ATM User Rights

Customer one should be aware of his right and he must use it for his personal benefit. However, there are many cash card holders who are unaware of their rights at the ATMs, reports Parvatha Vardhini C, from Hindu businessline.

Well ATM card holders, we have a list of good news for you. RBI has made several customer friendly reforms and has mandated banks to adopt them to safeguard customers interest.

On your part, you must learn about your rights. Hence, here are a few things you must keep in mind while using an ATM.

1. The Reserve Bank of India has introduced the ‘Free ATM Access Policy’ which allows ATM card holders to use other bank’s ATM without any charge. However, the number of free transactions is limited to five times in a month. Exceeding that, you would be charged anything less than or equal to 20 per transaction.

2. In case you experience any trouble using an ATM, where after inserting your card, the ATM machine does not delivery cash, but gives you a bill indicating the amount being wrong debited from your account, then you must lodge a complaint immediately or least within 30 days of the transaction.

The bank stands liable to return the amount within 7 days of receiving the complaint. If the bank delays, you would be entitled to receive a compensation of 100 for each day’s delay.#

3. For lodging a complaint, look around inside the ATM centre to get necessary details and proper contact address of your bank. RBI has mandated every bank to provide sufficient information and guidelines related to registering of ATM related complaints there.

In the ATM center you may find a notice board saying that you can lodge a complaint at the bank branch. There you will get information about the bank linked to the ATM card and also the contact number of the bank’s help desk.

4. Does your bank permits you to withdraw cash, make a balance enquiry and pay bills, all in one single login? If that’s the case, chances are high that your ATM transactions not secure. Just imagine you are in a hurry, and after withdrawing cash, you don’t remember to collect your card.

What will happen then? Anyone can freely clean your account. Hence, with a view to make ATM transactions more secure, the RBI, in its ‘Master Circular on Customer Service’ for 2011 has made a procedural amendment.Under this, each bank is required to ensure that the process flow or process change must be accompanied by regular feeding of ATM PIN Code number.

If the banks fails to implement this scheme and the ATM card does not ask for PIN validation for every successive transaction, the bank will be charged a penalty under the Payments and Settlement Systems Act. In case your ATM card does not work in this fashion, you have the right to ask your bank.

5. Taking into account the rising incidents of fraudulent withdrawals at ATMs or unauthorised usage of cards, RBI has directed banks to send online alerts to customers regardless of the amount involved or the channel used. This measure was proposed by RBI in order to make ATM transactions more secure and customer friendly, and it is in force since July 2011.

But if even today you don’t receive these alerts although you didn’t miss to update your mobile number or email address, be smart enough to demand this service from your banker.

Thanks

 

Best ever Quotes of Warren Buffett for Life Time

Warren Buffett

What Warren Buffet says about basic investing, spending, savings are so true. Most of us know it, however too many of us do not live it.

If it does make a change in your life, thank HIM (I mean God) because this is common sense. WB said it once, I am just reproducing it.

1. On Earning:

Do not depend on a single income. Invest and create a second/ third source of income:

This means when you are young your first task should be saving and investing. By creating a second source of income you are quickly reducing your dependence on your job. This could help you to set out on your own one day. The quicker you can do it, the better.

2. On Spending:

If you buy things that you do not need, you may soon have to sell things you need:

It kind of summarizes Gen X’s reaction towards ‘luxuries’. As a part of Gen X we were perhaps criticised for some of our expenses, so it could be a generational thing even for WB. However, having goals and knowing where you are going, and not spending just to ‘show off’ are important lessons for all generations.

3. On Savings:

Do not spend what is left after spending, instead spend after you save/invest:

Also called ‘Pay Yourself First’. If you realise that investing in a pension plan or for your kid’s education is just helping you to save more later on. It is not a sacrifice, it is just postponing consumption. So understand, invest and then spend.

4. On taking Risk:

Never test the depth of the river with both your feet:

If you are doing something, do small. If you are a first gen investor, do not be carried away by equity lovers like me and put all your money in equity. Do a SIP with a small amount, and test the waters. Do a SIP of Rs. X (which could be 10% of your take home pay) for 5 years and then step up. And for heavens sake understand risk of inflation, and the concept of real returns

5. On Investing:

Do not put all eggs in one basket:

Immaterial of who you are and how much you understand, create a portfolio. A full range lunch plate is always better than just one item. So create a portfolio with bonds, bond funds, PPF, NSC, equity, mutual funds, and on the risk side medical and term insurance.

6. On Expectation:

Honesty is expensive, do not expect it from cheap people:

Not everybody is honest, nor does everybody want to be honest. Honest advisers are difficult to find especially in Health and Wealth, be careful.

Thank Yahoo!

 

Economic indicators: Hot or not?

FORTUNE — If you look closely, you can find economic indicators everywhere. Over the years, economists have examined everything from hemlines to men’s underwear sales to taxi availability to try and forecast the economy’s future.

But the recent turmoil has changed the way some economists look at their favorite indicators. Data that was seen as prescient a few years ago is all but considered a failure today. Some indicators that were once wallflowers are now in the spotlight.

Since uncertainty seems to reign these days, perhaps it’s not surprising that other major indicators, such as consumer confidence and stock market prices, have no clear consensus.

After taking an unscientific poll of economists and other soothsayers, Fortune has devised an official (for now, anyway) “Hot or Not” list of economic indicators, along with a couple that will always remain classics. Hello, ISM Manufacturing Index, and so long housing data!

Continue Reading…….