Inter-Bank ATM free of charge from April

The Reserve Bank of India circular, which has made inter-bank cash withdrawals for bank account holders through automated teller machines (ATMs) free of charge irrespective of bank in which they have account, has become effective from April 1 onwards. The newly-announced measure is expected to benefit countless ATM users countrywide, along with making the ATM usage more popular.

While ATM users from any bank will no longer be required to pay any charge for withdrawing money from an ATM, the banks have yet to decide upon a standardized rate that they would charge their counterparts for facilitating the proposed service.

Thus far, the charges pertaining to the inter-bank withdrawal facility was passed on by the banks to their clients. Lenders had either entered into bi-lateral or multi-lateral agreements, or were using national electronic fund transfer (NEFT) for speedy inter-bank fund transfers, at an economical cost.

There are some issues for the users, if the card gets stuck or cash not dispensed the user has to contact the service providing bank or the ATM owner. The users bank is not responsible for these scenarios.

A Upgraded Credit Card from ICICI Bank

Just got a upgraded credit card from ICICI bank. Infact it is co-branded card with Future Group, the Big Bazaar fame. They have upgraded me from Silver to Gold card. The process was like they send me a SMS and I reponded to that as acceptance and voila withing next ten days I receive a SMS from courier company about delivery of my new card. Things are getting simple these days, with ever reaching impact of internet and mobile communications.

Only glitch they have made is the letter accompanied talk about the card as add-on card upgrade, I didn't have any add-on card so far. Wife is happy with debit card. I have to check the repercussions about this.

As usual this one comes with lots of offers and rebates on purchases from the Future Group and allied marketeers. They are nothing but the allurements to customers to drop in at their store and get robbed over the period. Good thing is card is free for life time, and I shall try not to pay any interest or finance charges to the bank as possible by abiding to their payment rules. This takes some time to master, you have to keep your finances under control and remember the dates. Payments are done via net banking so you can schedule the payment for the last date.