ICICI Bank Credit Card

Thomas_Crown

Anyone applied for an ICICI Bank Credit Card?

I read that they offer 0% balance transfers without a fee but only for 3 months. Not very long I know but every little helps! (Sorry,wrong company.)
I think that applications are by phone & not online. Any observations?

sicker

For the limit you are likely to get and the time you take with all the fiddling , in my opinion it's just not worth the effort.

John

YorkshireBoy

sicker wrote: »

For the limit you are likely to get and the time you take with all the fiddling , in my opinion it's just not worth the effort.

Can't comment on limits, but I've read reports of 8 week set up delays meaning you're lucky if you get a month at 0%.

Thomas_Crown

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Can't comment on limits, but I've read reports of 8 week set up delays meaning you're lucky if you get a month at 0%.

I am aiming to be debt free, apart from my mortgage by the end of 2007.
I currently have £718.00 owing on a Nat.West Mastercard but the 6 months 0% balance transfer period runs out in August. I will make my usual £50.00 monthly payment when I receive my July statement. I just need to
find the cheapest balance transfer to help me get to the end of the year.
Most 0 % B.T. deals available at the moment have a 3% fee.

YorkshiresBoy, I am pretty sure that even if it takes ICICI 8 weeks to open a credit card account they will give 3 months 0% interest from the date the account is opened.

The only other problem is that when I recently applied for a Sony card (MBNA) ie.the one with enough points to get a free Sony mp3 player, I was turned down. I had a good credit record but being rejected by MBNA will now be on my credit file.

There are not many credit card companies left for me to try as I have B.T.ed
from card to card over the last 2-3 years.

Sybarite

ICICI are absolute pants - avoid them at all costs - it's really not worth the hassle. Having had about 15-20 CCs in my time - the experience with ICICI is really exceptionally bad.

They have cocked up;
1)Initial application, very delayed in processing, then failed to input balance transfer and direct debit instructions or send out a card.
2)Subsequent balance transfers - initially stating this couldn't be done - *shock* this is why I took out the card?
Then requiring several calls to actually process the transfer on the original application. Finally they have now 'lost' the transfer and my old CC provider hasn't received any payment. It's taking weeks to sort out and of course i can't close either account (which I would do) until the situation is resolved.
The staff generally don't know one bodily extremity from another, calls usually aren't returned and the computer system is often down.

I've never experienced anything like it from any other bank, it's taking hours to sort out rather than the usual minutes with other providers.

I'm not alone, an Indian friend who used ICICI precisely because it was an Indian bank, closed their account after a couple of months citing a similar catalogue of errors.

YorkshireBoy

Thomas_Crown wrote: »

YorkshiresBoy, I am pretty sure that even if it takes ICICI 8 weeks to open a credit card account they will give 3 months 0% interest from the date the account is opened.

You're pretty sure huh? So was this poster on the stoozing site...

http://www.stoozing.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1173304444

...but he still only managed to get 4 weeks 0% - following a catalogue of errors similar to those reported by Sybarite above.

...being rejected by MBNA will now be on my credit file.

No. There will be a search registered. Even if the lenders' systems are so sophisticated (and I doubt they are) that they can detect a failed application by the fact no history has subsequently been reported, they will know that the account itself can take 3 months to appear on your credit file so will factor that in for a "recent" search.

There are not many credit card companies left for me to try as I have B.T.ed from card to card over the last 2-3 years.

You can use most of them more than once.

Thomas_Crown

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You're pretty sure huh? So was this poster on the stoozing site...

http://www.stoozing.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1173304444

...but he still only managed to get 4 weeks 0% - following a catalogue of errors similar to those reported by Sybarite above.No. There will be a search registered. Even if the lenders' systems are so sophisticated (and I doubt they are) that they can detect a failed application by the fact no history has subsequently been reported, they will know that the account itself can take 3 months to appear on your credit file so will factor that in for a "recent" search. You can use most of them more than once.

Firstly, thanks to Sybarite's advice, I will not be applying for an ICICI credit card.

YorkshireBoy, thanks for the link to the Stoozing site. I did sign up to that site ages ago but have never logged on since then. I know that you can apply for some credit cards more than once but at least one company, Nationwide B.S. will not give you the interest free period the second time round. I've done Sainsbury's Bank,twice,without problems.

The other problem is that many cards are issued by the same provider on behalf of other companies. Martin recommends A&L but their cards are issued by MBNA so that's a none starter for me. He also recommends RBS & Nat.West cards. I had a RBS card for years & ditched it earlier this year just after getting a Nat.West card (RBS). I also have a Tesco card, again RBS!

Looks like my next & hopefully last application is going to be Capital One
with a B/T @ 0% for 6 months with a 1.7% fee. That's assuming that my credit score is still excellent, if it is only rated as good, then it would be a 3% fee.

deptfreemoneytart

Hi Folks
I've just tried to apply for the ICICI credit card online and a post came up that they are updating their systems and therefore credit card application will not be available until the NEW YEAR.
I'm already a HiSave customer with the bank so I phoned them and was told that they couldn't send me an application form by post either and that it would take 15/20 working days to finish updating the system before I would be able to download the application form for the credit card.
Have a nice Christmas.

deptfreemoneytart

Don't despair about ICICI Bank taking to long to set up your account or when they do they mess up.
I previously opened an account with Ulster Bank to get 5 months 0% and proceed to set up a direct debit to pay the min. payment every month. Ulster Bank cocked it up completely, they offered me a smaller amount than I needed to be transferred, I phoned to complain to a supervisor, they increased my limit.
Then they messed up my direct debit payments, I complained to a supervisor at head office and insisted that because of the mess they had caused, the least they could do was to give me a further 5 months 0% period, which they did.
Which just goes to show, if you stay calm and play them at their own game it can have advantages.
Don't let the ********* get you down.

Sybarite

Don't bother following up the application - ICICI have been the worst experience of a CC provider I've ever had. They managed to mess up a balance transfer and still haven't properly rectified the situation - which started in May. To date the are supposed to re-pay me £150 in interest charges from the previous provider due to their incompetence. I've had to chase ever singe transaction, as soon as the situation is resolved they're being dumped.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by debtfreemoneytart
I previously opened an account with Ulster Bank to get 5 months 0% [BT]. Ulster Bank cocked it up completely, they offered me a smaller amount than I needed to be transferred

This can happen with any credit card. For this reason, it's best to keep your options open, IMO, and leave the balance transfer section of your credit card application blank or, if asked, state you may be interested.

Of course, you might want to commit yourself to a BT if you believe it could influence the credit limit eventually offered.

Personally, I feel the possible advantage gained is outweighed by the disadvantages. An horrendous story involving LTSB and Capital One was posted to this forum last year. Incompetence on this scale is fortunately rare but, for peace of mind and to avoid unwanted partial transfers, I would wait until safe receipt of your card & credit limit. Then request your BT(s) by phone when you call to activate your new card. There's usually a Freefone number for this

Congratulations on negotiating a higher credit limit. It's good to hear from someone who managed to turn all the aggravation into a plus!