Thread by @atulkarmarkar

After a really long time, the #RBI has made significant updates to their Master Direction on issuance and management of credit cards and debit cards 💳

A quick🧵on some of the major provisions and how they impact us: 1/

Card issuers must provide a one-pager on important aspects + benefits of the card, along with the interest rate and other charges. In case a credit card application is rejected, the card issuer has to provide specific reasons for the rejection. 2/

Explicit (and not implied) consent to be obtained in case card issuers are offering any insurance cover towards protection against frauds or any other liabilities on the card. Check your statement to verify if unwanted charges/premium for such insurance is levied 3/

Offering unsolicited cards/upgrades is prohibited. If this is done and any charges are levied, card issuer has to reverse + pay a penalty 2x of the charges. Also, if any card is misused BEFORE reaching the applicant, any loss due to this will be borne by card issuer 4/

⚠️*Important*: Information about the credit card account should NOT be reported to the credit bureaus BEFORE the card has been activated. In case of any such existing instances, they have to be withdrawn within 30 days. Check if you have such a mention in your credit report 5/

There should be full transparency in EMI txns, clearly mentioning principal, interest, charges, and any discount provided in order to make it a "No Cost EMI" product. EMI conversion with interest component shall not be camouflaged as zero-interest/no-cost EMI. 6/

Cardholders should be allowed to request for closure of credit card via multiple channels and not only specific modes such as Post 😛Request for closure of credit card must be honoured within *7 working days*, assuming no dues. Cardholder must be notified about the closure 7/

Closure of credit card account can be
a) requested by cardholder or
b) processed by card issuer if card is inactive for >1 year.
Closure of card must be updated with credit bureaus within 30 days. Check your credit report to verify closure of your card accounts, if any. 8/

Card issuers shall report a credit card account as 'past due' to credit bureaus or levy late payment charges only if dues are unpaid beyond 3 days of the due date. Do note that "days past due" and charges will still be levied from payment due date. 9/

👉🏼Important: Regardless of when late pymt is reported, always try to make your credit card payment 2-3 days before the due date. Processing of payments now is more seamless than before, but there can still be glitches at the bank or payment gateway, so keep that buffer 10/

Yay 🎉 Cardholders must have a one-time option to modify billing cycle of the credit card as per their convenience. This is a welcome move, and if you have multiple credit cards, you can utilise this option to stagger payments based on your income/cashflow + recurring spends. 11/

No charges shall be levied on transactions disputed as ‘fraud’ by the cardholder until the dispute is resolved🤔This is interesting, and needs checks and balances to ensure there is no misuse by cardholders simply to avoid paying dues 12/

In case of any refund/failed/reversed transactions BEFORE the payment due date, the credit amount will be immediately adjusted against any dues. I've seen most card issuers already follow this although there can be exceptions. 13/

⚠️Do keep in mind that if this reversal/refund occurs AFTER the statement is generated, you must still pay dues *as per the statement* and NOT adjust the refund on your own from the repayment - it can lead to levy of charges. The card issuer will credit this amount later 14/

For recovery of card dues, card issuer to ensure that third-party agents observe customer confidentiality and do not damage the integrity or reputation of cardholder. Contact info of agent/s to be provided upfront to cardholders once case is handed over to such agent/s. 15/

Agents should not resort to verbal or physical intimidation or harassment. No public humiliation or intrusion into privacy of cardholders’ family members, referees/referrals, and friends, by making threatening and anonymous calls - misusing contact info is quite common btw. 16/

These directions on #creditcard 💳and debit card issuance + usage will come into effect from July 01, 2022. The complete circular is available on the RBI website here 👉🏼 rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_Vie… 17/

To those asking about debit cards, details are mentioned in the link in the tweet above 🙂