If the trends are to be believed, insurance cover on credit cards could be a thing of the past. Banks and credit card issuers are increasingly withdrawing the facility of free insurance cover that was ubiquitous with credit cards sometime back. So, if you have got that plastic in the last few months and you are jumping with joy for that fabulous 1 crore air accident cover that was a regular feature with your credit card, its time to read the fine prints.

Cleartrip.com, a fast growing online travel portal has partnered with one of the largest public sector bank HDFC to provide a discount of up to 50 percent on all domestic airline tickets. The discount will be available for customers who use HDFC credit cards to book 2 or more round trip domestic flight tickets in a single booking from Cleartrip.com. This is a limited time offer valid on online bookings made till 25th December for any travel dates.

HDFC Bank HDB cleared a nine-week cup-shaped base the week ended Sept. 21. It rallied 49% over the next six weeks. The stock pulled back to its 10-week moving average last week, but found support at the line for a strong rebound in solid trade.

HDFC Bank, the country's third-biggest by value, will not follow other private sector banks in stopping lending to small borrowers in the sub-prime segment following instances of excesses by recovery agents.

New generation ATMs redefining urban banking in Valley. With the HDFC bank operational in Valley through a network of two branches, its ATMs are doing brisk business for the bank by offering value added features.

A gang of three traders and an employee of a sales tax consultant were arrested for allegedly procuring credit cards in an illegal way and using them for `transactions' running into lakhs of rupees without purchasing anything, in turn duping banks.

With the demand for card payments on the rise, banks have hit their innovation buttons to offer a card for almost every conceivable need today. The latest offerings range from credit cards for shopaholics like women, offering reward points for purchases beyond a certain sum, to those that help overseas travellers avoid the hassles of currency exchange.

Hunting for low APR credit cards has become easier with the advent of the Internet where you can draw an easy comparison (from the various options available to you at the click of a mouse) as to which low APR credit card will be the best for your needs. The article below provides the complete informational lowdown on low APR credit cards.

WHEN the credit card statements falls through the letterbox next year, expect to see a few changes on the print-outs.

The Department of Trade and Industry is introducing legislation which will force all credit card providers to draw attention to the order of payments they use.

Don't be alarmed if you aren't familiar with the term; apparently, two thirds of us aren't sure what it means or what impact it has on our credit card bill.

Hdfc credit card offers you the best rates and more discounts on every purchase. Forget to worry about repaying the bill of hdfc.

Essentially it's the sequence in which credit card bills are paid. It might sound insignificant but it can have a major bearing on the cost of your debt.

HDFC Bank expects its overall advances to grow by over 30 per cent this fiscal, much higher than the anticipated credit growth of about 20-25 per cent for the banking industry in the period.

An important driver of this growth is likely to be retail advances, which are expected to grow by 30-40 per cent this fiscal, according to Mr Pralay Mondal, Country Head, Retail Assets and Credit Cards.

"Although there has been some de-growth in retail asset side for the industry, we will continue to grow at the same rate or better than last fiscal," he told reporters after the launch of HDFC Bank World MasterCard credit card targeted at the "absolutely super premium" Indian customers. HDFC Bank Credit Cards are very popular in India and the bank's customer base is increasing day by day.

In the last two years, spending pattern through plastic money has changed drastically. Travelling, dining and jewellery are the top three purchases that Indians make through credit cards. Two years ago, it was jewellery and apparel purchases that formed the largest chunk of purchases through plastic money. Fuel accounts for a very small portion of credit card purchases as these are largely paid through debit cards.

"Jewellery, consumer durables, fuel purchases, apparel are a much smaller segment than travel and dining which comprise the largest chunk of credit card purchases. Eating out has in fact become a big concept now," says HDFC Bank VP and head (credit cards and product portfolio) Parag Rao. Experts say, while travel and hotel bills along with dining, account for about 25-35 % of the total value of purchases through credit cards, purchase of jewellery accounts for 10-11 % of the purchases . Apparel purchases account for 8-10 % and consumer durables like TV and mobile phones account for nearly 6-7 % of the purchases through plastic money.

Riding on more loans to individuals and companies and higher fee income, HDFC Bank Ltd, India's third largest bank by market value, announced Rs321 crore in net profit for the fiscal's first quarter ended 30 June, a 34% rise from the year-ago period.

"The results of the private sector lender has been slightly better than expectations," said a banking analyst with the broking arm of a large foreign financial services outfit who did not wish to be quoted. "We had expected net profit of the bank to be Rs316 crore. The bank has gained from its aggressive retail push as also from other income in foreign exchange market."

Alarmed by reports that credit card companies have collected over Rs 6,000 crore in a decade from customers by way of fines and late fee, India's anti- monopoly watchdog has ordered a probe into the fees levied by them.

The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) has asked the Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) to probe the issue and report back, sources told the agency.

The Commission has already initiated judicial enquiry against Citibank, HSBC, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank for adopting unfair practices for selling credit cards, as the DGIR submitted its preliminary report in which it suspected these organisation to have violated norms.

While Surve's wallet contained an HDFC bank debit card, Achrekar's wallet had three Punjab National Bank (PNB) credit cards and a debit card, an ICICI debit card and a North Canara GSB bank credit card. "Unfortunately, Achrekar had jotted down her account password on it," said Narayan Dumbre, senior police inspector, Gamdevi police station.

The police first zeroed down on Modi after scrutinising the images captured at the store in Prabhadevi from where he bought the mobile phone. During interrogation, he named the other two girls.

"I was shocked when I got a call from my bank informing me about the mobile phone purchase. I knew I was in trouble then and rushed to the police," Surve told DNA.

The police are interrogating the youngsters to find out if there was anybody else involved in the conspiracy. "We suspect an insiders job and will question the gymnasium authorities for their involvement," said the senior police officer.

The corporate world is a school of hard knocks and it's not always that one gets two bites at the cherry. which is why many would be rather daunted by the thought of abandoning a cushy job in a foreign bank to slog like billy-oh in a startup private sector bank. sharing idlis and uttapams for breakfast with us at the mountview coffee shop on wednesday, the 45-year-old former vice-president (systems manager) of bank of america, says, "what lured me to hdfc was the excitement of being part of a team that would eventually shape the bank's future. at that point of time, besides me, the bank's workforce comprised the chairman, the finance head and his secretary. the four of us had to take the bit between the teeth during the initial days." ram, a member of the computerisation and automation committee of the indian banks' association (iba) and a part of the global advisory board of the us-based ncr corporation, admits that being at the helm of the bank's it division is a testing task. "considering that technology is becoming obsolescent at a brisk pace, constant innovation is vital. in addition, what is important is that systems architecture should be able to support changes that may take place from time to time," says an erudite ram, sipping his steaming hot filter coffee. also, he played an instrumental role in operationalising the first online payment gateway for credit card payments in india.

US stocks ended sharply lower Friday, as credit worries resurfaced and jobless data dampened sentiment. According to government reports, Non-farm payrolls grew by a lower than expected 92,000 in July, the lowest level since February. The jobless rate was expected to remain at 4.5%. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest since January, economists were expecting payroll growth of about 133,000, according to a survey conducted.

Rediff.com India slipped 5.32% to $15.13. Satyam Infoway fell 4.58% to $7.08. MTNL dipped 7.49% to $6.55. Dr Reddy's Laboratories closed 3.85% lower at $ 15.25. HDFC Bank was down 4.77% at $81.71.

The great Indian middle class seems to have discovered the joys of shopping through credit cards in the last few years. What used to be a novelty till sometime back has become a mass market product.

Individual banks, in a bid to differentiate their product from those of competitors, are coming up with specific features which they feel are unique to their credit card.

One such feature is an additional discount offered to the credit card holder on buying products of a specific brand. Take for example the Oxford Book Store, which is offering an additional 10% discount to shoppers using HSBC Card in its ongoing annual sale. Or Globus, which offered an additional 5% discount to customers making purchases over Rs 750 during its annual sale, in tie-up with HDFC Bank. This was over and above the discount of up to 50% offered by the brand.

"It is a profitable situation for both us and the customers. Customers are getting their favourite products at a much cheaper rate and at the same time, we are earning too," said Aseem Dhru, executive vice-president and head of business banking, HDFC Bank.

hdfc bank has launched its international credit card in delhi and is expecting a mass switchover by its account holders who own credit cards offered by rival banks. says uma krishnan, country head retail bank branching and credit cards, hdfc bank, "our customers had taken credit cards from other banks as this product was not in our portfolio. we have filled that gap now." the bank has also waived the joining fee for those applying for hdfc silver card. the private bank has a customer base of 1.75 million across the country. the bank is expanding its delhi network and will open two more branches at ghaziabad and pitampura next week. the bank has fixed the rate of interest for credit card customers at 2.9 per cent (per month) for the first year and 2.5 per cent on renewal in the second year.

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