Unique offer for Citibank card holders ‘Citi Fridays at Landmark’

Landmark, India’s leading book and music retailer in a tie-up with Citibank has introduced a unique offer, ‘Citi Fridays at Landmark’, a reason for book and music enthusiasts to celebrate the weekend.

Under this unique offer all Citibank cardholders who do shopping on Fridays at Landmark stores will be able to earn five times the reward points on all purchases made using cards, the offer will be valid till March 2010.

Discussing about Citibank’s association with Landmark, Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager-Cards, Citibank India said, “Our customers have always shown interest in books and music as one of their core leisure activities. This is also clearly evident in our customers' credit card spending where these purchases represent a significant share of their total spends. Therefore, to bring more value through savings to our customers, we are launching Citi Fridays at Landmark. Landmark is a key merchant to Citi and extending this partnership is a win-win for us all.”

Expressing views on this new offer at Landmark, Mr. Himanshu Chakrawarti, COO, Landmark said, “We have always strived to present our customers with a unique shopping experience and this offer is one such endeavor. Citi Fridays at Landmark will surely add the extra edge to leisurely shopping. We are glad that we have come up with an offer that will benefit our customers. ”

So, all Citibank card holders go on shopping spree on Fridays at Landmark stores and avail the opportunity to make good collection of music DVDs and books.

Citibank, Barclays Bank increase minimum balance for savings accounts

The foreign banks are increasing the minimum balance the customers required to hold in their savings accounts. The banks are taking this move in order to close inactive accounts and increase low cost deposits.

Citibank, largest foreign lender in the country, has increased the average monthly balance requirement for its Suvidha savings account. From November 1 the Suvidha savings account customers will be required to maintain average monthly balance of Rs 25,000 instead of Rs 10,000. Earlier this year, British lender Barclays Bank has increased minimum balance requirement from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000. After this move both the banks have to similar level of Standard Chartered, last year in December, the bank had increased its minimum balance requirement, so as HSBC. However ABN AMRO, has not hiked its minimum balance requirement of Rs 10,000.

Saru Kaushal, Business Manager-Suvidha at Citibank India told, “Citibank Suvidha is designed as a zero minimum balance account and continues to remain so. The monthly relationship value is a requirement that applies only when there is an interruption in salary credit... Suvidha account holders can choose to maintain the net relationship value across a bouquet of products comprising savings account balance, fixed deposits, mutual funds and insurance premium paid.”

According to a senior executive of a leading foreign bank, “Most foreign banks are doing it to weed out inactive accounts and attract the right kind of customers, since most foreign banks target premium customers. Banks also want to encourage the right kind of behavior among customers”.

Another foreign banker pointed out, “Foreign banks do not have the branch network that Indian banks do to access low-cost deposits. And since every transaction costs money, accounts with a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 are not remunerative”.

In India all public sector banks and foreign banks are required to offer a minimum number of no-frills accounts with zero minimum balance requirements. On these accounts banks do not give any basic features such as ATM-and-debit card and free cheque books.

Previously this year in March, HDFC Bank country’s second largest private sector lender, raised its minimum balance requirement to Rs 10,000 for urban savings account customers.

While last year ICICI Bank had raised its minimum balance requirements to Rs 10,000.

SBI, IDBI & Citibank asked by PF-RDA to improve pension plan sales

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PF-RDA) have issued instructions to the State Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Citibank to intensify efforts for selling products of the new pension system (NPS).

According to pension regulator, the three out of the 21 points of presence (PoPs) are not making enough efforts to attract more number of subscribers to NPS.

PFRDA Chairman D Sw­arup told, “I have written to SBI, IDBI and Citibank to step up efforts as PoPs. We feel they have not been pe­rforming to their pote­nt­ial.”

NPS started operation on May 1, since then up to August 7, as per latest figures by PFRDA IDBI has been able to sell just 52 fo­rms, SBI 36 forms and Cit­ibank a mere seven forms.

In a reply to why the regulator has pointed out only few entities when several other PoPs have not been able to sell a single form till last update, Swarup said as the operational size of the three banks is wider therefore the expectations from them was higher. He added, “T­hey are among the bigger o­nes that are not performing to their potential.”

Swarup informed the State Bank of India and IDBI ha­ve accepted the failure and have given the assurance to the regulator that they will step up efforts, as well as open more branches for selling NPS products and training of staff.

When contacted, Citibank officials refused to comment. A Citibank spokesperson said, “We do not comment on any regulatory matters or discussions with regulatory agencies”

The banks, which have performed better among the 21 PoPs, are ICICI Bank has sold 230 forms, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank (189), Co­mputer Age Managem­ent Services (171), Axis Bank (141) and UTI Asset Management Company (124).

The singled out entities that have not been able to sell a single form include Central Bank of India, Oriental Ba­nk of Commerce, State Ba­nk of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Indore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore and Union Ba­nk of India. As on August 7 the total forms sold by these PoPs stand at a meager 1,200.

Swarup told, “I have not written to other entities, including the SBI subsidiaries. Some of them have not yet obtained digital signature certificates for electronic fund transfer, which is required for safe fund transfer. They are working on it.”

The banks in the NPS believe that the slow takeoff by the PoPs is because of lack of incentives on selling pension products under the system.

A top official wi­th UTI Retirement Solutions pointed out, “The PoP fees at Rs 20 per transaction is leading to low participation. This is the principal reason for the lack of enthusiasm among the points of presence to sell the product. The fee structure needs to be lo­oked into.”

Citi bank launched ‘Citi Tap and Pay’ mobile payments in India

Citi Bank has introduced 'Citi Tap and Pay' here, in India the 'contactless credit card payment system' which will give customers the convenience of using their mobile phone as a credit card.

This new technology is based on Near Field Communications (NFC) technology in collaboration with Nokia, Vodafone, MasterCard and VIVOtech.

Jeff Semenchuk, executive vice-president and head of growth ventures, Citi Innovation informed reporters, "The launch of Citi Tap and Pay pilot service will be one of the world's largest pilots ever undertaken, establishing a fully secure scalable and interoperable mobile payments ecosystem in Bangalore".

By using this technology customers will be able to tap their mobile phone on a contactless reader at the point of sale to pay for purchases, instead of traditional swiping of credit cards, he said.

Jeff added this service will also do away with the need for customers to send SMS or incur mobile data charges to make these payments.

Nokia will offer the service with the support of NFC-enabled Nokia 6212 classic phones, which will replace the multiple of cards in consumer wallets. Vodafone network operator will provide the platform for the pilot service while MasterCard will offer its MasterCard PayPass contactless payment and security infrastructure.

ViVOtech is providing the primary technology including the NFC wallet, the Over-the-Air (OTA) card provisioning software, the mobile coupon application in addition to contactless readers to the merchant who are opt for this technology to accept payments, N Rajashekaran, Country Business Manager, Global Consumer Group, Citi India, informed.

the new NFC-capable Nokia N 6212 classic phone will be pre-loaded with Citi Tap and Pay applications enabled with MasterCard's PayPass contactless payment technology so the can purchase at designated Nokia stores, he said.

This will enable the customers to securely execute an Over-The-Air download of their Citibank MasterCard credit card on to their mobile phone. Once custom-made, customers credit card on the phone is ready and can use the phone to make Tap and Pay transactions with the merchants having Citi Tap and Pay and MasterCrd PayPass readers, Rajashekaran informed.

The sources said Citi Tap and Pay transactions are absolutely secure as it require a PIN validation. The contactless payment transactions will be automatically charged to a customer's Citibank MasterCard card account.

Rajashekaran informed, "Out of Citibank's four lakh customers in Bangalore, we are looking at 5,000 for this pilot project which will continue for six months".

Citibank’s customers can purchase NFC-Capable Nokia N 6212 at an inaugural price of Rs 5,000 originally it is priced at Rs 11,650.

Citibank directed to pay Rs 50,000 compensation

Citibank had to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to Sanjeev Mehan, a resident of Sector 22. The district consumer disputes redressal forum directed Citibank as the bank had put the complainant name in the list of the defaulters in spite of clearing all dues. The forum has also directed to delete the name of the complainant from the list of defaulters of the Credit Rating Agencies and to not to charge any outstanding dues.

In his complaint Sanjeev stated that he availed of credit in January 2000. In spite of clearing all the monthly bills in time, in August 2000, Mehan received an account statement mentioning about the transaction for July, which he had never made.

He wrote a letter to the bank requesting for the removal of the said entries but the process continued for September.

Beleaguered, with the attitude of the bank he requested to reverse the wrong debit entries and to cancel his credit card. After this he said, he stopped using his card.

But in 2007, he started receiving calls from the bank asking him to pay Rs 55,000 against the dues of the credit card.

Mehan alleged in spite of his requesting for details the company did not send him a list instead he started receiving threatening calls from the bank and his name was put in the list of defaulters.

In its reply, Citibank said it had asked complainant to fill a Customer Declaration Form along with the reverse copy of his credit card and to send them for verification.

It maintained that the dues against the complainant still existed and no threatening calls were made to him.

The forum in its enquiry found that except the account statement, bank did not submit anything else as record by the company to prove that there was any outstanding amount against him.

The forum in its ruling said that the company’s demand of Rs 55,000 was “illegal and unjustified”.

Citibank in association with CPP launched a novel rescue plan

Citibank cardholders now don’t need to contact bank to freeze the credit or debit card one phone call will solve the problem. Citibank, in partnership with CPP Assistance Services, has launched a card protection plan for its cardholder wherein they don’t only get protection for Citibank credit card or debit cards, but also for those of other issuers, and even non-financial ones such as store, loyalty and membership cards.

Under this plan the cardholder will also be protected from any fraudulent use that may have occurred seven days prior to discovery and within 24 hours of notification of card loss. CPP Assistance is a subsidiary of CPP Group, a global leader in the assistance services market.

“Losing one’s wallet can be devastating, especially if its contents are stolen and abused. With this protection offer, consumers can now travel and use their cards with a peace of mind, anytime and anywhere knowing that their card is protected,” said Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager, Cards, Citibank India.

Customers get the option to select the appropriate cover plan in line with their lifestyle and spending behavior. According to the plan selected by the customers, they would get thecoverfor loss on account of fraud on their cards up to Rs 1 lakh prior and Rs 20 lakh post-notification.

"The protection also includes overseas emergency assistance for payment of hotel expenses of up to Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 60,000 in India and replacement travel ticket advance of Rs 1.2 lakh while overseas and Rs 60,000 whilst in India," Bhalla said.

Bhalla said the premium on the protection plan will be "An annual fee of Rs 995 for the Classic plan or Rs 1,295 for the Premium plan".

Citibank offers card protection plan benefit to its customers

On Wednesday Citibank introduced a new card protection benefit for its customer. Bank has launched this scheme in tie-up with CPP Assistance Services, a global player in assistance services marketing.

With the introduction of this scheme the card benefit include protection against any misuse due to lost/stolen card. Under this service the cardholder’s entire wallet of cards be credit or debit, including those of other issuers, and even non-financial ones such as store, loyalty and membership cards gets protected. Further, the cardholder also gets protection from any fraudulent use that may have occurred seven days prior to discovery and within 24 hours of notification of card loss.

Besides, the CPP Card Protection offers benefits such as a single number to call to cancel all lost cards, replacement assistance, emergency travel and hotel assistance in India and overseas due to card loss, valuable document registration and retrieval, reminder services and access to a 24 hour toll-free CPP helpline.

Cardholders get option to choose from a set of distinct plans, suitable to their lifestyle and spending behavior. In accordance to the plan selected, customers can be covered for fraud loss on their credit cards up to Rs.1 lakh prior and Rs.20 lakhs post notification; overseas emergency assistance for payment of hotel expenses of upto Rs.1.2 lakhs and Rs.60, 000 in India; and replacement travel ticket advance of Rs.1.2 lakhs while overseas and Rs.60,000 in India. The annual fee of Rs. 995 will be charged for the classic plan and Rs.1295 for the premium plan.

During the launch Sandeep Bhalla, business manager, cards, Citibank India, said, “With this protection offer, consumers can now travel and use their cards with a peace of mind, anytime and anywhere knowing that their card is protected. Also, regulators have strongly recommended banks to introduce a cover to take care of the liabilities arising out of lost cards, and Citicards has provided such a solution to our customer base.”