Category: Credit Cards

Beware : Vishing Scam!

Woman duped of Rs 29,000, vishing fraudsters had basic card info

Three people, with basic information about a 38-year-old woman’s credit card, cheated her of Rs 29,000 recently employing a new form of vishing. The woman, an architectural consultant, registered an FIR with Vile Parle police.

Around 11.30am on August 5, the consultant received a call from one Neha, claiming she worked with ICICI’s credit cards division and was aware the consultant’s credit card was to expire later this month.She also knew the new card had been couriered. “I believed Neha to be a genuine employee. She told me reward points worth Rs 9,000 had accumulated on my existing card and would expire unless transferred to my account as an excess credit balance. When I consented, the call was transferred to one Roshan Sharma, who posed as an employee of Payback, a customer loyalty rewards programme,” the consultant said.

 Payback has tie-ups with a few banks, its reward points can be used for shopping. Under the pretext of verification, the accused got the consultant to part with all her card details.The line was transferred between Neha, Roshan and a third associate. “Neha told me money would be credited in two or three instalments,” the consultant said. When Rs 14,365 was debited, she asked Neha what was wrong.

“Neha said there was a problem with completing the point transfer. She said Rs 14,365 would be reversed to my account only if I gave details of another Payback-linked card. I gave details from my Bank of India debit card. Another Rs 14,415 was debited. I shouted at them, but they assured me the sum would be reversed into my account,” she said. Roshan gave her the genuine address of Payback’s Mumbai office.

 “When they asked for details of a third card, I decided I had enough. I warned them I was going to the police. But they said cops couldn’t touch them,” she said, adding she was on phone with them for 90 minutes. “The money went to an IDEA digital wallet and must have been spent by the accused. Had it gone to a bank account, we could have easily traced them,” a cop said.
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Customers not liable for e-frauds, if reported in time

Onus Now On Banks To Make Good Losses

Concerned over the rise in complaints about unauthorized electronic transactions, the Reserve Bank of India has introduced a policy of `zero liability’ for customers in third-party frauds if they are reported within three days. This means banks will have to make good the losses suffered by customers.In cases where the victim notifies the fraud between 4 and 7 days after coming to know about it, the customer’s liability will be capped at Rs 5,000.

In a draft notification issued on Thursday , the RBI said that if a bank employee is responsible for the fraud, the customer must get his money back irrespective of whether it is reported in time or not.

The three-day time limit for reporting a fraud will start from the day the customer receives an intimation about the transaction from the bank. This can be either by way or an SMS, email or statement. This directive puts the onus on the bank to notify the customer of the transaction as soon as possible. The proposed rules will apply to all electronic transactions, including payments made remotely using net banking or cards and payments made in shops using cards or mobile wallets.

If a customer has shared his password or other payment credentials, he will be responsible for any transaction that takes place until the time he informs the bank of his indiscretion. Once he informs the bank, the bank will be liable for any loss that takes place subsequently .

Banks have been told that all complaints have to be resolved within 90 days from the date of reporting and to ensure that customer does not bear any interest cost or late payment fee in credit cards. If there is a reversal of a debit card fraud or net banking fraud, banks have to make good the loss of interest income.

The proposed norms place much more responsibility on the banks than in the past.Existing norms require banks to compensate customer only up to a limit. Also, this limit is left to the bank based on a board-approved customer relations policy .

To make it possible for the customer to report frauds on time, banks have been asked to provide multiple option in cluding website, SMS, interactive voice response systems, a dedicated toll-free helpline and a reporting option at home branch. Banks have also been asked to put in place systems acknowledging receipt of the complaint.

The tightening of norms comes at a ti me when online and mobile payments are growing at 100% and banks and payment companies are lobby ing with the regulator to relax two-factor authentication for low-value payments.

The RBI has been re sisting any relaxation on the two-factor aut hentication (usually a PIN or a password in addition to the card details) on the grounds that the present dispute resolution mechanism was not very robust. By reducing liability of the customer, RBI expects banks to put more robust systems in place.

 Mayur Shetty, Mumbai:

How is Credit Card Interest Calculated?

There are a number of things a user must know about credit card interest calculation in order to avoid falling into a debt trap!330px-Credit-cards

Knowing the complex rules used for calculation of credit cards is necessary to get an idea of the damage a late payment can do to your financial well-being. In this article, let us understand how banks calculate interest on credit cards.

How banks calculate interest

Every bank has to disclose the method of charging interest in its Most Important Terms and Conditions (MITC) document. The MITC document forms part of the welcome kit that you get on the issue of a new credit card and must also be available on the bank’s website. The calculation of interest depends on the type of transaction. And speaking of transactions, there are broadly two types as follows:

  1. Cash advances, i.e. cash withdrawals from the ATM using your credit card
  2. Regular payments such as paying bills, online purchases, using card at merchant outlets, etc.

Related: How to come out of credit card debt

As far as cash advances are concerned, there is a clear and unambiguous rule that many debt settlement companies will remind you of, that interest will be charged as per the stated interest rate from the date of withdrawal to the payment of the outstanding amount.

However, as regards regular payments, it is slightly more complex. As per the rule, if you do not make the total payment due as on the payment due date, the free credit period shall be ignored and interest shall be charged right from the date of purchase for all payments made during that bill cycle as well as those made after the bill cycle till the full outstanding payment on the card is cleared. And since the interest rate on credit cards is anywhere between 15 – 40%, this precisely is the reason why a small default or late payment can balloon in to a large debt in a small span of time.

Understanding Credit Card Interest Calculation through an Example

Following example can help understand the calculation of interest in case of a credit card:

Transaction Amount
Purchase on September 10, 2015 10,000
Total Amount Due on Statement dated September 15, 2015 10,000
Minimum Amount Due on Statement dated September 15, 2015 500
Payment made on Due Date i.e. October 3, 2015 0
Purchase on October 7, 2015 1,000
Payment on October 10, 2015 5,000
Interest calculation @ 40.80% p.a. on Statement dated October 15, 2015 will be as follows:  
1) Interest on 10,000 for 30 days (from September 10 to October 9) 335.34
2) Interest on 5,000 for 6 days (from October 10 to October 15) 33.53
3) Interest on 1,000 for 9 days (from October 7 to October 15) 10.06
Total interest in the Statement dated October 15, 2015 (A) = (a) (b) (c) 378.93
Late Payment Charge (B) 500
Service Tax @15% (C) = 0.15 * (A B) 131.83
Principal Outstanding (D) 6,000
Total due as per Statement dated October 15, 2015 (A) (B) (C) (D) 7,010.76

Conclusion

While a credit card is a great boon in the form of free credit period and reward points, one should not forget the implications of using it irresponsibly. Rules on interest calculation in case of credit cards are extremely complex and highly skewed against the consumer. A user must formalise himself of the rules to prevent a debt trap like situation.

If you have been given a corporate credit card, it’s essential you exercise even more caution. To ensure you don’t break any rules, here are some Corporate Credit Cards- Dos and Don’ts.

Disclaimer: This is general advice. Please refer to your bank’s MITC document for detailed guidance.

https://www.tomorrowmakers.com/articles/financial-planning/how-is-credit-card-interest-calculated-

Credit Card Customer Can Refuse To Pay for Fraudulent Transactions

Failure to provide SMS alerts constitutes negligence on the part of the bank issuing the credit card, according to the South Mumbai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (SMDCDRF).
Executive Airways was banking with Union Bank of India. The Bank issued a Visa credit card to Pradeep Kumar Thampi, the company’s director. Mr Thampi sent a letter to the Bank requesting for SMS alerts for transactions on the credit card. The Bank did not activate the service. During the period between 1 June 2011 and 4 June 2011, the credit card was fraudulently used for several transactions; but due to absence of SMS alerts, Mr Thampi did not get to know about it until he received the bill much later. He took up the matter with the Bank, disputing the transactions worth Rs4,65,855 in Paris. He proved that he was not in Paris at that time, as borne out by his passport. These were online transactions. Mr Thampi alleged that the fraud took place through duplication of his card by cloning. Mr Thampi was informed that Visa had not honoured the claim, so he must pay up for the disputed transactions. Yet, transactions worth Rs1,06,766 were reversed.
Mr Thampi filed a complaint before the SMDCDRF for quashing the disputed transactions. After overruling some technical objections on jurisdiction raised by Union Bank of India, the Forum concluded that the Bank had acted negligently, which constituted a deficiency in service as well as an unfair trade practice. The Forum quashed the demand of Rs3,59,588 for the disputed transactions and also the amounts for retrieval of charge slips. The Forum also directed the Bank to pay Mr Thampi Rs20,000 towards costs and compensation for harassment and tension.