Tag Archives: banks
Loans-Bane or Boon
Owning a house is a dream of everyone. Majority of buyers look for a house to have a roof of their own while others look to buy a house as an investment option. In India, nearly 70-80% buyers belong to middle class or salaried class and cant afford a house at cash down payment. So, they look out for options like loans. But before taking a loan one should do a little bit research on interest rates, down payment, home loan eligibility etc so that a more cautious approach is taken which can save the buyer from taking any wrong decision.
Here are the things that you need to keep in mind before taking a loan:-
1) Property under construction: Some banks fund under construction property while some do not and that too depends on whether builder is reputed or not. So, consider buying a property from a reputed builder.
2) Ready / resale property: While selecting a ready or resale property, one should always keep in mind to take proper registered documents from the seller declaring his ownership. Besides that, one must check the condition of property and if it is urgent to buy a property on cash down payment, one can get some discount on that property.
3) Pre-approved property: Some major builders get their property approved from certain banks. These banks maintain the record of legal title documents and if somebody wants to buy the same property, the banks do not recheck documents. The banks and builder agree on a time period and takes into consideration a time when the project gets completed and then banks approve a loan and release payment after reviewing the construction site and banks take no liability if property is not completed on time.
Some Important terms you should know:-
Loan Amount eligibility: This is the amount which one receives from the bank but this depends on factors like cost of property in India, income of buyer and repayment track record i.e. will he / she be able to pay the amount back
Joint Loan: You can also take joint loan by clubbing with your wife or any relative. This increases your loan amount eligibility and in this way both become joint borrower of the loan. It increases the chance of increasing loan repayment by seeing their income.
Fixed and Floating rate: These are the various modes of interest. As the name suggests, fixed rate remains fixed during the entire period of loan whereas variable or floating rate depends upon the market condition and keeps on increasing and decreasing and monthly installments remains the same but repayment period varies.
Flat rate: The flat rate of interest is charged for the entire period of loan irrespective of payments. For instance, if somebody has availed a loan of five lakhs for five years, the rate of interest will be charged on five lakhs for five years and it will not depend on repayments of that person.
When taking a loan, one has to pay 15% of amount as down payment for a property and for rest 85% balance, one can avail loan for. Also, you can get certain tax benefits from it. Ones loan repayment period varies and depends upon the type of loan taken. The monthly EMI, which you have to repay, is divided into principal and interest. One can avail tax benefits by showing interest as a loss and it works like deduction. Also, once a person starts repaying loan amount, he / she should not miss their monthly installments. If one starts doing that, he / she will come in defaulter category and penalties will be imposed and it will effect your credit history so remember to make your payments on time.
History of Accepting Credit Cards (Page 1 of 2)
Charge cards can be dated back to the early 1900s. In 1914, what seems purely as a customer service goodwill gesture, Western Union gave some of their prominent (preferred) customers a metal card to be used in deferring payments-interest free-on services used. One source said this card became known as “Metal Money.”
As time progressed so did the charge card. Before the start of WWII, retailors, travel companies and gas stations offered this service to their special customers. These company based charge cards were limited by their use exclusively through the issuing company. These companies issued the cards, processed the transactions, and collected the debts from the customer.
In WW II, the use of credit and charge cards was prohibited.
After WW II, credit cards became more accessible to the general public After seeing trends indicating increased travel and spending among those who held charge cards, banks became interested in credit cards-after all they were in the business of lending money, and they saw the profit potential behind attaching interest to the cards.
When banks first got into the credit card business, they were only issuing cards to local consumers. In 1951, the Franklin National Bank in New York, issued the “Charge It” card. Which allowed customers to charge purchases at local stores. This charge card system worked much like credit card systems work today. The customer would make a purchase with the card; the merchant performed a credit authorization from the network, then completed the sale. The Banks paid the merchant and collected the funds from their customer later on. Other banks across the nation were impressed with the success of this process that within several years after the “Charge It” card they offered their customers similar services for making purchases at local retail establishments.
In the 1950s the first charge card was developed that allowed consumers to make charges for services and goods from a variety of retail outlets. This innovation was the Diner’s Club charge card, which was established for business men to use for travel and entertainment expenses. The Diner’s Club card gave its members up to 60-days to make payment.
The first “revolving-credit” card was issued in the State of California by the Bank of America. The card, BankAmericard, was marketed all across the state. This card set another milestone in the development of the credit card industry. The BankAmericard was the first card to give cardholders payment options. Payment options like today’s cards, let consumers pay the debt in whole or they could make monthly minimum payments while the banks charged interest on the remaining balances.
By the 1960s, bank card associations begun to emerge. In 1965, Bank of America issued licensing agreements to other banks-both large and small-across the nation. These licensing agreements permitted regional banks to issue BankAmericards and to exchange transactions through issuing banks.