|
March 30, 2000
- Banking
- Cards
- General
- Insurance
- Lifestyle
- Loans
- NRI
- Real Estate
- Taxation
- Travel
|
Why banks reject card applications
Larissa Fernand
Estimates state that the reject rate on credit card applications in India could range anywhere from 30 per cent to 60 per cent. If your application is denied, you have every right to ask why. However, the bank also has every right not to give you a reason. So here are possible explanations if you are trying to figure it out yourself.
The basic criteria. You have to cross this threshold before you proceed to any other factor. The income specified includes salary, business earnings and income from other sources. The amount will not only vary between banks, but is also dependent on the card that you opt for.
Actually it is the ownership pattern that matters. If you own the apartment or are living with parents, then you pass the test. Staying in a rental place is not taboo but may not be taken well either because the bank feels that they may have trouble tracking you down if you move out. Also, they do look favourably at a cottage or a bungalow. Admit that you are residing in a one-room 'chawl' system and you might as well have spared yourself the trouble of applying for a card.
Tough luck, if what you call home is what the credit card issuer calls a 'danger zone'. Your chances of getting a card are virtually nil if that area is 'blacklisted' by the bank.
Plenty of dependents? Your income better be much more to net a credit card. Paying off a housing loan, an automobile loan or a consumer loan? That should get them to take a second look at your earnings.
It should be one that they approve of. And good for you if you have been employed here for some time. It shows that you are not fond of job-hopping. What is your designation? The logic probably is the more senior you are, the more chance of your reputation being at stake, so less chance of default.
Believe it or not, journalists, schoolteachers, professors and lawyers are considered with some amount of suspicion. Infotech professionals are often known to go abroad without settling dues, so they too have fallen under this category.
All applicants must be over 18 years of age, but if you are just out of college and this is your first job, again the banks may tread carefully. Ditto, if you are retired.
If you have too many other cards, which your income does not justify, the bank may hold back.
They prefer this so that they have some way of tracking you down.
Tell us what you think of this information
|
