This is the second post of the Blog and officially the start of it too in terms of Information. I am going to write one more article about Indian Credit cards in next post. The reason why I am covering Credit cards is because in India lot of people want to get Credit cards but have no idea like how to apply for credit cards or what kind of credit cards are there in the market.
So go through it and I hope you will find it informative. If you want to ask anything about HDFC credit cards than also free to ask to me as I am having it 
(I have also applied for ICICI Credit Card and hoping to get it in a few weeks, as said by them)
There are a lot of credit cards being offered in the market but they can be broadly categorized in to 3 categories - Silver, Gold and Platinum, which I have covered in next paragraphs. Most of the banks in India issue credit cards through partnerships with various foreign credit card issuers and banks to provide their customers wider acceptability.
The types of Credit Cards offered by Indian Banks are -
* Silver Cards - Silver credit cards rank lowest among the metal named cards, and, because of lower prestige when compared to gold and platinum cards, are commonly known as basic and standard credit cards. Silver credit cards come with advantages such as lower annual membership fees if there is any, and a lower threshold salary which banks use to evaluate your application in case you should apply.
Silver credit cards will provide you with almost the same credit limit as other cards provided you have a good credit history. You can also avail of 0% interest balance transfer schemes which are made available for a period of 6-9 months for silver card holders.
There are also some disadvantages to using silver credit cards. One would be the lower cash advance limits, less rewards and promotional packages, and less travel perks compared to gold and platinum cards.
HDFC Bank, ICICI offer silver credit cards through their HDFC Bank Silver cards and ICICI Sterling Silver credit card.
* Gold and Platinum Cards - Gold and platinum credit cards are a status symbol for any credit card holder, bringing prestige since getting gold and platinum cards usually require that you have good credit rating and a higher income levels. Gold and platinum cards offer higher limit for cash advance withdrawals and sometimes can provide higher credit limits as compared to standard or silver cards.
If you have a gold or platinum card, you also get better perks and privileges such as travel insurance, extended warranties for appliance purchases, special deals on specific products, and purchase protection insurance.
You can also engage in some loyalty schemes that are offered for gold and platinum credit card holders which can sometimes involve cash back promos and reward points systems.
Some popular gold and platinum cards available are the American Express Gold card, and the ICICI Solid Gold Credit Card.
It is not possible to cover them the exact offerings of these cards but I will highly advice you to check all these websites of the banks to get all the info about the credit cards they are offering. Also try to talk to your friends who are having credit cards to get more info.
1. Credit Cards from ICICI Bank, India
2. Credit Cards offered by HDFC Bank, India
3. Credit Cards offered by HSBC Bank, India
4. Credit Cards offered by CitiBank in India
5. State Bank of India Credit Cards (SBI has many subsidary banks like Bank of Hyderabad, Bank of Mysore, please check this link to get more info)
6. UTI (Now AxisBank) Credit Cards in India
7. ABN Amro Credit Cards in India.
You are welcome to share your views and experience about these cards
Links you may find interesting -
- Service for HDFC Credit Card is very poor - Take it on your own risk
- How to Send Money to India
- How to Buy and Send Online Gifts from India
- How to get a personal loan? Its Easy
- What are the problems you face with Indian Credit Cards from Banks ?
August 18th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
[...] is the second post in series of Indian Credit Cards You can read the first post about types of Credit Cards Indian Companies offer to know what options you [...]
September 12th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
i like this web site as it helped me alot to prepare my BMS project of 100 marks. i have choosen a topic of credit cards so by searching this site on google i found this site. thank you very much DHADKANOFINDIA
September 12th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Thanks for the kind words Bhavin, I am glad you found the site helpful. The whole purpose of the site is to create a information platform for Indians.
If you have any questions regarding Credit Cards in India, than feel free to ask me. I have applied for HDFC and ICICI Credit cards so I can surely help you.
Cheers
October 10th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Ben…
I really appreciate your efforts in this area. What is so good about the Internet is that we can all become involved - informing and debating - and spreading the collective wealth of knowledge. Many thanks….
November 24th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Sir I’m doing a thesis in credit cards..please give me some more details