Have you ever been rejected for a loan or some other form of credit (such as a credit card) and then wondered why your case was rejected? Though a financial institution must now tell you why your application was rejected, there is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes. Enter CIBIL. CIBIL or […]
Following my post on failed ATM transactions, a reader wrote in with his story. On October 15, 2008, I tried to withdraw Rs 4,000 using my Citibank debit card at an HSBC ATM. The peculiar thing about HSBC ATMs is that the transaction slip is printed before the cash is dispensed. Unfortunately, there was a […]
This post is the result of a conversation I recently had with a reader. If your employer offers you the option to avail of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) facility as part of your salary package, I’d strongly recommend that you take up this option. Often, employers make salary offers which compare your salary package with […]
The other day I was trying to withdraw money from a Citibank ATM using an ICICI Bank debit card. The Citibank ATM purred along merrily but finally coughed up a “Dispenser Failure” receipt. My stars must have been aligned because ICICI Bank quickly reversed the transaction and I could withdraw the money from a different […]
I apologize for having skipped the previous edition of Awareness Fridays and for skipping today’s edition of Tip Tuesdays. Blame the Swift. Like I told a colleague yesterday, “I wake up and soon find myself inside the Swift; I get out of the Swift and realize that it’s already time to sleep. This cycle repeats.” […]
I must apologize for not having posted much the past week. I’ve been having too much fun in my new Swift — yes, I traded-in my faithful Santro Xing at the 44,000 kilometer mark. The Swift’s so much fun that I honestly don’t want to do anything else but drive around — even for ridiculously […]
Personal finance is a lifelong journey. You make mistakes, you learn from them. You make different mistakes, you learn from them. It’s not possible to not make mistakes; it is, however, possible to learn your lessons and apply them to improving your personal financial situation. And being a lifelong journey, you should adjust your financial […]
Because, Indian banks are now free to charge an annual interest rate of up to 49% from credit card customers for late payment. Read the complete story here. It’s not a great idea to carry your credit-limit-beyond-what-I-can-pay (most often …) credit card in your wallet especially in these lean times. You might be the most […]
I’m not sure why ICICI Bank thinks that I desperately need an i-Mint customer rewards card. I received one at my office and another one at my residence. I promptly cut both cards into tiny little pieces. Here’s a pictorial view of the state of the card received at my residence: A fitting end to […]
A dramatic rise — 30.18% in pageviews and 31.35% in absolute uniques — in January!
What is financially right for one person need not be financially right for another person — that’s the beauty of personal finance. You shouldn’t invest in stocks just because your colleague sitting next to you executes trades all day long and brags about it. You shouldn’t buy a ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Policy) for income-tax […]
If you can lay your hands on a copy of Businessworld’s February 02, 2009 issue, pay special attention to the case study published on pages fifty-three through fifty-six. The same case study has been published online too. Of special interest is this particular statement: Today’s young are worse off than today’s older. The older have […]