A quarter of all credit card holders are more dependent on credit than they were last year, according to new research.

Indian billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Power Ltd. plans to raise as much as 117 billion rupees ($3 billion) in the nation's biggest initial public offering, three people familiar with the offer said.

Reliance Brands has lined up a three-fold growth strategy: It will enter into partnerships with international brands, acquire stake in local brands and introduce new brands.

Also, the company will deal exclusively in premium & luxury brands, a segment which it sees growing at 35 per cent annually.

Darshan Mehta, chief executive officer and managing director, Reliance Brands Private Ltd, told DNA Money: "There are three partnership deals on at various stages from initial handshakes to advanced talks. We see potential in premium denim and sports wear segments. There is a big void in the women's brands segment, especially the lingerie category. We will be focusing on getting brands in al these areas." Explore your shopping with reliance credit card and find the best cashback offers to make a beneficial deal everytime.

The company's first international partnership is a 49:51 joint venture with Sixty Group, an Italian fashion house. Forty exclusive stores as well as multi-brands stores are on the cards with at least 10 of them being opened in 2008 itself.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Mutual Fund on Saturday announced a tie-up with New India Co-op Bank for distributing its products.

India's Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.BO: plans to shut a desulphurising unit at its 660,000 barrel per day refinery for maintenance in December for 10 days, slightly reducing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplies to state-run firms, industry sources said. Also building up it's credit card business in India.

INDIA'S RELIANCE INDU

In a big-bang foray into the consumer finance space, Reliance Retail is entering into a joint venture (JV) with Citigroup for setting up a non-banking finance company (NBFC).

CBI will seek help from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to ascertain how international calls were allegedly routed as local ones by Reliance Infocomm before its de-merger as the agency struggles to make headway in the case described by officials as "too technical".

Rising credit card borrowing may be a sign of consumer distress spreading from the subprime mortgage market to other types of lending, some economists say.

While defaults among home buyers have spiked, the number of credit card loans in delinquency has been running steady.

One possible reason, analysts say, is that troubled first-time homebuyers have been choosing to stay current on credit card payments while walking away from homes on which they put down little upfront money.

Jumps in credit card delinquencies are usually tied to unemployment. And the job picture seems OK. In July, the nation's jobless rate ticked up to a still historically low 4.6% from 4.5%.

"Credit card balances are booming," said David Rosenberg, an economist at Merrill Lynch. "On Main Street, the lender of last resort as banks pull in their horns is the credit card.

"The next shoe to drop from this subprime mortgage fiasco, which has already fed into the asset-backed market, is probably going to be the credit card business."

Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has joined hands with Citi Bank to launch Reliance Credit Card.

The card which is being launched as a co-branded card with Citibank in association with Visa International will be in Silver and Gold categories and available across the country.

Initially, it would be available in Mumbai and Delhi, followed by other metros like Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore, and thereafter in all major cities and towns nationwide, it said.

In addition to usual benefits available with regular Credit Cards, Reliance Credit Cards come Free for Life, and provide a host of benefits and reward points as part of a unique loyalty programme.

Reliance Credit Cards will also offer complimentary vouchers for usage at Reliance World outlets and Adlabs multiplexes, cash advance facility, free utility bill payment facilities, hospital allowance, free towing of vehicles, and Zero Fuel Surcharge at IOC petrol pumps, it added.

Australian's financial reliance on hip-pocket plastic continues to grow, with the rise in annual credit card debt now equal to what total credit card debt stood at 17 years ago.

But it's not all a one-way street to financial trouble.

CommSec senior economist Martin Arnold said Australians were seemingly using their credit cards more wisely than before.

Mr Arnold that while credit card debt is at record levels, it was rising at the slowest pace in 14 months.

"Consumers are continuing to be prudent when using their credit cards, with cash advances recording the fourth fall in the last five months," Mr Arnold said.

"Australians are paying more attention to budgeting in the current environment.

Reliance Money (RM) - a subsidiary of Reliance Capital Limited owned by corporate giant Anil Dhiru Bhai Ambani group - Tuesday announced the launch of Reliance Life Insurance in the Valley. RM will operate in the Valley in collaboration with its business partner and franchisee, Globus Investment (GI).

At a function here, sales manager RM Amir Amin said: "GI is a business group created in 2002 by Irfan Bacha and Zubair Yousuf. It is the first franchisee of RM in the Valley. The group has a wide spread network ranging from services to investments and from FMGC to construction."

Amir said: "RM has franchisee to operate in Kashmir, Leh and Ladakh. Besides it is already operational in Jammu."

Amir claimed that RM was the only private player in the Valley offering life insurance as well as the general insurance. "In near future RM will introduce Credit Card schemes, and finance policies," he said.

Australian's financial reliance on hip-pocket plastic continues to grow, with the rise in annual credit card debt now equal to what total credit card debt stood at 17 years ago.

But it's not all a one-way street to financial trouble.

CommSec senior economist Martin Arnold said Australians were seemingly using their credit cards more wisely than before.

Mr Arnold that while credit card debt is at record levels, it was rising at the slowest pace in 14 months.

"Consumers are continuing to be prudent when using their credit cards, with cash advances recording the fourth fall in the last five months," Mr Arnold said.

"Australians are paying more attention to budgeting in the current environment.

Credit counseling is a valuable service for consumers who have trouble managing their finances. A distinctly different service from debt consolidation, credit counseling assists consumers with problem debt by educating them about the basics of money management. Americans really don't get the education they need about how to manage bank accounts, balance checkbooks, or pay bills on time, and credit counseling can provide these services as well as others. By educating consumers, counselors hope to reduce the number of debtors who are forced to file for bankruptcy.

The increased reliance upon interest-only mortgages and low-interest adjustable rate mortgages could be a factor, too, if home prices either fall or fail to increase as they have. The sky-high prices in many markets have led homebuyers to purchase more homes than they can really afford, often using mortgages that are themselves riskier than the traditional 30-year loan. Should interest rates rise or housing prices fall, tens of thousands of homeowners will find themselves with loans that either exceed the value of the home or are unaffordable.

Reliance Infocomm has come out with a solution that will help banks expand credit and debit card usage to over 1,100 cities and towns from the existing 40 cities.

The Reliance IndiaMobile (RIM) handset, facilitates swiping of credit and debit cards at the customer's doorstep, instead of being restricted to shops or hotels, Mr Kishore Oka of Reliance Infocomm says. "We are in an advanced stage of talks with various banks and leading stores in this region and the facility would be made available soon".

The swiping of the plastic cards could be done anywhere at any time across Reliance Infocomm's network which is being expanded to 5,000 towns and cities.

Reliance Retail is establishing a linkup with citigroup for a nonbanking finance company that will mainly deal in loans and credit cards for the retailer's customers, media reports here said.