Sharat Chandra onion Credit With the growth of e-commerce businesses, payment processes are also evolving day by day. One such method is Debit Card EMI. For people who do not possess credit cards, it is a very good option for purchasing expensive products online. While making a purchase, you can directly convert the spending on the online portal itself through instant EMI conversion using a Debit card. Every month the EMI is deducted from the account linked with the debit card in this payment method.
Banks usually auto-approve on which customer is eligible for this facility of EMI on Debit cards.
Banks charge some amount of interest for the EMI on Debit card facility. In this case, the rate of interest varies from bank to bank. The interest is not the only charge you have to pay. Some banks charge a processing fee and some even charges a foreclosure fee for this payment method.
As of now, only SBI, ICICI, HDFC, Federal, Axis and Kotak Mahindra banks offer Debit cards with EMI. Furthermore, you need to make a purchase of min Rs 5000 for banks like ICICI, HDFC, Federal, Kotak Mahindra and Axis debit cards and Rs 8000 on SBI debit cards to get the benefit of Debit card EMI. When the total amount of the purchasing product exceeds this predefined amount, the customer gets an option on the specific e-com site to make the payment through the Debit card EMI option.
Bank approved regular Debit card EMI schemes come with some terms and conditions. For example-
- For some debit cards, you must maintain a fixed deposit or a recurring deposit to benefit from this facility.
- The tenure option is for 3,6,9,12,18 and 24 months.
- For tenure up to 1 year, the interest rate is around 13% and for 18 to 24 months the rate goes up to 15%.
- The product amount is firstly debited from the cardholder’s account and then credited the same amount later. So one must have the requisite amount in their account.
The key point to be noted here is that you cannot purchase a particular product if you do not have the required balance in your debit account. One should always opt for a no-cost or low-cost EMI option. Although banks are rigid about this feature on Debit card EMIs, it is quite common in credit cards.
If you desire you can foreclose this kind of loan. It is always advisable to be aware of any charges you have to pay before deciding to close off the same. Further, this facility is for selected products and selected customers. Though you can always request your bank for the same.
Conclusion
Now you do not have to depend on credit cards every time you choose to pay in instalment. You can use your debit card to pay for certain products on certain platforms without the necessity to possess a credit card and enjoy all the convenience the EMI provides. Often-overlooked debit cards are now evolving into assets you mustn’t help but reap benefits from.
