After the announcement of the credit policy earlier this fortnight, the interest rates, deposit amounts and maturity period have been revised by a lot of banks. Minimum maturity for term deposits has been reduced to 15 days. The winner here is clearly the customer.
Hongkong Bank has introduced deposits for 15-29 days at an interest rate of 6 per cent. The minimum amount to be deposited is Rs 25,000. The interest rate fixed for the other short term of 30-45 days has been fixed at nine per cent. The minimum deposit rate has also been fixed at Rs 25,000.
Corporation Bank has decided on the short term period to be 15-45 days at the interest rate of 5 per cent. However, the minimum amount to be invested is only Rs 1,000. Corporation Bank has also introduced differential higher rates for Rs 1.5 lakh and more for any term deposit with deposit for any period 91 days and above.
State Bank of India will also offer 0.5 per cent higher on bulk deposits Rs 15 lakh, onwards, upto Rs 2 crore. For amounts above Rs 2 crore the bank may raise the interest rate by O.75 per cent. The minimum deposit period should be 91 days or more.
Keeping in pace with the credit policy, all banks are also reducing the prime lending rates. Bank of Baroda has slashed its rate by 0.75 per centage, from 13.5 per cent to 12.75 per cent. For amounts between Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh, the rate fixed is 12.5 per cent. HongKong bank has also reduced the rate by 0.5 per cent to 15.5 per cent with effect from May12.
Cool swap schemes
The swap schemes nevr seem to stop rolling out this summer. Consumers can rejoice as more and more manufacturers jump onto the bandwagon. Now Odyssey Eleketa has come up with their exchange offer. Discounts upto Rs 6,000 is available in exchange for your old air conditioner. The company is also providing various finance scheme for your new AC.
The icing on the cake is the free gifts you pick up while making an air conditioner purchase. While the cost of the room AC range between Rs 17,000-30,000 the split ACs cost around Rs 50,000. These are the rates if you do not have an old AC to barter with.
Samsung India Electronics has also introduced its two new AC models in the 1.5 tonne category both in the window and split type, though the exchange offer doesnt hold for them. The Samsung window AC is priced at Rs 30,230 while the split one will set you back by Rs 58,000.
Another exchange offer to hit the market is from the Philips company. In exchange for your old juicer mixer grinder/mixer grinder of any make and in any condition you get Rs 500 off on a Philips Juicer Mixer Grinder ( HL 3298), 3- jar Mixer Grinder (HL 3294) and 2- jar mixer grinder (HL 3299). This offer is valid till the end of this month.
Credit at your club
After the petrol credit cards heres another new version a club credit card. The HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the Tollygunj club joined hands to launch Indias first club credit card on April 11.
This is issued under the Visa franchise, and will be accepted at over 90,000 establishments in India and Nepal. The card will help the members of these club to settle all their expenses -- rather like being able to write chits anywhere you please.
There are lots of other freebies. Card holders will also get the benefit of free credit upto 50 days, free insurance of Rs 60,000, in case of accidental death in an air crash and Rs 20,000 in case of other accidents.
The members also have access to cash advances at over 73 ATMs in the country. There is, of course, a downside, but a minor one unless youre very absentminded. In case of misplacement of the card, you have to fork over a fine of Rs1,000.
Flying high
Foreign travel just became easier. Sharing the skies seems to have become a serious trend, and now British Airways and Qantas have begun code-sharing their services via Bangkok. They are offering customers a wider choice in terms of timings, routes and fares on destinations between Europe and Australia and Thailand and Australia.
Even on the domestic air travel front there is an offer by Alliance Air. Alliance Air a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian airlines is offering a discount on certain routes. Effective from May 15, you would get a 30 per cent discount on your return journey on a two-way ticket.The routes on which the discount is valid are Mumbai, Rajkot, Bhuj, Lucknow and Aurangabad.
Lower loans from HDFC
For those interested in building their dream house, they can avail of discounted loans. Housing Development Finance corporation Ltd (HDFC) has dropped interest rates for housing loans over Rs 10,000.
These interest rates are valid from the 12th of May. The rates of interest have been reduced by one per cent in most cases the exception being the Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 10,00,000 slab. There has also been a reduction in the Home Improvement loans by one per cent.
