Reasons for credit card being rejected at retail outlet:
• One may have exceeded the borrowing limit or
defaulted (constantly) on minimum payment due.
• The Card is hotlisted.
• The card has crossed its expiration date.
• Non-receipt of dues of one-card blocks future transactions on any other card(s) held of the same card-issuing bank.
• The magnetic strip on the reverse of the card is damaged i.e. has been scratched or exposed to continuous heat/direct sunlight or magnetic field-like card kept near a TV set / other electronic appliances.
• Systems or technology failures have in rare in¬stances also led to non acceptance of cards when swiped through an Electronic Terminal.
Global player in credit card market:
Master Card : Master Card is a product of Mas¬ter Card International and along with VISA are distributed by financial in~titutions around the world. Card holders borrow money against a line, of credit and pay it back with interest if the balance is carried over from month to month. Its products are issued by 23,000 financial institutions in 220 countries and ter¬ritories. In 1998, it had almost 700 million cards in circulation, whose users spent $650 billion in more than 16.2 million locations.
VISA Card:
VISA cards is a product of VISA USA and along with Master Card is distributed by finan¬cial institutions around the world. A VISA card holder borrows money against a credit line and repays the money with interest if the balance is carried over from month to month in a revolving line of credit. Nearly 600 million cards carry one of the VISA brands and more than 14 million locations accept VISA cards.
American Express:
The world's favourite card is American Express Credit Card. More than 57 million cards are in circulation and growing and it is still groWing further. Around US $ 123 billion was spent in 2006 through American Express Cards and it is poised to be the world's No. 1 card in the near fu¬ture. In a regressive US economy in 2006, the total amount spent on American Express cards rose by 4 percent. American Express cards are very popular in the U.S., Canada, Europe .and Asia and are used widely in the retail and everyday expenses segment.
Diners Club International :
Diners Club is the world's No. 1 Charge Card. Diners Club card holders reside allover the world and the Diners Card is a alltime favourite for cOI'porates. There are more than 8 million Diners Club cardholders. They are affluent and are frequent travellers in premier businesses and institutions, including Fortune 500 companies and leading global corporations.
JCB Cards:
The JCB Card has a merchant network of 10.93 million in approximately 189 countries. It is supported by over 320 financial institutions worldwide and serves more than 48 million cardholders in eighteen countries world wide. The JCB philosophy of "identify the customer's needs and please the customer with Service from the Heart" is paying rich dividends as their customers spend US$43 billion annually on their JCB cards.
Grace / Interest Free Period :
The number of days you have on a card before a card issuer starts charging you interest is called grace period. Usually this period is the number of days between the state¬ment date and the due date of payment. Grace periods on credit cards are usually 2-3 weeks. However, there is likely to be no grace for balances carried for¬ward from previous month and fresh purchases there¬after if any ..
