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Indians
or on a shopping spree. The markets are teeming
with people on a shopping binge. The new motto is
“Shop till you drop.” Huge shopping malls are
mushrooming everywhere. An additional 54 malls are
coming up in Delhi alone in two years time. The
country would see the opening of 343 new malls in
two years. Gigantic malls with floor spaces in the
tune of 7 to 10 lakh square feet costing over Rs.
75 crore to build are opening up. Multiplexes and
malls are flooding the horizon of the Indian
cities.
While it is true that the Indian people can afford
more now than ever before, this extravaganza is
fueled by the tiny credit card too. Like most of
the not so young generation Indians, I used to
consider the card a nuisance for a long time and
resisted using it. These days all banks are eager
to saddle you with credit cards and I have an
assortment of cards too. I used the ATM cards but
was reluctant to use the credit cards. My
reluctance stemmed from the bother of keeping
track of your account balance all the time.
However, people of my types are in the extreme
minority. The card brandishing generation has
taken over. I guess we have to adapt to this fast
changing scenario.
I always felt that the card was often used by the
younger generation to buy things they did not
really need with money they did not really possess
to flaunt their status in front of people they did
not really like. No carrying cash, just shop till
you drop and worry about your balance after you
drop. Either ways where your card fails the banks
are eagerly waiting, with coffee for the grown ups
and toffee for the kids, ready to give loans.
But in certain cases, the card does make life
simple and brings advantages too. One of the many
examples is, some airlines sell tickets at
unbelievably low prices over the net. You go to
the web site, fill in the details, punch in your
credit card and CVV number and print your ticket
on your printer. They do not maintain offices,
staff etc. What they save on over heads is
transferred to the customer in the form of low
fares. There are a number of such examples where
credit cards not only provide credit but actually
benefit the customers.
So whip out your credit cards the shopping malls
and the banks are waiting.
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