits like customers to make a purchase, withdraw cash in local currencies at ATMs when traveling abroad. The card will also be easy to carry and lower the risks of carrying foreign currency and travelers' cheques, B R Bhat, general manager, Corporation Bank said. He said the customers can get the balance amount in the card refunded at any of the designated branches of the bank.

The bank has planned to sell at least 25,000 cards during the first year of its launch. Very soon bank is planning to introduce the card in Chinese currency also..

RBI reports show increase in credit card spending in 2007-08

2008-09-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) there has been increase in the card transactions both debit and credit. The number has increased by 42 per cent to Rs70,459 crore during 2007-08. One of the reason for the rise in card transaction can be large number of banks are issuing plastic cards and merchant acquisition business also scoring well with the coming up of retail

By looking at the figures released by RBI clearly testifies that growth in plastic money has gone much higher than the 24.51 per cent as recorded in 2006-07. This is because people have started adapting themselves to banking technology, and, moreover banks are also encouraging the use of cards on account of the lower per-transaction cost.

Plastic money is convenient to carry than cash, but with the ramping up of ATM networks for both cash and non-cash transactions, and the propagation of merchant acquisition points across the country by both new organized retail and traditional retail merchants, card transactions has acquired wider acceptance. In addition to this banks are offering incentives such as cash-back schemes and discounts at certain retailers to popularize the use of plastic money.

Unlike the credit card, use of debit cards is more preferable to the banks as it ensures that more cash stays in customer's accounts. Moreover the card ensures fewer visits to the branch, since most of the account functions such as cash deposit / withdrawal, cheque deposit, ordering cheque books and statements, and even funds transfers can be carried out via ATM. Also, use of cards is more cost effective for a bank, rather than service him at a branch.

According to RBI's data even the number of cards issued has increased by 46.7 per cent to 88.31 million as of March 2008, in comparison to 60.17 million at the end of financial year 2006-07.

There has been increase in the credit card outstanding also. During 2007-08, the total credit card outstanding has risen to 43.6 per cent to Rs 5,843 crore. Till May 23 this year, the outstanding has gone up by 87 per cent to Rs 12,375 crore. In 2006-07, the value of credit card transactions has also gone up by 22.06 per cent.

Another reason for the increase in the use of plastic money is the growth of e-commerce and transactions via the Internet. Booking of airline and railway tickets have added to this segment, and, more and more people use cards as a payment mechanism for utility services.

Bankers are of view that debit card usage can outshine credit card usage mainly because of convenience, which is a primary factor for the adoption of plastic money. Besides, unlike credit cards, borrowings / loan from the bank is not attached to debit cards and in general debit cards do not need a credit review before they are issued, this makes them ideally suited for a larger population of the banked public.

LIC to launch its credit card in October

2008-09-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

The senior divisional manager Bhausaheb Gujar in a press meet at Nagpur told the reporters in October Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will be launching its credit card.

Speaking at the occasion of LIC’s 52nd anniversary Gujar said that LIC is working on the plans of finalizing the partner and there is possibility it would be introduced in the next month. However he declined to disclose the name of the partner.

Earlier there were reports that LIC is thinking of launching the card in association with GE Money.

He stated, ''We were in negotiations with a firm, but the deal could not be finalized for some reason. We are now negotiating with another partner, and the talks are in final stages. In all likelihood, LIC's credit card will be launched in October 2008''.

Gujar informed by the next year LIC, will start accepting premium through credit cards and currently it is procedure of completing formalities.

''Hopefully, premium payment will start by the next financial year,'' he said.

Meanwhile the insurance giant has authorized Corporation bank and Axis Bank to accept premiums from those who are having account in their banks.

He told that policyholders can use internet, electronic clearing g service, automatic teller machines (ATMs) of Corporation Bank and Axis Bank, online collection at Axis Bank branches and LIC's portal for paying their premiums.

He informed LIC recently has introduced the SMS facility for payment of premium, at present this facility is available for account holders of Corporation Bank only.

Recently LIC has added 375.90 lakh new policies, which collectively assure the sum of Rs2,75,457 crore during the financial year 2007-2008. He added the first premium income attained during the period was Rs43,812 crore.

Bajaj Allianz Financial Distribution Ltd to venture into credit card biz

2008-08-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Soon the Bajaj Allianz Financial Distribution Ltd (Bafdal) will be making its venture in credit card business. In Bajaj Allianz Financial Distribution Ltd (Bafdal), both Bajaj Finserve Ltd and Allianz SE of Germany have a 50:50 partnership.

“We are talking to a few players, but nothing has been finalized yet,” said Jitendra K. Bhagat, chief executive officer of the company.

Bafdal, has started mutual fund distribution business. Bafdal has started this business in a joint venture with Taurus Mutual Fund which is distributing life and non-life insurance products as well as consumer loan products of group companies.

“Credit cards are complementary to our consumer finance business. We have not yet decided whether it will be a proprietary or a co-branded card. The card will be launched within this financial year,” Bhagat said.

Regarding the distribution of mutual funds, Bhagat told that the company had short listed five fund houses to sell their products. “In fact, Allianz itself has applied to market regulator Sebi for a license to start asset management business in the country. Given the long understanding and association with the Bajaj group, I believe, the mutual fund business will also be carried out by the Bajaj Allianz alliance,” Bhagat said.

Taurus, the second-oldest mutual fund house in the country after Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, is planning to catch up with its peers.

Waqar Naqvi, has been recently positioned as the CEO of Taurus Asset Management Company said, “The promoters were not focused on increasing the distribution network. Now we want to increase our distribution network aggressively. We are expanding the number of offices and employing more people.”

Currently Taurus is having eight schemes and Rs 400 crore of assets under management. Out of which Rs 150 crore is under debt funds and Rs 250 crore under equity schemes.

The fund has a net worth of Rs 150 crore and will be utilized in its expansion. “Our net worth-to-AUM ratio will be the highest in the industry,” Naqvi said.

Banks allow conversion of credit card dues to loan

2008-08-19T04:09:00.000-07:00

More and more banks are encouraging borrowers to convert credit card dues into personal loans with an aim to keep away defaults which can be prompted by inflation and rising rates. All leading banks are giving an option to the investors of making payments for purchases in installments. Some banks are being practical and, others are giving the option as part of a restructuring package after classifying the customer as offender.

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), data credit card transactions amounted to over Rs 60,000 crore between May 2007 and May 2008. According to RBI data around 20% of card transactions were rolled over, resulting in Rs 12,000 crore of credit card receivables, which have been classified as loans by banks. In the earlier years, the amount classified as loans was less than 10% of credit card transactions. Banks are fearing the rising interest rates and prices are eating into the disposable income of borrowers, which can increase the chances of default.

Credit card dues after the initial interest-free period draw interest rates of over 18-38%. Thus personal loans can be availed against this at rates starting from 14%. Banks have started becoming more practical therefore, for some time banks have been offering the facility of paying for purchases in installments to their cardholders. In some cases, banks have started giving suggestions to the customers who make large transactions. Otherwise banks give this offer when a customer fails to make a large payment. For instance at present, SBI Cards is offering the EMI scheme on transactions of more than Rs 2,500.

Banks have started keeping a watch on the customers who have not been regular with their payments. “We have an idea about customers’ spending patterns through the transaction monitoring alert system. If a customer spends an average of Rs 8,000 on his credit card every month and suddenly we witness a transaction of Rs 50,000 billed in his name, we call the customer. We inform the customer that he/she has an option to convert it into EMIs, which could weigh lesser on his pocket,” said ICICI Bank head, cards group, Sachin Khandelwal.

Mr Khandelwal added in case customer plans to buy an appliance for Rs 20,000 but ends up spending Rs 40,000 on a higher-end product, then bank offers these options to customers at the store itself. Get all the best credit cards offered in India by all major banks with their attractive rewards points.

With cards the traditional way has been replaced where consumer durables used to be financed through dealerships, which is costly.

Citibank is offering the conversion of the out standings on cards into personal loans. Still these customers will be reported to the credit bureau. “Customers who become delinquent are also offered special installment programs called ‘settlements,’ which ensure structured payments in a timely manner and reduce their overall credit burden. Once again, Citibank works directly with the customer to understand their overall debt and evaluates their cash flows to ensure that this personalized payment plan is affordable on a monthly basis throughout the tenor,” said Citibank business manager-cards Sandeep Bhalla.

Mr Bhalla added that the bank is cross-selling installment loans to customers in order to help them in meeting their purchasing and payment needs through marketing efforts. “These are designed and delivered after having a conversation with the customer on his or her overall needs and ability to pay, based on monthly cash flows. This interaction determines the amount and tenor of the loan, such that a customer can manage the monthly payments to Citibank along with their other payment obligations. These promotions are offered through certain preferred vendors at points-of-purchase or upon request by customers post their purchase,” said he.

Tata Capital to venture into credit card business of Tata Group

2008-08-06T03:46:00.001-07:00

One year back Tata Capital, a finance company was launched offering a suit of financial products. Now Tata Capital will be venturing into credit card business of the Tata group, with an aim to boost its product portfolio targeted at retail and institutional customers.

In February 2006 first Tata card, the country’s first white label credit card was launched, in association with SBI, that marked the group's re-entry into plastic money business. But in 2003, Tata group company —Tata Finance — sold its credit-card business to ICICI Bank- country's largest credit card issuer with over 8 million customers.

A Tata group executive informed that Tata Capital's possibility of managing the credit card venture from Tata Son's can not be ruled out in future, as it is more synergic to Tata Capitals retail finance operations which offer personal, car and home loans.

The exact number of cardholder base of the Tata card can not be ascertained, the card was launched to tap the huge employee and customer base of the Tata group by rewarding them each time they buy a Tata Indica car to Titan watch to Voltas air conditioner. On a White label card, the logo of the issuer is not show on it as against a co-branded credit card, which bears the logos of the alliance partners. The group has employs around 3.50 lakh people worldwide.

Currently SBI card is having a base of around 3 million cardholders. The top players in credit card segment are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank, SBI, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank. In India credit card base has grown to 27 million from 17 million in 2006.

Credit Card Holders Association appeals RBI to put cap on interest rates

2008-08-05T05:15:00.001-07:00

The Credit Card Holders Association (CCHA) has appealed the Reserve Bank of India to put a restriction on the interest rate charged by different banks and also to take strict action against the banks who are using recovery agents to harass debtors.

CCHA general secretary C V Giddappa said, "Rate of interest charged by banks range from 36 to 42% in addition to a 12% service charge. In spite of the RBI decision to regulate the appointment and engagement of recovery agents, banks continue the practice".

He informed that recovery agents harass debtors in case they failed to repay a single installment of the debt incurred on their credit cards. He added, "There have been cases where a bank has, at one go taken the entire debt amount from the card holder's account."

"Several people have complained of banks registering criminal cases in places away from the residence of the customers ".

RBI plan to make ATM usage free from 2009

2008-08-04T04:23:00.001-07:00

Deputy Governor V Leeladhar said banking regulator Reserve Bank of India is worried on the rising defaults in credit cards.

He said, “Credit card defaults are rising and it is a matter of concern. It just shows that due diligence was not done while selling cards”. Deputy Governor added credit card issuances are not picking up the face.

While speaking on the sidelines of a banking conference Leeladhar said that the Payment & Settlements Systems Act 2007 is likely to be conveyed by the government in a week’s time.

The act will legalize electronic payment systems in the country and will bring global non-banking payment companies like Western Union, Visa and Mastercard under the control of the RBI.

Leeladhar informed RBI has plans to make ATM usage free from 2009, the process is on track after the largest public sector bank State Bank of India, joined the National Financial Switch (NFS) two months ago.

“SBI handles about 25% of the three lakh daily ATM transactions. After they have joined the NFS, they have got customers from other banks using their ATMs, which is a good sign,” he said.

SBI is having the largest ATM network in the country and it is the only largest bank which had avoided getting into an ATM sharing agreement with any bank, or joined a switch.

Leeladhar added as SBI has joined the NFS, soon other banks will follow suit. “There are 2-3 public sector banks which are yet to join, but I am sure they will also do so soon,” he said.

The RBI will be recommending a national centralized electronic clearing system (ECS) for funds transfer. The ECS system has gained popularity for payment of bills and mutual fund systematic investment plans has been currently divided into different zones.

“We are planning to centralize it at the RBIs national clearing cell at Nariman Point. It will be linked to banks’ core banking platform,” he said.

The RBI also has plans to make use of satellites to reach banking services to areas which are unreachable. The RBI will be helping banks lease satellite’s for this purpose and also pay the cost on behalf of the banks.

“For hilly terrains like the North East we plan to pay the full cost, while for rural areas we will pay 75% of the cost and 50% of cost for semi urban areas,” Leeladhar said.

He added that satellite is the most ideal back up for banks as it is most disaster proof.

Meanwhile, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) also has plans to start a payment and settlement switch for which it expects to get license by the middle of August. “It will be called National Payment Corp of India and will be owned 51% public sector banks,” said K Unnikrishnan, deputy chief executive, IBA.

RBI issue circular to banks on credit card rates

2008-07-30T04:56:00.000-07:00

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a cautionary circular to banks on credit cards rates to protect customers and stop defaults. RBI has also warned the banks that they themselves will be liable for misuse of unwanted cards.

RBI said banks must set ceiling for interest rates including processing fees though the central bank has not specified any limit.

The central bank stated that any bank or government body must inform about increasing or reducing interest rates.

As most customers are not aware or mislead into the method of calculation of charges RBI said there is a need for illustrative examples should be given to the cardholder to avoid any confusion on customer front.

RBI's issued cautionary circular on credit cards in view of a fear of rising defaults faced by banks. The easy availability of cards is coming back to trouble banks, as they are struggling to control losses and defaults. By issuing this circular, the RBI has tried to prevent this becoming a general issue.

Police arrested three persons and busted credit card racket

2008-07-28T01:00:00.001-07:00

Police busted another credit card racket by arresting three persons identified as Vipin, Hazari and Ghanshayam, aged between 25 and 30. Accused did shopping worth Rs 30,000 with the fake credit credit. The accused had replaced the original credit card of Adarsh Khanna with the fake one.

On June 27, the victim Adarsh Khanna had applied for a credit card to Kotak Mahindra Bank. The police arrested the three accused on July 23.

DCP (Outer) Sagarpreet Hooda told, "Later a man, posing as a bank representative, who identified himself as Arun, came to meet him. He took Khanna's ICICI Bank credit card to take an impression of it. He replaced it with another credit card deceptively. Khanna soon realized this and called the customer service to block the card, but it nearly took three hours and by that time the accused person had indulged in shopping worth Rs 30,000".

On the other hand, one Nitin, who claimed to have been calling from Kotak Mahindra Bank called Khanna, and inquired whether his executive had verified documents.

When Khanna described the incident to him, he said that he will ask his executive to come back and return the card, but nothing happened and later on Nitin's mobile phone was found to be switched off.

The police came to know that the accused had purchased two mobile phones and shirts from a mall in Inderlok. Later on they stopped using their mobile phone and even left their rented accommodation.

Yet, police was able to caught the three accused from Rohini with the help of CCCTV image and recovered the credit card belonging to Khanna. Police from them was also able to seize goods purchased with the help of credit card.

Barclays Bank offer 10% cash back offer on debit cards

2008-07-23T05:12:00.000-07:00

Barclays bank is offering 10% cash back to all its debit card customers. According to bank sources the offer is valid on all purchase transactions made in the country using a Barclays debit card from July 1 to September 30.

According to bank statement customers will receive a total cash back amount of up to Rs 500 per month, which will be credited to the customer’s account in the first week of the next month.

During the campaign period if a customer does a minimum of three purchases (minimum Rs 500 each) per month then he can avail this facility.

The statement specified the offer is not applicable on the ATM and outside-the-country transactions on the debit card.

As per statement new customers who open accounts during the promotional period will also be eligible for cash back offer if they make at least three transactions per month, each with a value of Rs 500 or more.

The scheme is available for all the customers using Barclays Classic Debit Card, Barclays Premium Debit Card or Barclays Gold Business Card.

Barclays is providing services in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services. Bank has made its presence in Europe, US, Africa and Asia with operations in over 50 countries.

Mumbai police arrested 19 yr – old girl for credit card fraud

2008-07-22T03:15:00.001-07:00

Muskaan Shaikh a 19 years old girl has passed class XI and is a resident of Aurangabad has mastered the art of forging signatures with ease. Shaikh was busy shopping at the Infinity Mall in Andheri (west) on Sunday when her shopping spree came to an end when an alert employee noticed that her signature did not match with the one on the credit card.

At the mall when she went into the Reebok store after visiting a few other outlets. She selected a pair of sport shoes costing Rs4, 000. Inspector Datte Sankhe told, “Shaikh confidently went to the cash counter and offered to pay with a credit card”.

At cash counter the executive asked her to sign on the credit card receipt. The alert executive noticed that the signature did not match with the one on the card. He then kept Shaikh involved in a conversation and meanwhile alerted his seniors, who got in touch with the police.

Sankhe told, “We found 12 credit cards belonging to different people from her purse”. Most of the credit cards were stolen from Mumbai. Earlier in May, a middle-aged woman had lodged a complaint about her purse being stolen from the Infinity mall. Police said watching the CCTV footage it was clear that Shaikh was responsible for the act.

Police has taken Shaikh in its remand till July 24.

Chennai police arrested two Lankans for credit card fraud

2008-07-21T03:39:00.001-07:00

Chennai police on Saturday arrested two Sri Lankan Tamils for defrauding a bank to the tune of Rs 5 lakh using forged international credit cards. The duo created fake credit cards using information stolen from foreign credit cards, mostly in London, through an accomplice.

The two arrested - S Navaneethan (28) and S Rajkumar (24) - are Sri Lankan natives living in Porur. Rajkumar had recently completed his graduation in commerce (B. Com) from a private college in Aminjikarai.

On getting clue from a leading mobile telephone showroom in Kodambakkam, officials of the Axis Bank laid a trap for the duo on Saturday. The employees of the showroom got suspicious after the two did purchasing on three consecutive days; they purchased mobile phones and electronic equipment worth about Rs 1.70 lakh. The duo did the payment through international credit cards.

On receiving information the Axis Bank officials, led by Ashok Kumar of the executive risk and fraud containment wing, laid a trap and waited at the showroom. The duo Navaneethan and Rajkumar, as usual, came to the showroom and were nabbed by the bank officials.

From the duo credit cards were seized and verification done. During enquiries it was revealed that Navaneethan and Rajkumar had been using the credit cards of many unknown persons, mainly of those living in London, to make expensive purchases. The accused were taken to the police commissioner's office and produced before the city police commissioner R Sekar.

Ashok Kumar officially lodged a complaint with the central crime branch. On the basis of complaint lodged by Ashok Kumar the bank fraud detection cell in the commissioner's office have registered a case and arrested the duo.

During the preliminary inquiries it became clear that the Navaneethan got the credit card details from another friend, who is now in London. Using this information the duo prepared fake cards at their residence and did purchasing of several electronic goods and household articles from several city showrooms.

"The two had been making such purchases for the past four months," an investigation officer said.

Moreover officials of another bank went with a complaint to the city police against the two persons, in their complaint the officials stated that the accused had gone to a star hotel in Nungambakkam and had spent nearly Rs 2 lakh there.

The police have discovered a television, refrigerator, two-wheeler, two mobile phones, three fake credit cards and a pen drive with data about credit cards from the hotel room. The arrested two have been remanded in judicial custody after being produced before the XI metropolitan magistrate court in Saidapet on Sunday.

Chennai police arrested 2 persons for cheating banks of lakh

2008-07-18T02:53:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday Chennai’s bank fraud wing of the city police's Central Crime Branch arrested two persons on the charge of cheating several banks to the tune of Rs 8.5 lakh. The accused S Krishna Kumar (22) and R Barathi Syam (21), both are residents of M K B Nagar, have been arrested on the complaint of Narotham Kumar, manager, risk control unit, Citibank. From the accused police recovered five computers, a motorcycle and seven credit cards from the duo.

Krishna Kumar, used to work as a collection agent for two banks and later ran a computer centre, and Bharati Syam, a collection agent, both of them became partners in crime after discovering innovative methods of cheating banks using credit cards.

According to the complainant, the duo targeted Citibank credit card holders who had never used their cards. A CCB official in an interview to the TOI told "Kumar first contacted these persons and told them that since they had not used the cards they could return them and get fresh ones from the bank. The next day, Syam contacted them over phone and reiterated what Kumar had said. He said a person from Citibank would come to their homes with a letter and that they could submit the cards to him. Then, the duo armed with the 'letters,' collected the credit cards. They then went on a shopping spree". Using these credit cards they made purchases worth Rs 3.25 lakh.

Not satisfied with that, they copied some credit card applicants and received the cards in their names.

"Syam, who used to get many applications for credit cards, used them to receive cards. He pasted his photograph on the application forms and used the same identity certificates. He replaced the address on the form with his and asked the banks to send the cards to his address. The duo managed to dupe seven customers and received cards addressed to them from ABN Amro Bank, HSBC, Barclays and ICICI Bank," the official said. Krishna Kumar started computer center at M K B Nagar with this money.

The duo accused used the cards for various purchases and cheated the banks to the tune of about Rs 5.25 lakh.

CCB officials suggests that those who do not want to use their credit cards should cut them up and submit to the banks concerned to avoid such cheating.

Banks offer cash back on debit cards to promote spends

2008-07-18T02:50:00.000-07:00

Debit cards have various advantages over a credit card. When you use debit card there is no fear of overspending and no penalty and interest charges for late payments, as is in the case of credit cards. Therefore more and more people prefer using debit card.

Currently banks are offering a cash back facility on debit cards in order to encourage customers to use more of the plastic money.

On using debit card customers can avail themselves of up to ten per cent cash back (the percentage varies from bank to bank), which are directly linked to the account.

Senior bank official said receiving cash back on debit card is therefore a better offer for the customer.

Usually such schemes are announced by the banks during the festive season, although some banks have such schemes running throughout the year. In some cases some of the banks offer it on specific categories of purchase or spend, such as on fuel recharge.

However banks do not give cash back offer on ATM withdrawals and Internet transactions. According to Mr Sai Narain CDK, Head – Consumer Transaction Banking & Strategic Initiatives, Standard Chartered Bank, India, “Consumer research pointed to dissatisfaction with existing reward points and redemption program that offered exchange of rewards points with products. Consumers are more interested in instant gratification.”

Standard Chartered round the year give thematic cash back offer to its customers. “Double the rewards points — implying double the cash back has been the most successful promotion,” said Mr Narain. He said last year bank has seen a 30 per cent increase in customer spends on debit cards because of these promotions.

A senior bank official at a private bank, explained for banks, higher spends means higher income from interchange fee. “If you can run a campaign of 2-3 months you can see spends increase by 10-20 per cent,” said Mr Sameer Nemavarkar, Vice-President, Retail Banking, Axis Bank.

Another private bank, Axis Bank offers cash back schemes for certain segment such as for spends on fuel. Mr Nemavarkar, explained that giving such schemes on credit card is a high-risk high-return game and calls for efficient managing of the outstanding; that on debit card is more of an activation strategy.

“We had run a campaign on activation of new cards by offering a cash back of Rs 50 on a spend of Rs 1,000,” he said.

From 1st July State Bank of India and Barclays has announced cash back scheme and other banks are expected to follow suit. While SBI is giving 5 per cent cash back, Barclays is offering 10 per cent cash facility.

“10 per cent cash back offer will help us strengthen our relationship with our customers and enhance brand loyalty,” said Mr Suresh Gurumani, Director, Retail Banking, Barclays India.

Gram Sabha credit cards issued to villager of Mandla district

2008-07-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

Gram Sabha credit cards were issued to villagers of Nainpur block of tribal Mandla district. With these credit cards villagers will be able to get credit and a gram sabha will be able to function as a micro-finance institution.

Jaltare village, has 350-plus population, the gram sabha has issued credit cards to poor families. Till now, 30 gram sabha credit cards have been issued. At least in 50 cases small loans have been given.

The gram sabha credit card is a simple credit card unlike those of national banks credit card, having basic details including name and assets.

The credit card has certain rules according to which credit will not be given for marriage, purchasing vehicles and house construction. The amount is chiefly to be used for earning livelihood.

According to office release Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihood project provides funds to the gram sabha, which is operating in about 3,000 villages in nine tribal districts. Mandla is one of them. The others are Jhabua, Dhar, Barwani, Alirajpur, Sheopur, Dindori, Shahdol, and Anuppur.

Pune cops unearth Rs 1 crore credit card fraud, arrested four persons

2008-06-23T04:38:00.000-07:00

Pune police unearth end a major credit card fraud by arresting a gang of four persons for cheating people and creating duplicate credit cards. As per police reports the gang is suspected to have cheated over 30 customers of Hotel Le Meridien of Rs1 crore.
The gang of four was headed by 24 year-old Asif Zaidi Mirza of Borivli, Mumbai, only a HSC pass, but technically quite savvy. The other accused, Wasim Salim Patel (21) of Sainik Nagar in Yerwada was a cashier at Chingari Restaurant in Hotel Le Meridien. The other two accomplices have been identified as Ubed Ajmat Sayyad (26) of Mumbai East and Bharat Tansukhbhai Soni (28) of Goregaon, Mumbai.

Senior police inspector Sunil Pawar said the accused used devices like “credit card skimmer” and “credit card reader” for stealing the credit card details of the Le Meridien customers, which they had purchased from a Nigerian national for Rs 60,000.

“When a customer gave credit card for paying the hotel bill, Patel used to swipe the card using the skimmer whereby the credit card details were recorded for later use,” said Pawar.

“The accused then copied these details on the magnetic strips of blank or blocked plastic cards using computer technology. In this manner, they prepared at least 33 credit cards of 27 multinational and international banks. These credit cards were circulated among the gang members, who used it for shopping costly items,” he said.

Pawar added “The fraudsters were mostly targeting customers having platinum, gold and corporate credit cards who have credit limit of about Rs 15 lakh in India”.

The fraud came into notice a few days back when Sunil Nade (33), manager of Financial Resource Management (FRM) division of Citibank’s East Street branch lodged a complaint with the Bund Garden police station.

Nade in his complaint stated that he and three of his bank customers had gone to Hotel Le Meridien on May 7 for dinner during which time the accused Soni, Asif and Ubed were also present.

The police alleged that when Nade gave the credit card for making the payment, the cashier Patel either stole the credit card details himself or passed these cards to his partner in crime for the purpose. Then they made the duplicate card with the details and used for shopping goods worth Rs 10 lakh.

Nade and the other three bank customers were shocked when they discovered that such a huge amount was withdrawn from their account without consent between May 7 and June 13. Hence they reported the matter to the police.

With a timely action, the crime branch sleuths were able to first nabbed Soni at Mumbai. Later, they arrested Asif, Ubed and Patel. Police have seized the skimmer, credit card reader, laptop and 20 duplicate credit cards.

On investigations it was revealed that Patel was working at the hotel for last three years. Asif, the gang leader, was taking as his cut 50 per cent of the money made from the fraud. “It is very easy to identify a duplicate credit card. Still some shop owners have allowed shopping through such cards. We suspect that fraudsters paid some part of their income through the racket to the shop-owners,” said Pawar, sub inspectors N V Avhad and R M Gaikwad assisted Pawar in carrying out the investigation.

Police arrested student for international credit card fraud

2008-06-18T05:04:00.001-07:00

Chennai police arrested a 20-year-old final year commerce student Bharat Raj Purohit for allegedly cheating credit card holders abroad of Rs.400, 000.
Police arrested Purohit from a northern suburb on the complaint of ebay.com, an online trading company.

A police official in the cyber crime department told the student knew about the loopholes in the trade of the two people based in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Purohit mainly cheated credit card holders of US, Canada and Russia after falsely obtaining secret access codes. He purchased computers, music systems and other IT accessories. Police seized approximately Rs.40, 000 cash was from him.

Police arrested three persons including a Nigerian for credit card fraud

2008-06-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

Mumbai police on Friday arrested three persons including a Nigerian for duping a shop selling mobile phones by using international credit cards.

The accused were caught when they went to the same shop for the second time in less than three days.

As per the police sources accused had the knowledge about the clearing of the payments that the payments made through international credit cards were cleared after more than 24 hours and they used this delay to dupe a retail chain.

Four persons, including two Nigerians, on Wednesday, went to the Mobile Store at Marol Maroshi in Andheri and bought an i-pod and three mobile phones worth Rs85, 547 using credit cards.

But the amount didn’t get credited to the shop’s account therefore manager Ketan Bareya alerted his employees, who got the accused arrested when they visited the shop for the second time.

Police has recovered a total of 11 international credit cards of several banks from the trio the main suspect Iyo Kayode (30), a Nigerian, and co-accused Mukesh Atiya (27) and Kalpesh Kachariya (21) - both graduates and residents of Goregaon. Police is still looking for their fourth accomplice, Steve Watson — a Nigerian.

The trio has been booked on charges of cheating, forging and common intention under the Indian Penal Code and has been remanded in police custody till June 19.

“On Wednesday, two youths came to the shop and selected an i-pod and three mobile phones. After selecting the items, they called two Nigerians who were waiting outside the shop and Watson made the payment through a credit card which he claimed was his,” Bareya said.

Bareya told the police when the money wasn’t credited into his account even after a day, he alerted his employees. “A day later, the accused again called up at the shop to enquire whether we had any costly mobile phones. They then visited the shop, selected a few mobile phones and placed the credit card for payment. The first two cards declined payment. Not letting them get the whiff of our suspicion, we made them wait in the shop and informed the police,” Bareya said.

The accused have duped around 20 branches of The Mobile Store in the city. “Nigerians were involved in all the fraud transactions and they had duped the store of Rs15 lakh over a month or two,” Bareya said.

“Atiya, who owns a mobile phone shop in Goregaon, befriended the Nigerians this year when they visited his shop. The Nigerians offered him a mobile phone for every con,” said senior inspector Rajdoot Rupwate of the Powai police station. Rupwate told Atiya at used to sell the handsets bought from Nigerians.

Sub-inspector Sanjay Joshi told Atiya and Kachariya used to finalize the deal, while Kayode and Watson paid using forged credit cards.

“According to the banks’ rule, if a person shops for over Rs10, 000 on credit card heshe has to submit an identity proof to the shop. We are verifying whether the cards recovered are actually owned by someone living outside India. Investigations are on to find their involvement in other such cases,” said Joshi.

Cardholders be careful before choosing part-pay bill payment option

2008-06-10T04:02:00.000-07:00

Credit cardholder’s be careful in making your bill payments otherwise outstanding amount on card can cost you dear. Therefore cardholders must go through the terms and conditions properly before choosing to part-pay their bills. The card issuers charge the interest not just on the outstanding balance even though cardholder has paid a major chunk of the billed amount, but on all subsequent transaction.

In fact many of the savvy cardholders are aware about this common banking practice of revolving credit but many of them are not aware especially the new ones.

A senior banker explains with an example that how bank levies interest: "Suppose you pay 90% of the billed amount and only 10% is left. The next month (in the following billing cycle), you have to pay interest from the date of the first purchase." So effectively, the consumer loses out on the interest-free credit period. "If you part-pay," an industry expert emphasizes, "not only do you pay interest on the outstanding amount, you also lose interest-free credit facility. Your meter starts as soon as you use your card thereafter." (Incidentally, in case of cash withdrawals, interest charges are levied from the date of transaction).

Banking ombudsman official points out that pre-determined charge are mentioned in the booklet which comes along with the card. "It covers all terms and conditions, but few bother to read it." Thus cardholder cannot challenge these charges, at the banking ombudsman’s level, as the cardholder has accepted the terms by duly signing up for the card.

RBI through 2007 master circular on credit card operations of banks have made it mandatory for the banks to clearly mention the charges. It states: "Card issuers should quote annualized percentage rates (APR) on card products (separately for retail purchase and for cash advance, if different). The method of calculation of APR should be given with a couple of examples for better comprehension. The manner in which the outstanding unpaid amount will be included for calculation of interest should also be specifically shown with prominence in all monthly statements... These aspects may be shown in the welcome kit in addition to being shown in the monthly statement."

The fair practice code of the Indian Banks’ Association, adopted by its member banks, too promises, "We will send a service guide/member booklet giving detailed terms and conditions, interest and charges applicable and other relevant information with respect to usage of your credit card along with your first credit card." For the help of the consumer’s card issuing banks have put the information on their websites.

Recently banks have hiked the interest rates on credit card therefore bankers recommend cardholders to use it only as a short-term credit facility. They advise consumers who might face a repayment crunch to opt for an EMI (equated monthly installment) option—in the first place. They say however, the interest rate too works out to 18-24%, which is quite lower than the interest paid on credit card’s outstanding balance.

But here the consumers have to be careful because the EMI option is normally valid only for a particular transactions and not the outstanding balance. "If you are not able to pay your card bills, take a personal loan," a banker recommends.

StanChart launches card combining cash back and rewards

2008-06-06T03:03:00.000-07:00

Global lender, Standard Chartered has launched ‘Manhattan Platinum Card’. The card has been designed to give maximum value to its customers, as well as offers both cash back and rewards as a standard feature on the same card to its customers.

The card is different from other cards in the sense that the cash back and reward benefits of this card can be enjoyed across merchants. Through online catalogues, card offers redemption of reward points on a wide range of gift articles, complimentary tickets for online bookings at PVR cinemas, and 10% off on purchase of books at all Odyssey book stores and gift vouchers for every purchase at Music World. Customers will also get all platinum card features like travel and dining benefits and superior service benefits which are identical with Standard Chartered.

Murali M Natrajan, Regional Head, Consumer Banking – India and Nepal, said “The Manhattan Platinum Credit Card adds a youth oriented dimension to the concept of Platinum credit cards with the perfect blend of lifestyle benefits that reflects the attitude of young urban India. Standard Chartered Bank is extremely proud to present this for the first time in India and we have always believed in catering to our customers every need. We have designed this card with the aim of giving our customers the unique experience of using many cards rolled into one.”

According to a bank press release cardholders will get 5% cash back on all departmental stores and supermarkets and five reward points per Rs 100 for all other spends.

R L Prasad, General Manager, Credit Cards & Personal Loans, said “After the success of our Manhattan credit card, The Manhattan Platinum Card provides our customers’ unmatched benefits through the cash back and rewards program. There is no other product available that offers flat rewards as high as 5% as a standard feature. This is not a promotional offer that lapses after a point in time but a benefit ingrained in the product; the customer will see the rewards as cash-back or reward points in his statement under each of his transactions.”

The card has been initially launched in the 5 metros Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore and later on will be launched in rest of India. In the beginning the card will carry an annual fee of Rs 2,000 and is being offered free for the first year as an introductory offer.

Pay for paying credit card bill at your own bank branch

2008-05-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

People are in a habit of paying credit card bills at a bank branch. But soon people need to change this habit as it is going to cost them. Some of the banks have started charging card holders for paying the bill at a bank branch.

ICICI Bank largest private sector bank has started charging Rs 100 from its card holders for making credit card payments in cash at ICICI Bank branches, starting June 1, 2008. Standard Chartered Bank since March 2006 is already charging Rs 99 from its customers.

Here the question rises why pay charges to even pay your bank the due cash? The reason bankers give is that they are trying to reduce the burden on short-staffed branches.

Sachin Khandelwal, head of the cards group at ICICI Bank, said, "We are discouraging our customers from depositing cash as there is a transaction cost.

About Rs 100 is what is typically charged and it's not specific to cards. It's a cash deposit charge."

He advises the customers to avoid the charge card holders should drop their cheques in a drop-box or do an ECS (electronic clearing service) or auto debit to pay their credit card dues.

R L Prasad, general manager, credit cards and personal loans, Standard Chartered Bank, says that allowing payments to be made at branch counters is an added facility that the bank provides therefore it is charged. He added "This is a service charge for providing teller facility for making cash payments. Customers are informed of this and all other charges at the time of applying for the card through the most important document (MID)".

Also, the details of the charges are printed on back of the statement.

Dropping a cheque in a drop-box a couple of days before the due date is not a reliable solution as processing of cheque takes about three days to clear if one stays outside the national capital region of Delhi.

"We recognize that cheques take a day or two to clear and hence we encourage our customers to make their payments three days in advance though the cheque may be dated as per the payment due date," said Prasad of Standard Chartered Bank.

As for ECS payments — where a card holder authorizes his bank to pay whatever is billed on his — is also not safe, if a huge, unwarranted amount gets billed for whatever reason, bank balance will automatically get debited.

Thus there is a new payment option is to deposit cash at ATMS. According to Citibank "A PIN-less deposit facility has been launched for the benefit of cards customers at all our ATMs. A customer carrying his/her credit card can use this option for payment".

While other banks with strong credit card portfolios, such as HSBC Bank, ABN Amro Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Citibank have denied for charging card holders for making cash payment at branches. Answers from HDFC Bank are still awaited.

But there are chances of other banks following the suit. The reason is that most of the banks have started penalizing customers for using branches and give incentives for using alternate channels such as ATMs and online payments.

For example, demand draft requests at branches can cost you Rs 75, but if you use phone banking mode, then you have to shell out only Rs 50.

A stop-payment order would cost you Rs 50 per cheque (Rs 100 per mandate) if asked for at a branch. But, if one uses the phone banking channel, then HDFC Bank charges only Rs 40 per cheque (Rs 80 per mandate). Though ICICI Bank doesn't offer any cut for stop-payment via phone banking, but it is free if one uses the internet banking mode.

However some banks see a disadvantage in trying to push customers away from branches by charging them for doing payments at desk. Sanjay Sharma, IT advisor at IDBI Bank says, "When banks promote electronic payments and transactions, they must also keep in mind that they are missing an opportunity to cross-sell products."

True, if there are no customers at branches, then to whom banks will sell insurance, mutual funds, and other products that help them earn commissions?

Corporate card can cut travel expenses of companies

2008-05-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

In India in the last seven years Indian companies’ travel and entertainment has seen increase in expenses from Rs 17 lakh on an average in 2001 to over Rs 1 crore by 2007.

A survey was carried out by American Express, quoting a consulting firm Accenture according to its report companies can bring down their travel and entertainment expenses by 9% through effective use of corporate card data.

According to the survey data available the usage of corporate cards have gone up considerably in the country from 33% of companies in 2001 to 79% in 2007 — because of increased benefits being offered by the issuing banks.

Survey report suggests that companies can manipulate in a better way to cut costs if employees spend through corporate cards. As per survey, usage of corporate cards will help companies control the combined spend of their employees in travel and entertainment activities to negotiate better discounts with suppliers.

Prashant Aggarwal, head of American Express consultancy (Japan and Asia-Pacific) pointed out that high levels of travel and entertainment expenses is somewhat a new phenomenon in India and yet firms have to fully exploit the economies of scale through consolidated bargaining with key suppliers like hotel chains, airlines and taxi services.

Issuing banks give high discounts to a big regular customer. In case employees use multiple payment methods like cash and personal cards limits a firm’s ability to bargain for its combined consumption during a year.

However when all the employees of a company use corporate card for their travel and entertainment expenses, their spending behaviors are processed centrally and provide the companies information about their annual spends under different heads. This kind of information helps a company to bargain with service providers for discounted price.

According to survey report now companies have started switching to more usage of corporate card as they have understood the power of using the card and they are even formalizing a travel policy.

Cibil, ten banks to launch project to fight frauds

2008-05-23T03:39:00.000-07:00

The Credit Information Bureau of India (Cibil) and 10 large commercial banks have joined hand to fight against frauds. In the month of June the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and Cibil will be starting a pilot project for collecting information on frauds, building ground to create a database from 2009-10.

Senior Bankers informed that on regular basis banks submit information on frauds to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but now they will be sharing information among themselves which will in turn help them to be alert and protect them from being duped by fraudsters, said senior bankers.

IBA has currently decided to launch the project on a pilot basis. Cibil and Trans Union in cooperation with 10 banks are expected to execute the project in three phases.

An IBA official informed that after evaluating the feedback from the pilot project, the provisional plan will be drafted to run the project for the banking industry from the next year.

In the first phase of the project database will be formulated according to the format approved by banks and the time period for the data collection can be over six months.

LIC-GE Money MoU for credit cards lapses, but deal is on course

2008-05-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

Initially the time period of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and GE Money for a credit cards venture has expired but according to the sources of both the companies the deal is on course.

DEAL IS ON

· On September 6, 2007, LIC (40 per cent) had announced an MoU with GE Money India (35 per cent), Corporation Bank (5 per cent), LIC Housing Finance (4 per cent) and LIC Mutual Fund AMC (2 per cent) to create a new credit card company

· GE Money has a tie-up with State Bank of India and SBI Cards, their joint venture, is the second largest card company

· SBI was not too happy with the way the company was being run and had incurred losses of around Rs 150 crore last year

Hemant Bhargava, CEO, LIC Credit Cards Company said, "The initial MoU period is over, but the project is on. In one or two weeks, we may soon announce the launch of some aspects related to the credit cards company."

A senior LIC executive in an interview to Business Standard said there are some issues that are being thrashed out. "Till GE Money does not tell us that this venture is off, it is on."

When GE Money spokesperson was contacted, said, "Strategic partnerships have been a key pillar of GE Money's growth globally and in line with this strategy, partnerships will continue to be critical to our growth in India. GE Money continues to work closely with LIC to finalize its proposed joint venture and to ensure the future success of this partnership."

Meanwhile GE Money is having a tie-up with State Bank of India and SBI Cards, their joint venture, is the second largest card company. Whereas SBI was not too happy with the way the company was being run as it had incurred losses of around Rs 150 crore last year, executives of the country's largest bank were also irked at GE Money's decision to tie up with LIC.

But SBI and GE Money have put their differences aside for the betterment and have decided to extend their partnership. This has given rise to the theory that GE Money and LIC might put their deal on the backburner.

On September 6, 2007, LIC having 40% stake had announced a MoU with GE Money India with 35%, Corporation Bank with 5%, LIC Housing Finance with 4% and LIC Mutual Fund AMC with share of 2% to create a new credit card company that was to influence the strengths of each company.

Besides this the remaining 14 per cent stake is to be offered to financial investors. The parties had planned to finalize definitive agreements by the end of October 2007. The MoU was valid for 90 days.

However the officials of LIC and GE Money said in spite of the expiry of the MoU, they had held talks to ensure that the proposed credit card company is realized.

Half the cardholders revolve payments

2008-05-20T04:21:00.000-07:00

Banks in order to lure the customers keep introducing reward schemes and give special privileges and offers on credit cards besides this half the cardholders revolve payments and pay just the minimum amount each month.

Sachin Khandelwal, head - cards product group, at ICICI Bank pointed out, “The number of people who revolve payment is about half the customers in India for the industry. In terms of customer numbers it is about 35-40%” He said, “But that would be half the book value or even 50-65% for some banks.”

ICICI Bank till now has issued about 9 million cards since 2000; however Khandelwal declined to put a number to the people who revolve credit at ICICI Bank. But, he told DNA Money, “We are on the higher side.”

Mostly people who revolve credit pay just the minimum amount asked by the card company before the due date and agree to pay the remaining dues at a later date. The issuing bank charges interest on the overdue amount.

According to analysts there is nothing wrong in high revolving rate of credit cards. In fact, they say such an indicator is a sign of a maturity of the market.

Tarun Bhatia, head corporate and government ratings, Crisil pointed out that a higher revolving rate means customers are using the credit card as a loan product. He added in developed markets the revolving rates for credit cards are higher than 80%.

“The revolving rate in terms of value was about 30-35% a few years ago. It has now gone up to 50-60%, but that is not a concern, the concern will only be when people who are revolving don’t really have the credit worthiness to repay their loan,” he said.

Bhatia says the revolving rate might decrease marginally as banks tighten their lending norms to focus on better quality and high income customers.

ICICI bank has introduced several options so that they can keep a check on such cardholders who revolve. The options include equated monthly installment (EMI) option or conversion to a personal loan for people who cannot clear the entire outstanding in a month.

“Suppose you have spent Rs 70,000 when your disposable income is Rs 30,000. Then you start revolving at a very high rate of 3-3.35% and the charge keeps adding up. So you can call up and convert the transaction into installments,” Khandelwal said.

If ICICI Bank get in a tie-up with the merchant who sell goods, customers can get an interest rate of 0-12%.

“Otherwise we price the EMIs at 18%.” Khandelwal said. “We encourage EMI, as they are convenient for customers against the credit card charge are 36%,” he said.

“We have also brought it (the EMI facility) to merchants. Instead of calling customer care you can swipe the card and convert the payments into EMIs at the swipe itself. You tell the merchant that I want the 6 or 9 or 10 installment option,” he said.

As an offshoot of the same, the bank has launched an EMI card. “We launched the card in 2006 and have been pushing it for one year,” Khandelwal said.

Under the card, one gets the option to choose between Rs 1,000-4,000 of payment per month, which draws a limit. For instance you choose the 2,000 or a 4,000 card and you buy a refrigerator and you start paying installments. Later on you buy a TV, this amount will be added in to your basket, and however your tenure will change.

The credit card head clarified that they make sure that the customers do not get carried away.

The other option ICICI bank has for its customers is to convert the outstanding amount to personal loans. Khandelwal said, “Sometimes you don’t want to pay Rs 75,000 in one shot, you are not able to. So if you can, do it in 2-4 installments. Beyond that amount convert it to a personal loan.”

He expects positive response to the installment story on the travel and consumer durables segment. Most of the ICICI Bank’s credit cardholders today spend on travel and hotels put together. “This has really grown in the last two years. Airline tickets and domestic and overseas holidays are the largest, fuel is the third largest spend, followed by jewellery, retail garments and retail outlets,” he said.

ICICI Bank has done away with the post dated cheque model for consumer durable loans, in favor of the “cost effective and quicker” credit card model this March.

“We have realized that in the consumer durable business, only one-seventh or one-eighth (roughly 12-14%) business was on loans and the balance 7 out of 8 customers were anyway using a credit card.”

Phishing attacks on increase protect password of credit /ATM card

2008-05-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

Recently a survey was conducted by internet security firm Symantec; it reports showed increase in the number of phishing attacks on banks in India has shot up three times to 120 attacks in January 2008, from only 20 attacks in October 2007. In terms of phishing sites Mumbai has been ranked first in the country, followed by New Delhi.

On seeing the reports of the internet security firm it is clear identity theft has become a serious problem for the financial services industry.

Many instances have come into limelight when people have found difficulty and incurred losses because of lack of financial awareness.

Here are some financial details that you should handle with care, and immediate steps you should take if you face an identity crisis.

In case you are applying for a second credit card, a new one never disclose details of the existing credit card or even provide a copy of both sides of the existing card as the data may be misused and could result in a loss. The card carries a three-digit or four-digit security code or card verification value (CVV) which could be misused.

You should also beware if you receive a call, fax or an e-mail or someone visiting in person, asking for details such as date of birth, mother’s maiden name, PIN and others because such information could be misused by crooks. Ravi Shankar, country head, directs banking, Yes Bank warns, “On various financial platforms, mother’s maiden name is used as a security password. Common numbers and alphabets such as mother’s maiden name and date of birth should be completely avoided as passwords.

Extra caution should be used while sharing details such as bank account number and date of birth and they should be done only on a secure platform. It can lead to impersonation, reputation risk and black mail.”

Do not respond to any query by an unknown caller who may impersonate as an agency representative doing a survey or compiling information. “It is important that the passwords, giving access to use of credit cards and other financial instruments, be carefully drafted and retained only mentally,” advises Khushroo Panthaky, partner, accounting & assurance services, Walker, Chandiok Grant Thronton.

There have been incidences where individuals have lost out on their entire savings due to such frauds. “Besides the financial loss, what pains the most is the mental harassment you have to undergo running pillar to post to resolve problems with the credit card institution, banks and police authorities,” says Panthaky.

In case you find something fishy in your financial statement, immediately inform your issuing bank and get the services of that product temporarily discontinued. In case your credit card details have been stolen and it is linked to a bank account, then standing instructions should be given to banks to immediately stop direct debits (towards payment against card bills).

Shankar says mostly the financial details are stolen from personal computers, internet and couriers, it’s important for customers to protect their PCs. “One should avoid the temptation of clicking on unknown sites and ensure that every courier from their bank has reached them untampered,” he adds.

Furthermore, bankers advise that all links to various accounts of banks and investments should be properly reviewed when closing an account. Panthaky has a word of advise for all — do not get fascinated by exciting opportunities to take more credit cards. He adds, there is a general insight that the more credit cards you have, the more credit you can avail of. At the same time, loss or misuse of credit cards can lead to a lot of mental torture and pain.

“The ATM cards also need to be carefully retained as some people have a habit to scribble the PIN on the paper strip behind the card. Scandals prevail all the time and smart cartels get access to a lot of confidential information to capture your savings of a life time,” he says.

Traders offering loan against credit card

2008-05-16T05:33:00.001-07:00

There is a new type of offer for the credit card holders i.e. they can take loan against their credit card from the trader. In case of defraud, the police won't help because the loan-seekers are as much at fault as the conmen.

Crooked traders are giving ads in newspaper. On reading the ad when a credit card-holder turns up at the shop, he is asked how much loan he needs. His card is then swiped for the amount, plus a four per cent commission. The transaction is shown as payment against purchase of goods.

Instead of goods the credit card holder leaves the shop with the loan amount in cash. Later on the trader produces the transaction slip in the bank concerned and recovers the loaned amount, as well as the commission.

In the past month and a half, Calcutta police had received 16 complaints where traders have overcharged the cardholders. There are several cardholders who have availed themselves of loans in this manner and have found that traders overcharged them or used the card details for future purchases.

"We can't help people who have been defrauded in this manner. A person can use his credit card to buy goods from a shop but can't take money from the shop-owner," said deputy commissioner (detective department) Jawed Shamim.

An officer of the detective department's fraud section said if they start taking up the cases then the complainants will have to be prosecuted along with the traders. "The victims often are left with no option."

He quoted the case of a complainant who took Rs 70,000 from a shopkeeper and was told that his card had been swiped for Rs 72,800 (Rs 70,000, plus commission of Rs 2,800). Later on when the cardholder received the statement he was shocked to see that the shopkeeper had actually withdrawn Rs 1 lakh. When the complainant went back to the shop, he was forced to leave away.

Another victim, Rana Banerjee of Rashbehari Avenue, recounted: "I gave my card to the owner of an electronic goods shop on April 14. He was supposed to give me Rs 95,000, but he paid me Rs 70,000 and asked me to come back later for the rest of the amount. When I went back to the shop, he flatly refused to give me the rest of the money."

Police said to stop such frauds people should take loan against a credit card from the bank instead of approaching traders.

Sub-PLR and credit card rates to increase

2008-05-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

Soon Banks will be hiking their sub-PLR rates and other retail rates like credit card and auto loans rates. Previously in April RBI in three phases hiked the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 75 basis points, sucking Rs 27,500 crore from the banking system.

A Mumbai-based chief of a public sector bank said, “Since, we cannot hike our prime lending rates (PLR), since the finance minister has asked us not do so, we will increase the sub- PLR rates which are availed of by the corporate cheaper than the PLR,”

On the other hand the country’s largest credit card player, ICICI Bank has crop up a concept of “tiered pricing”.

Simultaneously, the bank is claiming that it has reduced the rates.

Meanwhile the customers of few foreign banks are receiving their latest credit card statements in which the banks have started informing about the rate hikes.

According to the sources from Citibank, recently it has raised credit card rates and is charging the customer about 3-3.5% on a monthly basis. The other foreign bank, Netherlands –based ABN AMRO Bank has raised its credit card rates from 3.1% to 3.2-3.5% on monthly basis, which will be effective from June 1.

The ICICI Bank credit card customers will also be seeing rise in rates going up by 2%. As per the sources at present the bank is charging 1.51%-3.41% against a flat 2.99% earlier.

How fraudsters skim your credit card details

2008-05-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

Now day’s card reading device is available to skim the credit card or debit card data. Some time back Mumbai police arrested one person for purchasing card-reading device through online shopping site.

Let us see what is skimming and how it is done.

Skimming is the direct transfer of electronic data from the magnetic strip on a credit card or debit card to a card-reading device.

The skimmed data is then transferred from the reading device onto another plastic card having a magnetic strip on it. With this fraudster can create a card with the same characteristics and use it freely - till identified or caught.

Be careful skimming is illegal.

Generally skimming takes places at petrol stations, restaurants, hotels and such outlets where the swipe terminal is away from your sight.

What are the warning signs of skimming?

A shop assistant when takes your card out of your sight in order to process your transaction then there are full chances your credit or debit card details can be skimmed. In case you are asked to swipe your card through more than one machine. You might notice something suspicious (an attached device) around the card slot on an ATM. You notice a strange or unauthorized transaction in your account.

Safety measures from becoming a victim of skimming:
Keep your PIN safe. You should not disclose your PIN number to anyone. Keep watch on people who try to offer “help” at an ATM. Examine the ATM carefully before using it. If it doesn't look right, don’t use it. If an ATM has any unusual signage, don't use it.

In case your card gets stuck in the ATM machine after the transaction or after pressing ‘Cancel’, contact your card issuing authority immediately. Keep a check on your bank account statements to ensure that there are no unusual withdrawals.

Hike in credit card rates act as silent killer

2008-05-09T04:18:00.000-07:00

The increase in EMIs on housing loans have given pain to homeowners especially the ones who had borrowed when the interest rate were generous. On top of that most of the cardholders are not paying the credit card bills in full which has also become costlier though with far less visibility.

In the past few months the credit card companies have hiked interest rates towards which cardholder are not paying attention. Over the past 2-3 months most of the major card issuers including ICICI Bank, SBI Credit Card and other leading players have hiked interest rates by 3-5%.

The procedure of charging the interest on credit cards is the interest is charged when a customer carry forward credit beyond the payment cycle. The monthly rate can range between 1% and 3.4%, translating to 12-42% on an annual basis. However there has been hike in overall interest rates therefore, card companies have also affected a hike.

ICICI Bank, is the largest issuer of credit cards with over 7.5 million live cards, has increased interest rates from 2.9% to 3.15%. Thus there is an annual increase of almost 3%.

Sachin Khandelwal, head of ICICI Bank’s cards portfolio said, “We have increased the interest rates on credit cards last month, which will be effective for the billing from August. Impact on the consumers will be known only in September. The hike is a consequence of the general tightening of interest rates and most big players have already done it. ICICI was in fact the last to do it.”

On the other hand SBI Cards, joint venture between SBI and GE Money is the second-largest issuer of cards in India, has also increased rates. Though, the company has defined the rates on parameters like spending and payment behavior. The charges have gone up from 2.99% to 3.1%.

“SBI Cards charges interest rates ranging from 0.99-3.1% depending on the spending pattern and payment behavior of the consumer,” SBI Cards & Payment Services CEO Roopam Ashthana said.

Experts expressing their views said other major credit card issuers have also hiked rates in line with leading players. But some companies do not mention the interest rate charged on the monthly statements sent out to customers, therefore these rate hikes often go unnoticed by consumers. However, some companies do send out reports regarding this.

“All applicants are advised of the maximum interest rate chargeable at the time of application, at the time of card issuance and thereafter every month in their credit card statement,” Mr Ashthana said.

He added provision for a change in interest rates is mentioned in the terms and conditions given to a consumer at the time of issue of card.

Citibank and Delhi Metro launched co-branded transit credit card

2008-05-09T02:44:00.000-07:00

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in a tie up with Citibank launched a co-branded '2-in-1' credit card, the Delhi Metro Citibank credit card. The card will double up as an access card for users of the transport system and also provide them with some other benefits.

Mr P S Jayakumar, Country Business Manager, Citi India said the "2-in-1" transit card combines the benefits of the Metro smart card with the advantages of a credit card.

It is the first of its kind of credit card in India that doubles up as a contact –less access card for Delhi Metro stations, allowing users 'tap and go entry', along with the advantages of a Citibank credit card, and is available to customers from today.

Earlier in 2006, Citibank had conducted trials of the “tap-and-go” or contact less payment at select New York City subway stations, in association with MTA and MasterCard. Following the trials, the service was rolled out at the New York subway MTA. However, the DMRC co-brand card is associated with Visa.

In addition to convenience, the card will also offer several benefits, including exclusive shopping deals and discounts in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR), fuel surcharge waivers at Indian Oil outlets and other privileges associated with a Citibank Credit Card.

The card is unique in several other ways. It is a "Delhi Delights" offering unique deals from some of the biggest brands in Delhi, including Dominos, Fun Cinemas, Nirula's, Bercos, India Today and VLCC. The card also carries reward points. Reward points accumulated on this card can be redeemed for free Metro rides, at the Citibank point-of-sale terminals, which are presently installed at Rajeev Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Barakhamba, Pitampura, Rajouri Garden and Dwarka Mor Metro Stations. These are scheduled to soon spread across other stations as well. Additionally, the card offers double reward points for Metro spending, and will not require the mandatory security deposit of Rs50.

"Citi has successfully launched similar products in New York and Singapore, both of which have been extremely well received. We expect to launch similar products in more countries in the next few months," said Surath Chatterjee, regional head of card products, Citi Asia Pacific

DMRC's director for operations Raj Kumar says, "DMRC is always looking to improve the transit customer's experience. We believe this product is the next step in providing our travelers unmatched convenience and reduced waiting times by combining an efficient payment mechanism with the Metro experience." He further added, "We are in talks with the Delhi Government to extend the reach of the card to city buses." He said discussions are at a preliminary stage and if the proposal gets approved, the same card could be used for traveling by buses.

On the customer attainment through the agreement, P. S. Jayakumar country business manager, global consumer group, Citi India said about two lakh Metro commuters can become card users. He said Citigroup is having about 36 lakh credit card users in the country.

Mr Jayakumar, country business manager, global consumer group, Citi India said, "As the Metro extends its operations further into Delhi and NCR, and with the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in 2010, the Delhi Metro Citibank credit card will fulfill the need of a world-class product for hassle free travel and shopping."

The Special Privileges on the Delhi Metro Citibank Credit Card:

10 per cent discount on travel fare paid with the '2-in-1' card
2 reward points for every Rs100 spent on the Metro, 1 reward point for every Rs100 spent elsewhere
Facility for converting all reward points into Metro Points for free Metro rides (at the POS terminal itself)
Associated with Visa international, accepted at over 14 million merchant outlets worldwide
2.5 per cent surcharge waiver on IOC petrol pumps
Five free lifetime add-on cards
The ''Delhi Delights'' offers from the best brands of Delhi

Police arrested a person for using others debt cards

2008-05-06T03:43:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad police nabbed a person for using international debit cards issued to others for his personal use.

Police found Gangster Venkat Reddy alias Aziz Reddy two international debt cards - ING Vysya and ICICI bank in his wallet during the panchanama by the Shaikpet tahsildar on Thursday. The investigating office had collected information about details and transactions of the used by the gangster.

According to the sources in the police department said the ING Vysya international debit card recovered from the gangster, was in the name of one Srujan Kumar of SBI colony at Bakaram near Gandhinagar. Srujan Kumar runs a computer institute in Gandhinagar. When police interrogated him, Srujan Kumar reportedly told them that he had given his debit card to one Pavan Kumar. He reportedly expressed doubts that Pavan Kumar might have given it to Aziz Reddy.

Surprisingly, Pavan Kumar is neither a friend nor a relative of Srujan Kumar. The latter told police that Pavan Kumar knew him as he did a two-and-half-month computer course in his institute.

Srujan Kumar got the ING Vysya Bank debit card in May 2007 and there were Rs 1.40 lakh transactions in the last one year. Police department sources said currently balance in the account is nil.

Police officers told press the other debit card, issued by ICICI Bank, was issued elsewhere. "We are waiting for details from ICICI Bank, Mumbai which may come in a day or two.''

Police told that they recovered another debit card from his car which was on the name of another person.
Meanwhile, the black Innova's owner Abu Bakar is still at large. From the investigation the police recovered that Bakar's father Humayun Khan is a 'tantrik' and Aziz Reddy used to go to him for the well-being of his family for the last 11 years. A month ago, he took his wife to Humayun Khan as she was not well, police said.

"We are trying to locate Aziz Reddy's wife's address. The only evidence we have is her photograph,'' a senior police officer said.

RBI will launch IndiaPay credit card

2008-05-06T03:39:00.000-07:00

By the end of the next year the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to launch an IndiaPay credit card – an Indian version of the China UnionPay card.

On Saturday evening in a press conference RBI executive director R B Barman told , "Inspired by the success of the China UnionPay card, we will be launching a similar one in our country to promote the use of plastic money among Indians. The credit card will be especially designed for the common people with low interest rates and risk reduction facilities.”

Barman said the National Payment Council of India (NPCI) is preparing guidelines for the registration process of the card. The NPCI authorities has been authorized to decide on the type of the card - whether it would be a smart card or something else.

"If all our plans and government procedures gel well then we can hope to release this card in the market by the end of 2009," he added.

The China UnionPay card was introduced in 2002. The card can be used at over over 85,000 ATM counters of 14 major and other minor banks across the world. Besides, the card can function as regular MasterCard or Visa credit cards abroad.

Police recovered credit card of slain air hostess

2008-05-02T03:35:00.000-07:00

The credit card of Sheeba Thomas a former air hostess with Virgin Atlantic airlines has been recovered by the Noida police.

Sheeba, a former airhostess with Virgin Atlantic airlines, was murdered by motorcycle-borne assailants around 11.20 pm on April 8 in sector 31 while she was returning home from a party, in her car.

Earlier police had nabbed Lacchi who revealed the names of others involved in the crime. On April 18 police arrested main accused, Mukesh alias Mukhia who during interrogation confessed before the police that he and his three accomplices had killed her when she tried to fend off their attempt to rob her.

Gajendra Shrotriya, Station Officer of Sector 20 police station, on Wednesday told to press that Mukhia have confessed that he had hidden Sheeba’s credit card in bushes at an abandoned plot in Sector 37. He said, Mukhia took out the credit card, which bore Sheeba's name, from the bushes and handed it over to the police.

Meanwhile the third accused in the case, Ashok, surrendered at the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court at Noida. Shrotriya said the police would seek Ashok's custody.

Mumbai police apprehended 8, credit card fraud unearthed

2008-04-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

Mumbai police nabbed eight people of credit card fraud racket. The police arrested the accused on a tip-off from an HSBC Bank official. The arrested have been identified as Sameer Dave (26), Sudhir Naikare (27), Mahesh Sharma (39), Gangesh Pathak (21), Anand Mishra (26) and Harsh Badgujar (24). Following their interrogation, the police on Monday arrested two others — identified as Bhayandar residents Harshal Kapadia and Harshid Parekh. The accused have been remanded to police custody till May 5

The Oshiwara police told Nayan Chandrakant Bhagdev (34), a manager with the HSBC Bank at Malad informed them that he had come across a variety of dubious credit card transactions in shopping centers at malls in the Oshiwara Lokhandwala area. The manager also told the police that he had got information that a gang of fraudsters is possessing fake credit cards and would be visiting the Kamdhenu Shopping Centre at Lokhandwala on April 26.

Inspector Datta Sankhe of the Oshiwara police station said, “Acting on the information, a team of police officers laid a trap near the place. At the place, our officers saw an Indica car with six men inside approaching. Out of the six, two men got down and were given two credit cards by the others in the car. They were signaled to enter the shopping centre. Finding their movements suspicious, the officers who had laid the trap arrested them.”

The police took in custody from the accused a laptop with pen drive, other computer accessories, 14 fake credit cards, 2 fake driving licenses, fake RTO stamps, fake PAN cards and a Chinese-make scanner used for transferring credit card data, Sankhe said.

“On their interrogation, we found that these men were running a major credit card fraud. One of them, Delhi-based Anand Mishra, is a computer engineer. They had a Chinese-make electronic device which could be used for transferring data from a credit card to it. Their modus operandi was to steal credit cards, use the machine to transfer the data from the stolen cards and then re-transfer the entire data to a non-operational credit card in their possession. After transferring the data, the cards can be used for making purchases at various shopping centers. Till date, they have allegedly done shopping of goods worth more than a lakh. The police also seized fake licenses and PAN cards from the accused. We still do not know the full extent of the racket they were running. Further investigation is on,” added Sankhe.

Be aware of RBI rules made for credit card companies

2008-04-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made rules for credit card companies operating in India but people of India are not aware of these official rules. There have been instances where people owing credit cards are being have often suffered at the hands of the card issuing banks.
Gita purchased an airline ticket by using her credit card online. A month later, she received billing statement on seeing the details she was shocked to see her statement included a charge for clothes worth Rs 2,000. As she had not bought the clothes, she thought that the credit card company might have made a mistake. On carrying out the investigations it was discovered that a hacker had gained access to her credit card number online and made the purchase. She is not the only one to experience this. Every year, there are several customers facing such problems and are involved in disputes with credit card companies.

In fact promotional offers by credit card companies are also creating problems for the people. For instance Sita, received a call from a credit card company that said she will be able to get cosmetics worth upto Rs 2,000 free in the first month if she signed up for the credit card. But when she received her billing statement she was shocked to see the charges for cosmetics worth Rs 500 which she had purchase from her local store.

Innumerable customers such as Sita and Gita often suffer in silence because of their unawareness about the rules formulated for credit card companies.

Basically the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) master circular of rules were planned for Indian credit card companies which has information for credit card users in India which they should keep in mind while using their cards:

1) Each credit card issuing institution is required to incorporate the RBI's rules in its fair practices code and release that information to everybody, including customers

2) The card issuing companies must inform the customers about the terms and conditions for issue and usage of a credit card. The customers should also ask for such information in printed form (leaflets, booklets)

3) All the information related to annualized percentage rate (APR), the minimum amount due, and the date within which payment has to be made (at least a fortnight must be allowed) should be provided to the customers clearly.

4) Banks should take care that wrong bills are not issued to the customers. In case of any dispute the bank should be ready to give documentary evidence within 60 days

5) Customers' rights must be protected by the credit card company. The right to privacy is among these rights. Customers should not be issued unwanted cards. The permission from the customer should be taken in case of change in the terms and conditions and also must be informed about the changes also. If customers want their telephone number included in a Do Not Call Registry, the credit card company should honor the request

6) The bank should ensure the confidentiality of customer information even if its operations are being outsourced. The bank must take consent from customer's consent before releasing any details related to customer.

7) The customer must be informed if he/she is being reported to the Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd or any other credit information company approved by RBI for defaulting on payments

8) Threats or harassment of any kind in debt collection is prohibited

9) Every credit card company is required to have a grievance redressal officer to address complaints made by customers. In case a complaint is not addressed within 30 days, a customer can take his/her complaint to the Banking Ombudsman

10) The RBI has the right to penalize a credit card company for violating its rules.

Top-ranking executive credit card misused

2008-04-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

A top-ranking executive with a construction major, Sandip Bose has owned a Cititbank credit card for last two years and had not used his credit card since then yet on April 17 he received a message on his mobile a few days back to settle a due amount of Rs 65000 for transaction made on his credit card.

After reading the message Bose was left stun because he had not used his credit card for the last. He immediately lodged a complaint at both Jadavpur police station and the criminal investigation department office.

Bose also called up the credit card’s customer care centre and sought information about the transaction details.

The detailed statement provided by the bank showed all the transactions — mostly online — were made from March 21-27. In those seven days, Air Deccan tickets were purchased online and several imported items have also been purchased.

On seeing the details of purchase in the statement Bose understood that he had been duped so he called up the bank and asked them to stop all transactions made on the card. The bank followed the instructions and also started an internal probe to find out how the card was used.

Bose informed that he had not used the card in the last two years. Also, he had not given it to anyone. Even the there was no report of the card getting lost.

CID is doing investigation and is waiting for the transaction details from the bank. Police said several such cases have come into lime light.

"If one has access to personal details of cardholders, then he or she can get hold of both the card number and the CVV number. It could be possible that the card numbers were given by someone from the bank itself. The cyber crime section is dealing with the case," said a senior CID officer.

Increase of defaulters slows down credit card business growth

2008-04-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Recently there has been increase in the number of defaulters due to which banks have been forced to tighten due-diligence procedures therefore the credit card business is facing slowdown.

According to the RBI data the growth in new credit card accounts has gone low by 18 per cent in the just concluded fiscal (until February), as compared to 33 per cent in 2006-07. At present the total card base in the country is around at 26 million.

Mr Tarun Bhatia, Head-Financial Sector ratings, CRISIL said, “While earlier, banks would extend loans to customers with a minimum annual income of Rs 80,000, they have now increased this to a minimum of Rs 1.2 lakh. Banks are also asking for the PAN card and strictly following other ‘Know Your Customer’ procedures before giving credit cards”.

ICICI Bank has been the largest credit card provider in the country issued around 9 million credit cards. Past three years the growth of the credit card accounts of the ICICI banks has come down to around 20-22 per cent lower than the average growth of 40 per cent.

“The overall slowdown in retail loans has also rubbed off on the credit card segment,” said Mr Sachin Khandelwal, Head-Cards Product Group, ICICI Bank.

According to Mr Parag Rao, Senior Vice-President, Head-Product and Portfolio Management, Credit Cards, HDFC Bank the interest rates on various segments in the retail asset portfolio have steadily gone up and, so, the outflow in terms of an EMI (equated monthly installments) has also gone up. He said, “This has put pressure on individual customers which in turn has increased the default rates in the industry,”

Bankers allege in view of high rates of delinquency they are becoming more cautious about lending in these segments.

According to industry analysis the default rates on credit cards have gone up by almost 150-200 basis points this year as compared to 11-12 per cent in 2007-08, against 9-10 per cent in 2006-07.

“The new issuance of cards has seen a slowdown because of credit losses,” said Mr Neeraj Swaroop, Regional Chief Executive, India and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank.

Standard Chartered Bank has not been hostile about increasing the number of cards issued but instead is focusing on increasing spends on each existing card.

“Customers are highly over-leveraged and are given loans 20-30 times of their annual income. Banks are not making good use of credit bureau data,” said a senior official at a foreign bank.

Credit data bureau analysis’s points out that banks which are stressing more on their vigorous expansion program are trying to reach out to customers by either offering them a credit card or a personal loan.

“Defaults have started spiraling because banks have gone into Tier II and Tier III towns as well as the lower-income segments. The average cards per user have also increased,” said Mr Bhatia.

TimesofMoney in a tie-up launched first entertainment credit card

2008-04-19T04:23:00.001-07:00

Timesofmoney, a Times Group company, launched India’s first entertainment co-branded credit card in a joint venture with Barclays bank The ‘Times Card’ has been envisioned to be an aspirational credit card for high spenders. The card has been packaged to meet lifestyle fancies and offer its members numerous exciting opportunities to redefine their lifestyle across entertainment, dining, shopping, travel, body and beauty.

Times Card also have offers of privileged invitations to high profile Times events such as the Femina Miss India, Filmfare Awards, blockbuster movie premieres, live concerts and celebrity parties. The statement issued by the company said, “With the growing Indian economy, there has been a considerable growth in lifestyle and the luxury spends from today’s high-end spenders. Times Card is weaved along the 5Cs of convenience, comfort, care, cohesive and comprehensive. The spending patterns of Indian consumers have changed, while the ‘regular spends’ are growing considerably, their ‘lifestyle spends’ are expanding rapidly”.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Times Group MD Vineet Jain said, “This strategic partnership with Barclays, one of the world’s largest credit card issuers, gives us the perfect platform to create a new benchmark in the credit card industry. Times Card gives us an opportunity to add value to our relationship with our customers by expanding our service offerings to them.”

TimesofMoney president Avijit Nanda, claimed that this card will endeavor to go beyond what’s expected from a credit card and introduce a whole new world of entertainment.

Barclays GRCB MD (India and Indian Ocean) Samir Bhatia said, “Times Group, with its experience and leadership in the entertainment space, is the perfect partner to create a great customer offering. This unique card goes with our philosophy of transparency and simplicity of use. It gives customers the power to control their finances and choose their rewards.”

At present, TimesofMoney in India is providing services in the segments like money transfers, global money transfers, NRI services, co-branded cards and is a pioneer in online payments. Besides this its transaction business, TimesofMoney is providing a single-window online channel for non-residents which has helped it in building up a strong and loyal customer base.

Kotak Mahindra Bank launched range of credit cards

2008-04-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

Kotak Mahindra Bank private sector lender aiming to be in the list of the top five credit card issuers in domestic market in next three years launched its suite of Simple and Powerful Credit Cards for its customers. Kotak Credit Cards is the latest addition to the wide range of financial services offerings of Kotak Group.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director Uday Kotak said, “The launch of the credit card business is the next big step in the Kotak goal to provide a holistic suite of financial products that caters to every possible need of our customer”.

He told the reporters in the next three years bank has plans to issue 15 lakh credit cards and will target aspirational Indians, salaried and self-employed youths by demystifying credit on card, by offering innovative credit solutions.

"With this launch, the bank is now offering full range of financial services to customers. We expect to disburse 15 lakh cards in the next three years and thus to become one among the five largest credit card issuers in the country," Kotak said.

Kotak’s card range launched includes 2 Visa Gold Cards- Trump and Fortune, League Visa Platinum Card and Royale Visa Signature Card. Kotak cards has also taken a fresh approach on card design, and has introduced India’s 1st vertical card.

Kotak Card Highlights:

First-of-its kind benefits to Indian credit card customers -

o 1st ever vertical card design in India

o Simplified fees and charges

o No interest, no fee EMIs for three months

o 10% cashback on dining, movies round the year

o Interest-free cash withdrawals

o Auto-encashment of reward points

Kotak said the gold cards are available free of cost while the other two variants require a one time fee. Adding to this he said the bank has also introduced a no-charge, three months EMI facility on credit cards, where customers do not have to pay any processing fee.

He said, "The Trump Visa Gold card will enable customers to receive 10 per cent cash back round the year for expenses in restaurants and movies while Platinum and Signature cards ensure auto-encashment of reward points earned".

The product suite:

Trump Visa Gold Card – A free-for-life card with first-time 10% cash back round-the-year across all restaurants and movie halls

Fortune Visa Gold Card - A free-for-life card, with up to 48 days interest-free cash withdrawals for a transaction fee of just Rs. 199

League Visa Platinum Card – With a one-time fee, the card offers auto-encashment of reward points earned, concierge and insurance services, Golf Fee Card for exclusive access to golf courses, Priority Pass for access to international airport VIP lounges and a host of other benefits through tie-ups with partners like Taj and Kaya

Royale Visa Signature Card - With a one-time fee, the card offers auto-encashment of reward points earned, concierge and insurance services, Golf Fee Card for exclusive access to golf courses, Priority Pass for access to international airport VIP lounges and a host of other benefits through tie-ups with partners like Taj and Kaya

Mr. Subrat Pani, Business Head – Cards, Kotak Mahindra Bank said even though being a late competitor into the fast-growing credit card segment, the bank is confident to place itself among the top five credit-card issuers in a time-span of three years.

He added, “I am confident that Kotak Credit Cards will make a difference amongst Indian customers with its segmented approach to offering credit solutions. While on one hand, Indian customers are increasingly exploring better lifestyles through credit, on the other hand there is a constant apprehension on the charge structure. This has restricted usage of credit cards to just a payment tool. We as the credit cards industry have to do a lot more to make it easier for customers to understand and use credit cards. I am convinced that by keeping it Simple, Kotak Cards will transcend this and become a smart credit solution for the Indian consumer.”

Kotak Mahindra Bank new aspirant into the country's banking sector has 178 branches across 107 locations in the country.

Banks covered large section of farmers under Kisan Credit Card scheme

2008-04-09T03:27:00.000-07:00

The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, introduced in 1998, has received overwhelming response from the farmers as well as the banks. The Centre has entrusted Nabard the responsibility of ensuring proper implementation of the scheme and timely monitoring.

According to the figures available the banking sector, including regional rural banks and cooperative banks, has issued 628,392 kisan credit cards (KCC) with a credit limit of Rs 3,272.08 crore in Karnataka during the first nine months of 2007-08.

All the eligible card holders have been covered under personal accident insurance scheme.

As per the data collected by Syndicate Bank, the conveyor of state level bankers committee (SLBC), during the year commercial banks have issued 235,988 cards with a credit limit of Rs 1,667.24 crore, while regional rural banks have issued 144,388 cards with credit limit of Rs 996.68 crore in the state. While the co-operative banks issued 247,016 cards with Rs 608.16 crore credit limit.

According to Nabard, the monitoring committee there is still enough scope for expanding the scheme to many more areas of the state as many farmers have been left out uncovered under this scheme. Especially, farmers living in the backward districts like Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Chitradurga and Davanagere are yet to be brought under the KCC scheme.

As per the guidelines received from the Centre, Nabard had issued instructions to cooperatives and RRBs to work hard and collect data of the farmers not covered under the KCC scheme, to bring into fold.

In addition to this emphasis has been made to cover more women under the scheme so that they can have more access to credit. Nabard has also instructed all the banks to cover small farmers also evaluate the progress regarding issuance of KCCs with specific reference to coverage of women, small and marginal farmers in the above backward districts.

ICRA to rate lending’s of State Bank of Indore

2008-04-01T04:48:00.001-07:00

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Credit rating agency ICRA and the SBI associate bank State Bank of Indore. The agency will rate the loans and other exposures of State Bank of Indore under the Reserve Bank’s Basel II norms.

According to a press release of the bank the rating agency has signed a (MoU) with State Bank of Indore to rate the bank's lending’s under the new capital adequacy norms set by RBI.

The agency said it will rate the lending’s under its 'Line of Credit' rating service.

The RBI under the Basel II norms has given some regulatory guidelines under which a bank's exposures have to be rated to keep a check on the banking system.

As per the MoU under the RBI guidelines the bank, with the help of the rating service, will assign the risk weights applicable to its borrowers.

It added, "The risk weights would be linked to the various rating categories and would be as per RBI's Basel II guidelines".

HC puts stay order on the verdict of the lower court in credit card dispute case

2008-03-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

The Delhi High Court in its judgment has perhaps set a new example for cases related to credit card disputes and harassment in the country. The bench of Justice Mukul Mudgal and SL Bhayana has provided temporary relief to Citibank credit card holder Desh Deepak by putting a stay order on the verdict of the lower court. Citibank the global banking major had filed a suit for recovery of Rs 3,61, 431.72 against Desh Deepak on the grounds that he had failed to make payments, despite being offered a structured payment plan.

Though the matter is still sub-judice, it has possibly created a situation that will cause trouble, which can result in more stringent regulations being implemented in the credit card industry in the country. Kanchan Singh, representing Desh Deepak acclaimed the High Court’s stay order and told Sunday ET that the court made an oral observation that this looks like a clear case of extortion by a foreign bank.

“There are so many people like Desh. They don’t have the means to fight against these global giants. I took the case on a pro bono basis, had I charged him any fees, he wouldn’t have been able to put up a fight. I am sure the honorable court will come out with a just decision,” he said.

Desh Deepak who had filed a case against Citibank had claimed that interest charged was excessive, random and unjust. In his complaint he also claimed that Citibank had assured him of a settlement of the account after a payment of Rs 2 lakh. But in court, Citibank denied both these claims. When Sunday ET contacted Citibank, the Citibank officials refused to comment on the matter refer to the subject as sub-judice.

In fact, the bank official said, that in situations where the customer is unable to pay the amount owed, their highly trained customer assistance professionals assess the case and find a solution, in consultation with the customer, and work out an alternative repayment plan. “We’ve enlisted the services of eminent citizen Julio Ribeiro as external grievance redressal officer - debt collections, which shows our concerns towards such matters,” said the official.

On the other hand leading consumer activist, Pushpa Girimaji, said that such incidents will keep on happening until the credit card companies make a point of putting out the most important information in a separate package. “The customer is lost in the maze of rules and regulations, which can be as long as a thesis. Also, the companies need to improve their in-house redressal systems,” she said.

CV Giddappa, national secretary, Credit Card Holders Association of In-dia, said that the RBI needs to strictly enforce the guidelines. “The code of bank’s commitment to customers, should be turned into a penal code, this will make a major impact on such cases,” he said.

Most affluent segments keep multiple credit cards

2008-03-17T03:51:00.000-07:00

SBI Card carried out a customer satisfaction research across seven cities according to the data of the research in India there has been a remarkable increase in the average number of credit cards being owned by the people from 1.8 million in 2003 to 2.2 million in 2006. Among these there is a category of consumers who own multiple cards these include younger, more affluent segments, executives and businessmen.

For instance Keshav Baljee (24), co promoter of Royal Orchid Hotels, maintains four platinum cards with a total limit of close to Rs 10 lakh.

“I go for multiple cards because of the higher limits the cards together give me, concierge services and offers. Since I travel often, the cards serve as an alternative to carrying cash.” But Baljee makes it a point to clear all his dues on time.

Nirupam Sahay, V-P (marketing), SBI Card stated that “It’s more common in the metros and mini-metros”.

Banks have different cards for different categories offering wide range of benefits luring customers which encourages the consumer to go for multiple cards like travel card, petrocard, shopping card, food card and travelers card.

According to Krishnan Govindan , head marketing (credit cards) at ICICI Bank,
“People use multiple cards because of the benefits like emergency back up, additional credit limit, balance transfer at a lower interest rate compared to revolving credit and to avail of benefits exclusive to those cards”.

According to ING Vysya Bank official there are certain co-branded cards that offer customers inherent benefits, which prompt them to use the card for specific purposes. Then there are also other factors that push and pull factors responsible for this. “Aggressive marketing by credit card companies sometimes compels customers to opt for more than one card. With no joining or annual fees, the entry barrier is gone and customers no longer hesitate,” says Sahay.

According to Anil Rego, CEO of Right Horizons, a wealth management firm despite having many cards, people frequently uses only one or two of them. “If you look at the usage of multiple cards, it’s not high since it’s difficult to keep making payments to different cards. Payments and tracking expenditure is easier if you use one or two cards. And people also prefer to accumulate loyalty points on a single card”.

Baljee prefers his card statements online. “It’s easier to track as you check your mails everyday and there is no chance of losing it. Getting reminders to pay on time through SMSs are good ways to keep a track,” he says.

However wealth managers advise against keeping multiple cards. They say, “It’s difficult to keep track of due dates as most of the vendors have different dates. Late payment interest is high on cards, so you can’t afford to miss due dates. If you carry many cards in your wallet, you also stand the risk of bigger losses if say, you lose your wallet.”

Many cards have strings attached and could be free for only a year. There are chances one may forget to cancel the card and end up paying annual fees every year. Paid cards add to costs substantially and should be avoided. Your points may be distributed across various cards in small amounts and thus you may lose out on encasing the rewards.

RBI and banks take steps to educate customers to keep vigil against card frauds

2008-03-12T00:39:00.000-07:00

More and more people are getting used to credit card. Along with this the number of frauds is also on the rise. There has been 80 per cent of increase in the credit card frauds over the past three years.

Seeing the increase in credit card fraud the Reserve Bank of India and banks have started taking steps to educate customers about frauds that may possibly happen via Internet and while using credit cards. Banks are bringing in products with additional safety features.

A senior bank official said since new channels of banking are opening up, there are more chances of increase in number of fraud cases so there is the need to educate customers about them.

According to figures given in reply to a question in Parliament on March 4, 2008, the total number of frauds has gone up from 12,374 in 2005 to 21,687 in 2006, and 22,280 in 2007.

In the case of credit card frauds, the number has gone up from 8,789 in 2005 to 17,268 in 2006, and 17,294 in 2007.

According to Mr Hemant Kaul, President, Retail Banking, Axis Bank one reason for their increase in credit fraud is credit card transactions have grown much faster than other transactions.

Recently moving on the steps Axis Bank had launched ‘Visa Platinum Credit Card’ based on the EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) standard, with an embedded chip to store the cardholder’s information in encrypted format to provide security against possible misuse in the form of counterfeiting and skimming. Whenever a customer swipes a card with an embedded chip at the point-of-sale terminal, the chip sends a secret message to authenticate every transaction, making it difficult for a fraudster to steal the information.

While ICICI Bank has taken precautionary steps like sending an SMS to customers on every transaction made on their credit card. “This way, if it is not the customer who is making the transaction, he or she will know immediately,” said Mr V. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, ICICI Bank.

ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have a huge base of customers using the internet so these banks are facing the danger of phising also.

In phising a customer gets an e-mail that deceptively claims to be from the bank and asks for account-sensitive information, credit card numbers, passwords and Personal Information Numbers (PIN). It often resembles a notice from the bank and misleads customers.

Though, ICICI Bank has been regularly issuing letters to its customers, warning them to be wary of fraud Web sites and not to disclose personal details over the Internet.

A warning on the Web site of HDFC Bank has also been placed to caution customers about fraudulent e-mails that ask for personal details and threaten to restrict the Net Banking access in case customers do not respond.

Difference between Prepaid Debit Card and Secured Credit Card

2008-03-05T23:57:00.001-08:00

The Prepaid Debit Cards and the Secured Credit Cards, in both of them the funds have to be deposited in advance before using them. Then what is the difference between the two cards. Here are some of the distinct features of the two cards.

Prepaid Debit Cards - Prepaid debit cards are successor of the secured credit cards. Prepaid debit cards, have the Mastercard or Visa logo on them and are accepted worldwide. Much like the bank debit cards they use up funds from the account of an individual when used to do purchasing, they do not require monthly payments and do not charge interest.

The major difference is of eligibility for getting the card and how much it costs to use the card. Prepaid debit cards are not concerned with the eligibility of the card holder. Most of the time issuers do not verify employment, credit, addresses or even legal residency. Because of this reason these types of cards very popular with immigrant workers in the United States illegally.

Debit cards are also more fees concentrated than traditional secured credit cards. In this card the fees is usually measured by transaction. Other fees include, loading fees, transfer fees, check deposit fees, annual fees and more. These fees people have to pay for convenience and anonymity. These cards will not report cardholder transactions to the credit bureaus, which is not ideal for those who are trying to establish credit.

In our society it is almost impossible to live without some type of visa or Mastercard, debit cards fill this void. They offer a "de facto" i.e. actual banking system for those unable to qualify normally. They offer direct deposits for paychecks and many other features to a segment of society that traditional banks have left out in the cold. All in all, prepaid debit cards are pretty convenient for some people.

Secured Credit Cards – have been designed for the people with bad credit. Most people that apply for these types of credit cards do so to build or rebuild their credit. Otherwise the advantages are the same like a regular credit card. Most prepaid cards are clearly marked as debit cards with outrageous designs and colors.

The price you pay for rebuilding your credit is interest. But this is the interest which you are paying on your own money! Secured cards carry pretty steep interest rate, usually around 15% whereas prepaid debit cards do not carry any fees. Secured credit cards are not usually "re-loadable". Meaning, once you make your initial deposit this becomes your "credit limit". Your payments will bring down the balance giving you more purchasing power.

Secured credit cards report to the credit bureaus exactly the same way a regular credit card does. Creditors reviewing your credit for purchases have no idea if your credit card is secured or not. Another thing to see is that most people will fund their cards with money that they intend to use immediately. Meaning they send in $500 and expect to be able to go out and spend that $500 immediately on receipt of their card. This is not good borrowing practices as this will bring down your credit score.

Credit cards are considered as liabilities on your credit bureau once you borrow over half of your credit limit. The credit bureaus see this as a sign of credit dependency and discount your credit score 35%. When this happens you are hurting your credit, paying regular credit card fees, paying interest on your money and carrying around a maxed out credit card.

There is one fruitful advice for the borrowers is to save up enough money so that your initial deposit is large enough to show a decent credit limit on your credit bureau, around $1000. Then do not touch it. It will only cost you the price of the annual fee to keep it in the bank. Most people feel the need to charge something on the card to "prove" they can pay it back. This assumption could not be further than the truth. Credit bureaus do not show monthly payments; they only show the months you have had the account open and any months that you have been offender.

When a future creditor sees your $1000 open line of credit, higher credit scores and the financial restraint your report is demonstrating you will be much more likely to get the loan easily. Secured credit cards can significantly help you rebuild your credit and have a positive impact on you overall credit score. Unfortunately most people use them incorrectly and end up hurting their credit more than it was before getting the card.

MasterCard appeals EU decision on card charges transaction fees on cross-border

2008-03-04T03:36:00.000-08:00

MasterCard Inc is the second- biggest payment-card network had been asked by the European Commission on December 19 to revise how it calculates the fee, charged to a retailer’s bank for every card transaction. The fee must not inflate consumer card costs, the regulator said. The MasterCard had appealed to a European Union decision forcing it to change the way it charges transaction fees on cross-border credit card payments so as to avoid consumer price increases that the decision failed to consider the fairness of its fees.

“Market forces, not regulation, should drive key decisions such as the setting of interchange fees and retailers' choices over which forms of payment to accept,” Javier Perez, president of MasterCard Europe, said on Monday in a statement. “Left unchallenged, and especially if followed by national regulators, the commission’s decision would not only be bad news for consumers but a blow to the European payments industry.”

Louise Herbert, a spokeswoman at MasterCard Europe said the company had filed its appeal on March 1 with the Luxembourg- based European Court of First Instance, the EU’s second-highest court. The court has the power to fully or partly annul the EU order. Its ruling can be appealed to the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice.

Do not use Credit Card for withdrawing cash

2008-03-02T23:57:00.000-08:00

Many of us use credit cards, debt or ATM cards to withdraw money. In the case of a debit card or an ATM card you are using your own money. But this is not in a case of credit card. Most people fail to understand that the cost is involved in withdrawing cash on a credit card.

One must know what precautions should be taken in order to avoid heavy charges that are likely to be levied on the credit card. The most important is cash withdrawal on the card.

The first thing is to avoid cash withdrawal by using credit card as it is expensive. There is a transaction fee levied to it. Interest charges are applicable without any credit period. So this option should be used only in emergency.

The Last Option

Cash withdrawal on a credit card is expensive.
It has a different impact as compared with a normal expense on the card.
There is a transaction fee levied.
Interest charges are applicable without any credit period. This option should be used only in an emergency.

There are two major types of expenses that will be incurred on this transaction. Whenever you withdraw cash from an ATM, there is a transaction fee that will be levied. This fee is calculated at a certain rate, usually at 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent of the amount withdrawn. If the rate is 2.5 per cent and the amount withdrawn is Rs 20,000, then an immediate charge of Rs 500 will be charged.

Now days credit cards have the feature or the condition wherein the charge will be applicable from the date of making the withdrawal and applicable till the time of full payment.

One thing has to be understood that minimum charge is applicable. This could be something like Rs 250-300 and therefore a small withdrawal will result in a larger hit as far as the percentage calculation is considered. Though some of them are aware of the charges but fail to realize that there is another expense that is already on the way.

The expense related to finance charge, which is normally payable when the payment is delayed and is also known as the interest charge.

There is a credit period available under a normal expenditure on a credit card during which there is no interest charged if the payment is made by the stipulated time. But that is not possible for a cash withdrawal.

It means that you’re billing charges starts the moment the cash is withdrawn and more important is the time period till which the interest will continue. One has to read the wordings for this carefully because if it says interest till the time of full payment, then even if there is a part payment then the charges will continue until the entire amount withdrawn as cash will be paid back to the credit card company.

American Express and Delta launched Pay with Miles exclusively for American Express Gold and Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card members

2008-02-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

American Express for its US customers along with Delta launched Pay with Miles, an exclusive new built-in benefit for American Express Gold and Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card members. Pay with Miles, is an exclusive new built-in benefit for American Express Gold and Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card members. The Pay with Miles offers Card members will get an added flexibility allowing them to book flights on delta.com and use Miles to pay for all or part of a Delta ticket, with no blackout dates or inventory restrictions.
"We are delighted to partner with Delta to offer this new SkyMiles program feature exclusively to our premium American Express Delta SkyMiles Cardmembers," said Pam Codispoti, senior vice president and general manager, American Express. "We have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Delta providing value to our mutual customers. This exclusive feature adds unprecedented access to Delta flights using Miles, providing our Card members with more flexibility and control over their travel and payment options."

The Pay with Miles feature is an added offer that complements Delta's existing award travel options. Card members will be able to pay with Miles for any Delta seat, in any class of service, on any route. Card members will get the facility to use all the Miles in their SkyMiles bank, not just those earned by spending on their credit card.

To avail the facility, Card members have to log on to www.delta.com using their SkyMiles number and pin; search for the flights; and select the flight they desire with the Pay with Miles icon. Once the Card member have chose the route is chosen, the payment for all of the ticket can be done with Miles; or can pay for some of the ticket with Miles and the balance with their American Express Gold or Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card. Pay with Miles can be used for multiple tickets on the same route.

The Pay with Miles benefit can be used any number of times there is no limit and even the number of Miles to be used do not have limit on it. No enrollment is required, and there is no fee to use Pay with Miles.

Pay with Miles pricing is flexible and is based on the base fares (not including taxes and airline fees).

-- For base fares less than $100:
- Redeem 25,000 Miles to get the flight for free.
-- For base fares between $100 and $249.99:
- Redeem 10,000 Miles for $100 off the cost of the flight, or
- Redeem starting at 25,000 Miles to get the flight for free.
- Increase the redemption by increments of 5,000 Miles to cover the
total fare.
-- For base fares between $250 and $999.99:
- Redeem 10,000 Miles for $100 off the cost of the flight, or
- Redeem Miles in 5,000 increments. For every 5,000 Miles redeemed,
Cardmembers will receive $50 off the cost of the flight to cover
all or part of the total fare.
-- For base fares equal to or greater than $1,000:
- Redeem 10,000 Miles for $100 off the cost of the flight, or
- Redeem Miles in increments of 10,000 miles. For every 10,000
Miles redeemed, Cardmembers will receive $100 off to cover all or
part of the total fare.

There are Terms & Conditions for Pay with Miles Program

Pay with Miles Program is limited to Gold and Platinum SkyMiles Credit Card members only. Eligible only on Delta and Delta Connection(R) carrier flights booked at delta.com under the DL code. Pay with Miles tickets is not eligible for mileage accrual or Medallion Complimentary Upgrades. Refundable fares paid for fully or partially with SkyMiles will be refunded in accordance with the Pay with Miles terms and conditions. For terms, conditions, and restrictions, visit delta.com/pay with miles. All SkyMiles program rules apply to SkyMiles program membership, miles, offers, mile accrual, mile redemption and travel benefits. To review the rules, please visit delta.com/member guide.

Jet Airways' JetPrivilege enters ‘Credit Card Points to JPMiles Conversion’ Partnership with Tata and SBI Cards

2008-02-26T23:50:00.000-08:00

Jet Airways’ frequent flyer program, JetPrivilege has been constantly working on the lines of offering its members varied opportunities to earn JPMiles by adding new partnerships in different categories, and eventually redeem them for free flights to their preferred destinations.

Following up JetPrivilege entered into a ‘credit card points to JPMiles conversion’ partnership with Tata and SBI cards respectively.

According to this program JetPrivilege members having Tata and SBI credit cards may be able to convert these credit card points easily towards JPMiles, and redeem the same for award flights on Jet Airways or any of its airline partners.

Even the Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege members, having Tata Credit Card and Empower Card, may now convert their Empower Points towards JPMiles in the ratio of 2 Empower Points to 1 JPMile. To convert their Empower Points to JPMiles, Tata Credit Card and Empower Card holders can also call on the Tata Credit Card helpline, and quote their JetPrivilege membership number to be credited with the equivalent JPMiles.

Likewise, Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege members, who are having SBI Platinum Card, SBI Gold Card as well as SBI International and Domestic card, may convert their Power Points towards JPMiles in the ratio of 3 Power Points to 1 JPMile. The aforesaid SBI Card holders need to accrue a minimum of 400 Power Points to start redeeming JPMiles on their credit cards. To convert their Power Points to JPMiles, credit card holders can call on the SBI Card helpline and quote their JetPrivilege membership number which needs to be credited with the equivalent JPMiles.

Three men arrested for stealing and using Shahrukh Khan’s credit card

2008-02-25T23:48:00.000-08:00

Three men have been arrested for using Shahrukh Khan’s credit card and have been remanded in police custody until February 18th.

The trio Vinay Vijay Tambe (22), James Paul Peremal (28), and Shekar Jadhav (44) during the interrogation told the police that they had picked up the card from Santacruz which was lying on the road. The accused are residents of Bhandup and unemployed.

Shahrukh Khan had lost the credit card earlier this month along with his passport in Santa Cruz where he had gone for some shoot.

The trio who have been arrested for stealing Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's credit card, did not even knew that the money they were spending around using SRK's card belonged to him and also did not knew that they would have to put his signature on any purchase made using the card. In fact the trio not even attempted to sign as SRK and that move landed them in prison.

The trio used the card to buy branded apparels worth Rs.25,000. The three accused, who reportedly bought clothes and expensive branded wristwatches, were caught when an alert manager at Shoppers' Stop in Nirmal Lifestyle in Mulund found something wrong when the card folder signed as James Peremal instead of Khan and immediately called the police.

The police are now trying to figure out from where the three arrested men got Khan's ICICI credit card and will also quiz Khan to unravel the mystery of his missing card. However, the Bandra and Santa Cruz police denied having any knowledge of any complaint being lodged regarding Khan’s missing passport.

Gang of con men accessing confidential credit card information and cheating people

2008-02-25T01:07:00.000-08:00

Between last October and January, the detective department has received at least six complaints, mostly from up market areas. An officer said the complainants have been cheated of Rs 75,000 to Rs 2 lakh. “An organized racket is accessing confidential credit card information and using it to win the confidence of the card-owners”.

A gang of con men has been fooling credit card-holders in their homes with escamotage after winning their confidence by providing confidential details.

The cheater have been calling up card-holders pretending as officials of the banks that issued the cards and reel off information — such as the secret three-digit codes on the back of the cards — before offering to upgrade them.

A senior officer of the detective department said, “If allowed to, the gang-members turn up at the home of the card-holder. After introducing themselves as the bank officials who had called up, they request permission to take a look at the card. On the pretext of checking it, they replace it with a duplicate credit card and hand it over along with a sealed envelope, which is supposed to contain the new upgraded card”.

“To make the exercise look real, the men even cut up the fake card with scissors,” added the officer.

Krishna Kumar Das was the first to file a complaint about being cheated in this manner. He was defrauded of Rs 2.4 lakh, he told officers of Gariahat police station. Similar complaints followed from card-holders in New Alipore, Karaya and Ballygunge in the next few months.

“We have held meetings with representatives of the banks and asked them to review security arrangements and inform customers about the threat,” said city detective chief Jawed Shamim.

Some private banks have started taking precautionary measures are educating people by e sending text messages to customers to increase awareness about credit card security. Some other banks have started advertising campaigns.

“We have stopped issuing credit cards against other cards and have stopped offering personal loans to credit card-holders to cut down the possibility of information leak. From next month, bank statements will carry instructions on credit card handling,” said a senior risk management officer of a private bank.

Report credit card loss at earliest to the bank’s helpline

2008-02-22T02:35:00.000-08:00

Recently Delhi's Nishi Uttam lost her wallet, which carried an ABN AMRO Bank debit card, was stolen at a shopping mall. It took her 15 minutes to figure out how to report the loss to the bank's helpline. Uttam informed unfortunately, during this pro tem period, the card was fraudulently used by a man to buy jewellery worth Rs 36,000. Hence she filed an FIR with the police, too.

She said, "The cashier (at the jewellery shop) accepted that the man was in a great hurry," he did not match the signature as he said many come in with their wives and mothers' cards to shop. Moreover it seems the fraudster didn't wait to fill any papers such as the guarantee card, which is the usual practice at jewellery stores. In a written statement, ABN AMRO Bank explains its stand on such cases: "...if the transactions have been made prior to reporting of the loss to the bank, then the liability rests with the customer to whom the card has been issued. This is as per the terms and conditions under which the card is issued.” "Typically, banks tread this line in such cases, even as a senior Delhi banker concedes it would well take "10-15 minutes to run and report a loss complaint".

All banks told TOI spoke, that till the consumer reports card loss, its use is the consumer's liability. This liability ends the moment he calls up the bank to block the card. However Sanjeev Talwar of Delhi's National Consumer Helpline said there are cases where banks have failed to block a card despite being told to do so. To top it, says Talwar, in case of card fraud, a consumer cannot use the banking ombudsman's channel. An FIR must be filed. An official in the Ombudsman's office says, "If a card is misused before its loss is reported, the liability lies with the cardholder. In such cases, we cannot help the complainant. Normally we encourage them to file an FIR."

Some banks TOI spoke to, though, assured consumers that they do investigate cases of fraud before a card is blocked. Sachin Khandelwal, head cards group at ICICI Bank said, "We give a chance to the customer to prove his innocence. We get the verification done. "Parag Rao, head-cards at HDFC Bank, too says: "Our risk investigation team does necessary investigation." And R L Prasad, head-cards at Standard Chartered Bank, says: "Based on relationship grounds, previous history and track record, we do take a sympathetic view... We do verify."

However, the Delhi banker says this is a subjective manner of dealing with fraud cases. "There are no uniform guidelines on this subject”. Though, Banks on their part also have a system of checks in place to avoid frauds. As matter reported earlier, banks' risk management systems highlight transactions that are out of character with the cardholder's usage pattern. The consumer can expect a call or an SMS to verify whether a particular— and especially a high-value—transaction is valid. Yet, there are times when such communication gets delayed or even fails, and a consumer ends up losing precious time.

To avoid the worst, a senior banker—who himself had his card stolen some time ago—gave a practical advice to consumers: Save both the card and helpline numbers on your cell phone. This helps them report the loss, if any, as soon as possible. "I myself could phone the bank in half a minute of the loss."

Credit card fraud by HDFC bank employees

2008-02-21T02:31:00.000-08:00

The HDFC bank employees get involved in credit card fraud by cheating two of the customers of their own bank. The employees of the HDFC bank in the city withdrew money using credit cards of two customers of their bank recently.

Last month the victims, Mr Sisir Ganguly, a resident of New Alipur, and Mr Ramen Roy, a resident of Uttarpara in Hooghly lodged complaints with the detective department of the city police. Mr Ganguly told the police that a total of Rs 78,000 was withdrawn from his account allegedly by some employees of the HDFC bank on 24 August last year. Mr Roy suspected that employees of the same bank withdrew Rs 1, 57,686 from his account using his credit card on the same day.

The correspondent contacted Ms Nancy Joseph deputy manager of the bank’s credit card department in Chennai on Friday for comment on the matter. Ms Joseph, after hearing details about the allegations, said she would send the response within a day through e-mail. But no response has come from bank side.

In his report Mr Ganguly, said that he had used to get phone calls from the bank executives offering some new schemes. The bank employees had advised Mr Ganguly to update his credit card to avail some new facilities. Mr Ganguly agreed to avail a scheme and decided to update his credit card. Last year on 24 August last year, a person identifying himself as Mr Arnab Sen, an employee of the HDFC bank came to his house; Mr Ganguly’s wife gave him her husband’s credit card.

The man allegedly told Mr Ganguly’s wife that the new card will be delivered to her husband within ten days. As Mr Ganguly did not get the updated credit card, he spoke to bank officials over phone on 20 September. He was told that the credit card had been fraudulently used by somebody else. When he received the bank statement for the month of September, he noticed that a total of Rs 78,000 was withdrawn from his account from the ATM counter of another private bank. The complaint letter of Mr Ganguly, which is available with The Statesman, says: “A PIN code number is required for withdrawing money from ATM and the number was generated and mailed to me by the Bank. So it is not possible for a person to know the code number without the assistance of the bank employees.”

Mr Jawed Shamim, deputy commissioner of the detective department of the city police, confirmed that a complaint has been received against the HDFC bank from Mr Ganguly. “We are looking into the allegations’’, said the officer.

Reliance, HDFC together launch a virtual credit card – “Mobile credit card”

2008-02-20T02:12:00.001-08:00

First mobile phones came with camera, then FM radio and an MP3 player now it is a credit card. Days of ferrying around credit cards seem numbered. The subscribers having Reliance mobile phones will be able to use their mobile phones as credit card.

Reliance Communications and HDFC Bank have joined hands to offer virtual mobile credit cards in the country to Reliance users possessing HDFC Bank credit cards. The virtual credit card called "Reliance mPay Credit Card" will allow its subscribers who also have an HDFC credit card, not to carry plastic to make payments.

Under the scheme, a Reliance mobile phone will get credit card functionality and the mobile number will act as the credit card number.

Users do not have to enter a card number or card verification value (CVV) or expiry date to be able to use the 'mPay' service. HDFC Bank would authenticate all the information with RCom, which would then be used to initiate and authorize all payments using customers' mobile handsets.

“Initially, the service would allow card holders to make payments to merchant partners like Adlabs, Yatra and Billdesk, with the list to be expanded to other partners following the roll out,” Mahesh Prasad, president of the applications, solutions and content group at Reliance Communications said.

At times the customers don’t want to disclose their credit card details online, HDFC Bank, will have an additional payment choice for them. “This is not an exclusive agreement. Over the next few months, we might tie up with more mobile companies as well for similar services,” said CN Ram, country head for IT, said.

"An HDFC Bank customer can now shop using his Reliance mobile and make payment without disclosing details of his credit card," said Rahul Bhagat, country head (retail liabilities), marketing and direct banking channels, HDFC Bank.

RCom asserted that there isn't any financial risk involved in the event users lose their mobile phones; because 'mPay' is PIN-protected. To use the service and make payments, customers need to use the same PIN that has been issued to them at the time of issue of the virtual credit card. Even there is no risk of card skimming or card compromise on the Internet either.

The Reliance 'mPay' credit card allows users to make postpaid bill payments, get pre-paid top-up, and pay Reliance Energy monthly electricity bills. The service will be extended further to allow users book movie- and travel- tickets, make payments at shops and restaurants, and shop on the Internet.

RBI to draft regulations for credit card cos

2008-02-19T04:24:00.000-08:00

Speaking to the reporters on the sidelines of a CII-organized conference the Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor V Leeladhar said Reserve Bank of India plans to draft regulations for companies affianced in the credit card business and have a proposal to make it compulsory for all players to register themselves with central bank prior to operating as issuers. He said, "The regulations will have to be drawn out...They (companies) have to register.”

Currently, major credit card providers in the country like Visa and Master Card are operating in affiliation with banks.

Leeladhar added yet, the banking regulator has not set any time-frame for the proposal.

"This is a new area we will have to look at," he said. Leeladhar said Parliament has recently passed the Payment and Settlement Act, 2007, whereas the regulatory framework for implementing the law is currently being worked out.

Leeladhar added that the Act will give more powers to the apex bank in the payment and settlement matters, including in those related to credit cards.

As per industry sources, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), who are not affiliated with banks, currently are not being allowed to engage in the credit card business.

The apex bank's proposed guidelines are expected to open the way for more companies, including NBFCs, to enter the fast growing business.

Techniques to thwart card companies' tricks

2008-02-13T01:55:00.001-08:00

In its policy review the Reserve Bank of India has asked the banks to cut down on interest rates. Following the lines banks like SBI, Canara, Allahabad Bank, and from the private sector the HDFC have cut the rates on their retail loans.

As there has been dip in credit growth and easier liquidity it is understood the banks may later or sooner have to cut rates.

In the coming months cut in prime lending rates are likely as private banks would also join the cutting spree.

In the last couple of days two of the top three public sector banks (PSBs) have cut their benchmark prime lending rates (BPLR) in the last couple of days.

Analysts say that only PSBs have cut rates means that comments from the finance minister and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor have played a big role in the move.

"Comments from the RBI and the governor tilted the balance towards rate cuts," said Vaibhav Agarwal, banking research analyst, Angel Broking.

"Also, credit growth for PSBs has dipped and they have enough funds which they collected by garnering bulk deposits at high rates in the fourth quarter of last year," Agarwal said.

The banks have raised rates for deposits due to high demand for loans (30 per cent) and a liquidity squeeze by the RBI, but since then interest rates on bulk deposits have come down by 50-100 basis points, giving banks room to cut rates on the lending side as well.

Hitherto this year, credit growth, at 22 per cent, is an outline of what it was last year.

More cut in rate is expected following finance minister P Chidambaram's comments last month, directing banks to cut interest rates by 50 basis points.

Meanwhile, even though getting a clear direction from the regulators, only PSBs have cut rates or have shown the intention to do so. SBI and Canara Bank have announced a 25 basis point cut, while IDBI and Union Bank have said they will think over at cutting rates next week. As for Private Banks no commitments have come from their side.

Analysts have a view that this is because Private Banks face far less political pressure from the government and also because the PLR is more important to PSUs than private banks. They point out that private banks are much more open to give discounts on PLR.

Chandana Jha, banking analyst with brokerage firm Pioneer, said that private banks are delaying and can afford to delay the rate cut because of increased pricing power and better technology and risk-management systems.

"The fact that frontline private banks like Axis Bank and HDFC Bank have seen year-on-year credit growth at 50-60 per cent compared to the industry average of 14 per cent and PSU average of 9-10 per cent means that they can afford not to be in a hurry to cut rates," Jha said.

In fact analysts are of a view that competition will ensure that interest rates for the banking system as a whole will come off in the next three to six months.

"Credit has contracted dramatically from last year and competition will mean banks will have to cut rates. I expect rates to come down by 25-50 basis points from April," said Prateek Gandotra, banking analyst with Enam.

According to an analysts RBI rate cut in its April monetary policy (inflation permitting) or even before can speed up or increase the magnitude of the rate cut.

Firstsource tie-up with Barclay for outsourcing of credit card

2008-02-09T03:36:00.001-08:00

Firstsource Solutions and Barclay’s tie-up for outsourcing of credit card business. Under the agreement of $80 million, outsourcing of credit cards will be undertaken for five-year. Firstsource will be managing and operating Barclays operations center in Colorado Springs, and will also provide customer care and collection support to Barclays’ US cardholders.

At present Firstsource have 2,500 employees and dozens of operation centers in the US. Firstsource financial services clients list includes three of the five largest banks and six of the 10 largest credit card companies in the US and one of the five largest banks in the UK.

"This is an ideal partnership for Firstsource and Barclays, For Barcalys, Firstsource will apply best practices honed by years of collaboration with other major financial institutions to increase efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction," said Anand Mukerji, MD and CEO, Firstsource.

At 10 am, Firstsource Solutions shares were down 0.96 per cent at Rs 51.75 on BSE.

Standard Chartered, Emirates Airlines launched credit card

2008-02-07T01:29:00.000-08:00

Standard Chartered Bank and Emirates Airline on Wednesday in a joint venture launched their co-branded credit card that would offer various benefits to frequent travelers.

The Standard Chartered-Emirates cards will be available in two variants; Platinum and Titanium. The card holders will earn 'skywards miles' against every rupee spent through the credit card.

The statement released by the bank stated the reward miles could be redeemed for free flights or upgrades on Emirates and its airline partners in addition to this there is a wide array of products and services with its non-airline partners.

IBA to create IndiaPay

2008-02-05T03:25:00.000-08:00

Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), the representative body of banking industry, is busy in preparing the outline of a business plan to create IndiaPay, a national card payment settlement company, representing an image of future possibility which will India’s answer to global players Visa & MasterCard.

“IndiaPay would provide national infrastructure for all card-based electronic transactions. It will benefit us with minimum cost while allowing a wider reach,” Sanjay Sharma, chief technology officer, IDBI Bank, said.

Sharma, who is also the convener of the IBA sub-committee, has been assigned a task to prepare a business plan. India is one of the fastest growing credit and debit card markets for these global payment agencies. He feels that by creating a national payment infrastructure, Indian banks would save large amount of money paid as fee to Visa and MasterCard.

The Reserve Bank of India on January 16, 2008 (till November 2007), released provisional figures, according to which India had about 2.5 crore credit cards doing the transactions worth Rs 36,661 crore.

In India there are more than nine crores debit cards doing the transactions of about Rs 7,827 crore. As all these cards either have Visa or MasterCard association, every single transaction involves a small fee to be paid to them.

“While we do not have the exact amount paid by Indian banks annually as fee, we have reasons to believe that it is very high,” Sharma said.

His sub-committee is expected to prepare a business plan in the next couple of months to put up before the IBA Managing Committee, which will then get an approval from RBI.

“Similar national payment systems are operating in other countries of the World like China has China Union Pay,” Sharma said. About the company structure, he said that it can either have an independent structure or can be outsourced.

“All banks will be stakeholders in the company, which will ensure that large volumes drive down cost and even the smallest bank could benefit,” he said.

Use credit cards prudently never roll over balance

2008-02-04T01:18:00.000-08:00

Those who have become servitude to plastic money and easy availability of collateral-free credit should beware! Failing to realize the cost of suggestions of using credit cards — be it for purchases, cash withdrawals or taking a loan — can get you caught up in debt.

The problem is so tormenting that early last week the State Bank of India started a campaign program to educate people about the financial risks of high interest rates on credit cards.

All over the world people are falling into this debt-trap time and again. There have been large-scale payment defaults by credit cardholders in Hong Kong in 2002, in Korea in 2003 and in Taiwan in 2006.

In the late 1980s US was also engrossed by a similar situation during a savings and loan crisis. In recent times, the sub-prime mortgage problem in the US is falling over to credit card payments.

According to the Reserve Bank of India data banks and non-banking financial institutions have issued 2.59 crore credit cards till November last year. Between April and November, payments worth Rs 48,746.17 crore had been made through credit cards.

However spending by using the plastic is only 2.7 per cent of the total personal consumption expenditure, while retail credit has gone up to one-third of the total bank credit in the country. It shows that people are now more burdened with financial liabilities therefore are more prone to financial risks.

Hence, it can be disastrous to use the plastic unwisely without a proper understanding of how interest rates for debts on credit cards are calculated and of one’s repayment capability after servicing other loan liabilities.

Often card issuers do not explain elaborate interest calculation to customers, adding to their misery.

Tapas Kumar Deb, a 55-year-old resident of Beleghata, has been holding an SBI credit card for the past eight years. In December 2006, he finally gave way to persistent calls from SBI Credit Card telemarketers for a personal loan at a monthly interest rate of 1.5 per cent that the bank had pre-approved considering his good repayment history. Deb needed the money for a heart surgery.

His nightmare began a few months after he started repaying the equated monthly installments (EMIs) for the loan.

“They charged me an EMI of Rs 2,481.11 for the Rs 58,000 loan that I took for three years,” Deb said. “Even at an annual interest rate of 18 per cent, the EMI should have been Rs 2,097. When I enquired, they said it was a “flat” interest rate. Anyway, I decided to prepay the loan.”

Deb’s prepayment will not be easy. He will have to pay a 3 per cent penalty on the outstanding loan.

With a flat interest rate, the EMI is obtained by calculating the simple interest on the loan and then dividing the amount (principal plus interest) by the number of months for which the loan was taken (see table 1).

One thing to be taken in consideration is in this method the interest is calculated on the entire loan amount and for the entire loan period. It does not include the principal repaid during the repayment period. Therefore, under the flat interest calculation one continues to pay interest on the principal that has already been repaid.

Therefore, if you take a loan from a bank, interest will be calculated under the reducing balance method (see table 2). It means, you will not have to pay interest on the principal being repaid and on the same loan you would have to pay an EMI of Rs 2,097 instead of Rs 2481.11 under the flat rate.

In case of a credit card loan, if you are unable to pay your bills on time, you will be charged with a punitive interest rate and a late payment fine that a bank loan generally doesn’t attract. Higher rate of interest will be charged on cash withdrawals or loans on credit cards than purchases on the same card.

Till the time you do not rotate debt on your credit card, it is worth using. But if you decide to pay the minimum due to be paid against a credit card bill, you will be in a soup.

For example, if you spend Rs 50,000 on a credit card that charges a monthly interest of 2.85 per cent and pay only the minimum 5 per cent of the due every month, it will take you around 12 years to fully repay the dues (See table 3).

Besides, the interest you will pay will be nearly Rs 58,000 which is more than what you had originally borrowed!

Mobile driven remittances starts making a strong foothold in India

2008-01-31T23:46:00.000-08:00

In India soon people will be able to use their mobiles for transferring of funds. Mobile driven remittances is making a strong foothold in India. Customers would be able to transfer funds from their mobile phone to friends or relatives, bypassing other remittance routes like net-banking and money orders. Even though, the recipient does not have a bank account or ATM card.

Standard Chartered Bank in the first move of its kind has introduced a cardless cash withdrawal scheme which will enable a StanChart customer to transfer funds from an ATM to any person in the country who has a mobile phone.

In the second phase of its implementation the bank have plans of making this possible through the sender’s mobile itself, and in due course the service will be extended to international fund transfers.

Banks are upgrading their technological platforms to include mobile-based services, in order to make banking conveniently accessible and customer-friendly. Recently ICICI Bank launched a mobile banking platform, which will replicate all internet-banking transactions on the cell phone.

Its not only that the big banks are improving, also the public sector bank Corporation Bank and Pune-based co-operative bank Cosmos Bank have already signed an agreement with mobile-payments provider PayMate to offer customers with SMS-based payments services.

With the introduction of mobile remittance service a StanChart account holder can go to an ATM and opt for the cardless transfer. On giving the mobile number of the recipient, the account holder will get an order number from the ATM. The sender then needs to pass on the order number to the beneficiary, while the bank will send a personal identification number (PIN) to the latter’s phone.

The recipient will be required to go to a StanChart ATM, enter the combination of the PIN and order number and withdraw the cash within 24 hours of receiving the message. As told by StanChart head of consumer transaction banking and strategic initiatives CDK Sai Narain, there will be a limit on such transfers at Rs 10,000 per transaction and Rs 20,000 per day.

The transfer will be instant and the amount will be debited in the sender’s account only when the amount has been withdrawn. In initial stage the system will work only on the StanChart ATM network, but there is a scope of being expanded to the CashNet ATM network, according to Euronet Services India managing director Loney Anthony.

Also, the bank has plans of making this particular process possible entirely through the mobile phone. StanChart has also signed an agreement with PayMate to allow customers to book air and movie tickets directly through their cell phone while also allowing customers to pay through mobile phones at restaurants.

Mumbai police arrested online fraudster with smart crimes history

2008-01-30T04:08:00.000-08:00

Last week Mumbai airport police arrested online fraudster Usman Bin Abdulla, aged 32. During interrogation he gave some shocking clues about his access to credit cards of Ahmedabad residents.

Later on he was brought to Ahmedabad. He told the police that he worked at a call centre in the Ahmedabad and had procured credit card records of more than 10 people in the city.

This is not the first time Abdulla's has been arrested for doing credit card frauds. Officials told before he was arrested in February last year with five credit cards.

AK Jadeja, deputy commissioner of police, Zone I told, "Abdulla used to work at a call center run by one Manish Kakadiya. Here, he had become adept at extracting personal details from customers. He and his accomplices would go to prospective clients and ask for their electricity bills, birth certificates and credit card photocopies.

During a raid, we seized most of the records, but Abdulla managed to keep back some of the data when he was arrested".

Last year in March he was sent to Sabarmati jail, but has managed to get bail and resume his wicked activities. "We are working on his inter-state links and we hope to solve other credit card fraud cases in which he might be involved," Jadeja said. Satellite police station officials are interrogating him.

"He has co-operated with us so far. We have traced his links in Hyderabad, after which before he moved to Mumbai," said KK Patel, inspector of Satellite police station. Officials told that Abdulla had opened a travelling agency in Mumbai where he used to do business in tickets reservation booked on the internet.

Cops, lack of expertise in dealing with e-frauds

2008-01-23T02:08:00.000-08:00

Police have failed to get something out of UK citizen, Wilfred Louis, 33, who was arrested by Navrangpura police on January 10. Even after ten days, they have not been able to get anything out of the culprit.

It is not difficult to get information out from Wilfred. A simple reason for the failure of the cops is that they do not seem to have the time or proclivity to solve the case."

The biggest hurdle they are facing is lack of expertise in dealing with e-frauds. Police sources said that the case files have been shelved soon after Uttarayan bandobast. The accused has been sent to Sabarmati Central Jail.

Wilfred, who identifies himselt to be a UK citizen, had purchased gold jewellery from a shop on CG Road and offered a credit card for payment. The card reader, however, detected the fraud and generated an automated message that first tipped off the bank and then the police.

Cops without any delay arrested Wilfred and also got a seven-day remand. But, from Wilfred not much of enquiry was done as the cops were busy attending to routine bandobast.

"But what we know right now is, he is not a UK citizen, as we confirmed it with the embassy at Mumbai. He has an accomplice in the UK who arranged for his passport and perhaps a fake identity. We suspect him to be a Nigerian but are awaiting substantial proof. We cannot communicate with him as we do not know his language and he does not seem to know ours," said R D Rawal, sub-inspector of Navrangpura police, investigating officer of the case.

But what about checking the five email accounts of Wilfred which seem to be written in a simplistic code which seems gibberish at the first glance? However the mail accounts contain crucial data about more than 15 credit card accounts, but cops have no answers.

Now, the crime branch sleuths have come together with the city police to probe this racket as "This is a case of cyber crime and expert investigators are needed."

"The crime branch has the right to interrogate the accused but right now, Navrangpura police is probing the case. If needed, we will seek for more remand of the accused," said A K Jadeja, deputy commissioner of police, Zone I.

Jadeja further added that there is pressure of routine crime and law and order duty which weigh heavy on police and in some cases where technical help is needed, crime branch officials come in for help.

However an official told TOI that the investigation has been done and name of the other members of this gang of frauds have come out who are operating in various locations in India.

"They use financial gateways of international banks on the Internet, popularly known as Visa and MasterCard. When the detail is stolen from other countries, the users of the card may not even know that the detail lies with some other card used in India. They most probably used skimmers to extract the data and then copy it on other cards. The cards and the data were not matching - data was of another card. But it is difficult to check it manually," he said.

The machine recognizes the eight-digit number given by the parent company - Visa and MasterCard. For the card reader, it does not matter to the reader. Police have now sought help of other Afro-British people on visit to India.

"From the numbers, we have got from Louis' mobile, we called up his three accomplice but they simply talk gibberish even when approached in English. They know perfectly what we speak but they do not want to answer," said an official.

Nine cases of credit fraud registered in 2007

2008-01-21T02:18:00.000-08:00

Online credit fraud cases are increasing in India. In the last six months there have been 12 cases of credit card fraud in western parts of the city.

City police has been saddled with a case in Shahibaug. A young trader's credit card was used for online shopping and Madhavpura police are now tying up with cyber crime experts to solve the case.

On Saturday Nirav Modi, a resident of Spectrum Towers, Shahibaug, filed a complaint with Madhavpura police for misuse of his credit card on internet for shopping of household items worth Rs 46,721.

Modi came to know about the transaction when he received a bill for the transaction after getting a call from the credit card company. When he saw the transaction details, it was for shopping of grocery, washing machine, furniture and small household goods purchased online using his card number and CVV number.

"The card was used over the period of six days from January 11 to 16. Modi got a call from the company to inform him of the transactions and he got a bill for the same on January 18. He was shocked as he did not purchase anything online. Clever fraudsters also did not exceed the limit of Rs 10,000 in a day and made small purchases. We are yet to get details of the transaction and locate the computer used for the fraudulent purpose," said H L Odedara of Madhavpura police.

According to the police records, misuse of credit card is on constant rise. In 2007 as many as nine cases were registered with the city police.

Except one, police did not get any clue in any case about the use of the card and whereabouts of the culprits. While in most of the cases, fraudsters have used the safest option of booking airline tickets with a particular airline online. But in this particular case, they have endeavor into shopping malls offering online service of purchase and delivery at your doorstep.

Use mobile phones to pay bills

2008-01-18T02:08:00.000-08:00

Mumbai company is set to roll out a technology which will enable the clients to pay there bills through mobile phones.

Just swipe your mobile phone to purchase things, much like a credit card.

The company has already tied up with Axis Bank for the service and is in the advanced stages of beta testing. The service will be launched at commercial level within three months.

The company behind this novelty is Atom Technologies, a subsidiary of the BSE-listed Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL), which runs the Multi Commodity Exchange of India.

According to FTIL director (Technology), Dewang Neralla, Atom Technologies’ product — Atom Card — and software can burn the user’s credit card data to a mobile phone, that too over-the-air (like making a call or sending an SMS).

The data will be stored in a 2-D bar code format and even the user will not be able to read the data assuring security in case the handset is lost or stolen. Moreover for making a purchase an authentication — providing the PIN — has to be made.

After the credit card data is loaded on the mobile phone, (irrespective of the operator, but in collaboration with the card-issuing bank) the handset can be used no need of credit cards.

The swiping model, which is termed as optical payment by the company can be done at any merchant establishment that is having the requisite software. The company will upload a 2-D barcode on the phone that can be read by a simple webcam with the necessary software.

Neralla said that Rs 200-webcam is all that is required for reading the 2-D barcode. The company has also received a copyright for this payment mode in the US.

By using the second method i.e. remote location, or over-the-air authentication, the user can use the cards sitting at home or office. In this method, the merchant establishment and the bank are connected over the air and the user will have to approve the purchase. Hitherto, the user will have to authenticate the deal.

The mobile phones having Java platform (a high-end graphic suite), will be able to use this technology and at present, the lowest Java handset available in the market is priced at around Rs 3,000, said Niranjan Gosavi, chief marketing officer, Atom.

He said, Atom will be giving the software free-of-cost to banks, and merchant establishments and customers, will have to levy a percentage of the transactions as its fee.

The company, which is already carrying out a pilot study with 500 customers of Axis Bank, is in the advanced stages of tying with other banks in the country. Atom is also working out on the plan to provide the solution to overseas market and is in talks with international banking majors, he added.

Companies like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and C-Sam (a firm founded by Sam Pitroda) are also looking at offering mobile commerce solutions.

Earlier C-Sam had launched mobile wallet in Japan and Scandinavian countries, while Airtel and RCom are giving certain wallet services like money transfer, mobile remittance, cheque clearance, ticket booking, among others, over mobile.

Value-added service (VAS) providers like IMImobile and Roamware are into the developing of these kinds of applications.

The companies are waiting for the approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for mobile wallet services.

IDBI Bank and MasterCard Worldwide launched international debit card

2008-01-15T02:06:00.000-08:00

IDBI Bank in a joint venture with MasterCard Worldwide launched ‘IDBI Bank International Debit MasterCard’ on Monday.

The card will be available both as a standard as well as a gold card. The IDBI Bank International Master Card have all the features of standard ATM card, including access to bank accounts and banking transactions The standard card have a usage limit of Rs. 25,000 per day via ATM and POS terminals whereas for the gold debit card the limit is of Rs. 75,000.

Addressing a press conference at the launch of the card the Chairman and Managing Director, IDBI Yogesh Agarwal said, “The launch of this card is part of our endeavor to expand our bouquet of products and service offerings. Over the next few months we plan to unveil more such innovative product offerings for our customers,”

The card will be accepted at more than 25 million acceptance locations around the world, as well as, more than one million ATM locations world wide.

RBI reports top 100 centers in the country dominate in terms of credit and deposit

2008-01-12T02:05:00.000-08:00

In spite of the articulation of financial inclusion, only the top 100 centers in the country dominate in terms of credit and deposit.

According to the ‘Quarterly Statistics on Deposits and Credit of Scheduled Commercial Banks – September 2007’ released by the RBI, the share of these centers has gone up both year-on-year and eventually from March 2007.

There has been increase in the share of the top 100 centers in credit, from 75.9 per cent in September 2005, to 76.7 per cent in September 2006 and to 77.2 in September 2007.

According to RBI figures available same is the case in deposits, the share of the top 100 centers has gone up from 66.2 per cent-September 2005, 67.9 per cent-September 2006 and 69.6 per cent-September 2007.

According to RBI report the nationalized banks, as a group, accounted for 47.9 per cent of the total deposits, whereas State Bank of India and its Associates accounted for 22.6 per cent.

While the share of other scheduled commercial banks, foreign banks and Regional Rural Banks in aggregate deposits accounted for 20.3 per cent, 6.1 per cent and 3.0 per cent, respectively.

In respect of gross bank credit, nationalized banks share was the highest at 47.0 per cent, followed by State Bank of India and its Associates at 22.9 per cent and other scheduled commercial banks at 20.6 per cent.

Foreign banks and RRB have comparatively lower share in the total bank credit at 6.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent.

At the all India level, on last Friday of September 2007 the credit-deposit (C-D) ratio of all scheduled commercial banks stood at 71.5 per cent. Whereas amongst the States/Union Territories, the highest C-D ratio was observed in Tamil Nadu (109.8 per cent) followed by Chandigarh (100.2 per cent). While at the bank group level, foreign banks had the highest C-D ratio at 79.9, which was higher than the all-India ratio.

Visa named “World’s Leading Credit Card” for the 10th consecutive year

2008-01-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

Visa for the 10th consecutive year named the “World’s Leading Credit Card.” The World Travel Awards, the prestigious awards ceremony acknowledged Visa for its significant achievements in all areas of the travel and tourism industry.

The criteria used for evaluating companies and organizations included scope of distribution, convenience and overall best services. On these criteria online polling of travel agencies and front-line travel agent is conducted and the best chosen company is awarded the prize.

“Visa is delighted to receive this most prestigious award,” said Doug Hambry, senior vice president of U.S. sales, Visa Inc. “Visa has been a partner to the travel industry and continues to aid in its growth, providing merchants access to millions of Visa cardholders and providing cardholders with unsurpassed acceptance worldwide. Additionally, Visa cardholders receive added value that goes beyond the convenience and confidence that Visa provides, through travel and entertainment programs linked to Visa payment cards. We are honored once more to receive this accolade from one of the industry’s most important awards programs.”

Throughout the year at www.worldtravelawards.com online voting took place. More than 167,000 travel agents and professionals in over 160 countries worldwide casted their votes to let the world know who they think are the best in the travel industry. The winner was selected from the following payment cards – American Express, Diner's Club, JCB, MasterCard and Visa.

"For the past ten years Visa has won 'World's Leading Credit Card,' yet the competition and the marketplace have gotten bigger and tougher over this time," said Graham Cooke, president and founder of the World Travel Awards. "To consistently win year after year shows that Visa is able to stay ahead of the competition and consistently deliver a product that exceeds the expectations both of customers and those in the global travel trade."

The World Travel Awards was established in 1993. It held its 14th annual World Travel Awards Ceremony on 12 December 2007, at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort and Spa, Providential in the Caribbean. The World Travel Awards honors leading travel-related organizations in worldwide and regional categories, ranging from airlines, hotels, beaches and cruise lines to credit cards, car rental companies and hotel reservation services.

Visa Inc. is having a strategic partnership with many leading global corporations and merchants, creating retail and travel and entertainment promotions that deliver extraordinary values to Visa cardholders worldwide. Visa's extensive merchant relationships and marketing partnerships, as well as its unmatched acceptance around the world, have promoted Visa growth in the retail and T&E arenas.

Visa have an innovative and interactive online travel portal, Visa Destinations, which gives Visa cardholders with retail and T&E offers from hundreds of merchants in key destination markets or by designated category around the world.

LTTE men suspected in Bangalore credit card fraud

2008-01-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

On Saturday police have arrested suspected LTTE men in Mangalore. It seems the police have hit upon an interesting link after the Saturday arrest. It is the same person who used to supply fake credit cards to the suspected criminals and the one involved in the credit card racket unearthed in Bangalore last year.

Kumar alias Chennai Kumar used to supply these cards to the suspected LTTE men - Bala Reuben and Nalla Tambi Jayasheelan. Bangalore police suspects that he might have distributed fake credit cards to his men here too. In June 2007 Chandra Layout police had cracked a huge credit card fraud. Three men were arrested for swiping cards belonging to unknown persons from abroad. Interestingly, three arrested - Srigandhpal, Sai Prakash and Nagaraj - had revealed only one name - Kumar.

It seems there are other connections too. In the Chandra Layout case, many international banks credit cards were used. The two Lankans also possess seven cards of such MNC banks.

"Four of the 11 credit cards seized from the duo are issued by ICICI Bank and Indian Bank. However, all the other cards are of different international banks. The accused know nothing about the bank. All they know is that someone called Kumar supplied them. We are still trying to contact those banks," a police officer said.

There was a lack of information about Kumar so investigation into the Chandra Layout case could not be carried out further. Srigandhpal and Kumar had met several times in Bangalore. "Kumar and his close associate Muruga came often to Bangalore. During those visits, Kumar distributed credit cards to them. He would get in touch with his associates to collect his share once the credit cards were swiped and the booty made. He would give them a share in the profit and disappear with the rest of the money. There is no trace of Kumar and his whereabouts are not known," a senior police officer said. The investigation done from the arrested Lankans in Mangalore, Kumar is a major LTTE operative and a citizen of Australia. It is alleged that he might have brought in many LTTE operatives from Jaffna and surrounding areas to Bangalore.

Bala Reuben from Vavuniya and Jayasheelan from Jaffna have been remanded to police custody. A team of officials from Bangalore is also questioning them.

Kanpur police busted a racket, arrested five for Rs 4-crore credit card fraud

2008-01-07T03:40:00.000-08:00

A racket was busted; five gang members were arrested by a team of the Kotwali police and the Special Operations Group (SOG), for duping credit card users of over Rs 4 crore.

From their possession the police recovered 15 credit cards and over a dozen passbooks, chequebooks, ration cards and identity proofs.

Moving on a tip-off, on Thursday night the team arrested Ajai Singh, Vijay Pandey, Hanuman Mishra, Akhilesh Tiwari and Mohammed Hussain from near a well-known private bank under the Kotwali police circle.

Kotwali in-charge T B Singh told the media person the mastermind of the racket, Aman Singh, owner of Singh Electronic in Kakadev area, is still absconding.

Explaining about their technique used, Singh said the gang members would first collect from a bank a list of credit card holders who have defaulted on payment and then visit them posing as bank staff. “They would request the card users to pay the pending amount through cheque and then take away the credit cards on the pretext of getting them reactivated,” he added. As soon as the defaulters would deposit the pending amount, the gang made transactions using the credit cards.

SP Atul Saxena said during interrogation, the arrested members of the racket revealed a concatenation with officials of a private bank. He said the police were investigating the matter while other members would be arrested soon.

Deterioration of finances is the by-product of the sub prime mortgage crises leads to rise in unpaid credit card bills

2008-01-04T01:50:00.001-08:00

On analyzing of financial data from the country’s largest card issuers it was found that Americans are falling back on their credit card payments. The situation has reached at an alarming rate that the failure and defaults are increasing by double-digit percentages in the last year and sending remainder of warnings of worse to come.

Experts are of view that the warnings of the deterioration of finances of many households are to a certain extent are the by -product of the sub prime mortgage crisis and could bring more trouble ahead for an already sputtering US economy. “Debt eventually leaks into other areas, whether it starts with the mortgage and goes to the credit card or vice versa,” said Cliff Tan, a visiting scholar at Stanford University and an expert on credit risk. “We’re starting to see leaks now.”

A study conducted by 17 large credit card trusts showed that the value of credit card accounts at least 30 days late jumped 26 percent to $17.3 billion in October from a year earlier. The figures show more than 4 per cent of the total outstanding principal balances owed to the trusts on credit cards that were issued by banks such as Bank of America and Capital One and for retailers like Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

According to filings made by the trusts with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed in October defaults — basically when lenders give up hope of ever being repaid and write off the debt — rose by 18 per cent to almost $961 million. The reports from America’s biggest lenders, including Advanta, GE Money Bank and HSBC, reveal serious delinquencies have risen sharply. It reported increases of 50 per cent or more in the value of accounts that were at least 90 days delinquent when compared with the same period a year ago.

After analyzing the data it has come out that around 325 million individual accounts held in trusts that were created by credit card issuers in order to sell the debt to investors — similar to how many banks packaged and sold sub prime mortgage loans. All together, total for about 45 per cent of the $920 billion the US Federal Reserve counts as credit card debt owed by Americans.

Till recently, US credit card default rates had been going down close to record lows, providing one of the few profit growth areas for US banks, which continue to flood Americans’ mailboxes with billions of letters monthly offering easy sign-ups for new plastic. Even after the recent step-up in bad loans, the credit card business is still quite rewarding, because of the interest rates that can run as high as 36 per cent, plus late fees and other penalties.

However, from the detailed monthly SEC filings from the trusts one gets a sharp and clear picture of the worrying state of Americans’ ability to manage growing and expensive credit card debt.

According to many economists the delinquencies and defaults can further increase after the holiday shopping season. Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody’s Economy.com Inc, quoted increasing mortgage problems that began after this summer’s sub prime financial shock as one of the cause, as well as a weakening of job market in the Midwest, South and parts of the West, where real-estate markets have been particularly hard hit.

“Credit card quality will continue to erode throughout next year,” he said. Economists also cite America’s long-standing attitude that debt — even high-interest credit card debt — is no big deal.

Credit card issuing banks withdrawing insurance covers

2008-01-02T03:57:00.000-08:00

The credit card holder’s be careful while banking on the insurance cover that came free with your credit card. It’s time to evaluate and get things clear from your bank whether insurance cover is continuing on your credit card or not. Most credit cards offered by banks no longer have a free insurance (life or non-life) cover and many customers might not have read the fine print to realize that they no longer have insurance protection.

Recently a case came into picture where R Rao, a media professional, received his monthly credit card statement from HDFC Bank. Besides from the details of the transactions made in the year, Rao was surprised to see a notification sent along by the bank said that effective January 1, 2008 the complimentary insurance covers on his Platinum Plus card will be withdrawn.

Until now, Rao has been depending on a Rs 1 crore cover due to air accident, Rs 5 lakh in case of a rail or road accident and Rs 50,000 for hospitalizations due to accidents. From now the only facility he will get on his card is a nil loss/stolen card liability cover which he gets after he reports the loss or theft. Rao will now have to assess his insurance needs and make sure he’s adequately protected. HDFC Bank like other banks (private and public) started withdrawing the insurance cover benefits sometime in 2006.

Says Parag Rao, head — cards portfolio and product management, HDFC Bank, "Customers were not viewing this as a value addition. We found that the hassle of filing and settling claims was creating a dissonance among customers. Also customers perceive other benefits like cash-back facilities as better value propositions than an insurance cover because a bulk of customers may not be aware of the facility or may never make a claim."

Another big reason for banks like HDFC, ICICI, Standard Chartered and even Citibank for withdrawing this facility is that at some point in 2006 credit cards started being offered free for life — without any annual charges. A Citibank spokesperson said that most banks withdrew the free offers due to the issue of costs.

As the insurance cover offered would be a group cover, it would be at a subsidized rate and would come with various inclusions and exclusions. The bank would have worked out the annual charges including some amount of the premium. On annual charges being removed the cost of the premium would have to borne by the bank. HDFC Bank’s Rao adds that the bank does look at the option of allowing the customer to pay the premium on their own. However in most of the cases the covers are insufficient to an individual’s needs or the inclusions and exclusions are so unsuited that continuing the cover does not make sense.

Last year ICICI Bank too withdrew the insurance covers on its classic or basic cards. It continues to offer insurance covers on some of its extremely exclusive cards. For instance, on their Signature Card, which has an annual fee of Rs 25,000, the card holder gets a personal accident cover in case of air accidents worth Rs 3 crore. But this card is not free.

Adds Sharad Mehrotra, of StanChart, "The complimentary insurance cover on non premium cards was discontinued from September 2004. We launched new card products that provide value to customers through other offerings like our Super value Titanium card which offers cash back facilities, but does not offer an insurance cover."

An electronics engineer and her husband charged of credit card fraud

2007-12-27T03:31:00.001-08:00

Kolkata police arrested a couple; 26-year-old electronics engineer and her husband were arrested on charges of credit card fraud.
Bornita Das Roy, a resident of Bidhan Abasan in Salt Lake, allegedly stole her aunt’s credit card and made purchases worth Rs 24,998. The police have seized bought items from her unemployed husband’s residence in New Barrackpore.

Both Bornita and Raju Das were produced at Sealdah court today and have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. Bornita has been residing with her father B N Roy, a doctor, said police. “Bornita is from a well-to-do family but we have found that she stole the credit card and made the purchases,” said Officer-in-Charge, Manicktolla police station, Debasish Baidya.

According to the police, Bornita’s aunt Kalpana Sarkar is a resident of 254, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Road under Manicktolla police station area. She is a geography teacher at Siksha Niketan School, and she lost her credit card on December 14.

She reported about the loss of her credit card to her bank. Two days later, after her reporting to the bank about the case she discovered that purchases worth Rs 24,998 had been made using her card. Then she lodged a complaint in Manicktolla police station.

During the investigation it was revealed that the card was last seen in her house, the day Bornita had come to visit her.

“She and Raju planned the heist carefully. She knew where the credit card was usually kept in Kalpana’s room. On December 12, both of them purchased jewellery using the credit card in the Big Bazar supermarket off VIP Road. Later, she went to another showroom in Ultadanga and bought a cell phone with the same card,” said an officer of Manicktolla police station.

Kashmir people receive credit bills instead of credit cards

2007-12-26T01:15:00.001-08:00

Around three to four months back many people have applied for credit card with the biggest bank in Indian administered Kashmir. These people are still waiting for their credit cards but have started receiving bills.

Ajaz Iqbal Bhat of Chakka Bhaderwah applied for a credit card with a Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch in Bhaderwah. Bhat is one of the few people who are waiting for their credit cards, have received a credit statement of INR 26829 detailing the advance and shopping made from his card.

Rajinder Kumar of Paneja received a credit statement of 6000 INR while Arshad Wachkoo of Gatha received a statement of 17000 INR.

All of them had applied for credit cards three or four months back.

According to reports in Doda district more than 100 customers are waiting for their credit cards.

On receiving complaints from people bank has started an investigation into the lapse.

A spokesman of the bank told Kashmir Newz that the bank has summoned the courier company for investigation who was given the work of delivery of cards to the clients.

“We are investigating the cases and the courier service has been called to find out where the cards have been misused,” said Sajjad Bazaz a spokesman of the J&K Bank.

Bazaz did not give the name of the courier service but informed that the customers will not have to pay for the bills sent to them.

Credit cardholder loses RS 81k

2007-12-24T01:19:00.000-08:00

Devdas T. Chakravorty, who is employed as a storekeeper with a local construction firm, was stunned to know that he had exceeded his withdrawal limit.

When Devdas T. Chakravorty attempted to withdraw money from ATM his card got stuck. He reported the matter to ICICI Bank's credit card division, where he was told that he had exceeded his withdrawal limit by drawing Rs 81,339 in phases between September 26 and 29 for purchasing tickets of different airlines.

It was shocking for him to know that he has been left poorer by Rs 81,000 as his card was used by an unidentified person to purchase air tickets.

Chakravorty lodged a complaint with the cyber crime cell of the city police, which referred the matter to the Hadapsar police.

Assistant commissioner of police Sunil Phulari, who heads the cell, informed the TOI that the police is investigating the modus operandi that the culprit(s) resorted to.

"The modus operandi could be either by way of internet hacking of the personal identification number (PIN), which is critical to executing an ATM withdrawal process, or by way of accessing other key details related to the card," he said.

ABN AMBRO launched its Platinum credit card collection designed by Rohit Bal

2007-12-21T02:35:00.000-08:00

ABN AMRO bank (India) launched its Platinum Credit card collection. It is India’s first designer credit card which has been designed by celebrate fashion designer Rohit Bal exclusively for ABN AMRO bank.

ABN AMRO Platinum Credit Card signifies the highest standards of exclusivity and luxury. The bank targeted affluent, sophisticated and discerning customer audience who are demanding aesthetically superior and feature rich products. The is backed by the promise of exceptional service and offers card members the unique benefit of customizing their package of financial and lifestyle benefits based on their individual tastes and preferences.

Speaking at the launch of Platinum Credit Card Ms. Meera H Sanyal, Corporate Executive Vice President & Country Executive of ABN AMRO in India said: "At ABN AMRO, our ability to innovate in response to changing paradigms and customer influences has been a key strength of the organization. The juxtaposition of the two worlds of finance and fantasy in creating a unique designer credit card proposition is yet another highlight in this journey. And breathing life into this proposition was the creative genius and inspiration of Rohit Bal and our continued partnership with Mastercard.”

Mr. Jim Brown, ABN AMRO’s Head of Consumer Customer Segment in Asia was also present at the at the launch of the card, in his speech he said: "Across the world, customers are seeking premium credit cards as a symbol of status and recognition. The positioning of the ABN AMRO Platinum Credit Cards in the luxury space with a comprehensive set of financial, lifestyle and self expressive benefits is an effort to lead and benchmark the category. We believe this is a very compelling proposition and will appeal to the sophisticated and discerning affluent customer in India."

“As the affluent consumer market in India continues to grow both from a size and purchasing power perspective, so do their lifestyle needs,” said Alan King, Regional Head, Global Accounts, MasterCard Worldwide. “We are committed to offering a mix of products and services that will allow our cardholders to decide what matters most to them. The launch of the ABN AMRO Platinum MasterCard credit card is testament to this and offers affluent consumers choice and customization. We look forward to working closely with ABN AMRO to continuously meet the evolving needs of affluent cardholders throughout India.”

While elaborating on his exclusive association with ABN AMRO, Rohit Bal, added: “A credit card is one of the most personal statements you can make as it carries your name and your signature. The designs I have created for ABN AMRO Platinum attempt to recreate the magic of the natural beauty of some of India’s most powerful and distinctive national symbols through quiet expressions in objects of desire that you can carry with you all the time.”

The ABN AMRO Platinum Card collection features three designs inspired by typical Indian symbols but are expressed visually in striking black and platinum colors to make distinctive statements of individuality. The designs feature the lotus (India’s national flower), the peacock (India’s national bird) and the jharokha (a tribute to Mughal architecture).

The ABN AMRO Platinum Credit Card is offering financial benefits and lifestyle privileges to its members are a result of ABN AMRO’s extensive association with this target audience and an intimate understanding of their requirements. As a result, membership to the ABN AMRO Platinum Credit Card automatically enrolls the card member to the ‘Platinum Gateway’ club – with privileges that complement and enhance their lifestyles at home and around the world. Card members will get the privilege to access to over 500 exclusive airport lounges across the world with a complimentary 2-year membership to Priority Pass, enjoy personalized attention with the 24x7 Concierge Service for assistance for referrals and reservations worldwide, comprehensive insurance cover upto Rs. 1 Crore, stay connected with a complimentary Matrix cellular connection and redeem a wide range of luxury products under the unique ABN AMRO Platinum temptations rewards program.

Furthermore, card members have an option to extend their ABN AMRO Platinum Credit Card membership to one or both of two other clubs that ABN AMRO offers; The Platinum Voyager Club and the Platinum Greens Club.

The Platinum Voyager Club – offering:

A complimentary international return air ticket to either Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok
The Taj Epicure Card offering discounts, benefits and privileges at all Taj hotels and restaurants worldwide
Option to convert reward points into air miles and redeem them against travel related expenses

The Platinum Greens Club – offering:

A choice of a Rossa Inza Putter or a Burner Recue – complimentary
Complimentary membership to the International Golf Fee card offering discounted access to over 2400 golf courses worldwide

Credit card designed by fashion designer

2007-12-20T02:06:00.001-08:00

Don’t get surprised if you come to know that your credit card has been designed by a fashion designer who was designing suits and clothes for you. Now day’s banks are contacting designers to get cards designed.

Recently a bank contacted Rohit Bal a fashion designer to get their credit card designed by him. “The bank wanted to tie up with a designer. They got in touch with me and gave me the creative freedom to do whatever I want,” says Rohit.

Rohit explained, “I chose to incorporate prominent national symbols like the lotus, peacock and aspects of Mughal architecture. I chose the colour black and silver, as it’s a platinum card. Lotus symbolifies beauty and simplicity and the peacock stands for growth and thirst. The architecture gives it an old world charm,” explains Rohit.

So why does something that gets swiped across machines and has a wallet for home need a design element?

“Plastic has gained momentum in our country like never before. It’s stealing the show from hard cash. It’s convenient and comes in handy for impulsive shopping. I use them a lot, so if a designer can make a mundane looking thing like a credit card stunning why not?” answers Farhan Akhtar who looks stunning in a formal sherwani designed exclusively for the ABN AMRO Platinum card launch.

Chhaya Momaya says, “I am very image conscious. I like anything that’s classy and stylish. I use my credit cards to shop all the time. It also saves you the trouble from carrying cash around. The security levels have also been spruced up by the banks. The card has invoked positive responses from a lot of people who’ve seen it. I’ll definitely flaunt it.”

Reward cards what they mean to you

2007-12-19T03:56:00.001-08:00

Almost every credit card company has reward programs and some have special reward cards. You name your passion, and the credit card companies probably have designed a rewards card for it.

Bank of America is having more than 5,000 partnerships worldwide, offering customers points for everything from travel to merchandise to one-on-one meetings with NASCAR drivers. Chase is advertising about the benefits of its Freedom card, which allows customers to switch between points or cash back. And newcomer Barclays touts its Direct TV Rewards Card for giving "Rewards Money Can't Buy," such as backstage passes to "The Tyra Banks Show" or a chance to meet CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer.

"We see rewards programs as an important part of our product offerings," says Ric Struthers, North America Card Services executive for Bank of America.

"Almost every offer out there has some type of rewards component," says Megan Basilio, managing director for marketing at Barclaycard US. "Consumers expect rewards for what they spend."

But are reward cards really all that rewarding?

"A lot of times the sizzle is not as good as the steak," says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of Lowcards.com, a site that compares credit card offers. "You have to be very careful and study the offers that you are considering."

One should know that the reward cards make people spend more and the companies are making their money.

"Rewards cards aren't free," says Emily Davidson, a credit card expert at Credit.com. "Credit card marketers are very, very smart. . . . They make a lot of money just by having you use the card."

A report in the Nilson Report which was published in an industry newsletter shows that rewards dramatically increase credit card use and the merchants who sign an agreement with credit card companies get a bonus, as most of the people who redeem rewards end up spending extra at the store.

One must read the fine print carefully actually the rewards aren’t as good as they look.

Some cards will offer 5 percent cash back, for example. But a closer look at the agreement could show that the 5 percent rate kicks in only after spending, say, $2,000 in a month at just 1 percent. And after spending $2,500, the rewards go back down again to 1 percent, or less.

Choose the card carefully. It should work for you means give more benefits to you. Rewards aren't very useful if they don't match your spending habits.

Finally, before even starting down the road of rewards, consumers should review some basic personal finance 101: Don't even think about a rewards card if you can't pay off the card in full every month.

Credit card crooks getting more tech savvy, using wire-tapping gadgets

2007-12-18T04:16:00.001-08:00

Before skimmers were used now police officers are of view that the credit card racketeers are using hi-tech operations. This suspicion was strengthened when recently a private bank held a workshop for CID to discuss fraud techniques.

Credit card criminals in Kolkata may be getting more tech savvy, using wire-tapping gadgets to cash in on unsuspecting card users. This has become a new reason of worry for city police and CID. Wire-tapping is a complicated scheme and much more difficult to track down. It's a technical network that involves telephone wires, receiving-terminals and a cable line parallel with telephone cables to copy the card details when it is swiped for a transaction.

When the three Bangladeshis were arrested for using a card whose owner was in Singapore at that time the city police got a clue about fake credit card rackets in kolkata. Another fake card was seized in Burrabazar which was in use in New Zealand. Police is still looking for the clue that how this card was copied.

They are of a view that wire-tapping might be the method. Though they have not identified a racket as yet, cyber detectives are sure the card racketeers are running a hi-tech operation in the city.

"We haven't got any case where wire-tapping was used to dupe somebody but we are sure the racketeers are out there. We are trying to find the right technique to detect such crimes and also adopting safe-guard measures," said a senior CID officer.

Wiretapping works in three phases. In the first phase tapping is done into the wires of the main server to capture card data as it is processed for a legitimate transaction. In the next step the encoded data is transferred to another server, at the fraudster's end, where it is decoded. In the last phase, the data is used to produce counterfeit cards. The technology is definitely more complicated than a skimmer - a gadget which copies the details of a card from a measured distance. In advanced countries, encrypted cables are installed to prevent telephone wire tapping but awareness is low in India.

"The cable linking the electronic data capturing machine (EDC) and the distribution point box is a very sensitive area which is targeted by the racketeers. When the card is swiped on the EDC, the machine records the financial data in the card's magnetic strip and feeds it to the DP box, from where it moves to the main server of the telephone service provider and is finally transferred to the servers of banks where the transaction is recorded. The hackers target the area between the EDC and the DP box, tap into the wires, steal data and send it to another server," said an anti-fraud officer of a private bank.

It is difficult to trace such rackets the police officer said. "For the first phase, the fraudsters need only a map of the telephone wiring, a receiving terminal and cables matching the ones used by the telephone service provider. These are not very difficult to manage and anybody who has a flair for technology can use it to store the data. High-end technology comes in the next level," said an officer.

Police is suspecting that the card fraudsters in Kolkata might be using the technology to copy the data and send it to other cities in India and abroad. They have a enough clues to suspect this. In the last one year, such units have been busted in Delhi, Jaipur and Hyderabad. "We heard about it and are looking for effective measures to prevent wire-tapping," said Jawed Shamim, deputy commissioner, detective department. Kolkata Police can also take tips from south-east Asian countries like Thailand and Philippines, where such rackets are active and law enforcement agencies have more experience in handling such crimes.

RBI to bring transparency in credit card operations

2007-12-18T04:11:00.000-08:00

Reserve Bank of India has taken a step to help credit cardholders who have not used their credit cards for more than six months. RBI is bringing transparency in credit card operations. The central bank has made it mandatory for banks to refund the small credit balance to cardholders if the credit card is rendered inactive for more than six months. This is for credit cardholders who have a credit balance of Rs 100 or lower in the account.

RBI has noted that at various instances the foreign and private sector banks stop sending the statements to their customers incase their card rendered to be inactive for six months or have a credit balance of Rs 100 or lower in the account.

After that the credit balance is written off to a suspense account and then transferred to the profit and loss account.

Whereas in the PSU banks the account is kept is on hold for eight years before writing off the account.

Bankers said some of the major foreign banks who have major hold in credit card business have even amended their policy of writing off the credit balance in inactive credit card holders after being pulled up by the RBI in its recent inspection.

Bankers clarified that even if the credit balances are of very small denomination, the amount becomes large after buildup which is transferred to the profit and loss account. In fact, the RBI has asked most of the banks to submit the report about the practice of managing the credit balance of the customer.

It has also asked various banks to justify the practice of writing off small balance in the credit card.

Usually a customer rounds off the amount and tends to give more than the credit card balance. The extra amount more than the credit card bill forms a part of the credit balance in the customers account. This gets adjusted in the next month’s credit card bill but gets increase if the card is not put to use.

Even if the card is rendered inactive, six month is a very less period to suspend the activity and to transfer the amount to the profit and loss account, said a banker.

The RBI observed that the card holder should be informed of the credit balance and amount be refunded if the cardholder confirms that the card is no more valid in transaction.

You can stop Identity theft

2007-12-17T02:50:00.000-08:00

Just finished buying holiday gifts online and made payment for your purchases with a debit card or credit card, but what did you do to protect yourself against identity theft?

Maybe not much — most people rarely do anything, if ever, look over their shoulder before handing over their credit card. Most of people don't bother to double-check that a Web site is secure before typing in the digits. But with an estimated 10 million cases of identity theft each year, is asking for a little attention to be paid protect your personal information and your money, safe.

Yes there are more ways to protect your identity theft. There are credit-monitoring services, which can cost more than you feel like spending with the holiday bills rolling in. Also, reviewer argue that they may not be all that effective either, since they're somewhat similar to a fire alarm — it can alert you to a bad situation, but often just a bit too late.

Till now the best solution we have is probably the security freeze, which has been recently made available nationwide by all three credit bureaus. It's basically a padlock for your credit report and perhaps the best way to keep from becoming a victim.

"A credit freeze is an order to the three credit bureaus — TransUnion, Experian and Equifax — that you do not want them selling your personal information to any third party. What this does is make your credit report unavailable to banks, credit card companies, utility and cell phone companies — anyone who might want to look at your credit report before issuing credit," explains Scott Mitic, CEO and co-founder of TrustedID, an identity-theft protection service. If lenders can't see your credit report, they can't issue a thief credit in your name.

But there is negative aspect, is that unless you lift the freeze, you can't get credit either. So is it worth the hassle? Here, a briefing on security freezes and other ways to keep your identity to yourself.

Weigh the cost
The fee for a security freeze will vary state by state, but $10 per bureau seems to be the norm. (Unless you've already been a victim of ID theft, then it's free.)

It would be right to put a freeze on your file at each of the three credit bureaus, otherwise it would be like contacting just one is akin to locking the front door of your house, then leaving the back and side doors wide open. So now we're at about $30. If you have to lift the freeze because you need a new car or want to apply for a mortgage, it's another $10 a pop. Deciding whether it's worth the $60 bucks (more if you have to repeat the process) is really a matter of looking to the future. If you're happy with your house and car, and don't foresee a need for any additional credit cards or loans in the next several years, it may be worth it to place the freeze.

But if your situation is at all in halfway house — say you've just graduated from college, for example, and may be shopping for a home soon — you're probably better off fighting the identity theft battle another way.

Know yourself
Credit freezing help you, they force you to stop and think before spending money you don't have. It might take a few days for the freeze on your credit report to lift, which is long enough for you to decide you don't really need that department store credit card after all. But if you're not the kind of person who plans in advance, you may find yourself in a sticky situation if you forget to lift the freeze and need access to credit immediately.

Then there is a fraud flag. It's basically a note, attached to your credit report by all three bureaus, requesting that lenders contact you by phone before issuing credit in your name. One plus to a fraud flag over a freeze is that it's free. It's also a lot easier to manage than a freeze, but it might not turn out to be quite effective as freeze.

"It's not foolproof," says Mitic. "It's not as safe or as guaranteed as a freeze because you're counting on tens of thousands of different lenders to correctly see this note, correctly call you and correctly verify your identity." Still, lenders are by law required to read and respond to a fraud flag, so it's definitely worth a try.

Arm your computer by updating anti-spyware and anti-virus software. It is always worth the investment. For about $30, you'll protect yourself against programs that can worm into your computer, scan the hard drive for your personal information, and then send the findings into the waiting hands of thieves.

Careful ness is the best way to be protected. If you can't stop an identity theft — and all the protections in the world may not be enough, frankly — you can at least catch it early on. The crime generally comes with one or two red flags.

"If you start to get bills from people or companies you've never heard of, it's a strong sign that someone is impersonating you," says Gail Hillebrand, a senior attorney with Consumer's Union. She also advises to have a closer look to the details of your credit card and bank statements for any suspicious charges, something that is particularly important at this time of year, when we've spent more money than usual at places we may not normally shop. Any charges you don't recognize, no matter how small, should be disputed with the bank or credit card company.

Manage your debt do not add debt

2007-12-14T02:25:00.001-08:00

In India most of the people are living paycheck to paycheck. When people are not left with spare cash credit cards make an attractive option to finance necessities such as getting the gas filled in your car, buying groceries and clothes etc.
People are in a habit of overspending one’s future earnings at a time when the economy is booming. But in case of credit cards it becomes necessary to keep a check.
When people start using plastic money for these recurring expenses then there rises the problem of out of control debt. There could be many reasons for this like easy availability of credit cards, intensified marketing campaigns to boost profits etc.

Especially young men and women earning small salaries and spiraling financial responsibilities easily get tempted with credit cards to help them get through the month. This along with the burden of student loans adds to the debt burden faced by them.

According to statistics available shows that in a month, an average household receives eight credit card offers and on an average an individual has around three credit cards.

Credit cards have two distinct features:
a) A convenient medium though which one can spend first and pay later in full
b) The ability to spend higher levels than would be otherwise possible
People think that they can pay off the debt whenever they get a better job or that they would be fine as long as they make the minimum payment.

There are charges and fees from which the credit card company earns the income. With credit card companies charging interest rates as high as 2.95 per cent and including fees for late payment, transaction fees, penalty if the account balance is over the limit, penalty if payment is not honored etc, fee income accounts to almost one-fourth of the credit card companies’ total income.

One should keep track of their spending for some months to see where they are spending their money.

All over the world, people are trying out various techniques to get rid of plastic money trap and manage better their debt problems.

One such method is “Debt Consolidation”. It means replacement of multiple loans with a single loan, often with a lower monthly payment and a longer repayment period. Rather than paying off several separate bills each month, a consumer consolidates his / her debts with a financial institution that will arrange for one lower monthly payment extending over a period of time.

But one's worries are not over if one adopts this approach. Debt consolidation also have limits it is also not without problems. In America, if a person takes a home equity loan or any other loan to pay off credit cards end up with the same debt load within two years. It again feeds on the same tendencies that got the consumer in his present position in the first place. By taking yet another creditor, one is adding even more fuel to the fire. In the end, it is the consumer's money that is burning. Also if a consumer is already buried under debt, chances are that he won't get qualified for those low interest rates.

To come out of debt trap what is required is debt management and not debt addition. Getting professional help in managing debt can help change credit behavior. People that have taken on too much debt tend to go into denial; they'd rather not know how much debt they owe. A professional debt manager will make them face up to their obligations.

Axis bank widening its network throughout the world

2007-12-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

According to the reports in Business Line Axis Bank is getting upon an ambitious plan to make its presence felt throughout the world. Working on this line Axis Bank opened its 15th branch in Kerala at Willingdon Island

The bank has 596 branches and 2,500 ATMs. At international level the bank has opened its branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE and China.

The trading of bank shares is going smooth. According to the last figures available the shares of the bank were last trading up Rs 8, or 0.85%, at Rs 945.45. The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 55,633. (12.51 p.m., Tuesday)

Credit card details cloned and money withdrawn in India

2007-12-12T01:34:00.000-08:00

This is the second time in the six months that hundreds of British citizens have become victims of international gangs who manage to clone credit card details here and withdraw money from their accounts in India, Philippines, Australia and Canada.

In the latest incidence hundred of villagers of Houghton on the Hill in Leicestershire have become victims of credit card fraud. Their card details were reportedly cloned at a petrol station in the village, and soon found money being withdrawn from their accounts world-wide.

A similar scam was discovered in Buckinghamshire in April this year, where credit card details were cloned at a petrol station. A Sri Lankan embassy spokesman here had alleged when the scam was unearthed that it was linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to fund its violent activities.

According to reports from Leicester in the latest instance, international gang members managed to install a fake card reader at the till inside the Houghton Garage, in Houghton on the Hill, and used it to clone customers' card details.

The reports further states that the criminals might have installed a tiny needle camera in the garage to spy on customers as they entered their PIN numbers. The card data and the PIN numbers were matched up, and then e-mailed to gang members around the world, where fake cards were created and used at cash machines.

In Britain, most banks have installed machines using ‘chip and pin' system for transactions in shops using credit and debit cards. This means that for every purchase, apart from the card, the customer also needs to punch in an exclusive pin number.

To prevent card fraud signing for purchases using cards has been virtually phased out to and instead introduced the 'chip and pin' system which has led to a considerable fall in the scale of card frauds. Industry figures say that the fraud has been slashed by 3 percent, to £428 million last year.

But the criminals are also tech savvy they also search new ways for targeting the customers which has raised a concern over new ways being used to target customer bank details using lost, stolen or counterfeit cards on the phone, Internet, email and overseas instead. Experts believe the real victims of card fraud are mostly banks as they have to pay back customers for money taken illegally from their accounts.

A Leicestershire police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that we are investigating a number of instances of card fraud."

John Stobart, a solicitor with Harvey Ingram LLP Solicitors in Leicester and a victim of this scam, narrated his story following reports of the scam: "My card was used last week in New York to withdraw US$500 and an attempt was made the same day in Canada. The bank intervened.

"I have been in both Singapore and Hungary on business in the last month and I thought the card must have been copied at one of these places. In fact it was more local - Houghton on The Hill".

Garage owner Jim Funnell told the Leicester Mercury, a local daily: "It's wiped out most of east Leicestershire and pretty much all of the village. Of course, as an independent business, you rely on your local customers, and we were scared that this would ruin us".

"We've been the centre of a credit card scam which has affected every house in the village. It's probably hundreds of people. It's pretty much every customer who used the garage in the last three weeks to a month.

"I first had a couple of calls from customers about odd transactions, but I dismissed it, as we have never had a problem before with card fraud. But when I had a couple more, I thought there had got to be substance to it and rang the police.

"It looks as though there were cameras involved and they may have switched the card reader in the shop. It could have involved staff or an ex-member of staff, or it may have been a distraction, when they switched it while the cashier was off the till.

"Something happened, but I don't know what. At the moment, all 15 of us in the store are suspects, me included. We thought we were safe, squeaky clean even. It has been a mighty blow to find out we've been hit."

In the April incident in Buckinghamshire, several residents had complained that the money was being withdrawn from their accounts from ATMs in Mumbai and other places in India.

Lucky American Express Platinum card holder to get Lamborghini

2007-12-11T02:16:00.000-08:00

Amongst American Express Platinum card holders one of will be the lucky winner to get Lamborghini Gallardo an Italian car.

American Express has announced an 'Ultimate Platinum Experiences' for its Platinum credit card holder. The bank will offer Lamborghini Gallardo to its platinum cardholder.

According to reports from American Express credit card holder under the 'Ultimate Platinum Experiences' scheme will get an opportunity to win sports machine.

The report stated five card-holders, including the winner of the car, will also get opportunity to visit to the Lamborghini test drive track in Rome.

It further stated all the platinum card holders can participate in this promotion. They can even earn points during the promotion period, every Rs 10,000 spent will get them one point or one chance to enter the draw.

The program is valid from December 1, 2007 to April 30, 2008.