Are You Still Revolving Your Credit Card Debt?

Credit card debt is the most expensive debt in the formal finance sector, with the annual interest rates ranging from 30% to 45% p.a. Hence, you should try to avoid revolving your credit card debt. “Revolving” means not paying your credit card debt in full and carrying forward unpaid amounts to the next cycle. The… 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

Should You Take a Loan for House Downpayment?

Why do we have to make down payments for home purchases? Why can’t the banks lend the full amount for the purchase? Two reasons. Firstly, the banks get a wider security cushion while lending. So, if the bank lends Rs 80 lacs for purchase of Rs 1 crore house, in the event of default, the… Continue Reading

How Do Banks Make Money on Credit Cards?

You do not pay any interest during the interest-free period on the credit card. But the bank cannot afford to lend you money for free. The bank must be compensated — two major ways and a few minor ways. High Interest on Unpaid Amount First, when you do not pay your bill on time, the… 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

Deciding the Best Payment Option for Your Purchase

You want to buy a laptop online and you don’t want to look beyond Amazon and Flipkart for this purchase. Let’s further assume that, on both the sites, the laptop is listed at the same price. However, there are discounts and cashbacks on specific cards. In such a case, unless you have a preference for… Continue Reading

How Can a No-Cost EMI Become Expensive?

Yes, that’s possible and it is all mathematics. In this post, let’s understand how this can happen. Before we go there, let’s do a quick recap of how No-cost EMIs work. How No-Cost EMIs Work You purchase an item worth Rs X. You opt for the No-cost EMI option (let’s say 6 months) on the… Continue Reading

Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card: Our Review

A few weeks back, I had written about Amazon Pay ICICI Bank credit card. Simple and easy benefits. You get 1-5% cashback on each spend and the rewards system is so simple. The cashback/reward for the previous month is credited to your Amazon account on the statement date. What about Flipkart? Does Flipkart offer something… Continue Reading

Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card: Worth It?

Do you shop on Amazon? If you do, you must have noticed this banner about Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card that keeps coming up? Or you must have noticed this card always comes in various payment offers on Amazon. Has this ever intrigued you? What is this card about? What are the benefits this… Continue Reading