Kotak credit Cards

Here are some tips to help protect yourself from credit and charge Card fraud.

 

Do's:

 

Sign your Cards as soon as they arrive.

 

On receipt of a new Card, ensure that it is in sealed condition and that the seal is not tampered with.

 

Carry your Cards separately from your wallet, in a zippered compartment, a business Card holder, or another small pouch.

 

Keep a record of your account numbers, Card expiry dates, and the phone number and address of each company in a secure place.

 

Keep an eye on your Card during the transaction, and get it back as quickly as possible.

 

Void incorrect receipts.

 

Periodically check your Cards to ensure that none are missing.

 

Destroy carbon copies.

 

Save receipts to compare with billing statements.

 

Open bills promptly and reconcile accounts monthly, just as you would manage your banking account.

 

Report any questionable charges promptly and in writing to the Card issuer.

 

Notify Card companies in advance of a change in address.

 

Cancel all inactive accounts.

 

Don't:

 

Lend your Card(s) to anyone..

 

Leave Cards or receipts lying around.

 

Sign a blank receipt. When you sign a receipt, draw a line through any blank spaces above the total.

 

Write your account number on a postCard or the outside of an envelope.

 

Give out your account number over the phone unless you're making the call to a company you know is reputable.

Account Number

 

A unique number assigned by the bank to a credit Card customer. On a credit Card, this number is embossed and encoded on the face of the plastic.

 

Additional Cardholder

 

When you have a credit Card, it is often possible to add an additional Card to the account for use by someone else. The main Cardholder holds responsibility for ensuring payments on the additional Card is made. Purchases are shown on the credit Card statement, which is sent monthly.

 

Annual Fee

 

Banks often charge an annual fee for usage of the credit Card. At times the fee is waived for the first year. There are also lifetime free Cards which do charge an annual fee.

 

Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

 

An interactive terminal with a touch screen or keypad that allows consumers with credit Cards or debit Cards to withdraw cash, check balances and/or make deposits using the magnetically encoded Card to perform transactions. An ATM can be used to make cash withdrawals from your credit Card.

 

Arbitration

 

The procedure used to determine the responsibility for charges or any other dispute between the bank and the customer.

 

Balance Transfer

 

Moving an unpaid balance from one open credit account to another. You will save money if you transfer balances to a credit account with a lower interest rate.

 

Billing Cycle

 

The length of time between your statements, this is usually more than one month in length.

 

Cash Advance

 

Using your credit Card to get cash from a bank, ATM, or by writing a convenience check. Typically, the Card issuer charges a cash advance fee for the transaction and begins charging interest immediately.

 

Cash Limit

 

This is the maximum amount of cash that you are able to access with your Card.

 

Cash Limit

 

This is the maximum amount of cash that you are able to access with your Card.

 

Co-Branded Card

 

A credit Card sponsored by both the issuing bank and a retail organization, such as a department store or an airline offering special discounts.

 

Default

 

When a customer doesn’t make a required payment to a credit Card account, or otherwise violates the terms of the agreement between the credit Card company and the customer.

 

 

Finance Charge

 

The amount of money you're charged for using credit. If you don't pay off your full amount when due you will have to pay this finance charge. But there are normally other charges levied such as cash advance fees. You can use your Credit Card to withdraw cash from an ATM or a bank counter and this withdrawal normally suffers an immediate interest charge as well as other charges.

 

 

Interest Rate

 

The rate at which a credit Card company charges a customer for borrowing money. It is calculated as a percentage of the amount borrowed.

 

Minimum Payment

 

The smallest payment a customer can make each statement period to keep the account in good standing.

 

PIN (Personal Identification Number)

 

A security code that the customer uses with debit and credit Cards to authorize transactions such as cash advances.

 

Statement

 

Statements are issued once a month and detail all the transactions made on the relevant account since the previous month.

A variety of people and businesses use your credit history to make decisions that could affect your future. Banks and other lenders consider your credit report when reviewing applications for home loans, lines of credit or any other loans.

 

Maintaining a clean credit record requires you to be consistent and timely with your payments.

 

Here are some basics for maintaining a good credit history.

 

Cheques and balances

 

Keep track of each cheque you have written and track what you owe. Make sure that you have adequate balance in your account when the cheque is due to be cashed.

 

Paying Minimum Amounts

 

Always pay at least your total minimum due. Your payment should be received by bank on or before, the due date printed on your statement to keep your account in good standing.

 

Timely payment

 

Do not skip any payments but try to pay more than the minimum or even the whole balance each month.

 

Managing available credit

 

Your Available Credit is how much credit you have left (your Credit Limit minus your Outstanding Balance). You should always keep your outstanding balance lower than your credit limit. Keep at least a 15% cushion of Available Credit in your account in case of emergency.

 

Regulating your spending

 

In general, less than 10% of your monthly income should go towards paying off your lines of credit, personal loans or credit Card bills (excluding home loans). If you are paying more, it's time to reconsider your monthly spending.

Credit is a privilege and a convenience. Credit lets you charge a meal on a credit Card, pay for an appliance on an instalment plan or take a loan to buy a house. Credit allows you to make a purchase without ready cash. Credit Cards are one modern convenience that most of us have adopted happily.

 

However credit Cards can go from being a blessing to a curse if not used right. Here are some tips for smart credit:

 

Cash Withdrawal

 

If you withdraw cash from your credit Card, you do not get any free credit period to pay it off. The meter starts ticking instantly and you are charged 30-40% p.a. on cash advances from the day you borrow till you repay it.

 

Ongoing costs v/s introductory offers

 

Many lenders offer credit Cards that include introductory discounted interest rates, rewards programs and insurance. Make sure you also look at the overall ongoing cost of credit of any Card option.

 

Understanding Interest

 

To avoid paying interest on your credit purchases you must pay the full outstanding balance on your statement (not just the minimum payment required) by the due date. If you don't, you will be charged interest right back to the date of purchase on each item – thus forfeiting the interest-free period on those past purchases. What's worse, you must pay the balance off in full before you will get any interest-free period on current and future purchases.

The feeling that you have control over your finances is one of the greatest satisfactions you can have in life. On the other hand, worrying about your bills and debts, or where to find the money to cope with emergencies or even major anticipated expenses such as EMIs or big ticket purchases for the home, can add a tremendous level of stress to everyday life.

 

The following basics of money management can help you get control of your finances and put your life in order:

 

Understand Net Family Income

 

For most families, the first step in budgeting is to determine a realistic picture of net family income. This number would be the Gross Income (the sum of all regular and periodic income your family receives) minus all deductions (like tax, PF etc). This will indicate the money available to you each month.

 

Evaluating and reducing expenses

 

Start thinking about every expense in terms of its relative importance and how it could be reduced. Familiarise yourself with the difference between fixed, variable and periodic expenses and how best to keep them under control.

 

Goal setting

 

Goal setting should be a family affair. Keep a list of short-range goals (within 12 months), mid-range goals (1-3 years) and long-range goals (3-5 years). Your written list should specify each goal individually, along with the date it needs to be achieved, how much it will cost, how much has been saved to date and how much more will be needed per month to attain the goal.

 

Realistic budgeting

 

Goal setting should be a family affair. Keep a list of short-range goals (within 12 months), mid-range goals (1-3 years) and long-range goals (3-5 years). Your written list should specify each goal individually, along with the date it needs to be achieved, how much it will cost, how much has been saved to date and how much more will be needed per month to attain the goal.

Balance Transfer is a facility wherein customer can avail of an interest holiday for short term on his existing card outstanding and repay his existing high rate debt (typically 3.1% pm) at a lesser rate in a phased manner.

 

In this manner customer can avoid being charged high finance charges (interest) on his existing debt.

 

At a Cardholder's request, Kotak Bank will send a DD to the customer for payment of the balance the customer has with other card company. This DD needs to be deposited for the closure of outstanding on other card.

Currently with all the BT products available in the market, a customer who makes purchases on his Card after taking a balance transfer is charged with interest on his fresh purchases. This primarily happens due to payment apportion logic.

 

But Kotak Card does not levy any interest on retail transactions/purchases post Balance transfer if the former are fully paid off in time.

If you own a Kotak Credit Card then you can apply for a BT in the following ways :

 

Call us on our 24 hours Toll Free numbers as mentioned below to avail of the BT Facility

1800 116022 (North India)
1800 226022 (Rest of India)

 

Place a request for BT online by visiting our website www.KotakCards.com/BT

 

If you do not own a Kotak Credit Card then you can apply for Kotak Credit Card & Balance Transfer together by either filling up an application online or just call us.

The maximum amount you can transfer is up to 75% of the Credit Limit on your Kotak Card & Minimum of Rs.2500 as balance transfer. If you'd like to transfer a balance larger than your current credit limit would allow, or want to ensure that you still have funds for new purchases, then simply call us and we'll consider increasing your limit.

We regularly offer promotional rates to our existing customers. These can differ from month to month and could be for a fixed period of time (3, 6, 9 or 12 months), or until the transferred balance has been repaid in full. The rate and period of any promotional offer can be found on the page detailing the balance transfer offers. If a fee is going to be charged, the amount will also be advised.

In case of Open BT for 3 Months while all credit Cards actually include 5% amount of Balance Transfer amount as Minimum Amount Due every billing cycle, Kotak Card does not charge 5% in the MAD during BT promotion period thus actually allowing you a payment holiday of 3 months. So keep on shopping on your Kotak Card while enjoying the payment holiday on BT Balance for 3 months.

 

In case of BT converted to EMI you can convert your high rate outstanding to a preferred rate with the option to pay off your entire outstanding in easy and affordable EMI’s.

Post 3 months if there is any outstanding balance for BT then the same would be charged at the regular interest rate of 3.1% pm. The interest would be charged from the end of the BT Promo period till the date of full payment towards BT Plan.

You would receive the balance transfer draft in just 4 working days from the time that your request has been received. The Demand Draft for the transferred Amount will be issued in favour of the Card issuing bank.

If a customer does a balance transfer of Rs.20000 & on the same day makes purchase of Rs.15000 then the following would reflect on his statement.

 

BT Processing Fee = Rs.199/-

 

Total Outstanding on the Card (including BT, EMI & loans) = Rs.35000/-

 

Total Amount due to be paid = Retail Purchases + BT Processing Fee = Rs.15199/- (Rs.1500/- + Rs.199/-)

 

Minimum Amount Due = BT processing Fee + 5% of Retail purchases = Rs.949/- (Rs.199/- + Rs.750/-)

 

No interest would be charged to the customers account if he makes the total payment of the amount due for that particular month during the BT promotion period. So in the eg if customer makes a payment of Rs.15199/- before the payment due date he will not be charged any interest.

An EMI scheme on credit card allows you to convert your transaction done on credit card into an Equal Monthly Installment.

A typical EMI program on the credit cards attracts a Processing Fee, Interest & Foreclosure Fee.

The EMI schemes will be made available in 3 & 6 months tenure.

On purchasing the item required you can call the Kotak Cards Customer Care within 15 days and request to convert the transaction into an EMI or log in to www.KotakCards.com with your user name & password and place a request for the same.

You can convert any transaction into an EMI except for the following :

 

1. Any transaction value lower than Rs 5000

 

2. Any transaction done more than 15 days prior to placing the request for conversion

 

3. Cash transactions

Outstanding on all your transactions converted to EMIs put together cannot be greater than 75% of your credit limit.

The EMI amount for that month will be added to the MAD of the billing cycle. The processing fee will also reflect as MAD in the billing cycle of the month in which the transaction is converted into an EMI.

 

In the statement the column of ‘Total Amount Outstanding including BT/EMI   Loans’ will include the outstanding amount converted to EMI

Yes, your request for EMI cancellation can be taken only till the payment due date of the first EMI. This can be done by placing a request to the call centre for the same.

Yes, you can foreclose your EMI by pre paying the outstanding amount. No foreclosure charges will be levied.

You can convert your transactions into EMI within 15 days of the transaction.

The credit limit will be blocked to the extent of the retail transaction amount and it will get gradually unblocked as the EMIs are paid.

Yes. Service tax is applicable on the fees & interest charged.

Once the EMI request is taken and transaction is converted to EMI, then processing fees and the first EMI will be billed on the same day and would reflect in the subsequent month. For e.g. EMI is booked on October 5, 2007 and the credit card statement date is October 21, 2007. Then both processing fee & first EMI would be billed on 5th October and would reflect in the October statement.

Once we receive your application form complete in all respects with the necessary documents it will take a period of minimum 21 days to process your Card application.

We request you to provide us your mobile number at the time of application for the Credit Card. You will receive an SMS alert with the status of your application.

The 'Credit limit' is the maximum amount you can spend or borrow using your Credit Card. This limit is determined by various personal details like your income, source of income etc.

Spouse, Siblings, parents and children above 18 years of age can be add-on Card members.

No, the add-on Card member shares the same credit limit as assigned to the primary Card member. The primary Cardholder also has an option of setting up a preset credit limit for the add-on Cardholder.

If you make a transaction which exceeds your available credit limit, Kotak Bank will use its discretion and decide whether or not to approve the transaction. If the transaction is approved, an over limit charge of Rs. 500 would be levied to the credit Card account.

Call our 24-Hour Customer Contact Centre and report the loss.

(a) Sign your Card - as soon as you receive it.

 

(b) When you use your Card at an ATM, enter your PIN in such a way that no one can easily memorize your keystrokes.

 

(c) Don't leave your receipt behind at the ATM. Your PIN and account number from a disCarded receipt could make you vulnerable to Credit Card fraud. Also, don't throw out your Credit Card statement, receipts or carbons without first shredding them!

 

(d) Never give your Credit Card number over the telephone unless you initiated the call

 

(e) Even when you place the call to a legitimate merchant, never give your Card number out over a cordless phone. One common scam is when someone calls you "back" right after you place an order, claims to be from the merchant and tells you that there was a problem with your Card number -- would you mind giving it to them again? The best thing to do is to ask them to read you the number they have - and then change any incorrect numbers.

 

(f) Ignore any Credit Card offer that requires you to spend money up-front or fails to disclose the identity of the Card issuer.

 

(g) Make certain you get your Card back after you make a purchase (one habit to observe is to leave your wallet open in your hand until you have the Card back). Also, make sure that you personally rip up any voided or cancelled sales slips.

 

(h) Always keep a list of your Credit Cards, Credit Card numbers and toll-free numbers in case your Card is stolen or lost.

 

(i) Check your monthly statements to make certain all charges are your own, and immediately notify us if any errors or unauthorized charges.

When you receive your bill, you choose how much you prefer to pay on or before the due date.

 

Pay the total amount due

 

Pay only the minimum amount due (5% of the bill amount subject to a minimum of Rs 100) and the balance can be carried forward to subsequent statements

 

Pay any amount ranging from the minimum amount due to the total amount due

 

Should you opt for any of the last two payment options, then the amount due is carried forward to the next billing period

If you pay the Minimum Amount Due or any amount greater than the Minimum Amount Due but less than the Total Amount Due then interest on the outstanding amount including fresh purchases is payable at 3.1% per month calculated on a daily accrual basis. This interest is levied from the date of purchase.

The excess amount shows up in your monthly statement and is adjusted against future purchases.

There are many easy ways to pay your monthly Credit Card bill such as:

 

(a) Through Net Banking

If you are registered for Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Net banking facility, you can transfer the Card bill amount from your savings or current account to the Card account online.

 

(b) Auto Debit Instructions

If you have an account with Kotak Mahindra Bank, you can instruct us in writing to automatically debit your bank account with either the minimum amount due or total amount due of your monthly outstanding on your Credit Card. Your account with Kotak Mahindra Bank should be a sole account or a joint account with an 'any' or 'either' signing mandate.

 

(c) Drop-box option

You can also drop a local cheque, payable to Kotak Mahindra Bank Card A/c followed by your 16-digit Card number, at any one of our drop boxes located in ATMs and branches in your city.

 

(d) Over the counter

Walk into any Kotak Mahindra Bank branch and pay by cash.

Kotak Credit Cards are issued to resident Indians only. Therefore, under RBI guidelines, you have to surrender your Cards to the bank if you are proceeding abroad on employment or on emigration.

Yes, your global Card can be used for expenses on the Internet. However, the Reserve Bank of India prohibits its use for certain expenses on the banned list like magazine subscriptions, football pools, sweepstakes or lotteries.

Please contact our 24-Hour Customer Contact Centre and keep us posted on the same.

A unique number assigned by the bank to a credit card customer.

When you have a credit Card, it is often possible to add an additional Card to the account for use by someone else. The main Cardholder holds responsibility for ensuring payments on the additional Card is made. Purchases are shown on the credit Card statement, which is sent monthly.

Banks often charge an annual fee for usage of the credit Card. At times the fee is waived for the first year. There are also lifetime free Cards which do charge an annual fee.

An interactive terminal with a touch screen or keypad that allows consumers with credit Cards or debit Cards to withdraw cash, check balances and/or make deposits using the magnetically encoded Card to perform transactions. An ATM can be used to make cash withdrawals from your credit Card.

The procedure used to determine the responsibility for charges or any other dispute between the bank and the customer.

Moving an unpaid balance from one open credit account to another. You will save money if you transfer balances to a credit account with a lower interest rate.

The length of time between your statements, this is usually more than one month in length.

Using your credit Card to get cash from a bank, ATM, or by writing a convenience check. Typically, the Card issuer charges a cash advance fee for the transaction and begins charging interest immediately.

This is the maximum amount of cash that you are able to access with your Card.

When a customer doesn’t make a required payment to a credit Card account, or otherwise violates the terms of the agreement between the credit Card company and the customer.

An EMI scheme on credit Card allows you to convert your transaction done on credit Card into an Equal Monthly Installment.

The amount of money you're charged for using credit. If you don't pay off your full amount when due you will have to pay this finance charge. But there are normally other charges levied such as cash advance fees. You can use your Credit Card to withdraw cash from an ATM or a bank counter and this withdrawal normally suffers an immediate interest charge as well as other charges.

The rate at which a credit Card company charges a customer for borrowing money. It is calculated as a percentage of the amount borrowed.

The smallest payment a customer can make each statement period to keep the account in good standing.

A security code that the customer uses with debit and credit Cards to authorize transactions such as cash advances.

The amount you owed your Card issuer at the end of your last billing period.

Statements are issued once a month and detail all the transactions made on the relevant account since the previous month.