India is going plastic. No, not literally. With the growing globalisation, the Indian consumer has taken a liking for plastic money, better known as credit cards. The good news is that banks realise this liking and are offering many features. The bad news is that there are too many banks to choose from!

Confused? Don’t be!

The Indian credit card story just seems to be expanding. Gone are the days when the credit cards were...

Inflation could be causing plenty more problems for India. Not only is the rate very high but this inflation might have an effect on the growth of the country. Deputy chairperson of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that inflation and increasing global fuel prices would impact India’s growth rate and it might fall down to eight per cent. Speaking to reporters after releasing the Sikkim Development Report, Montek said that, “I would be happy...

The cases of credit card frauds do not seem to end. Following the recent case of an ING Vysya Bank employee, in partnership with others, duping the bank of crores, a case has been registered against a Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Chandigarh. Baldev Singh, who works as a cashier-cum-computer operator in the Kurali branch of PNB, has been remanded to police custody because of duping the bank to an amount of Rs 2 lakh....

Close on the heels of a cash back offer on the debit cards, being offered by the country’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India, major international bank and financial services provider Barclays announced a 10 per cent cash back offer for all its debit card customers.

The bank came out with a statement, stating that the offer would be applicable to all purchase transactions made in the country, using a Barclays debit card...

HSBC India is shifting its focus to SMEs. Small and medium enterprises or SMEs, also called small and medium-sized enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses or small and medium businesses or SMBs, are companies whose headcount or turnover falls below certain limits.

The bank has just launched an online product for SMEs, whereby the bank would offer facilities such as multiple debit cards, zero balance requirements, free online transactions and free cash withdrawal up to...

Delhi Police has busted a credit card fraud in the capital city when they arrested three Nigerian nationals on charges of credit cards fraud in New Delhi. This is the second case of Nigerians being involved in credit card frauds. Just last month, Mumbai police had caught another gang of three who used to buy mobile phones on their fake credit cards.

The three, Abayomi Anifowoshe, Bawwa and Evans Amathila Imadonmwinyi were caught when they...

Credit card frauds continue to haunt the city, but thankfully, for the police, many of them are being busted before they can take alarming proportions. Following the arrest of two of his accomplices in Mumbai on June 29, the police are on the lookout for a Delhi based software engineer, who was the leader of the gang which committed credit card fraud. The trio has allegedly already looted many banks to the tune of Rs....

In what can be termed as a gift to its customers, the largest bank in the country, State Bank of India, announced on its foundation day (1st of July) that it has launched a 'Cash Back' for its debit card holders across the country. The offer would hold on all debit cards of the State Bank Group, from July 1 to August 31.

The offer would be valid during this period for customers of State...

In yet another case of a credit card fraud, a man was duped of Rs. 40,000 when his card was used for buying petrol while he was out of the country. KH Kaji, who is a resident of Navjivan in Navrangpura, Gujarat realised that he had been duped when he was handed over the credit card statement for the months of April and May. The card showed purchase of Rs 40,000, whereas Kaji was not...

Another credit card fraud case has been busted in the country. The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has blown the lid of a credit card fraud worth over Rs 25 lakh. The police is said to have arrested three people, who allegedly used the credit card details of over 100 customers to purchase online airline tickets and mobile phone refills, and even to procure a bank loan.

The arrested accuseds have been identified as Sandeep Mullick...

Credit card fraudsters never seem to end. Police have blown the lid of a unique credit card fraud, involving an employee of Le Meridian Hotel and several traders. The police have detained three traders from Surat suspecting them for their possible role in the unique Rs one-crore credit card fraud unravelled by the anti-dacoit cell at Hotel Le Meridian a few days back. The police suspect them of knowingly accepting duplicate credit cards.

Besides, the...

Have you lost your credit card? Are you worried after reading about the various cases of credit card frauds around you? Do you think twice before using your credit card in a restaurant or a petrol pump?

Don’t worry anymore!

For the first time in India, Standard Chartered and TATA AIG General Insurance Company Ltd bring to you a service which guarantees you against credit card fraud!

This service solves the problem of an individual’s...

Business is booming for Deutsche Bank-India, as they reported a 77 per cent increase in net profit for the year 2007-08. The profit has grown from Rs 218.22 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 386.11 crore for 2007-08.

The bank's total income also rose 51 per cent, up from Rs 1,625.37 crore in the year ended March 2007 to Rs 2,461.71 crore for year ending March 2008. The total assets jumped 40 per cent to Rs...

Cases of credit card fraud refuse to die in Chennai. The police of Chennai have once again been successful in catching another fraudster. This time it involves a 20-year-old final year commerce student. He was arrested in Chennai on Tuesday for allegedly swindling credit card holders abroad to the tune of Rs.400,000, the police said.

Following a complaint from ebay.com, an online trading company, the accused, Bharat Raj Purohit, was arrested from a northern suburb in...

Another case of credit card has rocked Mumbai city. However, this time, it not only involves Indian’s, but foreigners too. Powai police has arrested three persons, including a Nigerian for duping a shop selling mobile phones by using international credit cards.

The police have said that the accused were caught when they visited the same shop for the second time in less than three days. The police have also said that they feel that the...

ICICI Bank Ltd has got into the thick of things yet again, with a consumer forum ordering it to pay compensation to a customer, for taking money out of his account without his consent. The bank, had allegedly, withdrawn money from the customer, Sunil Kumar Jain’s credit card account and issued a medical policy without his consent.

"The bank argued that policy was issued to complainant on telephonic instructions. But it could not file any...

Expressing his optimism with the growing success of India on the world stage, the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, said on Sunday that he believes that by 2018, one of top five banks in the world would be from India.

Present at the 13th triennial conference of UCO Bank, FM said: "Our plan is to make six public sector banks reach the top 100 banks in the world."

Speaking on the influence and importance of...

India's third largest lender, Bank of India (BoI), is planning to open up a representative office in Qatar. For achieving that task, however, they need the permission of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), which they have applied for.

Mr. K.R. Kamath, Executive Director of the Bank of India, had recently met Qatar QCB Governor Mr Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud al-Thani when he had gone on an official visit to Qatar. The meeting was to seek permission...

In yet another case of credit card fraud, a former Indian cricketer was duped of 1.6 lakh rupees. Former Indian opener Chetan Sharma has registered a case of fraud with the DLF-I police in Gurgaon, against unknown people for illegally using his credit card. This case follows many such high profile cases, one involving Shah Rukh Khan’s credit card loss in February. There was also a case of the chairman of Topiwala and...

In what could be a landmark move, Pune might see the first development and usage of citizen-oriented identity cards in the country. Taking inspiration from smart cards used in Singapore, the chief information officer (CIO) of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has joined hands with the National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM) to develop multipurpose biometric cards along the same lines. These cards will be used for a variety of purposes. While the...