Krishnamurthy is a person who hates paying extra on interests, etc, by defaulting, and tries to ensure that he does not lose even a penny in this way by making all payments - credit card dues and interests on car and housing loans - on time.
Though his colleagues at workplace make fun behind his back of Krishnamurthy's attention to saving every penny, it is Krishnamurthy who has the last laugh as he is considered one of their valuable customers by banks whom they want to retain and not lose to their competitors.
Being a bad customer is a losing case in more ways than one in so far as one's relationship with banks -- even in terms of credit cards -- matters.
For not only does a delinquent client cough up penalties and earn a tainted image, he also loses out on a clutch of freebies and discounts that are offered to reliable, good customers. Almost all tech-savvy private sector banks do this by profiling their customers.
Puneet Chaddha, senior vice president & head-cards and retail assets, HSBC Bank, says, "We offer our good credit card customers other products such as mortagages, personal loans and discounts at competitive prices and greater usage discounts."
Chaddha points out that using technology helps to delineate customers based on their account maintenance, number of transactions made, repayment of loans etc. "No bank wants to lose a good customer and therefore we offer some value-additions," he said.
Good customers whose credit card usage is limited, we provide greater encouragement by providing cash back offers and larger discount for them to increase their usage, he adds.
One value-addition could be variation of interest rate on unsecured personal loans. Interest, which usually varies between 19 per cent and 20 per cent, could be reduced to the range of 15 per cent to 16 per cent in the case of customers with good track records and hence, good ratings.
The senior banker also says in the case of credit cards, high-networth customers, who pay on time, are offered special rewards. There are a variety of special rewards offered by banks, on the strength of their tie-ups with retailers.
In the case of credit cards, if a customer does not pay the credit availed of within the permitted 45 to 50-day interest-free period, he or she is charged an interest of around 2.9 per cent varying from bank to bank.
Another banking official says banks are increasingly recognising the need to offer incentives and value-additions to encourage good customers' loyalty to them and retain them.
He added earlier a good customer was defined by his adherence to the repayment schedule on loans advanced. Now parameters for one to qualify as a good customer are different. They include maintenance of the requisite minimum balance in saving accounts and volumes of ATM transactions, among other things.
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