Cards aren't for credit alone

With the demand for card payments on the rise, banks have hit their innovation buttons to offer a card for almost every conceivable need today. The latest offerings range from cards for shopaholics like women, offering reward points for purchases beyond a certain sum, to those that help overseas travellers avoid the hassles of currency exchange.


What's more, as an alternative to the meal coupons issued by companies to their employees, at least one bank has started offering a card that obviates the need to carry and count out coupons of various denominations.

One might wonder why so many special cards are being launched, when a single credit card could suffice. But, these new offerings indeed offer benefits that regular credit cards don't.

Take for example, the ForexPlus card offered by HDFC Bank or the Travel Card from ICICI Bank. The cards, both pre-paid, help a person travelling abroad avoid having to exchange rupees for the currency desired, at least to the extent card payments can be made. The traveller can take a pre-paid card by paying in rupees, but make card payments in a currency relevant to the country he is visiting.

The HDFC Bank card can be used to pay in US dollar, euro and pound sterling, while ICICI Bank's card serves for Australian dollars, Canadian dollars and Swiss francs, besides the three currencies of its rival. Among other special features, HDFC Bank offers an overseas insurance cover to the cardholder, while ICICI Bank claims to offer an SMS alert for every purchase made using the card.

HDFC Bank offers a few unique benefits on its Women's Gold card. Having realised that women are shopaholics, it offers 5 per cent cash back on grocery purchases without any upper limit. Also, for every Rs 100 spent above Rs 5,000 in a month, the cardholder gets 5 reward points.

The reward points, in turn, can be utilised for more shopping, ranging from durables like microwaves and refrigerators to fashion brands.Taking innovation a step further, HDFCBank offers a pre-paid FoodPlus card to which employers can directly credit the food voucher amount due to an employee. Not only does the card help save the employee the bother of carrying a bundle of food coupons every time he eats out, but also accounts for small change, unlike in food coupons. Also, one doesn't need to collect the vouchers from the employer each month and keep track of where he spent them - one look at the account statement tells all.
All these cards come with the option of cash withdrawal from the respective bank's automated teller machines, though one should avoid cash withdrawals on credit cards as far as possible since the interest charged is rather stiff.