Indian Credit Card Market Survey

IIMS conducted a India Incomes and Savings Survey. Here are the excerpts w.r.t credit card market in India.

Demand for Credit Cards by geographic distribution in %ge

• Supermetros 11%
• Metros & Class Towns - 15%
• Other Urban Areas - 13%
• Rural India - 61%

Occupation of the applicants seeking credit card in India, only the top 5 categories

• Self Employed in Primary Production - Rural Areas -29%
• Private Salaried Workers - Urban India -23.7%
• Government Salaried Workers - Urban Area - 20.2%
• Shopkeepers Urban Areas - 19.4%
• Private Salaried Workers in Rural Areas - 12.3%

We also found out that all major temples and charities are now accepting credit card donations. Way to go India :-)

Personalized ICICI Credit Cards

We have just been told by a reader about the new personalization features introduced by ICICI Bank for Debit / Credit Cards.

ICICI Bank has tied up with CardPix which lets one customize ICICI cards / Picture Cards. Here is one which we customized having Preity Zinta in the background. You can do it too, having member of your family or your ultimate vacation in Europe etc on your card so that you always have those moments with you to smile :-)

We have not customized and bought any card, but if you want you can do so. The ICICI Bank Picture Credit Card is available at a nominal fee of Rs 200 only. This fee will apply every time you decide to put a new image onto your ICICI Bank Picture Credit Card. The fees will be charged to your ICICI Bank primary credit card account.

Festive Season Credit Card Shopping Tips

Its a great year for the Indian economy. The mood is vibrant across the country for this festival season. However, our Banks and Credit Card [CC] companies are one of the worst establishments who do not know the value of customers.

Your wife wants that expensive Jewellery, Daugther wants the iPod and the demands continue with every member of the family. Thank God, we have Credit Card that will come handy for shopping this holiday season. Here are some tips for to avoid pit-falls post-holiday season.

• Check the offer on your CC is valid across all categories
• Check if offers are applicable to your card. Ex - For HDFC Card, the offer is valid for customers who have paid their bills regularly and who hold a card higher than Gold Card.
• Some Banks and Companies require registration for cash back [What a Painful process ?]
• Keep an eye on the validity of the offers
  
• Check the pros and cons of Cashback offer before you swipe, we shall discuss this cash back in detail.

Cashback is nothing but refund from part of your credit card expenditure. But be sure about the fine terms and conditions on cash back. Some limit it to a certain value [Rs 250], some to a certain period [Only one month between October-December]. Worst is some say that Cash Back is valid only if purchases are done at shops where the credit card issuing bank has its point-of-sale terminal. We have discussed about HDFC Bank's Cash Back Offer here.

HSBC, Citibank etc are all offering cashback + reward points, but kindly call the call center and verify what you really get before you have surprises post-holiday.