Jun 15, 2006 07:51 PM
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THIS CARD IS THE BEST IF YOU ARE THE ONE WHO INTENDS TO GET A CASHBACK FOR ALL YOUR TRANSACTIONS.
IN GENERAL THESE PEOPLE GIVE A 1% CASH BACK FOR ALL PURCHASES AND A FUEL SURCHARGE WAIVER AT ALL IOCL AND IBP FUEL STATIONS.
APART FROM THE 1% CASH BACK YOU GET A 2% CASHBACK FOR ALL UTILITY BILL PAYMENTS MADE ONLINE ON THIS CARD.
THEN THESE PEOPLE ARE CURRENTLY OFFERING 5% CASHBACK FOR ALL TRANSACTIONS DONE FOR AIR AND TRAIN TICKETS.
THE 5% CASHBACK STRUCTURE FOR TRAIN AND AIR TICKETS IS VALID TILL 30TH OF SEPTEMBER AND AFTER THAT THERE COULD BE A NEW OFFER FROM CITIBANK.
I GOT THIS CARD FREE FOR LIFE BASED UPON MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BANK,MY PAYMENT TRACK AND MY SPENDING HABITS.
THE OTHER BEAUTY OF THIS CARD IS THE INTERNET BANKING MODULE.
THE INTERNET BANKING MODULE FOR CITIBANK IS THE BEST AND IS CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY ICICI BANK.
THE BEAUTY THESE PEOPLE HAVE IS THAT YOU ARE ALLOWED TO EVEN SWAP YOUR CARD FOR ANOTHER CARD ONLINE.
YOU CAN GET A 2% CASHBACK FOR ALL YOUR LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES,MOBILE BILLS,ELECTRICITY BILLS,WATERBILLS AND TAXES.
THE MAXIMUM CASH BACK ALLOWED ON THIS CARD IS 20,000RS/YEAR.
CITIBANK IS ALSO VERY RIGID IN SOME SITUATIONS LIKE IT DOES NOT OFFER ZERO BALANCE TRANSFERS TO ITS CUSTOMERS AND ITS BALANCE TRANSFER OFFERS ARE DOUBLE THE COST OF OTHER CREDIT CARDS(1.49%).
SBI GIVES A ZERO BALANCE TRANSFER OFFER FOR 75DAYS WITH NO PROCESSING FEE.
THE DISADVANTAGE IS THAT ALL THE BALANCE TRANSFER DRAFTS ARE PAYABLE AT GURGAON.SO YOU NEED TO SEND THEM TO THE CONCERNED BANK BRANCH AT GURGAON FOR SPEEDY CREDIT.IF YOU DROP IT IN YOUR LOCAL CHEQUE DROP BOX YOUR OTHER BANK WILL COLLECT HEFTY OUT STATION CHEQUE CHARGES.
AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDS OFFERS ZERO BALANCE TRANSFER WITH NO PROCESSING FEE FOR 90DAYS.
ICICI BANK OFFERS BALANCE TRANSFER AT ZERO BALANCE FOR 3 MONTHS.THE PROCESSING FEE IN THIS CASE WILL BE 2% WHICH IS HIGH.
ALTERNATIVELY YOU CAN TAKE A 0.75% BALANCE FOR 6 MONTHS AFTER WHICH YOU WILL BE CAHRGED FOR 1.49% ON THE LEFT OVER AMOUNT.HERE THE DRAFT DELIVERY CHARGES ARE APPLICABLE AND ARE AT 100RS.
HSBC ALSO OFFERS A SIMILAR BALANCE TRANSFER OFFER.
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK OFFERS A ZERO BALANCE TRANSFER SIMILAR TO ICICI BANK.BUT THEY HAVE A EPRATE BALANCE TRANSFER OF 1% DIMINISHING FOR 6MONTHS.
HDFC AND ABN AMRO ARE OFFERING 1% DIMINISHING BALANCE TRANSFER FOR 6 MONTHS.
THEY AHVE DISCONTINUED THE ZERO INTREST BALANCE TRANSFER.
IN ALL THE ABOVE BALANCE TRANSFERS YOU NEED TO PAY 5% OF THE OUTSTANDING EVERY MONTH.
SO IF YOU HAVE A CREDIT CARD RELATIONSHIP WITH ALL THE ABOVE BANKS THEN YOU CAN EFFECTIVELY ROTATE MONEY BETWEEN BANKS WITHOUT BEING HAVE TO PAY HEFTY CHARGES.
HOWEVER YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL IN YOUR TIMING OF THE ROTATION BETWEEN BANKS OF FUNDS OR ELSE YOU WILL FALL INTO THE DEBT TRAP AND IT I WLL BE DIFFICULT TO GET OUT OF THE SAME.
I WANTED TO SHARE A INTRESTING FACT.
THE FACT IS IF YOU SPEND 1 LAKH RUPEES ON A CREDIT CARD AND PAY ONLY THE MINIMUM 5% DUE AMOUNT EVERY MONTH AND ALLOW THE BANK TO CHARGE INTREST ON THE REST OF THE AMOUNT THEN IT WILL TAKE YOU 21 YEARS TO REPAY THE 1 LAKH RUPEES AND THE INTREST ALL TOGEATHER.
SO BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD OUTSTANDINGS.
CREDIT IS NEVER CHEAP.
ALL THE BEST FOR ALL OF YOU.
