ICICI Bank gets MRTPC on credit card insurance

ICICI Bank, the country's biggest private sector lender, and its coverage arm ICICI Lombard, have got come up under the scanner of just trade patterns organic structure MRTPC for imposing "unfair and unjust" statuses on the coverage screen provided to the recognition card customers.

Admitting a study of its fact-finding unit of measurement Director General of Investigations and Registration (DGIR), the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Committee have issued 'notice of enquiry' against the two companies.

Both the companies have got been asked to register their answers within four weeks. The notice was issued on March 11. ICICI Bank, when contacted, denied receiving any such as notice.

"ICICI Depository Financial Institution is yet to have any notice and would answer appropriately when we acquire it," said an ICICI spokesperson.

In its probe report, DGIR said that certain footing and statuses concerning the coverage screen on recognition card game were not conveyed to the clients at the clip of issue, but only mentioned in the welcome kit booklet.

While noting that some statuses were "unfair and unfair to the consumers", DGIR said that clients were denied coverage claims on the land that card game were not used two modern times within 90 years from the accident day.

ICICI Depository Financial Institution had unveiled an offering to supply coverage screen to its recognition card clients and compensation in lawsuit of any mishap. Following ailments by a client about being denied coverage claims, the Committee had directed DGIR to examine into the matter.

"ICICI Depository Financial Institution did not inform the client about this pre-condition piece issuing the recognition card. The endorser came to cognize of the same lone when the card was delivered along with the welcome kit," said the report. "This shows the bank's insouciant approach," said DGIR in its report, while recommending suitable action against the 'unfair and unjust' terms.

"ICICI Depository Financial Institution and ICICI Langobard would have got misled many more than people while merchandising the recognition card and making tall claims regarding benefits, without telling the footing and statuses regarding usage.

5 held for credit card fraud

MUMBAI:
Five persons, including three women, were recently arrested for misusing a
credit card belonging to a developer and making purchases of Rs 77,000 with
it. One of the women is an
employee of the developer, Arun Patel, a occupant of Bajaj Road at Vile Parle
(E). He runs an business office in the suburbs, right beside that of his brother. Patel
had applied to a prima private sector depository financial institution for a recognition card and soon one was
sanctioned to him with a bounds of Rs 1 lakh. However, the twenty-four hours the card was
delivered at his office, Patel was
away. "One of Patel's women
employees got the recognition card from his business office and conspired with two friends
about using it," an investigating police force military officer said. "Later, the three women
contacted a common acquaintance, Pratin Jethva from Borivli, who offered to help
them out." Jethva incidentally
knows a jeweller, Lalit Jain, who runs a salesroom near Borivli station. On
January 26, Jethva went to the store and spent Rs 43,200 by swiping the credit
card. The police force said Jain knew that the card did not belong to Jethva, but he
did not object to it. Later, Jethva and the women made additional purchases of Rs
33,800, the functionaries said. Meanwhile, the depository financial institution intimated
Patel about the money spent through his recognition card. Patel, who was shocked
since he did not even cognize that the card had been delivered at his office,
called the Borivli police force immediately. After a probe, the three women were
arrested on January 27 and two years later, Jain was also held. Jethva was also
arrested later. All five were
produced before a metropolitan tribunal at Borivli for remand.

Don't Give Fraudsters A Very Merry Christmas!

As Christmastide attacks our disbursement increases, and so makes the opportunity that we will go a victim of recognition card fraud. Forget about it being the 'season of good will to all men', that is not a sentiment to which fraudsters adhere. They will make their best to steal others' recognition card inside information - whatever the clip of twelvemonth - so be on your guard.

One of the premier grounds that it is easier for fraudsters to be successful at Christmastide is because of the sheer amount of minutes that return topographic point over the gala season, and crucially how many of those are done online using recognition cards. Not all e-commerce websites are built with the kind of encrypted and protective software system that you would associate with online banks. That agency some volition be unfastened to mistreat from fraudsters, and they are the 1s you should avoid.

Reputation and resort are two things to bear in head when it come ups to shopping online. Websites owned and tally by large, well-known companies will on the whole be given to be safer than other sites. This is purely because larger concerns have got more than resources at their disposal to guarantee that their land sites are safe and unafraid to use. Although that makes not intend that all land sites run by large companies are safe and all others unsafe. On the whole big bricks and howitzer companies such as as section supplies fiercely protect their trade name reputation. Crucially, if it all travels incorrect on the net, you can travel to the shop to acquire it sorted.

On littler land sites look for a physical computer address and telephone set Numbers that are not mobile numbers. Check the concern through Cry or a local concern directory before imparting your recognition card details. Knowing that you are dealing with a legitimate company and can acquire clasp of them should it all spell incorrect is very important. There's no point getting the best recognition card trades on the web, if they turn out to be fraudulent.

One of the oft overlooked ways of ensuring that you don't travel the victim of fraud is to guarantee that you have got up-to-date security software system installed on your computing machine before you go shopping on the net. One manner fraudsters can steal your inside information is by setting up websites that expression real, but they are actually just ways of getting entree or taking control of your computing machine via Trojans and other software.

Finally carefully compare recognition card game before you take the 1 you are to utilize on the web. Many United Kingdom recognition card game now transport online fraud protection which intends that if you make autumn victim to fraud this Christmastide you'll have got most or all of your losings reimbursed. Stick with these recommendations and have got a safe Christmastide shopping online.

Barbara Bova: ‘I want it’ isn’t best reason to say ‘Charge it’ - Naples Daily News

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Shopping acquires easier with each further recognition card. The more than than we utilize them the more we bury that nil come ups for free. All we have got to make is flash 1 of those small card game and our desires are fulfilled. That is until the monthly measure gets and conveys us back to reality.

Credit card game make a powerful motive for overspending. Buy now, wage later, and unrecorded to repent the urges that cause us to bury what we can’t afford to spend. Stores publicize aggressively to acquire us to buy their merchandise. Some piece of furniture supplies give as much as a twelvemonth free when you purchase a family of goods. Since nil is free, you can be assured that your furnishings will be taken back if payment isn’t made in full on the contracted date.

Wise shoppers never pass more than than they can pay for. Follow that regulation and life goes easier and happier. Another good thought is to check up on out a store’s tax return policy before paying for anything you buy. Stores often have got very definite tax return policies and it can be you dearly if you don’t cognize about them.

For instance, my daughter-in-law was socked with a $477.00 measure at a local shoestore for not asking the terms of the point she wanted before handing over her recognition card to the owner. Once the card was swiped and she realized the terms of the place she was buying for her growth girl she tried to halt the sale and acquire the proprietor to negate the charge. Helium wouldn’t. He actually said his recognition card machine could not cancel the sale. Since she didn’t desire the place and he wouldn’t yield there was a stalemate. She left the place and we fumed all the manner home.

The shop policy of no tax returns may have got been emblazoned on the registry but neither she nor I took notice of it. Her lone hope now is to have got Visa fighting the charge.

Not long ago I bought what I thought was a very good trade at national electronics store. It was a small laptop computing machine computer that I believed would make certain chores. Once place I tried it out and establish that it couldn’t make what I wanted. Of course of study it was my folly not to have got asked a gross sales individual the right questions. But I was still ferocious when I returned the point and was told that I couldn’t acquire the full terms back.

As my girl loves to say: “Once shame on him, twice shame on me.”

Needless to state I’ve learned my lesson and won’t, Iodine hope, acquire caught up in the same state of affairs again. The of import thing that I learned is not to be so eager to buy. Most of the material we believe we necessitate we really don’t. Years ago when money was very tight Iodine used to go through through seasonal purchasing urges on by postponing any shopping. Soon the pressure level to purchase faded as did the season. It sure did save me a batch of money I didn’t have.

Consumerism and ingestion are the lifeblood of our economy. Young grownups desire to begin out just where they left off at their parents’ home. We promote it. It’s portion of our civilization to have got everything even without working and saving. It’s go one of our “rights” to have got it all.

Wanting material starts almost immediately after a kid gets to speak. For example: At yearling age our grandson said, “I desire that.” Pretty soon he got more than sophisticated and said, “I demand that.” Then his desires got full-blown when at age nine he told me, “Grandma, all my life I’ve wanted that.”

Now the shopping season is upon us. We are bombarded with dainties to purchase to do all our favorites happy. Lord, it’s alluring to interrupt the depository financial institution during the vacation season. But forewarned is forearmed. Holidays come up and go. But measures will never bury us.

E-mail Barbara Bova at babovacolumn@aol.com.

SC reserves judgement in ICICI Bank's recovery case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on
Tuesday reserved its judgment on a request filed by ICICI Depository Financial Institution ambitious the
Delhi High Court's determination that virtually indicted it for abetting the suicide
of a young person who reportedly defaulted on payment of his recognition card dues. A bench headed by Justice Tarun Chatterjee reserved its verdict
while observing that the depository financial institution cannot go against basic human rights and usage unfair
trade patterns in their haste to accumulate money. Seeking expunging
of certain critical comments passed by the High Court, ICICI Depository Financial Institution had challenged
the High Court order that held that Banks like ICICI cannot usage coercive methods
by use musclemen to retrieve loans. ICICI depository financial institution contended that it
was within its rights to retrieve loans and followed the needed process fore
recovering dues. The High Court while directing the police force to
expedite probes into the self-destruction of Himanshu Dev Sharma, 34, allegedly
abetted by the strong arm tactics adopted by the Bank, passed strong
observations against Banks and fiscal establishments for employing musclemen to
recover their loans. On the ailment by the deceased's mother, the
High Court had also observed that "the proximate cause of decease of the deceased
that led him to perpetrate self-destruction was on business relationship of humiliation caused by the bank
people from where loan was taken by him." Sharma had committed
suicide in October 2005 by hanging himself at his house after he was allegedly
intimidated and humiliated in presence of his neighbors and household by recovery
agents employed by the depository financial institution for recovering a loan amount. After his
suicide, Sharma's female parent Shanti Devi had moved the Old Delhi High Court seeking an
investigation into the self-destruction and action against the force employed by the
bank. She contended that Sharma took the utmost measure as the bank
had employed musclemen who intimidated her boy and carried away his motorcycle
for defaulting on the payment of a loan installment.

Opinion by Steve Bucci : Credit card for wedding a lousy way to start off

Q My fiancee and I would like to get a new credit card for wedding expenses. She has a higher FICO score than I do (hers is in the 720-730 area; mine is in the mid-600s), but I make considerably more money than she does ($60,000 versus $20,000). The credit card we would be applying for would normally require a score like hers. I want to know if it would be wise for us to apply for the card jointly, or if she should apply for the card by herself.

A How do I get your attention without using a two-by-four? Why is your credit score in the 600s? Why haven't you saved for the wedding? Why are you using a credit card, of all things, to finance what should be one of the happiest days of your lives? How much of a limit are you looking for, anyway?

Is your fiancee in such a state of bliss that she doesn't realize that by financing the wedding on a card in her name she will be solely responsible for the debt?

These and other questions come to my mind immediately. That they haven't come to either of yours concerns me.

My advice is not to finance your futures, especially with a variable interest rate loan. A better idea is to save for the wedding expenses for which you would be using a credit card. If you want or need to get married before you are able to save the money, cut back on the expenses for the wedding so you don't need to charge anything.

I also endorse letting your parents contribute.

If you are not wildly optimistic about your futures now, you probably never will be. So, if you want to know how to do things your way, here goes:

It is not a good idea for either one of you to get stuck with the bill for the wedding if you part ways before the tab is paid. So, why not take an egalitarian approach: Apply for two credit cards, one in each of your names, and split the costs based on your respective incomes.

It is important for you each to have credit in your own names, and the financial responsibility would be shared equally. I know, I know, you are getting married and will be sharing everything quite willingly. Do this for the protection of both of you.

Now to the part that no one wants to discuss — paying off the balance. I would hope you are charging no more than what you can pay off in nine months or less.

Debt Adviser

Credit Card Fees: Where are the Free-Market People? |

Interesting comments on   We should debate policy, but we should be clear on the numbers:  Every time a consumer makes a purchase on a credit card, the credit card networks skims a fee off the top.  The fee is typically 2%-3% of the purchase price, but sometimes as high as 15%.  The level of fee relates to the merchant's industry and size and, most crucially, the level of rewards.  Merchants pay more when a customer puts down a cashback/frequent flier super-gold high premium card than when another customer puts down a plain-vanilla card.  As several readers explained, this means that if a customer pays for $100 worth of merchandise at Home Depot with a credit card, the store would keep somewhere between $85 and $98, depending on the card the customer used.

According to research published by Adam Levitin, credit card transactions cost merchants, on average, about six times as much as cash transactions and twice as much as check or PIN-debit card transactions.

Because Mastercard and Visa prevent it, the merchant doesn't have the option to charge $10 extra to use a credit card rather than cash, even if the credit card costs the merchant $10 more. 

The numbers cited in Save $6 Billion came from different sources.  The report on the total dollars for these fees ($57 billion) came from .  The numbers for convenience stores and gasoline purchases ($6.6 billion in fees, 65-86 cents per transaction came from ).  I estimated the cash costs based on the  on the relative costs of cash and credit cards. 

We've had some really good posts, but, if I may, I want to re-frame the question just slightly:  Whatever your views of credit cards and consumers, why shouldn't merchants be allowed to pass along higher costs of credit cards--and pass along the savings when customers use cash?  I know how the consumer advocates feel about this, but where are the free market people?  Why aren't those who believe in unrestricted markets jumping up and down over this restraint on trade and demanding that merchants be allowed to determine their own pricing structures?  Isn't this an issue on which two ends of the political spectrum should unite? 

Credit card fees, penalty rates have risen, survey says - Seattle Post Intelligencer

By EILEEN ALT POWELL/nTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- The average late fee on credit cards has soared to $28 in the United States, while penalty interest rates average 24.5 percent, according to a survey released Thursday by Consumer Action.

The San Francisco-based consumer watchdog's report came a day after the Federal Reserve Board proposed sweeping revisions of the rules governing the way consumers are notified of changes to the terms of their accounts, including the way penalty rates are applied.

Consumer Action looked at the terms of 83 cards issued by 20 banks, including the top 10 U.S. card issuers.

The average annual percentage rate was 14.53 percent, up from 12.61 percent when the survey last was done in 2005.

That largely paralleled the Fed's boost in interest rates.

Penalty fees and rates generally kick in when consumers pay their bills late, and they've risen sharply.

This year's average late fee of $28 was more than double the $13 that prevailed in 1995 and was up from $27.46 in 2005.

Some card issuers charge as much as $39 per incident, the study found.

The penalty rates, which ran as high as 32.24 percent, were up from an average of 24.23 percent in 2005 and 21.91 percent in 2004.

Linda Sherry, a Consumer Action spokeswoman, said she did not think Fed adoption of the truth-in-lending proposals would necessarily change credit card rate and fee practices.

"But I think it will make people more aware, especially of the penalty rates," Sherry said.

One of the Fed proposals would require credit card issuers to give people 45 days notice before making any changes to the terms of an account.

That would give consumers time to repair the problem or pursue other credit options.

Among the credit card provisions that have been criticized by consumer activists is "universal default," which allows a card issuer to boost a consumer's interest rate if the consumer gets into trouble on another loan.

The Consumer Action group found that in the past year, many credit card companies are saying they no longer impose universal default rate increases.

But the group found that instead, many have inserted language into their contracts allowing them to change a customer's rate "at any time for any reason."

This, Sherry said, "means credit card companies may be hiding universal default -- one of their most insidious practices -- in a different section of the credit card contract."

Add P-I Business headlines to/n

Credit-card miles: Flight to nowhere

Dear Dave,

I'm a senior in college, and my roommate just got a credit card that features airline miles. He want me to get one, too, so we can take a trip together at the end of the year. What do you think about this idea?

Tim

Dear Tim,

This is a bad idea on so many different levels. First, you're close to graduation and beginning your real life. You don't want to start out with a bunch of hanging over your head.

Second, have you seen the restrictions on airline miles lately? Jupiter has to align with Mars while you're standing on one leg to cash in on those things. It's ridiculous! Plus, statistics from Consumer Reports show that 78 percent of all airline miles are never redeemed. What does this mean? It means in most cases people end up with no cool trip and a bunch of debt.

(Column continues below)

I'm not against going nice places and having fun, and you probably deserve to celebrate a little after finishing college. But going into debt for it is a really bad idea.

Just for a trip, Tim. Today, many debit cards have airline miles associated with them. So there's no reason to take a chance with credit cards.

Dave

Long-term disability insurance?

Dear Dave,

My husband is 31 years old and has been offered long-term disability insurance through his employer. It only costs $25 a month, but we're trying hard to live on a budget and get out of debt. Is this coverage worth it?

Rebecca

Dear Rebecca,

Yes!

is a fantastic buy. It's inexpensive, and in return it will pay you about 60 to 70 percent of his salary if something bad happens and he becomes disabled. That's not a bad deal for just $300 a year.

Statistics show that a man in his early 30s is 12 times more likely to become disabled than to die before the age of 65. Everyone needs to have long-term – not short-term – disability insurance.

Hopefully, you'll never find yourselves in a situation where you have to use this type of policy. But in the event that something awful does happen, it can help save you from financial ruin!

Dave

Perpetual debt

Dear Dave,

My father-in-law is telling us we should apply for an interest-only loan when we buy a house and then pay extra on the principle. What do you think about this idea?

Nick

Dear Nick,

Interest-only mortgages are horrible. Stay away from them!

Lots of folks get into these traps by promising themselves they'll pay extra on the principle. But according to FDIC statistics, 97 percent don't pre-pay on their loans.

Some lenders will also try to use a flashy or "sophisticated" analysis to convince you this is a great way to get into a great house. But the funny thing about most of these sales pitches is that there's no mention of the fact that you've exponentially increased risk. And risk can be mathematically entered into the equation, making your supposed gains disappear.

The best thing you can do – short of saving up and paying cash for a home – is make a huge down payment on a . Then, pay it off as quickly as possible.

When you have an interest-only loan, you end up paying only on the interest. And that's a great way to find yourself in debt for the rest of your life!

Dave