Advantages of Shopping Online with Mobile Banking Apps

Internet banking apps have revolutionised everything - from the way we manage our finances to the way we shop. A study conducted in 2012, noticed that retailers’ sales had boosted by over 40% just by being present online! This encouraged more vendors to cater to online shoppers as they realised it was more advantageous to shoppers, as compared to traditional methods.

While fantastic shopping deals and online offers are used to lure customers in, they are not the only reason why online shopping is preferred. Here are some reasons why it is better to shop online than visit outlet:

1.    Convenience and comfort
Want to lie on the couch and binge on ice cream while picking out amazing clothes and accessories at the same time? Today, it is possible to shop at midnight while sporting pyjamas! There are no store assistants to continually question you and all the information and product descriptions, available on the screen. Payment is also simple as all financial institutions have net banking apps that enable users to send money online instantly.

2.    Bonanza deals!
Apart from stores offering products at discounted rates, banks also have offers on their cards and money transfer apps. Fantastic shopping deals in the form of reward points can be gained for shopping worth a price and redeemed later. Individual banks and digital wallets also offer cashback options, making for the perfect way to indulge in some retail therapy.

3.    Shop from across the world
Long gone are those days when consumers would wait for relatives or friends to return from trips abroad, with the extensive list of everything requested. Today, these lists are available at our fingertips especially since now, most companies ship internationally and accept online bill payments for all transactions.

4.    Comparative study
For the best deals, it is best to compare products present in different stores to find the cheapest one. Rather than continually moving from one store to another, which is tiring, it is easier to switch from one tab to another, making it easier to spend less and save more, and pay instantly before the product sells out. To make the process of shopping a hassle-free and enjoyable one, mobile banking apps are the way to go!

5.    Curbing the compulsive shopper
Many times, consumers get attracted to products because they look attractive or because of their low rate, even though they are not required. Despite there being online offers, chances of compulsive shopping, are much lesser as consumers already know what they want, before going online completing their bill payments online.

4 tips to get the best car loan rates in India

Buying a car is a major milestone in most of our adult lives. It is one of the things we aspire to own since childhood. Thanks to car loans and banking and non-banking organizations that fund them, it is now easy for everyone to purchase their dream car. Depending on your budget you can choose to purchase a new car on EMIs with or without making a down payment. If you too are waiting to purchase that dream car, here are a few tips that can help you save money on your loan. 

Make a large down payment: It is always better to plan your finances before applying for any loan, especially for those that go in the tunes of a few lakhs. Relying on 100% finance can increase the overall size of your car loan interest rate. With a smaller loan, it is easier to pay it off faster and get lower rates of interest. Also, when you choose to make a larger down payment, you are giving your financier the added assurance that you will not default on your payments, thus increasing your chances of getting a loan on a low rate of interest.

Opt for shorter loan tenures: If you cannot make a decent down payment, a second effective way to get low interest rates is to opt for short tenured loans. Typically, banks and financiers give borrowers 7 years to repay the loan on vehicles. However, if you use a car loan EMI calculator, you will find that you end up spending a lot more with long duration loans. Try to opt for a short, 3-4 years loan instead of 7 years. By opting for a short duration loan, you save a lot of money in interest payments.

Don’t settle on the first lender: When you set out to look for a financier, make sure you do your research thoroughly. You will find a huge difference in the interest rate quoted by the bank, the financier companies and the car dealers. The best option is to go for a loan from the bank with which you have an ongoing relationship. Since the banks have an account of your business, they can offer loans on lower interest rates. Car dealers too have the discretion to offer you low rates, however they are known to charge you if you choose to pay off your loan earlier than your selected tenure.

Read the fine print: Financers often charge additional fees which include service tax, processing fees, GST, on-road price etc. Make sure you ask about the car loan rates and the additional, aforementioned costs before signing the documents. Most financiers claim to waive off or reduce processing fees during the festive seasons to attract customers. Ensure that this waiver is genuine and that you aren’t paying higher interest rates for the loss incurred by financers from reducing/waiving fees.

8 advantages of online bill payment

Paying utility or credit card bills has become an ordeal nowadays. Carrying a bundle of cash and standing in long queues, is how you usually spend your weekends. Those never-ending queues and mind-boggling people struggling to get their bills paid gives the feel of a local fish market. This can consume your energy not only mentally but physically as well. To top it all, you have to deal with frustrated bankers. But do you know you do not have to go through all this anymore?

Thanks to the internet, you do not have to move a muscle. Right from bill payment to recharge, all is just a click away. In case you are new to technology, following are the advantages of online bill payment:

1) Convenient: It is probably the biggest benefit of paying bill online. After all, do you really want to ruin your weekend by harming your body standing in long queues? Several online payment apps have made the task easier for people. HDFC PayZapp, Paytm, Freecharge, allow you to make payment in hassle-free manner. All you have to do is log in with your username and password, include your bill details. It is that simple. So, no more interaction with grumpy bank staffs.

2) Environment-friendly: The other perks of online bill payment is going paperless. Some are habituated to save bills. However, you can now make your payment online and check your transactions easily through the bank or payment apps. This way you also understand how much of money is left on your wallet and you get to keep the environment safe as well.

3) Security: One of the concerns with paying bill online is security. There is always a threat of malware or fraud. However, websites today have protocols to keep your transactions safe and secure. There are layers of security that the customer has to go through purely for verification. You have the OTP system that has been introduced or the security question & answer that ensures the right person is using the app or website.

4) Standing instructions: Another perk of cashless payment is that you can set up pre-payment schedules ahead of the bill due date. They act as reminders. The bank will automatically debit the money from your account on the specified date of the month. This saves the hassle of constantly worrying as to when to pay the bill.

5) No additional charges: Paying your bills through cheque or ATM can include additional processing fees. If your bill amount is huge, these add-ons are the last thing you require. Through the online mode, you save those extra expenses as well.

If the above pointers do not convince you to join the online bill payment bandwagon, then nothing will.

What are small business loans? How to get one?

Small business loans are loans given to small and medium businesses. These loans are specially catered to their business needs. The loan amounts for these small business loans go up to Rs. 50 lakhs and banks usually do not take any collateral for such loans. Banks also allow transfers of SME loans.

How to get small business loans?

1.Check eligibility criteria:
Each bank has its own eligibility criteria. But the most common ones relate to a minimum turnover, profitability of business, minimum years of operation, previous income tax returns. To ensure your business gets a loan, it is important to check if your business meets all the eligibility criteria’s set by the lender. This will ensure you get the best loan as per your business’s repayment capability.

2.Ensure the business has proper books of accounts:
Lenders these days are very strict about small business loans. Since these loans are given without collateral, banks are very careful as to who they give out the loan to. It is necessary for the business to maintain proper books of accounts. If the business qualifies for an audit, it is better to get accounts audited as banks will get more comfort if they see that the business has audited Financials.

3. Prepare a business plan:
While applying for a small business loan, banks ask the business for a plan showing how the funds are going to be used. Preparing a business plan showing the expansion that is planned will help the business show that the funds are being raised for a legitimate purpose.

4. Choose the lender:
There are many different lenders who give SME loans. If you have a prior banking relationship with a lender, then you should approach them first. Check the terms, charges, and conditions of each lender before choosing.

5. Check if you can apply for a Government SME Loan:
The Government of India has 3 different loan schemes for small and medium business enterprises. Before applying for a small business loan, it is better to check if your business qualifies for a Government loan. There are 3 such loan schemes

● Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises: This scheme is run by the Government along with SIDBI. Loans can be availed up to Rs. 1 crore.
● MUDRA scheme: This scheme has 3 different levels for of loans, Shishu, Kishor and Tarun. Shishu scheme is for loans up to Rs. 50,000. Kishor scheme is for loans up to Rs. 5 lakhs and Tarun scheme is for loans up to Rs. 10 lakhs.
● Stand Up India Scheme: This provides loans to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs between Rs. 10 lakhs and Rs. 1 crore.

How to use bike loan calculator

A bike is one of the most convenient modes of transport and a lot of people first buy a bike and then move on to buying a car. A bike loan is a convenient way to purchase a bike. There are many tools to find out the monthly liability on taking a car loan. Before you take a bike loan, it is better to check the monthly outgo through a bike loan EMI calculator online. These calculators usually have different inputs such as the loan amount, the bike model number, the manufacturer of the bike, the rate of interest. With the help of all of these, the bike loan calculator calculates the monthly outgo.

How to use bike loan Calculator?

Using a bike loan calculator is very simple. These calculators have been made very simple so that even a layman would understand how to operate them.

There are a few things you absolutely need to know before you use a bike loan EMI calculator:

● Cost of the bike (landed or ex -showroom)
● Rate of interest on the loan
● Tenure of repayment

Some other things that you should know are:

● Manufacturer of the bike
● Model number

Not all calculators ask for the manufacturer and model number. Most of them calculate the bike loan EMI in with the loan amount, interest rate, and repayment period.

Once you know these, you can input them in the bike loan calculator and it will show the EMI amount. The calculator does not show the formula for calculating the EMI. It simply calculates the EMI and makes it simple for the user. It is easy to change the loan, interest, and tenure and see the impact on the EMI. It is to be noted that for smaller repayment period, the EMI will be higher, but the interest component will be lower since more amount of the EMI will go towards repayment of principal.

Some bike loan EMI calculators also show the amortization schedule, which shows either the monthly or yearly bifurcation into interest and principal. This helps to know the amounts paid as interest and the changes in this depending on the change in interest rate or repayment period.

A bike loan calculator can also be used in case you already have a bike loan and are thinking of pre-paying. If the loan calculator provides an amortization schedule, you can know the amount you will need to pre-pay and the added EMI in case the repayment tenure is changed.

5 ways to transfer money

With the ease in online transactions, transferring money is not as complicated as it used to be in earlier times. From pure cash transactions to cheque to online money transfers, it has become easier to transfer money. If you’re wondering how to transfer money online, there are several modes. In fact, you don’t even need to transact through a computer. There are several online money transfer apps that facilitate money transfers.

Here are 5 ways to transfer money:

1. NEFT:
NEFT stands for National Electronic Fund Transfer. It is now possible to use an online money transfer app for NEFT as well. To use NEFT, you need to add a beneficiary to your bank account. After the beneficiary is added, up to Rs. 50,000 can be transferred in the first 24 hours and up to Rs. 1,00,000 can be transferred in the first 48 hours. Once the beneficiary is added, then there are no restrictions on the transactions that can be done. NEFT transactions are settled in hourly batches every day.

2. RTGS:
RTGS stands for Real Time Gross Settlement. RTGS is used for high value fund transfers where the value is more than Rs. 2 lakhs. These transfers are final fund settlements, they cannot be reversed since they are affected in RBI’s books. If you want to know how to transfer money online in real time, then RTGS is the mode you should use.

3. IMPS:
IMPS stand for Immediate Payment Service. It can be affected through any bank’s online money transfer app. You need a 7-digit IMPS identifier code to receive payments via IMPS. Each customer gets their own unique Mobile Money Identifier (MMID). While making the transfer, the system matches the mobile number and MMID of the beneficiary. Only if these two matches, the transaction goes ahead. IMPS is available 27/7. Fund transfer in IMPS is immediate.

4. UPI:
UPI stands for Unified Payments Interface. If you’re wondering how to transfer money online via UPI, it can be done through the UPI app. Each customer has to create his own UPI ID and an identifier code. This online money transfer app uses the receiver’s UPI ID to make the payment. Each transaction is verified by the identifier code before the transaction proceeds. Once the user verifies the transaction, payment is debited from the bank account. Fund transfer is immediate.

5. Wallets:
Wallets became a popular way of transferring money, especially after demonetization. Money can be transferred from one wallet to another by using a mobile number or a QR code. Wallets have evolved to become complete payment ecosystems now, with bill payments, online purchases, and merchant integrations. Wallets are refilled through a bank account.

5 top online shopping apps of 2018

In today’s world, purchasing via shopping apps has become commonplace. Buying from an app during a sale generates such a high volume that sometimes, even the best of apps crash. The ease of use for online shopping apps, the integrated payment systems and the choice makes them a natural choice.

The number of shopping apps available to mobile users is vast. With such a variety, picking the best apps becomes a big hassle. The megastore shopping apps have already cemented their place, but here are some innovative online shopping apps that are looking to be big disruptors in 2018.

Following are the top 5 best online shopping apps:

1. PayTM Mall:
PayTM mall is already a very popular online shopping app. Users can shop for a wide variety of things here. Payment is conveniently routed through the PayTM ecosystem. This app is very popular for shopping because of the hefty discounts it gives to the customers. There are frequent offers in the PayTM mall which make it one of the best online shopping apps.

2. HDFC PayZapp:
HDFC’s PayZapp is fast becoming a reliable shopping app for customers. The app is flexible and allows the customer to link any credit or debit card for payment. The app integrates shopping from a number of apps at the same time, which makes it convenient to shop from the best marketplaces at the same time.  Each purchase earns cashback which can be redeemed on future purchases.

3. Tata Cliq:
This shopping app is fast becoming one of the best online shopping apps, especially for electronics. It offers deep discounts on purchases, especially of the Tata brand. It sells a whole range of other products and is ramping up its presence in the luxury sector. Tata Cliq also provides seamless payment options.

4. Facebook Marketplace:
This is Facebook’s foray into the fast-growing online shopping ecosystem. Anyone can sell his or her products in the Facebook Marketplace. The only thing is payment options and delivery depends on each seller selling their products. Facebook has integrated its features such as messenger with the marketplace such that it is possible for buyers to chat with sellers in real time. This makes it one of the best online shopping apps in 2018.

5. Yono by SBI:
This app is an upcoming app for SBI card users. Yono provides a host of discounts on different types of shopping. The app has a convenient interface and has partnered with different shopping portals to make their products available in one interface for its customers.