The events of the past 12 months and scary experience of many patients and their family members has highlighted the importance of adequate health insurance and a robust emergency fund. Many have lost jobs or received a salary cut. A robust emergency can be helpful in such cases. Not only that, but it can be… Continue Reading
Have you received messages from your bank that the standing instructions on your credit card will not be honoured from April 1, 2021? And that you must make payments to the service providers/merchants directly. Thus, if you have automated your payments to streaming service providers (Netflix, Disney Hotstar, Sony Liv etc) or for utility payments… Continue Reading
“I have never borrowed in my life. Hence, my credit score must be perfect. And the banks would line up to lend to me.” Quite the contrary. Firstly, no borrowing means no credit history. In absence of credit history, the banks will be in dark about your credit behaviour. They may not be comfortable lending… Continue Reading
Your bank calls you and offers to increase your credit card limit or upgrade you to a premium card. I am sure many of you have experienced this situation. A happy situation to be in. Usually, it is good to have a choice. Should you accept such an offer? Well, there is no black and… Continue Reading
The Reserve Bank of India has issued master directions for Digital Payment Security Controls in its circular dated Feb 18, 2021. Among other things, the intent is to provide greater security to customers in digital transactions (internet, mobile banking, card transactions etc). The rules come into force in July 2021. The directions apply to the… Continue Reading
Paytm has launched a feature where you can pay your house rent using your credit card. Usually, we pay house rent through cheques or direct bank transfers. No credit involved. The credit card feature is interesting. From Paytm’s perspective, this feature makes good sense. House rent payment is one of the biggest monthly recurring payments.… Continue Reading
IDFC First Bank is launching credit cards where the borrowers will have to pay only 9% p.a. as Annual percentage rate (APR) or the interest rate. This comes as a healthy surprise since we are used to 36%-40% p.a. APR on credit card debt. If you are new to this terminology, 36% p.a. APR means… Continue Reading
Loan interest rates have been going down over the past 18 months. It is also evident in the examples that we use for various illustrations in our posts. Earlier, we used 9-10% p.a. for long term loans. Now, we use 7-8% p.a. in the illustrations. If you use Amazon or Flipkart, you would have noticed… Continue Reading
I am a bit paranoid about using credit cards online. Therefore, I prefer to use wallets (such as PayTM) or UPI on new sites or the sites I do not trust much. A problem with this approach is that you cannot use wallets or UPI on international websites. In addition, there are a few minor… Continue Reading
It is a new year. And A new year brings new resolutions. Let us look at some of the credit resolutions for 2021 you can consider. # 1 Reduce Debt This applies to those who are currently struggling with credit burden. There are only two ways to reduce credit burden. Reduce the quantum of debt (Possible… Continue Reading