[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Do keep in mind that your Citi credit card will soon turn in to an Axis bank credit card once the purchase of Citi India retail business goes through.

Yes aware of that. Is the Axis cc's bad? Have been hearing mainly negative feedback about it . If so will plan to move out of Citibank cards and keep SBI card.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

I got a mail from Amex asking me to register at NeSL protal. Have anyone of you registered? Didn't get any such mail from my other CC providers.

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

I believe all banks would have notified their customers till now.

I got notified today. None of my other CC issuers have intimated me.
The request seems legit, see https://www.americanexpress.com/en-i...faq/index.html
However, registration would be optional (based on my reading), and serves to review and dispute incorrect submissions by the bank / CC company.

FAQ 11. What will happen if I do not take any action on the information verification/authentication received from NESL?
For Accounts 90 days past due date - In case you do not respond to the initial notification from NeSL (Information Utility), they will continue following up with you via notifications that are sent every 3 days and the link will be active for authentication for the next 15 days from submission date.
All Other Accounts - In case you do not respond to the initial notification from NeSL (Information Utility), they will continue following up with you via emails that are sent 3 times on alternate days and the account will be active for authentication till the new submission happens.

Looks like all banks are mandated to set up the same. Amex perhaps is more eager to be on the good books of RBI given the background of the run in with RBI on the data localization.

FAQ 12. Other banks are not asking me for these details, why does American Express require this information?
American Express is not asking for any information, we are only reporting the existing debt information in our system of records to NeSL and you will be further contacted by NeSL to authenticate the reported information. While the mandate is for all Banks, we would urge you to reach out to other banks directly to check the applicability of the notification for the relationships held by you with them

This seems to be a good means for the Govt to get some more high quality data on the citizens :-)
Hope this ends the surprises in the CIBIL scores seen by some due to erroneous submissions by the creditors/fradulant loans by some BNPL operators. The touted aim is albeit different

enable NeSL to accept, store and make readily available authenticated financial information submitted by creditors that helps establish defaults as well as verify claims under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 expeditiously and thereby facilitate completion of the insolvency resolution transactions under IBC in a time-bound manner.

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

I got a mail from Amex asking me to register at NeSL protal. Have anyone of you registered? Didn't get any such mail from my other CC providers.

Did you apply for any loan. I got this mail from NeSL for my company car loans that we purchased in 2021

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by indian21r

Did you apply for any loan. I got this mail from NeSL for my company car loans that we purchased in 2021

Interesting you say this. I did apply for a car loan last week. But nither the mail was from NeSL, nor the loan from Amex. So why email from Amex?

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Is there any benefit of holding onto SBI card?

If you are into online shopping (Amazon, Flipkart, Tata Cliq), travel booking (MMT, GoIbibo etc) then it makes sense to keep this card as they bring out offers of 10% discount.

If not, then you can close the card.

[deathwalkr]

My wife has an account in SBI mainly since we needed a locker. So the account is just for namesakes and she uses it for her UPI payments.

Since the last few days, a lady from the branch there has been calling my wife up saying she has received a lifetime free credit card and to come and collect it.

Even after wife says that she did not ask for a credit card and that she is not interested in wanting one, the bank lady is persistent and says you shop a lot and pay using UPI so why don't you use a credit card instead!

Told her to say no sternly and to block the number.

[UPS_Guru]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

...she has received a lifetime free credit card and to come and collect it...

How did the branch issue a credit card without the consent of the customer Wouldn't it be better to collect and cancel than let it be (or be misused)?

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by UPS_Guru

How did the branch issue a credit card without the consent of the customer Wouldn't it be better to collect and cancel than let it be (or be misused)?

That is my issue as well. How can they just blindly do something and expect us to accept it.

hmm, that's another concern. Shall go to the bank and see. Hate going to SBI.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Since the last few days, a lady from the branch there has been calling my wife up saying she has received a lifetime free credit card and to come and collect it.

Why would the card be sent to the bank and not to your mailing address? Are you sure it is someone from the bank and not a con(wo)man? Hope your wife has not given any personal or sensitive info on the call.

[durvient]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

I am reducing the number of CC's I hold and have already cancelled SC (Never used from 2013). Next on the list is Yes bank and SBI CC's. I plan to keep only Citi rewards & IOC card for all retail purchases plus retain the Amazon pay card.

Is there any benefit of holding onto SBI card?

If your SBI card is "Simply Click" card, maybe restart using it for purchases on Amazon/Flipkart and other portals where you get 10x reward points.

Closing an old credit card is not wise as it wipes off "oldest" credit from the credit history, if the limit is big enough, it will create moderate impact on your credit rating as well.

I too have 11 cards, I keep rotating them depending on their bill generation dates. This not only provides me a bigger credit period but also helps me keep getting rewards from all the cards.

My online spending is high, I prefer to purchase on cards and the same time I have a very tight control on card due payments to ensure I do not end up on the CIBIL naughty list.

SC - I too have one, stopped using when they deteriorate their reward program. I too have not used it for the last 3 years, this is my oldest card thus have kept it alive however might soon euthanize it.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Why would the card be sent to the bank and not to your mailing address? Are you sure it is someone from the bank and not a con(wo)man? Hope your wife has not given any personal or sensitive info on the call.

No, she hasn't. The lady on the phone wanted my wife to come to the bank and collect it. Didn't ask for any information.

Weird.

[Mahesh Babu]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

My wife has an account in SBI mainly since we needed a locker. So the account is just for namesakes and she uses it for her UPI payments.

Since the last few days, a lady from the branch there has been calling my wife up saying she has received a lifetime free credit card and to come and collect it.

My assumption is that they are bluffing to lure you in so that they can canvass you to apply for a credit card. A credit card WILL NOT be issued without a formal application along with necessary enclosures- identity proof, address proof, PAN/Aadhaar copy and sometimes copy of last income tax returns and recent bank statements of you salary account, not the inactive SBI account (even in this CIBIL score era). SBI card division is totally different from the local branches we deal with, they just collect our contact data from the banks.
However this is not a scam of any sort and you may even end up with a life time free credit card if your financial credentials are good enough as in the old joke "Banks are institutions which will lend you any amount of money provided you furnish enough proof that you don't need it" Only glitch may be you would be applying for not receiving the credit card during your branch visit

[dailydriver]

Would appreciate comments from experienced folks:

My credit card 1 is from a nationalised bank. It was issued nearly a decade ago. At that time, the credit limit was around three times my then average gross monthly salary. To this day, the limit remains the same. Neither have they offered to enhance it nor have I requested for it.

My credit card 2 is from a private bank. It was issued two years ago with credit limit equal to my then one month gross salary.

A few months ago, card 2 came up with a proposal for credit limit enhancement and I opted for it. It is now three times my current gross monthly salary.

Yesterday, I have received a further enhancement option, which, if accepted, would give me credit limit equal to seven months my current gross salary.

Questions regarding card 2:
1. Given that I am unlikely to ever use even 50% of the newly offered credit limit, would it be wise to opt for it, just for the sake of having a credit card with a large limit?

2. Is it better to have a lesser credit limit, utilize it to the maximum, repay it promptly OR to have a large limit but use it at its lower end? Which would be better for improving/maintaining my (already good) credit score?

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

to have a large limit but use it at its lower end? Which would be better for improving/maintaining my (already good) credit score?

This is recommended - less % use of your credit limit to maintain a good score. It is also recommended that you take the revised limit offer as it's a show of your credit worthiness.


I have a follow-up question here. I have a case similar to your card 2 which I got from a private bank 6.5 years ago, along with a new salary account. First they gave a 5 digit limit. Over time, they offered to increase the limit and as of today, the limit almost 15 times the original one that they had offered 6 years ago.


Two years ago, I was checking my Cibil report and found my score to be low. Their reason was that I had over-used my credit limit. But to my surprise, the card limit that they have on their records is the original 5 digit amount that came at the time of card issue. Cibil records never got revised even though the bank has revised the limit several times now. I wonder how can this be fixed?

I spoke to my bank RM but she was clueless. Since then I have made sure to use 20-30% limit of the original 5 digit amount on my credit card (I don't have much need too) irrespective of the current limit available to me. My Cibil score has also recovered since then.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

1. Given that I am unlikely to ever use even 50% of the newly offered credit limit, would it be wise to opt for it, just for the sake of having a credit card with a large limit?

2. Is it better to have a lesser credit limit, utilize it to the maximum, repay it promptly OR to have a large limit but use it at its lower end? Which would be better for improving/maintaining my (already good) credit score?

I prefer to have a large limit, just in case. Even though I have never used it fully in nearly three decades of credit card usage, and use my credit card as a debit card. Which means I settle the dues fully each month. Even on occasions when I have used it for larger amounts, I have ensured to liquidate some cash from savings and paid it off on due date.

But I login to my account and set a smaller limit for various purposes - such as POS, online, international buys and touchless payments. Not more than 10k for buys and 5k for touchless. If I am going for some large purchases, I ensure to set a larger limit before I leave or place an order online. Immediately after the purchase I will again reduce the limits to default level.

I would suggest accept the larger limit but set lower spend limits. This will ensure even if frauds happen, the damage will not be much.