Having personally received one such offer through snail mail in the recent past and having witnessed a friend receive one through email, I believe this is a widespread problem. Thankfully, the Reserve Bank of India has embarked upon a public awareness campaign and has also asked banks to do the same. From your side, please […]
From the Reserve Bank of India’s Annual Policy Statement for the Year 2010-11: Banks should allow conversion of term deposits, daily deposits, or recurring deposits to enable depositors to immediately reinvest the amount lying in the aforesaid deposits with the same bank in another term deposit. Banks are required to pay interest in respect of […]
According to this circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India, we’ll now have three credit information companies: Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd. or CIBIL Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Ltd. Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd. CIBIL is in operation since January, 2001; the other two are yet to commence the business […]
If you have an existing loan of any sort from a bank or are planning to avail one, these guidelines on the soon to be introduced Base Rate system are a must read. I particularly like this directive: The Base Rate system would be applicable for all new loans and for those old loans that […]
Up to now, interest on savings account balances were calculated on the minimum balance in the account during the period from the 10th day to the last day of each calendar month. With this archaic method (introduced way back in 1987), you’d lose out on earning interest each time you withdrew money on or after […]
Here’s a detailed tutorial from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on how to identify genuine rupee-denominated currency notes. My observations: It’s not possible for the common person to identify a counterfeit note on first glance. How often have you stopped to verify the genuineness of the currency in your hands? Banks themselves have started […]
This is a guest post from Shilpa at Under the Rainbow. Though Shilpa claims that “she knows zilch about financial planning,” her posts always prove the opposite. In this post she explains why you really ought to be careful when you act as a reference for someone else’s financial dealings. I learned this lesson the […]
Have you ever pondered over questions such as “What’s the interest rate payable on my Savings or Current Account balances?” or “What happens if I opt for a premature withdrawal of my Fixed/Term Deposits?” or “What happens to an account that I no longer operate?” etc., then this Master Circular on Interest Rates on Rupee […]
The Master Circular on Maintenance of Deposit Accounts issued by the Reserve Bank of India — a must read for anyone who transacts with a bank. Awareness Fridays is my initiative to spread awareness on topics relevant to personal finance — every Friday. I urge you to take some time off and absorb this information […]
This is a guest post from Shilpa at Under the Rainbow. Though Shilpa claims that “she knows zilch about financial planning,” her guest posts never fail to prove the opposite. Gratuity is a favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given by an employer to an employee in return for the employee’s loyal […]
I’d raised a few questions when I last wrote about accessing your credit scores in India. A couple of days later, the Economic Times published an interview featuring Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) addressing these very concerns. It’s a must read, especially if you’ve previously availed credit or are planning to. Awareness Fridays is […]
I’ve previously written about the Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL). To repeat, CIBIL or Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited is India’s first credit information bureau and is a repository of information, which contains the credit history of commercial and consumer borrowers. CIBIL provides this information to its Members (i.e. banks and other financial institutions) […]
Over the years, I have observed that a significantly high number of employed people (colleagues, friends, and acquaintances) have very little to no understanding of how their monthly salary is computed. Therefore, they have no idea if what they’re receiving each month as salary is correct or not. More often than not, they’re simply happy […]
Key excerpts from a recent circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The problem. It has been brought to our notice that some banks do not have the system of acknowledging the receipt of the duly completed form of nomination, cancellation and/or variation of the nomination. Further, it is also understood that in some […]
The Income Tax Department of India has on it’s website provided free income tax information booklets. These booklets cover a wide variety of topics on personal income tax and provide a wealth of information on how you should compute your income tax. Read through these booklets and you might find those elusive answers to your […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
You might have often wondered what has happened to that cheque you recently deposited. And if you enquired, your bank would have given you a whole bunch of doesn’t-make-sense-to-me reasons. Thankfully, the Reserve Bank of India recently passed a notification on cheque clearance timeframes to be adhered to by Indian Banks. I particularly like this […]
Assume that you’re looking out for a car loan and some bank offers you the following options: Rs 200,000 for 36 months at 9% fixed plus a processing fee of Rs 150, or Rs 200,000 for 36 months at 12.75% reducing balance. Which of these two loan offers would you choose? If you chose either […]