The Hindu Business Line : Ask and you will get credit card fee waived

THERE is this Tamil proverb that only the crying baby gets the milk. In similar fashion, only if you ask for a fee waiver - will you get it - from credit card companies.

For those of you still paying the annual fee ( between Rs 750 and Rs 3,000) on your credit card, with silent resignation, the time may have come to demand a waiver.

ICICI Bank announced last week that all its credit cards would be "free for life". ICICI Bank has about 3.5 million cards in a market that currently is 13 million strong.

Check out with the competition on the impact of this apparently radical move - and they are unfazed.

Their general reaction - everyone is already doing it silently.

Asked for his reaction to the ICICI Bank offer, Mr Viraj Tyagi, Business Head - Credit Cards, Standard Chartered Bank, (which has 1.8 million cards) said he did not think there would be much of an impact.

He said, "This is an ongoing phenomenon over the past 18 months. We were the first players to offer such a card when we launched the Manhattan Card last year. Basically, all it takes is a call to get the fee waived, provided of course, that it is from a good customer."

Mr Puneet Chaddha, Head - Cards & Retail Assets, HSBC, (which has over 1 million cards) said, "It remains to be seen whether the waiver of the annual fee is accompanied by other changes - for instance reduction in the value or usage offers that card holders enjoy now or if there are other charges/levies. We are not keen on reduction of the fee and would like to remain transparent."

Mr Chaddha expressed concern over whether "free" cards would lead to over-leveraging by customers and encourage them to get into a debt trap. He said that the levying of the annual fee also enabled at least one direct contact with the customer every year.

Mr Parag Rao, Vice-President, HDFC Bank (which has 1.7 million cards) said his bank was monitoring the situation.

"There is no change in our policy now. But we are open to review at a later date and have a re-look at the pricing issue. While we are conscious that the customers are price-sensitive, it doesn't mean, "Always free". As long as the customer gets value, he is willing to pay for the service."

Credit card industry officials concede that most of the new cards that have entered the system over the past two years were actually "free cards".

Ask your colleagues and friends - and they confirm it too!

Says Mr Thyagarajan who brandishes four cards, "I have been paying my annual fee on Citibank and Standard Chartered cards for eight years. But they have been waiving the fee for the last two years. I have also got an SBI card free, even without asking for it."

Mr Swami says he would earlier set off his reward points for card usage against the annual fee. But he recently asked his card issuer Citibank for a waiver which was immediately granted.

And Mr Vasan, who took a home loan from ICICI Bank, got a credit card free shortly thereafter - without asking for it or having to fill any form!

So what are you waiting for? Feel Free. Get the fee waived.

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Ask and you will get credit card fee waived