Should You Close Unused Credit Cards?

You have been working for 10-15 years. You kept applying for various credit cards over the years depending on your expense preferences at a particular time. As a result, you have accumulated too many credit cards. You do not even use all the cards. You have not used some of them for a couple of… Continue Reading

ICICI Bank Instant Platinum Credit Card: Our Review

Looking for your first credit card, but your card application keeps getting rejected due to inadequate credit history or some other reason? There is a simple and quick way to get around this problem if you have some money in your bank account. I am talking about a bank FD backed credit card. And in this… Continue Reading

Reliance SBI Prime Card: Our Review

On a recent visit to Reliance Smart Bazaar, a credit card executive aggressively pitched Reliance SBI Prime Card. He mentioned the card offered a 20% instant discount on purchases at the store. Well, this offer was obviously too good to be true. At grocery stores/supermarkets where the margins are wafer-thin, 20% discount was clearly not… Continue Reading

What Happened to My Reward Points?

Do you use credit cards for cashbacks, discounts, and rewards points? Many of us do. What if the bank were to suddenly reduce such benefits on your credit card? Why Would Your Bank Reduce the Benefits? Yes, the customer may get annoyed and feel cheated. You may use the card less or even stop using… Continue Reading

How to Plan for a Big-Ticket Purchase?

The keyword here is “plan”. We don’t focus on instances when your big purchases are forced, say your mobile phone or laptop conks off suddenly. Or your bike or car is suddenly showing problems and the cost of repair is too high and not justified. There is not much you can do about such instances.… Continue Reading

Move over BNPL, Here Comes SNBL (Save Now, Buy Later)

We plan for regular monthly expenses. We call it budgeting. We plan for long term goals through a diversified asset allocation portfolio. However, we tend NOT to plan properly for non-monthly but periodic expenses. Common examples are: Insurance premiums Travel and Vacations Birthdays and Anniversaries Vehicle maintenance Gadget purchases Annual Subscriptions We know that these… Continue Reading

Evaluating Payment Options during Checkout

While checking out from your favorite shopping app, you could get one of the following payment options on your credit/debit card or Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). Full payment (no cashbacks or discount) Interest-based EMI (without cashback or discount) No-cost EMI Upfront discount Cashback Upfront discount/cashback and interest-based EMI Upfront discount/cashback and no-cost EMI Over… Continue Reading