Earlier today, I was quite surprised to find the item below while viewing my credit card statement using the internet banking service of The State Bank:
So, I was charged a fee because I exceeded the limit on my credit card. It sounds a bit dumb because that’s why there’s a limit fixed. Anyways, on the good side, it allows you to carry out the transaction even if the amount exceeds the limit by a small amount. In my case, I think that I was charged Rs150 for an excess of Rs300 used.
Note : As a customer of the SBM, everything here was written according to information obtained for SBM customers. These might be different for other banks, so please be careful.
Looking for more details
To be sure about this “overlimit fee”, I had a look at their web site. It was there, clearly mentioned in the contract which I have probably signed:
The sections mentioned above are quite clear but nevertheless, I will talk about the 2 last ones :
- 18.7 Payment in foreign currency
I’m sure that some online shopaholics might not be aware that there’s a “fee” charged for each of their transactions carried out on the internet. How it is calculated? For example, if the exchange rate of $1 is at Rs32, the effective exchange rate used might be Rs33 because of the additional charge applied. Yeah, it is unfair! - 18.8 Increase limit
I used this service a few times during the past years. Let’s say that your credit card has a limit of Rs10, 000 but you need to purchase a mobile phone which costs Rs15, 000. To be able to carry out this transaction using the same credit card, you can write a letter to your bank asking for a temporary increase in the limit of the card during a specific period of time. You will be charged Rs100 or Rs150 for this service and you can complete the transaction without any problem and also, no need to find someone else to do the purchase.
Other credit card charges
Additionally, for those who did not know, you can withdraw cash using a credit card but a fee will be applicable. I learnt this one too a bit late, after I withdrew cash from an ATM while I could have used my normal debit card *-*
What about debit cards?
Some time back, I was amused when one of my friends told me about his experience when he used the ATM from another bank to withdraw his money (For example, using a SBM credit card on a MCB ATM). He was charged Rs75 for the transaction. Sounds fair but he used the ATM for withdrawing only a very small amount Rs100 or Rs200 to get him out of an embarassing situation. lol.
I hope that this post can be informative and useful to some of you while using your credit and debit cards. Any additional information you might know is the most welcomed.
Thanks for keeping tuned to the blog,
Take care!
Yashvinblogs 
On top of Cash Advance fee, I believe you are also charge Finance charges. There is also a Yearly fee, so if the bank offers to give you 3 cards, think well before accepting!
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Yes of course, the annual fee. Financial charges? Isn’t it the same thing?
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Mo croire sak fois to fer ene cash advance, to zotte charge toi both, cash advance fee and financial charges.
plus si toutefois to pe fer online gaming ( casino, betting) des fois zotte charge toi ene lotte fee enkor! 🙂
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Tout fason bon pu faire casse lo la tete lepep 😉
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Increase in limit.
Why do you need to call the bank to increase limit and pay them for that? Just put the extra money on your credit card and make your purchase. No fees payable.
E.g your limit is mur10,000 and needs to purchase a phone at mur12,000. Just deposit mur2,000 on the crddit card (at bank or via internet banking) and then make your purchase.
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Hi.
No, it doesn’t work like that for SBM, not as far as I know. The limit prevents you from doing purchases above that amount, no matter how much extra money you overloaded on the card.
But if you are sure, things might have changed or perhaps for another bank?
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Be change limit card la mem, si sak fois to bizin call banla pou ene fix temporaire.. pas make sense ;P
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Parfois it is advisable to have a low limit credit card, just to be on the safe side 🙂
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Works for my hsbc and mcb carda
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I should probably get this confirmed for SBM, just to be sure. Thanks for the info 🙂
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I wonder if these excessive charges will be dropped after the public survey done by the BOM? Maybe there will be a ruling for banks to have reasonable fees.
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I do not have much hope in the outcome of their “survey”. Come on, why did they need a survey after all?
Can’t they identify the problems, at least the basic ones, with the system of overcharging customers?
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All credit card has overlimit fees unless you take a prepaid visa card.
MCB prepaid is good especially you you take a USD card
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Thanks for the info 🙂
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Merci pour ces infos Yashvin! 🙂 Petite parenthèse pour dire que j’ai aussi remarqué quelque chose lors de transfert d’argent vers l’étranger : la somme qui sera transféré sera soumis au taux d’échange en vigueur (donc je suppose que la banque, que ce soit MCB ou SBM touche un pourcentage dessus ) PLUS un ‘transfer fee’ de Rs 800 approximativement (pour la MCB ). Ce qui fait que la banque en question se met des sous dans les poches en deux occasions pour le même transaction..c’est un peu abusif je pense, notamment parce que la plupart des gens qui transfert de l’argent à l’étranger sont… des étudiants.
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Merci Tish pour ces compléments d’informations 🙂
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Hi Yashvin,
regarding: “To be able to carry out this transaction using the same credit card, you can write a letter to your bank asking for a temporary increase in the limit of the card during a specific period of time. You will be charged Rs100 or Rs150 for this service and you can complete the transaction without any problem and also, no need to find someone else to do the purchase.”
Shouldn’t it be for free the function of extending your limit (before the exploit occurs where you go beyond…)? Maybe it doesn’t cost a fee if you extend it for good, without a set of time…
Some credit cards also offer you additional insurances for car rentals and travel insurance + miles collection when you travel.
Using an MCB Business Credit Card, when retrieving cash at an MCB ATM, this costs Rs.100 each time.
There are also many other weird pricing mechanisms when it comes to bank charges showing up in your bank statements.
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If for example, you were not eligible for a credit card of x limit and you want to increase temporarily from m to x limit, then it might make some sense. Also, earlier, I did not want to go for a x limit credit card to decrease risks associated if credit card has been ‘hacked’ or lost.
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