Reading your article on rediff prompted me write this e-mail.

I don't think there are many people who would like to share their nightmarish experiences with these credit card companies openly. I am sure there are many out there. I enjoyed and cherished the moment when I got my first credit card (an SBI add-on card). I subsequently was offered other cards and finally had three. An SBI, Citibank & Bank of India card. The freedom was immense with this plastic money and at the same time was an addiction, as well.

It was only a couple of days back I split my Citibank & SBI Credit cards. I have promised myself that I will never go back to them ever in my life and I have been sharing this experience with all like minded friends, colleagues & family.

I was a big fan of SBI as this was a nationalised bank and my dad was an employee (now retired). I not only used this extensively but also suggested this to all my friends & family. At one point of time my dad had two add-on cards. Now he doesn't. It was blind faith in the bank that I never used to refer to the charges but only pay the outstanding or the minimum amount due... a big mistake.

I withdrew an amount of Rs 1,000 from an SBI ATM with my SBI card. The payment was delayed by a couple of days. Now the total charges against this Rs 1,000 withdrawal is about Rs 550. A whopping interest of 50 per cent! Rs 250 ATM fee for withdrawing cash from the machine and the balance is interest charged on this principal amount of Rs 1,000 using various phrases. To double check this I was forced to refer to a couple of my old statements and happened to note the difference.

And this was offered free (no annual fee). And my statement shows Rs 750 as annual fee charged in my recent statement. It was only after I called them up did they cancel this. Imagine the number of people who would have just paid this amount!

It's happier to starve a day without a credit card rather than using one. The way these credit card companies charge interest, I can foresee a credit crunch in India on the lines of the US sub prime crisis.

Disclaimer: This is a reader-driven feature. The views expressed by the readers are their own, and not that of Rediff.com. Rediff.com has not altered the material presented here and does not endorse it in any way.

Reader invite

How many credit cards do you own? Are you happy with your credit card company? Is there anything that you hate about your credit card and would want to change? Also, is there anything that you love about your credit card?

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