SBI holiday-cum-shopping credit card with Yatra.com

State Bank of India and Yatra.com well known online travel portal, has launched a holiday-cum-shopping card that will enable Indian travelers to avail discounts across travel and holiday packages.
The new holiday card will enable travellers to avail discounts across Yatra.com travel and holiday packages, exclusive previews to its deals and benefits, including accelerated rewards on their purchases.
SBI Cards and Yatra.com are looking forward to a very positive response for the holiday credit card because card provides the best travel solutions to customers.
"As a company, we are constantly innovating to provide the best travel solutions to our customers. Our partnership with SBI Cards for the holiday card is a part of this overall approach. We are looking forward to a very positive response for the card," Yatra.com CEO Dhruv Shringi said.
The card has been designed to enable customers win reward points every time they use the card. So, the more they swipe their cards, the closer they get to their next dream holiday, he said.
"Travel continues to emerge as a growing segment for credit cards. The SBI Cards brand is based on the value proposition of 'Make Life Simple' ? the core promise of our brand. The proposition stands testimony to the company's continuous efforts of simplifying the lives of our customers,"
SBI Card mostly based on make life simple proposition. The proposition stands testimony to the company's continuous efforts of simplifying the lives of our customers,"

Credit card business will grow robustly

Marketers and market-makers in the financial services industry have for years salivated at the great Indian opportunity for growing the credit cards market.
And it indeed has been a great opportunity and will continue to be so in the coming years. A growing middle class, rising aspirations and an increased propensity to spend by an inherently young population creates heady mix of untapped market opportunity.
The credit cards industry is today coming out of what have truly been testing times. The financial crisis of 2008-2010 remains fresh in our minds. With the tide seeming to have turned finally and with the indicators across almost all key areas looking positive, if not robust, there is fresh optimism in the industry and an almost unanimous positive view that the industry is today placed well for sustained growth.
Learning from the past
Before we look forward to the future, we have to understand the past. As they say, hindsight is always 20-20. The question remains: what went wrong?
The answer lies not just in one reason but a multitude of factors which both issuers and consumers should introspect upon. Credit is, at the end of the day, a powerful tool and a truly flexible option to meet immediate expenses when cash is not at hand.
The credit card, therefore, adroitly addresses medical emergencies, facilitates holidays and travel, or fulfils the aspiration of purchasing that new television or washing machine, with the knowledge that the payment may be done in parts over a period of time, or when that bonuscheque comes in. What will be key is, how both, consumers and card issuers, will treat this extremely powerful tool?
While the global financial crises is ascribed as one reason for the fallout in unsecured lending in India, the impact was also compoundedby the misplaced market growth ambitions of some credit card issuers who wereimmersed in the mantras of market share and market expansion. With access to easy credit card facilities from over-exuberant and ambitious card issuers, customers somehow seemed to have lost the key message: that credit is an important tool, to be used with responsibility and prudence.
Future bright
The future, however, is bright. Several factors strongly indicate that credit card businesses will grow robustly in the coming years. The first is the emergence of strong credit rating agencies in India. Card issuers now have access to complete information of the applicant prior to issuing a card.
The key will be in seeing how the issuers use this information in taking prudent decisions. All information used in determining the creditworthiness of an applicant ultimately hinges on determining the ability and intention of the applicant to pay back the amount spent or borrowed. The expertise and sophistication of issuers in making such judgments, leveraging bureau data and recalibrating their own policies from time to time, will determine how the industry fares infuture.
Use the powerful tool of credit with wisdom
Customers, too, have now started understanding the importance of using credit wisely. With regulators and banks educating customers about the benefit of a good credit history, it is envisaged that better sense will prevail. Both issuers and customers now have the benefit of hindsight! Taur Mittran Di
Card issuers will have to clearly strategise as to which segments they want to operate in. Most card issuers have moved completely away from the mass market segments as the risk-reward equations have just not borne out.
Their predominant focus has been a move to mass affluent segments and high networth individuals. These segments are traditionally more robust and easier to evaluate. Credit underwriting norms have been tightened across the board. Card issuers also have to become more judicious about growing the market purely for that sake, as inactive cards can savage a portfolio.
It is no wonder that of the 28 million cards which were in the marketplace in 2008, only around 20 million exist today. While there has been a huge de-growth in plastics, there has been no slowing down the overall industry spends which have been growing robustly.
All of which goes to show the wastage by the industry in issuing cards to customers who saw no value in the product. At the end of the day, the consumer is king and will patronise a product or a brand which adds enhanced value to his / her life.Free cards, in many ways, were perceived to be free of value and benefits, and, as a corollary, have been freed of customer patronage!
Customer is king
Card issuers will now have to work extra hard in delivering enhanced value to consumers. Creating and managing sophisticated products, constantly enhancing value and innovating on service delivery, will be key drivers of future growth.
It’s a large market, so exercise care
At this stage, the opportunity looks large with a large untapped market potential. Only about 3% of the total personal consumption expenditure in India is done on plastic cards. With the government keen on moving more payments on to electronic media, the spends on plastic cards will continue to grow significantly.
The sustained growth in organised retail, the booming e- commerce space, the aspirations of one of the youngest populations in the world and the strong, globally savvy emerging middle class… all foretell that it can only be a boom time for the credit cards business in the coming years. The key will be to take measured steps based on prudence and good judgment. Let the good times begin!

Cheaper mortgages offer setting up chance

Although rock-bottom interest rates are playing havoc with investment returns, they offer a retirement-planning opportunity that adviser Marguerita Cheng now uses regularly: mortgage refinancing.
“For our reviews, we ask clients to bring in their mortgage statements and investment statements,” said the Ameriprise Financial Inc. financial adviser. “Since you can't control markets but can control what you save and spend, why not lock in a lower rate today and save more money for the future?”
Just last month, Ms. Cheng met with a 55-year-old client, a federal employee, who wanted to replace her 30-year 5.25% mortgage with a 15-year 3.25% mortgage so that she and her semiretired husband, a professor, could be almost debt-free once they stop working.
The couple owes $116,000 on the remaining 20 years of their mortgage, with a monthly principal and interest payment of $1,365. The refinancing not only would shorten the term of mortgage by five years but reduce monthly payments to $1,268.
“These clients have already been making extra principal payments, so if they continue, they can be fully paid off in 10 years,” Ms. Cheng said.
Given the Federal Reserve's decision last month to keep the federal funds rate in the 0% to 0.25% range at least until the end of 2014, many advisers think that replacing higher-cost debt — principally home mortgages and credit card balances — or paying it down faster, offers a savings opportunity that is more attractive than many investment returns.
In addition, advisers, worried about future inflation, feel that it's wise to lock in today's low rates.
“If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, you're happy if inflation goes up: The size of your debt gets smaller in real dollars,” said Christopher Van Slyke, an adviser with Trovena LLC. “If you have a variable-rate loan or a credit card, you're in big trouble.”

Making card transactions goes more secure in Future

When we swipe our card at shopping malls and restaurants or use it at the ATM to withdraw cash and pay utility bills, we are under the constant threat of our cards being counterfeited. Besides, if you lose your card, someone can misuse the time lag, between your losing and blocking the card, to swipe and imitate your signature at the point of sale (POS).

• What you can do

This mandate implies that more banks would come out with chip-based cards and they would look at including more customers, rather than offering it to a select category.
State Bank of India, for example, since mid–2011, offers EMV chip credit card to almost all its new customers.
If you are an existing SBI Card customer, check with the bank. You could be entitled to a chip card on renewal.
Besides, the RBI has also said that by June 30, 2013, banks must issue EMV chip and PIN-based credit/debit cards to customers who have made at least one purchase using their debit/credit card in a foreign location.
Three, if you are a customer of a bank that currently issues chip cards, visit your branch. If you have a credit card with dated credit limits or a higher average balance which entitles you to a debit card with enhanced features, you may be eligible for an upgrade to a chip card.
Going by the guidelines, the infrastructure is expected to catch up quickly too. In fact the working group report (May 2011) mentions that about 90 per cent of the POS terminals are already chip-ready.
Says Dhruv Shah, Product Manager, Electracard Services, “While EMV-supporting ATMs are not yet available in India, switches, which drive the transaction processing at ATMs, are already geared to support EMV transactions.”
Moreover, as EMV adoption rates vary worldwide, none of the issuers give you cards that are only chip-based.
All chip cards contain the magnetic stripe at the back. So, while an EMV-compliant machine will use the chip, a non-EMV machine can still process your transaction using the magnetic stripe.
That way, at least some of your transactions will be more secure.
Plastic money has made life much easier for all of us. But unless we have had a personal experience, we don't realize how much of a security nightmare it can be. Here are a few things that will make our card transactions more secure.

• Chip cards reduce risk

Both these risks can be reduced to a great extent if you use cards that are ‘chip' based rather than ‘magnetic stripe' based and cards that require a PIN to be entered at POS terminals.
Unlike magnetic stripe cards, chip cards (also called EMV cards) use superior technology that helps guard against skimming and cloning. PIN requirement at POS terminals brings in a second layer of authentication, making misuse of stolen cards difficult.

Best way to simplify credit card usage

Ajay has to first deal with the question of whether he needs multiple credit cards and, if so, how many. Having more than one card is useful when a large payment has to be made or when a particular card cannot be used.
Ideally, the cards should have different affiliations, such as MasterCard and Visa. It is also a good idea for Ajay to dedicate one card for official use, so that there is no confusion while claiming reimbursement for payments.
Since his job involves a lot of travelling, using a co-branded card that is linked to an airline will help him in official use as he can get credit for usage. Two cards for personal use and one for work-related expenses should be enough for his needs.
While reducing the number of cards, Ajay should consider retaining older cards with a good credit history since they are likely to have a positive impact on his credit score. The other factors he needs to consider include the acceptance of the card, authorised limits, billing cycles and costs associated.
The cards that he should first consider closing are those that are linked to (DJ H Jawani 2) stores or products since they add very little value and may even encourage spending.
Ajay should also set up an online payment process for his card, so that he is able to pay his bills from his bank account using the Internet or mobile banking services. Several online services enable paying bills on time, which Ajay should make use of. He should set in place a system to keep track of the expenses charged, the payment and dates of payments.
Having a place to keep credit card slips will make it easy to access them for checking against card statements. He should sign up for online/mobile reminders of due dates, online statements and payment facility. These are things that Ajay can do to continue enjoying credit facilities in an efficient manner.

Credit Cards payments up by 22 percent

In mean time, peoples pay more money with their credit cards. Payment through credit cards up by 22 % in last financial year. But the active credit card goes down by 2.7%.
Debit cards transactions increased by 46.5 % because of the increase in ATMs chains.
Most of the banks issues ATM for their saving account holders for withdrawing easy cash from ATM. Now active debit card goes to 22.8 cr while the credit card was just 1.8 cr.
SBI stood at no.1 with largest depositor base in India, SBI issued 8 cr debit cards, No.2 is ICICI Bank with 1.65 cr, 3rd is HDFC 1.31 cr, In credit card bazaar, HDFC at No.1 with over .5 crore active credit cards followed by ICICI Bank, SBI, Citibank and standard chartered. Calculate your emi with EMI Calculator
RBI data shows, the value of transactions at domestic ATMs using debit cards to be Rs 9,48,346 crore across 398.40 crore transactions in the March 2010-February 2011 period, while domestic ATM-based credit card transactions were worth just Rs 934 crore across 0.19 crore transactions.

Citigroup 74% jump in Q3 profits

Citigroup Inc on Monday reported its seventh straight quarterly profit, with a 74 % jump in Q3 earnings to $ 3.77 billion, as the financial services giant recorded lower losses from bad loans.
The entity had a net income of $ 2.17 billion in the July-September period of 2010, the US-based Citigroup said in a statement.
Citigroup's robust earnings lifted as the bank recorded lower losses from loans and made accounting gains related to its credit holdings.
Third quarter revenues of $ 20.8 billion were up slightly from $ 20.73 billion registered in the year-ago period.
Citigroup posted its seventh profitable quarter in a row after losing a total of $ 29.3 billion for 2008 and 2009 during the global financial crisis.
"Citi continues to navigate a challenging economic environment and delivered another quarter of solid operating results. We continue to manage our risk prudently while growing the businesses that are core to our strategy.
"We have reduced the size of Citi Holdings to 15 % of our balance sheet and further improved our financial strength. We are very well positioned as we help our clients navigate the world's current trends and key opportunities," Citi CEO Vikram Pandit said.
The bank's losses from bad loans fell by 41 % during the quarter to $ 4.5 billion as defaults fell from its credit card loans for Citibank credit cards.
As far as its India operation were concerned, the non-performing asset of the bank stood close to one % of the total loans at the end of September quarter.
NCL (net credit loss) of the Indian operation stood at 0.9 % in the July-September quarter against 0.8 % in the previous quarter.
Citicorp, the company's retail banking and commercial and investment-banking business, saw its net income jump by 32 %, from the prior year period to $ 4.6 billion, while revenues shot up by 9 % to $ 17.7 billion. In Asia, Citicorp's net income grew by 42 % to $ 1.41 billion and net revenues surged by 21 % to $ 4.28 billion.
Citi Holdings's net loss stood at $ 802 million compared to $ 1.14 billion in the year-ago period. The unit's revenues decreased 27 % from the prior year period to $ 2.8 billion as assets declined.
The bank said its regional consumer banking operations have witnessed a growth of 2 % to $ 8.26 billion and net income accelerated by 31 % to $ 1.61 billion.
Its international regional consumer banking revenue grew across all regions versus the prior year period, with Asia revenues growing 13 %, Latin America 9 % and Europe, the Middle East and Africa by 5 %.

Debit card swipes hit credit card usage

July 2011 marks a tipping point in the payments space. For the first time, debit cards have been used in more transactions than credit cards. While credit cards are still more significant in value terms, the gap between the two has shrunk.
As compared to 2.56 crore credit card transactions in July 2011, debit cards were used 2.66 crore times. This has continued in August when credit cards were used 2.76 crore times, while debit was used on 2.77 crore occasions. In the past, credit card swipes always outstripped that of debit. In the whole of 2010-11, credit cards were used for 26.51 crore payments, while debit cards were used 23.7 crore times.
In value terms credit card payments accounted for Rs 37,678 crore worth of payments up to August 2011, while for debit cards it was Rs 20,483 crore. Total value of debit card transaction is lower than that of credit cards is because on an average an individual spends Rs 2,989 every time the card is used as compared to Rs 1,632 which is the average for a debit card payment. Click to know more and apply for SME Loan
Bankers say that it is only a matter of time before debit cards completely dominate the payment space. The reason for this is the sheer numbers. Debit cards have been growing by leaps and bounds. From 4.97 crore cards in 2005-06, their number has risen to 25.14 crore as on August 2011, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India in its latest monthly bulletin. Credit cards, on the other hand, have been shrinking since the global crisis. From a peak of 2.8 crore in 2008, the number shrunk to 1.8 crore in March 2011. This has come down further to 1.75 crore in October 2011.
The decline has been largely because of the foreign banks and banks like ICICI which have been shrinking their portfolio. According to industry sources, ICICI Bank's card portfolio has continued to shrink during the current year as well. While other lenders such as HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have started issuing cards at a much higher pace, the issuances are not enough to bring up the overall industry numbers.
While debit cards have seen growth in issuances, cardholders have not been using them for transactions. In 2010-11, the average transaction per card has been 14. As compared to this, the average debit card has been used only once in a year. While the number of debit cards has gone up more than five times in five years the average number of transactions has not.
Even five years back the debit card usage was on an average just once in a year.
Credit cards, on the other hand, are seeing an increase in usage. At the time of the global financial crisis, the average usage of cards had dipped to eight times in a year. At the end of March 2011, this had improved to 14. Bankers say that this is because issuers have become choosy on issuing cards. Second, multiple card holdings have come down as even cardholders are realizing that it makes more sense to consolidate purchases in one card in terms of rewards.

How to protect yourself from credit card fraud

There is some good news in your inbox. Your wait for a tax refund is finally over. At least that is what the mail says: "The Reserve Bank of India will take full responsibility of your tax refund to your bank account. Please select your bank and complete the refund request carefully." All you have to do is to open the link, key in your name, credit card number and code number at the back of the card and you will get the refund immediately, it says.
Wait a minute... Tax refund from the RBI? Credit card details for a refund? If these questions didn't crop up in your mind, you may have fallen victim to Net fraud. The RBI or the Income Tax Department never ask for your PIN, passwords or credit card details. So, the next time you see such a mail, press the delete button.
Apart from such fake mails from the RBI and IT Department, Netizens regularly receive mails that tell them about jackpot prizes they have won and ask for bank or credit card details to transfer millions. There are also mails from people stranded abroad while on a holiday and in urgent need of money. "In the faceless, new era of banking, a customer's identification is done through his user ID and password. This has brought new vulnerabilities as anybody who possesses these can transact on his behalf," says RVS Sridhar, president, IT & RBO, Axis Bank.
Frauds in India
The most common Net attacks are phishing (fraudulent e-mails) and vishing (fake voice messages and phone calls), data leaks while a card is inserted or swiped on a machine and copying of the personal identification number (PIN). "In India, data loss through cyber attacks decreased sharply in 2010, but the total number of breaches was higher than ever. Fraudsters are not attacking a single individual and getting data, but are spreading the attacks. They are using the same attack message and getting multiple data without a lot of effort," says Jelle Niemantsverdrie, principal consultant, forensics and investigative response, EMEA Verizon Business Security Solutions. Click to Apply for Credit Cards Online
Stealing information through counterfiet cards is also rampant. The data on the magnetic strip is electronically copied on to another card and used without the cardholder's knowledge. The modus operandi is very sophisticated. "A magnetic card reader is installed over the card slot, while a surveillance camera observes the user's PIN," says Rakesh Aulaya, PR manager, South Asia Pacific, NCR, an ATM manufacturer. Though this is common while travelling overseas, it can also happen at domestic ATMs.
ATMs are more vulnerable because banks and other intermediaries have been mandated to increase security in other channels, such as online banking and plastic money usage. Says Uttam Nayak, country manager, Visa: "ATMs have poor security at the location and some controls on other platforms are missing."

Federal Bank look at venture into credit card

In a bid to extend its retail clientele, private sector lender Federal Bank is planning a foray into credit cards. Initially, the bank plans to outsource the back-end mechanism and would only market the product under its brand name.
“We have sensed a need to launch a credit card,” Abraham Chacko, the executive director of the bank, told Moneycontrol.com.
“It is at the preliminary stage, and we are internally discussing the proposal. We are connecting some external parties to gain knowledge about outsourcing the product in terms of pricing, customers and other business details,” Chacko said.
There are some banks and financial institutions, which develop back-end mechanism of credit cards for other institutions on a cost sharing basis. Some of those include Bank of India , State Bank of India , SBI Genpact, ICICI Bank , Standard Chartered Bank and others.
Federal Bank has an existing debit card base of around 16 lakh. Its retail business (with special focus on non-resident Indian customers) forms around 55% of total business. Retail products currently include gold, home and car loan.
If the credit card business is able to achieve a certain scale, Federal Bank will stop outsourcing it and will operate it on its own. The executive director, who had spent over 20 years in foreign banks before joining Federal, however, did not mention any tentative launch time.
“We will also open 1,000 branches in CY2012. Half of those branches will be out of the state of Kerela. We will equally drive efforts to boost our fee income through those branches,” he added. Currently, majority of its branches are confined within the geographical boundaries of the southern most state.
Meanwhile, the bank is expected to open a branch in Dubai soon. The Reserve Bank of India is yet to give a final approval for that. The lender also aims to open two representative offices in Singapore and US or UK to expand its NRI customers’ base. In June quarter, its loan book stood at around Rs 32,000 crore, up 18% year-on-year.
Last six months, two top officials with vast banking experience from foreign banks have joined Federal Bank. They are Shyam Srinivasan as MD and Chacko himself. This led to some market optimism about the south-based bank, which was widely considered as a low-profile community driven lender.
At 12:45 hours, Federal Bank shares were trading at Rs 357.50, down 1.20%.

RBI asks banks to implement safety measures for card usage

In order to minimise fraud cases and ensure security of transactions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday asked banks to implement various safety measures related to credit card and debit card usage over a period of next two years.
The central bank directed banks to strengthen the existing payment infrastructure and future proofing system along with adoption of fraud risk management practices within a period of next 12-24 months, RBI said in a notification.
"The increased usage of credit/debit cards at various delivery channels also witnessed the increase of frauds taking place due to the cards being lost/stolen, data being compromised and cards skimmed/counterfeited. There is, therefore, an imperative need to secure such card based transactions...," it said.
It also emphasised on the need to migrate to Euro pay MasterCard Visa (EMV) chip and PIN based cards from the present magnetic strip cards as the later is vulnerable to skimming and cloning.
"The need for a complete migration to EMV chip and PIN based cards could be considered based on the progress of 'Aadhar' (Unique Identification Card) in about 18 months," it noted.
As per the circular, the central bank has directed banks to implement improved fraud risk management practices by September 30, 2012. The banks have also been directed to strengthen merchant sourcing and monitoring process by September 30, 2012.
The central bank also given a timeframe till September 30, 2013, to banks for securing the technology infrastructure.
To strengthen infrastructure for accepting these cards, RBI has said that commercial readiness of acquiring infrastructure to support PIN at POS (points of sale) should be ready by June 30, 2013.
Similarly, the enablement of all POS terminals to accept debit card transactions with PIN should be completed by June 30, 2013.
The apex bank also directed banks to be ready from technical perspective to issue EVM cards by June 30, 2013.

HSBC aims to grow unsecured retail biz in India

HSBC is looking to grow its unsecured Indian loan portfolio, mainly credit cards, its country chief executive said, as its retail operation moves towards a return to profitability in Asia's third-largest economy.
Banks in India slashed unsecured lending after personal loans and credit card dues turned bad following the global financial crisis. HSBC India saw a 46 percent drop in overall profit for the first half of 2009 as losses on retail lending more than doubled.
"At this stage, we are well positioned to grow our unsecured book, but we will do it in a cautious and calibrated way," Stuart Davis, who took over as India chief executive in April 2009, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
"We won't be looking at open market sourcing as we did perhaps four or five years ago," he said, referring to the practice of issuing cards to customers who do not already have an account with the bank.
HSBC's expansion of unsecured lending in India comes as it is turning around the performance of its retail banking operations in the country, the sixth biggest contributor to the UK-based bank's group profit.
In the first half of 2011, HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, posted a loss of $4 million in its India retail banking and wealth management business, narrowing from a loss of $49 million a year ago.
Fewer than 18 million of India's 1.2 billion people use credit cards. In China, a country with a slightly higher population, more than 200 million credit cards were in use as of a year ago.
Foreign banks lack the branch networks of local lenders like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, India's biggest card issuers, but tend to attract the most well-heeled customers in a country where incomes are rising fast.
London-based Standard Chartered, one of the biggest foreign banks in India, expects growth of 30-35 percent in new customers this year, Shyamal Saxena, head of retail banking products, had said in July.
HSBC's overall first half pre-tax profit in India rose 32.6 percent to $451 million. The bank is on track to achieve its target of $1 billion in India overall profit in 2013, Davis said.
LOAN GROWTH
HSBC, one of the top three foreign commercial banks in India along with Citigroup and Standard Chartered, expects to grow its India loan book "at least in line" with the sector's growth in this fiscal year, Davis said.
The country's central bank expects credit growth at 18 percent in this fiscal year, down from an earlier projection of 19 percent. HSBC posted a 17 percent rise in demand for loans in the last fiscal year to end-March 2011.
India raised interest rates last week for the 12th time in 18 months, triggering worries about a slowdown in demand for corporate and retail loans from banks.
"There is certainly a slowdown in loan demand...(but) we are not looking at a situation that we are looking at in Europe and the U.S. where loan growth is negligible," he said, adding the bank also plans to grow its India mortgage loan book.
The bank's home loan book in India grew 11 percent in the first half of this calendar year to $949 million.
"We feel very positive about the growth scenario and our business here and in the absence of some unforeseen macroeconomic downturn here in India we are positive about our growth," Davis said.
The bank, which plans to shed 30,000 jobs globally in the next three years to cut costs, expects to raise its India banking operations headcount over the next few years from about 7,500 now on the back of growth in its business, Davis said.

IDBI to float arm for core fund

Public lender IDBI Bank Ltd will set up a non-banking subsidiary to float an infrastructure debt fund.
“We are waiting for the Reserve Bank of India to come up with the guidelines for setting up non-banking finance companies (NBFC) that are eligible for floating infrastructure debt funds. The banking regulator is expected to announce its guidelines for setting up such NBFCs within the next six months,” IDBI Bank executive director R.K. Bansal told reporters today.
With Rs 33,000-crore credit outstanding in infrastructure projects, IDBI Bank has been planning to launch an infrastructure debt fund (IDF) to generate more long-term resources for power, port and road projects. Under the current regulations of the RBI, a commercial bank can lend a maximum of 25 per cent of its loan book to the core sector.
The Planning Commission has estimated the funding requirement of the infrastructure sector at $1 trillion with banks being the largest lenders. Insurance companies are not allowed to invest in infrastructure firms having a credit rating below AAA.
In June, the government issued a guideline, based on the recommendations of the Deepak Parekh committee, allowing banks to float infrastructure debt funds either through trust-based asset management companies (basically mutual funds) or through non-banking finance companies.
A trust-based fund will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, while a fund set up as an NBFC will be under the Reserve Bank of India. Apply for Best Home Loans in Kolkata
Debit-credit card
IDBI Bank has launched a debit-cum-credit card, Magic Card, for its salary savings account holders.
“The card will work as a debit card till the account holder has balance in it but once exhausted, any further withdrawal or expenditure, the magic card will act similar to a credit card,” IDBI Bank chairman and managing director R.M. Malla said.

Prevent fake transaction dual factor confirmation

Every time your bank asks for an additional password to authenticate your credit card transaction, you may feel a little irritated, since it takes effort to remember and type the extra words to complete the transaction.
But this extra layer of authentication actually prevents the misuse of your credit card, especially through online transactions. The dual-factor authentication process allows debit and credit card customers to validate their identity without using data visible on the card. As a result, banks and payment portals can check if the transaction is genuine or counterfeit in nature.
However, like any routine banking transaction, you have to enter thelog-inidandthepassword before this. The rationale is that a hacker cannot get access tothecustomer'suserid, password and mobile phone simultaneously. Itisalsoconvenientasa mobile phone is an extended arm for most individuals. Two-factor authentication is a broad term and can be implemented in multiple ways.
Banks could use mobile phone or a grid or a scrambled key chain as an additional security measure for net banking. For net banking, however, banks ask for the additional authentication only if an individual has to transfer money for third-party transactions.
For example, you may transfer money to your child or parents on a monthly basis. If you register them as beneficiaries, you don't have to go through the additional authentication . These transactions are low risk in nature as the hacker will only transfer money to himself and not to any of these registered beneficiaries . For credit cards, Visa and MasterCard have introduced an additional password, which is mandatory for any online transaction. The password can be set by the customer and changed at his/her convenience.
The scope for a fraudulent transaction is higher as all a hacker needs is the credit card number, the expiry date and the CVV number which are mentioned in the card itself. As per RBI's stipulations , all banks have to follow the dual factor authentication model for credit card transactions.
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A credit card that talks to you!

Imagine your credit card talking to you and displaying your balance, while doubling as a reward card. Well, your imagination will soon turn into a reality.

Dynamics Inc is developing such cards -- due to be introduced in the US later this year -- which will have wafer- thin microprocessors and would run on batteries that can last up to three years.

However, the credit cards will only display personal information after a security code is entered.

Citibank has released the new 2G card, which has a programmable magnetic strip and buttons on the front for users to choose to use it as a credit card or just to spend reward points, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

A trial is currently ongoing and, if successful, it could roll out across the country.

Even Mastercard has just released a card that has a small LCD screen which displays a one-time code which the customer can use to make an online purchase. It means even if someone's credit card details are stolen, they will be useless to buy anything with without the one-off code.

Jeff Mullen, the CEO of Dynamics Inc which is working on several other high-tech cards, explained that the end of the magnetic strip has been mooted for years, but is still the dominant payment system in the world.

He said: "Magnetic stripe readers are being placed in more places than ever before -- like vending machines, movie theater kiosks and taxicabs. Download Songs

"Even in Japan, where the infrastructure is in place and phones (which can make payments) have been distributed for seven years, the volume of phone payments is significantly less than one per cent share of transactions.

"European chip cards comprise only about 10 % of cards in world."

Banks, phone providers, Google and Apple, are also working on mobile payment systems which rely on short-range wireless technology that allows electronic devices to transmit encrypted data.

"Although mobile payments is the future, you're not going to move all that overnight to magical phones. So these are step innovations, rather than leap innovations.

"Some are very much needed, and some are probably not going to make it," Todd Ablowitz, President of Double Diamond Group, a consulting firm on payments strategy technologies and products was quoted by the British newspaper as telling the 'creditcards.com'

Credit Card which satisfy your all requires

A credit card helps the user to purchase the goods and services without the risk of carry the money with them. When the purchase is made, the Credit card holder gives the card to the seller. The seller swipes the card and feeds the secret PIN number as told by the card holder. After the end of each month the card holder is provided with a statement sent from the Authority providing the details of the transactions made by the user during the month. It also provides the information about the exact date of payment of the dues. The company usually provides the customer a grace period of 20 to 40 days depending upon the amount of credit card issued by the organization. There are various type of organization that provide the credit cards like SBI, ICICI,  HDFC, ABN-AMRO etc. The company that issues the card usually charges a certain amount of interest on the amount of total purchase made by the user.
The Credit card provides various kind of benefit to the user. It allows the user to get the short term loans within a small period of time depending on the fact that the total charges are not higher than the maximum credit limit of the card. Moreover it reduces the risk of carrying the liquid cash in order to purchase the goods.
HDFC Credit cards also provide several kinds of benefits to the users. In order to satisfy the different needs of the different customer they have designed their credit cards into various categories. They have cards like Classic Cards, Special benefit Cards, Premium Cards and Commercial Cards. In the head of Classic Cards there are different cards like Silver Credit, Value Plus, Gold Credit Card, Titanium, Women Gold, Platinum Plus, Visa Signature, and World Master Credit Card. The Commercial Cards are also subdivided into several parts like Corporate Credit Cards, Corporate Platinum Credit Card, and Business Credit Card etc.
Like other credit cards ABN-AMRO credit cards provide the user the power to manage the all the finances of them. The ABN-AMRO Freedom credit cards provide different kinds of benefits like it reduces the prices of petrol at the time of making the payment. Through the use of this card the user can earn bonus points. As per the rules the customer earns one bonus points for making a purchase of more than Rs.100. This bonus points can be exchanged later on with an exciting gift hamper. It has also got different variety of cards to satisfy the demand of the different strata of the customer. The different cards are Platinum Card, Make My Trip Card,Smart Gold Card etc.
So the Credit cards provide different benefits to the different people and in this busy life every body should have the access of the cards in order to make their life more speedy.
Also Apply SBI Credit cards Online

Credit cards make life easier, do understand the fine print

It is not rare to see credit cards, which are seen as tools of convenience, turning into weapons of financial destruction for card holders, often due to lack of knowledge about their correct usage. Despite being constantly reminded about this, many fail to keep themselves abreast of the charges and other terms and conditions pertaining to a credit card. The realisation usually sets in only when their monthly credit card statement arrives at their doorsteps, showing an amount in excess of their estimation.
The first step to avoid mistakes other card users generally make is to take a close look at the Most Important Terms and Conditions (MITC) list, which is put up on the card issuers’ website. In addition to finance charges (interest charged on overdue amount payable to the company) and late payment fees, which are commonly known, it contains the details of charges payable by the user on other counts.
For instance, it may be tempting to use your credit card to withdraw cash, if your bank balance is inadequate. However, you need to remember that cash withdrawal at ATMs using a credit card attracts an upfront charge of nearly 2.5% of the amount. What’s more, in case of such transactions, the payment becomes due from the date of withdrawal and not after the expiry of the grace period, which is the case with transactions where the cards are swiped at Point of Sale (POS) terminals. The rate of interest could range from 39-45% per annum.
Besides, if you do not monitor your card usage, there is a chance that you could exceed your credit limit, attracting an overdrawing charge of around 2.5%, or `500, whichever is higher. Also, depending on the bank’s cheque collection policy, you may have to shell out charges for making credit card bill payment through an outstation cheque. This could be around 1% of the cheque value, or `50, for every instrument.
Finally, another term that you need to be aware of relates to non-payment of dues. If you maintain another account with the bank which has issued the credit card to you and have not been paying the card bill as per schedule, the bank has the right to use the money lying in your account to clear your credit card outstanding, without seeking your consent.

Usage of debit cards ups as compared to credit cards

Indians are using more of debit cards than credit cards for their banking transactions, says the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data for the year ended 2009-10. While the transactions through debit cards jumped by 42 per cent at Rs 26,418 Cr in the last fiscal from Rs 18,547 Cr in 2008-09, it slipped by 4 per cent for credit cards to Rs 62,852 Cr from Rs 65,356 Cr.
In the same period, the number of debit cards in circulation has also increased by 33 per cent as compared to a fall in credit card circulation by 10 per cent over the previous year.
The total number of debit cards increased to 17 Cr in 2009-10 from 12.8 Cr in 2008-09. On the contrary, the total number of credit cards went down to 23.4 Cr in 2009-10 from 25.9 Cr in 2008-09.
“Shopping through debit card has become more convenient now due to rise in point of sale terminals in various shopping centres,” says Subrat Pani, business head- cards, Kotak Mahindra Bank. "Volume of transaction has increased due to easy availability of debit cards, which are given with every newly opened bank account."
Industry experts also attribute the popularity of debit card to the cautious attitude of Indian consumers as a result of the recent economic downturn.
“While debit card can enable the consumer to track their spending better, it is also a great payment tool for those who are credit averse or are not credit worthy,” says a senior official at VISA, who did not wish to be named.
Downturn in the economy was the major reason for negative trend in credit cards. “During the slowdown, banks became cautious in issuing new credit cards to check defaults. Also, last year many lost their jobs which led to the decline in spending through credit cards,” said Pani.

Private cabs to accept cards payments soon

You need not bother about carrying cash the next time you take a private cab in the city. Around 3,000 cabs will offer payment by credit card by June-end.
With Easy Cabs and City Cool Cabs having started the credit card facility recently, other operators like Meru, Mega Cabs and Gold Cabs plan to offer this payment option to passengers soon. While Meru is in the process of importing hightech swiping machines from Italy, Gold Cabs will offer card payment facility from next week onwards. Mega Cabs will launch the service from June 10.
Meru CEO Rajesh Puri said, “Mumbai is a commercial hub and there is a daily influx of business travellers from across the world. It becomes difficult for passengers to pay in Indian currency. Also, the card payment option would be easier, convenient and faster.” Meru already offers the card payment option in Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Mega Cabs vice-president Vinod Mishra confirmed that there was a huge demand from passengers for the credit card payment facility. “ While giving us feedback, passengers who hire vehicles for official purposes request for the credit card payment option. We have decided to introduce the facility in all our vehicles ,” he said.
Gold Cabs CEO Arun Sabnis said that installing a card swiping machine was an expensive affair. “But due to public demand, we will instal swiping machines in each vehicle,’’ he said.
Easy Cabs officials claim they are the pioneers in introducing the credit card system in Mumbai cabs.
Vijay Agunde, proprietor of City Cool Cabs, said he offers credit card facility only on request, installing the machine on a temporary basis. “The machine costs Rs 25,000 and there is a possibility of drivers misplacing it. I cannot take this risk,” he stated. Star Taxis also plans to introduce the facility in near future.
“Every private taxi operator will have to switch to card payment soon. These days, you will find a passenger carrying not one but at least three to four credit cards in his/her wallet,’’ Sabnis added.

Credit Cards: Par panel for capping of interest rates

Concerned over the exploitation of credit card holders, a Parliamentary Committee has suggested that RBI should prescribe maximum interest rate that can be charged by banks from customers.
"Maximum interest rates to be charged (by banks from credit card customers) may be specified so as not to allow exploitation of customers by banks," a report of the Standing Committee on Finance, which was tabled in Parliament, recently, said.
The Committee did not agree with the contention of the Finance Ministry that credit card dues are in the nature of non-priority sector personal loans and hence, the banks should be free to decide the interest rates.
Even the RBI's circular casing various aspects relating to credit card operations of banks has not been of much help in addressing the grievances and complaints of general public, the committee noted.
"The effectiveness of such circulars in bringing down the credit card related complaints is doubtful given the past record," the report of the committee said.
The Reserve Bank's circular asks banks to ensure prudence while issuing credit cards, avoid issuing unsolicited cards, third party agents for debt collection should not resort to intimidation or harassment, among others.
"The RBI has advised banks ... to consider issuing cards with photographs of the cardholder/ PIN/ signature laminated cards or any other advanced methods to prevent fraud; it is imperative to see that these are implemented," it added.
As of February, total number of outstanding credit cards in the country is 202 Lac, as per RBI's April bulletin.
The number of credit cards has been declining in the last two years. It was 247 Lac in March 2009 and 275 Lac in March 2008.