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.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
HDFC Bank off commercial migration of EMV credit card
HDFC Bank has begun to supply credit card compliant with the global EMV standard to its premium-segment customers nationwide. The 500,000 smart cards for the commercial launch phase that will run until March 2011 are being supplied by the Indian subsidiary of security technology specialists Giesecke & Devrient. This initiative will increase the Indian subcontinent's migration to EMV, from standard magnetic stripe formats to chip-based smart cards. These cards will provide a higher standard of security.
HDFC has started its migration to the EMV standard with credit and forex prepaid smart-card products on the Visa platform. HDFC Bank also plans to issue EMV smart debit cards in the near future. These smart cards will also serve as a multi-application platform. Applications being considered include a customer loyalty program and an electronic purse.
Announcing this migration plan, A. Rajan, group head of operations, HDFC Bank said: "We want to offer our customers the benefit of modern, secure EMV cards and safeguard them from fraudulent skimming and misuse of HDFC credit cards."
HDFC has started its migration to the EMV standard with credit and forex prepaid smart-card products on the Visa platform. HDFC Bank also plans to issue EMV smart debit cards in the near future. These smart cards will also serve as a multi-application platform. Applications being considered include a customer loyalty program and an electronic purse.
Announcing this migration plan, A. Rajan, group head of operations, HDFC Bank said: "We want to offer our customers the benefit of modern, secure EMV cards and safeguard them from fraudulent skimming and misuse of HDFC credit cards."
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Number of credit card holders slips to 18.3 mn in March: Fewer swipes
The number of credit cards in circulation fell below the 20-million mark in March, as issuers continued to cull inactive and defaulting accounts and focus instead on increasing spends.
The country’s credit card population fell to 18.3 million as of end-March from a peak base of 28.3 million in April 2008, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. In the last financial year, 6.04 million cards were put out of circulation. This is in addition to nearly 3.61 million credit cards being cancelled in 2008-09. So, over two years, nearly 10 million cards have gone out of circulation.
This is the first time since August 2006 that the credit card population has declined below 20 million.
As the economy slid into a downturn, unsecured portfolios of banks such as credit cards and personal loans were severely affected. As part of a firefighting exercise, banks began to cancel inactive cards and close accounts they feared would default. The country’s largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, cut its base from a peak of more than eight million to about five million at present. Late entrants into the credit card space such as Barclays Bank and Axis Bank were also affected.
However, issuers have since become optimistic and have resumed new card issues from the second half of 2009, while simultaneously culling inactive and defaulting accounts. Some like HDFC Bank remained bullish and continue to issue 70-80,000 cards every month. HDFC credit cards has the second largest card network in the country, with 4.3 million cards as of March 31.
Rather than increase the numbers of cards, issuers are trying to increase the spending on each. Standard Chartered Bank has seen its monthly credit card spending increase from Rs 250 crore last year to Rs 400 crore. “We are aiming for a target of Rs 500 crore per month soon. Ours is a highly rewards-driven programme, concentrating on what works with customers,” said Shyamal Saxena, general manager of retail banking at StanChart.
The focus on getting fewer customers to spend more is reflected in the numbers. According to RBI data, customers spent an average of Rs 2,685.97 per transaction in 2009-10, up from Rs 2,518.4 in 2008-09. In 2007-08, customers spent an average of Rs 2,540.9 per swipe.
Bankers say the market has also shifted towards the high-end, less susceptible to delinquencies. “The focus for the last three years has been the premium segment and losses from this segment are significantly less than from other segments,” said a senior executive of a large foreign bank.
While the pool of premium customers is much smaller than the mass segment, high-end customers make up by spending more. “I would prefer to have 5,000 high-end customers rather than 20,000 premium segment customers,” the executive added.
The country’s credit card population fell to 18.3 million as of end-March from a peak base of 28.3 million in April 2008, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. In the last financial year, 6.04 million cards were put out of circulation. This is in addition to nearly 3.61 million credit cards being cancelled in 2008-09. So, over two years, nearly 10 million cards have gone out of circulation.
This is the first time since August 2006 that the credit card population has declined below 20 million.
As the economy slid into a downturn, unsecured portfolios of banks such as credit cards and personal loans were severely affected. As part of a firefighting exercise, banks began to cancel inactive cards and close accounts they feared would default. The country’s largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, cut its base from a peak of more than eight million to about five million at present. Late entrants into the credit card space such as Barclays Bank and Axis Bank were also affected.
However, issuers have since become optimistic and have resumed new card issues from the second half of 2009, while simultaneously culling inactive and defaulting accounts. Some like HDFC Bank remained bullish and continue to issue 70-80,000 cards every month. HDFC credit cards has the second largest card network in the country, with 4.3 million cards as of March 31.
Rather than increase the numbers of cards, issuers are trying to increase the spending on each. Standard Chartered Bank has seen its monthly credit card spending increase from Rs 250 crore last year to Rs 400 crore. “We are aiming for a target of Rs 500 crore per month soon. Ours is a highly rewards-driven programme, concentrating on what works with customers,” said Shyamal Saxena, general manager of retail banking at StanChart.
The focus on getting fewer customers to spend more is reflected in the numbers. According to RBI data, customers spent an average of Rs 2,685.97 per transaction in 2009-10, up from Rs 2,518.4 in 2008-09. In 2007-08, customers spent an average of Rs 2,540.9 per swipe.
Bankers say the market has also shifted towards the high-end, less susceptible to delinquencies. “The focus for the last three years has been the premium segment and losses from this segment are significantly less than from other segments,” said a senior executive of a large foreign bank.
While the pool of premium customers is much smaller than the mass segment, high-end customers make up by spending more. “I would prefer to have 5,000 high-end customers rather than 20,000 premium segment customers,” the executive added.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Jet Airways associates with SBI Credit Cards to offer simple payment option
Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, today announced a tie-up with SBI Card the joint offering from State Bank of India and GE Capital, to offer its guests a unique travel option.
This arrangement is aimed at making air travel more affordable for guests across India. Jet Airways’ guests can now opt to convert their air tickets purchased on www.jetairways.com, using an SBI Credit Card into a zero % equated monthly installment (EMI).
Under this offer, SBI Credit Cardholders would be able to choose an option to convert their ticket purchases on jetairways.com into a zero percent EMI with tenure of 6 months.
Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways, said “Jet Airways is committed to significantly enhance the travel options available for all its guests, with an eye on convenience. The tie up with the SBI Card is another unique travel option aimed at making air travel more economical and cost-effective for family travel. This new scheme bears testimony to our customer-centric approach wherein Jet Airways’ has time and again created products catering to the specific travel needs of our guests.”
This scheme will help a family to undertake visits to tourist spots and encourage domestic tourism, he further added.
“We are delighted to partner with Jet Airways and offer SBI Card holders an affordable travel option. This offering is in line with our focus on the travel segment as it enables air travelers a unique opportunity to fly now and pay later without any additional costs.,” said Mr. Abhay Kumar Singh, CEO, SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd.
This arrangement is aimed at making air travel more affordable for guests across India. Jet Airways’ guests can now opt to convert their air tickets purchased on www.jetairways.com, using an SBI Credit Card into a zero % equated monthly installment (EMI).
Under this offer, SBI Credit Cardholders would be able to choose an option to convert their ticket purchases on jetairways.com into a zero percent EMI with tenure of 6 months.
Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways, said “Jet Airways is committed to significantly enhance the travel options available for all its guests, with an eye on convenience. The tie up with the SBI Card is another unique travel option aimed at making air travel more economical and cost-effective for family travel. This new scheme bears testimony to our customer-centric approach wherein Jet Airways’ has time and again created products catering to the specific travel needs of our guests.”
This scheme will help a family to undertake visits to tourist spots and encourage domestic tourism, he further added.
“We are delighted to partner with Jet Airways and offer SBI Card holders an affordable travel option. This offering is in line with our focus on the travel segment as it enables air travelers a unique opportunity to fly now and pay later without any additional costs.,” said Mr. Abhay Kumar Singh, CEO, SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Visa International:Huge growth in plastic money transactions
Visa International said that it expects an enormous growth in plastic money transactions in India in the next five-years.
"The usage of plastic money now is just 2.5 % of the USD-700 billion consumers are spending in India annually," Visa International Country Head, Uttam Nayak, told PTI today, after the company was selected by State Bank of India (SBI) as a joint venture partner for the merchant acquiring business.
The international average (of plastic money usage) is 9 %.
"Within the next five-years, we see a huge potential in this field. More people are converting to plastic money," he said.
It is Visa's first such kind of joint venture here and it expects that the tremendous success it gained in Brazil can be repeated in India, he said.
Visa entered Brazil through such a joint venture and within 12-years the number of terminals rose to 1.2-million from the earlier 50,000, he said.
Earlier today, India's largest lender SBI said it has selected US-based Elavon Incorporation and Visa International as its joint venture partners for the merchant acquiring business.
This is after the bank had floated a Request For Proposal (RFP) for selection of joint venture (JV) partners for merchant acquiring business last year.
Know More And Apply for SBI Card
"The usage of plastic money now is just 2.5 % of the USD-700 billion consumers are spending in India annually," Visa International Country Head, Uttam Nayak, told PTI today, after the company was selected by State Bank of India (SBI) as a joint venture partner for the merchant acquiring business.
The international average (of plastic money usage) is 9 %.
"Within the next five-years, we see a huge potential in this field. More people are converting to plastic money," he said.
It is Visa's first such kind of joint venture here and it expects that the tremendous success it gained in Brazil can be repeated in India, he said.
Visa entered Brazil through such a joint venture and within 12-years the number of terminals rose to 1.2-million from the earlier 50,000, he said.
Earlier today, India's largest lender SBI said it has selected US-based Elavon Incorporation and Visa International as its joint venture partners for the merchant acquiring business.
This is after the bank had floated a Request For Proposal (RFP) for selection of joint venture (JV) partners for merchant acquiring business last year.
Know More And Apply for SBI Card
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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.
"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.
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