Banks and financial institutions have been warned by the RBI to strictly follow its fresh guidelines on credit cards. These guidelines have been issued for creating and maintaining charging interest rates and levying other fees on customers and any contravention can invite penal action.

An RBI circular said that all banks and financial institutions are advised to strictly adhere to the guidelines, both in letter and spirit.

From Economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Besides, complaints like charging annual fee on what were being offered as free cards, issuance of loans over phone, disputes over wrong billing, difficulty in accessing the credit card issuers and poor response from the call centres, it said.

Giving detailed guidelines for credit card operations, the RBI had earlier asked the banks to declare upfront the interest rate, various charges and the methodology of calculation of finance charges with illustrative examples.

As per an RBI circular issued in 2007, card companies should prescribe a ceiling rate of interest, including processing and other charges in case of small value personal loans and loans similar in nature.

There should be transparency in levying differential interest rates, it had said, adding, the banks should publicise through their website and other means, the interest rates charged to various categories of customers.

The circular also advised banks to indicate to the credit card holder upfront, the methodology of calculation of finance charges with illustrative examples, particularly in situations where only a part of the amount outstanding is paid by the customer.

These fresh directives have been issued by the RBI in response to numerous complaints by holders of credit cards, particularly with regard to excessive finance charges and issuance of unsolicited cards.

Tags: credit card operations, disputes over wrong billing, free cards, guidelines on credit cards, small value personal loans, unsolicited cards

According to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, online shopping reached its highest growth since June 2008. This massive boost is attributed to the warm weather and the World Cup.

IMRG spokeswoman Tina Spooner said the e-retail market in the United Kingdom has grown 14 percent that is in line with predictions for the year.

From Thescotsman.scotsman.com:

The index shows a 3 per cent sales increase in May, compared to April this year.

Preparations for the World Cup appear to have played their part, with alcohol sales up 23 per cent compared to last year and electrical goods up 13 per cent.

Online clothing sales rose in May, up 32 per cent compared to last year, fuelled by sportswear buying and warmer weather.

Capgemini spokesman Chris Webster said: “Throughout the history of the index we have seen a noticeable rise in sales of certain goods whenever there is a major sports tournament on.

“This year’s World Cup is no exception, with online retail as a whole growing by the highest level in two years and sectors such as clothing, alcohol and electricals rising rapidly.

E–retailers have already started to benefit from an increase in consumer spending as consumers are now confident of the economy as recession is now almost over.

Tags: e-retail market, Online clothing, Online Shopping, recession, World Cup

Big-budget disappointments and the lack of a single blockbuster comedy has put off grumpy moviegoers, a truth which is evident from the fact that Memorial Day weekend attendance was the lowest since 1993.

Sony’s remake of “The Karate Kid” surprised many with collections of $56 million in North America over the last few days and Toy Story 3 is expected to help cash counters go ringing.

From Economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Kevin Goetz, chief executive of Screen Engine, a marketing and research consulting firm that specializes in entertainment, says viewers increasingly reserve their ticket purchases for pictures that promise something truly special, whether that means amazing visual effects or extraordinary reviews.

“If you don’t have a product that delivers in a unique and powerful way, then certainly the messaging has to do that,” Mr. Goetz said.

A variety of other factors may be holding back the box office, including blowback from consumers over higher ticket prices. Perversely, the improving economy may have taken the edge off ticket sales that were buoyed last year, when filmgoers sought a relatively cheap diversion from financial woes.

But the primary reason is most likely ho-hum movies. In the last few weeks, Hollywood’s offerings have lacked luster. “Sex and the City 2” got some of the worst reviews in memory for Warner Brothers, while “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” from Walt Disney was received with a collective shrug.

Dennis Rice, a marketing consultant who previously ran Disney’s publicity operation, said it is all about changing the mood in context of the entertainment business.

Tags: entertainment, Marketing, marketing consultant, Memorial Day, research consulting, The Karate Kid, Toy Story, Walt Disney

Introduction of online facilities such as Online shopping and Internet banking surely have simplified things besides adding to the comfort and convenience of people. However, things are not as safe as their appear in the first place as the World Wide Web is full of individuals trying to steal critical information for mischievous purposes. Read on!

Online shopping and Internet Banking are quite popular with consumers of today. This is also the reason why hackers target them to gain easy money through fraud and identity theft. Though illegal, computer hacking does exist and you are surely fooling yourself if you think that you cannot be a victim of hacking.

Believe it or not, hacking is a universal concept and no PC in this world is an exception. It does not matter if you are rich or average your critical info can still be hacked as hackers do not make discrimination though they obviously prefer the rich. There are ways to guard your PC and information from getting hacked, especially if you make use of shared PCs.

Remember, things can be made easier and safe by following some easy and effective tips. Let us read about some good tips to keep your bank account, credit cards, and other financial information secure from all types of hacking activities.

Buy only from trusted retailers and do not forget to verify authenticity of the retailer by visiting online forums and sites such as PissedConsumer.com
Never choose to save your card number, CVV, or other info while transacting on the web

Do not shop from shared PCs. The risk of getting hacked is extremely high, to say the least

Do not share your passwords and keep them tough to crack. This means that while a password such as “@125%45555$998*” can be termed as good, a password such as “123456789″ is easy for the hackers to crack

Make sure that the checkout page where you are about to enter your payment or personal information has an “s” after the “http” in the address page. This means that a checkout page with the address “https://www.abc.com/” is more reliable and safe than “http//www.abc.com/” If you are using Mozilla Firefox as your Internet browser, the secure site status will also be reaffirmed in green just before https://www.abc.com/, for example: 

Do make sure that the payment is made before you and the card is not swiped more than once while using your ATM, debit, or credit cards to make payment for groceries

It is always recommended to spend quality time analyzing your credit card or bank statement

Make use of a good (preferable paid) antivirus and activate Firewall. Also, allow your PC to install critical update patches from MicrosoftNever click on an email or attachment from an unknown source

Do not submit your personal or payment information to emails suggesting that they have originated from your bank or card issuing authority and redirecting you to other site

In case you lose your card, report the loss immediately to the issuing authority besides lodging a formal complaint with the law authorities

If your card has expired, destroy it in the best possible manner. This can be done by cutting it in half through the magnetic strip

Remember that the onus of creating and maintaining high standards of data privacy lies solely with you and it is always better to follow safety in the first place itself rather than trying to comply with the safety standards it after being made a victim of fraud or identity theft.

Tags: computer hacking, data privacy, Hacking, identity theft, Internet banking, Online Shopping

Creating and maintaining high safety standards of critical data are concerns for almost all of us, especially followers of online shopping and online banking. In this blog, we would be reading about some easy yet effective ways on how to prevent hacking attacks on PCs. Read on!

In today’s web-dominated world, almost every one of us makes use of PC and Internet to reduce time and efforts and staying close to comfort and convenience. Things are easy and safe till the time we come to know that critical information stored on the PC has been hacked. Things can be restored but it is always better to play it safe from the start itself. Let us read about computer hacking and find some easy ways to protect your privacy and data.

Before we start reading about ways to prevent hacking, let us read about computer hacking so that all of us can be on the same knowledge platform.

Computer hacking is all about manipulating vulnerabilities of a computer by a hacker with an aim to invade privacy or steal or modify information. Most of us think that PCs at homes are safe but that is far from being true. Hacking can happen to any PC in this world and your PC is no exception.

Let us now read about good ways to prevent hacking at the first place.

Tips to prevent Computer Hacking

1. Install a good paid antivirus. You can install a free version to check its reliability but paid version has improved tools to prevent hacking and is therefore recommended. Moreover, update the antivirus on a daily basis and scan the PC, at least once a week

2. Turn ON the Firewall and allow your PC to install all critical patches from Microsoft by activating Automatic Updates and Windows Firewall found under Control Panel-Security Center.

3. Turn off sharing all your drives, especially where program files are usually stored, the C: / drive.

4. Delete temporary internet files. Enter PREFETCH in the RUN box and delete by pressing SHIFT+DEL. Follow the same deletion process by typing %TEMP%, also type TEMP in the RUN box after clearing prefetch and %TEMP%. Go to start, type run, and type (prefetch, %temp%, and temp, one by one).

5. Go to Control panel-Performance and Maintenance-System-Remote and UNCHECK the box “Allow remote invitations to be sent from this computer”, apply and then press OK. This will prevent hackers from gaining unauthorized access on your PC.

6. Always scan a USB drive, floppy, attachment, and CD before opening its contents. This may take some time but it is always better to be safe

7. Block pop-ups and do not click on misleading advertisements

8. Never clicks on URLs that redirect you to other sites, especially those mischievously claiming to be from your bank or card issuing authority

9. Do not disclose personal information by responding to emails suggesting that you just won a prize or lottery. If you have not participated, how come you won it? It is that simple

10. Do not click or open emails or attachments from unknown persons

11. Never install Kazaa, Napster, or new software from an unknown source

Follow these simple tips and you can easily protect your PC and critical information from getting hacked.

Tags: computer hacking, Hacking, how to prevent hacking attacks, online banking, Online Shopping, prevent hacking, protect your PC, ways to prevent hacking

Few years back, online shopping was not given much preference in World. The reason for this was the fear of losing money in the minds of the people. Moreover, people in World used to avoid shopping online because they thought the procedure to be lengthy and complicated. But, nowadays, the shopping scenario in World has changed. People have now started adopting online methods for shopping. They now prefer to shop online rather than going on for the traditional methods.

The craze for online shopping is increasing among the people at a very steady pace. People are now going this process at ease and as such I’m also one of them. I prefer shopping online, rather than purchasing commodities from the shops or malls. One can find wide and unlimited range of products which are used almost daily on the Internet. Moreover, you can get huge variety of bags, accessories, jewelry items, computers, iPods, books, clothes, kitchen appliances, mobile phones, TV sets, audio systems, laptops, DVD and so on.

One can even compare the prices of different products, which are displayed on various websites as tough competition between the portals exists. We don’t need to go to the markets or malls in search of better deals. One can find everything in detail here in these web sites and also individuals can shop on these web portals anytime of the day without any hassles. The online portals are also trying to attract people with different schemes and attractive discounts such as buy one get one free offer, free gifts, 50% off and stock clearance sale. We can shop even when we are at home, office, metro or in the cyber cafe. Individuals can even get the delivery of the products within a very short time span.

This shopping method (online shopping) actually saves valuable time of people. One can avail all the national and international brands here. Online shopping is just a perfect method for the people who just hate going to crowded markets.

Tags: Online Shopping, shop online, Shopping, shopping online