Credit and Debit cards

Mehndi Masala

A Canadian Debit card is different from USA. The debit card we use is not by mastercard or anything, it is directly to your bank. It is world wide ONLY if you see the Cirrus symbol sticker on the door of the bank or on the ATM itself. NO problem. Your C.C will also work in most bank machines. Bank of India seems to only take BoI or Indian banking cards. I never saw one that was a cirrus. You will be charged somewhere between $1.50 and $8 to do a transaction. Your CC will charge a fee and a small percentage of whatever you withdraw.

I realize this is an old thread, but the information may help someone with this question!

Kim

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Nick-H

State Bank of India, or one of its many state-name relatives, is one of the best and most universal in card acceptance.

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brownboy66

its like having your own personal case worker

machadinha

LOL. Hey, as always: One tries one's best...

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capt_mahajan

I had one of those.

He was always on my case

Nick-H

I had one too.

Otherwise known as a porter

capt_mahajan

Sidney Porter?


...
I think its getting late.

derek cox

yes its getting later time for bed zeberdie

paulie90

hi Allen D
We are just getting back from 3 weeks in India.
This was our first lesson in how things don’t necessarily work.
Firstly the machines it seems are always in the dodgiest looking places, hard to find, little holes in the wall, not attached to banks and often guarded by the guy with a shotgun!
Secondly the machines won’t always recognize your card or won’t allow you to withdraw as much as you’d like and we even had our cards red flagged from home such that they knew we would be in India !
CREDIT CARDS are used but not as readily as we are used to;
Bear in mind out of the way places and very small incomes that don't allow for the expense of taking credit cards.
So always have a good amount of cash on hand and small bills at that - I can't tell you how many times people didn't have change
including the post office and a bank right at the City Palace in Udaipur!!!

Nick-H

The guy with the shotgun is supposed to make you feel more secure!!!!

Not many such guys here in Chennai, although you do see them at the bank branches sometimes. Also, most ATMs here are not exposed, like they are in London for instance, but inside a small room. Your privacy in this small room will be respected, you will be the only one there.

So, I'd say that using an ATM, here in my city, at least, is and feels a lot more secure than the same experience in my native UK.

The amount you can withdraw is, in my experience, linked to the converted daily amount that you could withdraw in your home country.

I never, ever, told my bank or credit-card issuers that I was coming to India; not even when I came here for six months (although by then they would have seen a pattern of regular visits, and patterns is what they recognise). However It seems to be strongly recommended to do so these days, especially if it is a first, or irregular, visit.

brownboy66

but have you seen the age of some of those shotguns! I half expect to see the guys pull out a horn shaped container and load the gun powder separately!

Just to back up your comments - the little ATM rooms are quite nice and very private (nice way of escaping the madness of a market as well - if only for a few seconds - pity they don't serve coffee as well).

One of the scams I haven't seen here yet - (maybe its been and gone) - is the fake ATM façade. This is where thieves will install a whole new façade on the front of an ATM with a key logger and card reader. People feed their card into the ATM - do a normal transaction unaware that the fake façade is reading their card details, and logging their password. They then return after a few days, retrieve the façade, download all the details, make fake cards, clean out your accounts! Overseas - ATMs have been fitted with a plastic guard that extends out from the card slot to prevent this.

shashank.aggarwal

I have got the chain mail several times...showing the quipment and modus operandi...

Most of the ATMs are guarded and that might be on of the reason why we do not see many of those scams here...OR maybe the equipment if not 'that' easily available here..

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Nick-H

I think that did happen in UK: at least cleverly installing cameras and card readers on existing machines somehow.

Those ATM booths are also usually AC: so you get cooled down as you draw your cash

The age of the shotguns? Never mind that; have you seen the age of some of the guys holding them?

brownboy66

what a combination!

I've seen one of these things being taken off a real atm - and you couldn't tell the difference between the façade and the real one! Scary....

Edor

I live in USA with USA Visa credit card and Debit card from my bank with Visa logo on it. When I recently called the Visa credit card operator to let them know that I would be using the card in India (and etc.), this time I was told that there is a 3% conversion fee for the exchange on all international charges. Don't think I'll use Credit Card much.

Debit card fees: Because I am a "senior" by my bank's standards, my bank does not charge anything if I use an ATM machine anywhere in the world even if they do not own the ATM. Normally they would charge $2/transaction. Of course they do not know whether the owner of the ATM will charge for use of the machine. I plan to use ATM infrequently and then to withdraw $100 or more at a time.

Traveler cheques: Again normally the fee would be 2% of the purchase amount, but was waived in my case.

I am planning on taking 6 or 7 $100 USA dollar bills. Any idea if there would be any problem in changing those at a bank in India? They are not brand new - the ink has dried! - but they do stack flat and take up very little room in my safe place.

As a matter of principle I try to avoid what I consider to be ridiculous banking fees. And yes I am taking a risk.

Edward