Hacks, lawyers, police fly high on new credit rating

P Vinod Kumar

‘Sorry, sir, we don’t give credit cards to reporters. But if you have any friends who are software engineers, please introduce them to us.” That was six months ago. The well-clad executive of a leading, new generation, private sector bank had looked at me from the top of his spectacles before uncapping his pen and getting down to other, presumably more important business.

I felt humiliated, not so much by the insult as the pitying look the good-looking receptionist gave me.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. Now, the very same executive and others of his ilk are chasing me and fellow journalists, who were earlier anathema, to sell their brands of credit cards and meet targets.

Not just journos, but other “don’t touch” professionals such as lawyers and policemen, too, have found their way to the “wanted” list of credit card companies.

These professionals are in fact the new favoured customers as their consumption profile and spending habits tally well with the expectations of the credit card companies.

And to the great relief of the companies, they do pay up their bills most of the time, at least the minimum balance.

The sidelight of the story is that credit card companies are now turned a cold face to their once favoured customers, the software engineers.

Though there is little data available on the hit taken by credit card companies following the software meltdown and dotcom burst, the companies do admit that they are no longer bullish on the sector.
“Though there are no written directions, we have been asked to be cool towards them. The reason cited is the high degree of default during the past six months,” says a DSA executive for a leading credit card brand.

“Earlier, we were cautious about giving credit cards to journalists, advocates and police personnel as the recovery from them, in the case of a default, was perceived to be difficult. But now, we are offering our cards to all professionals who have a steady income and a residential address,” said a senior executive of a bank.

The executive adds that the cut-throat competition in the sector, following the entry of many more players, has also forced them to relax their norms.

An official with another firm was more candid. According to him, most software professionals used to get fat pay packets and allowances.
Most of them had more than one credit card and their credit limit was fairly high. Naturally, they were high spenders as they were sure they could pay up promptly the next month.

After the software bubble burst, many of them lost their jobs and many others had to make do with much smaller salaries. Naturally, the first casualty was credit card bills.

The moral of the story? Anything that goes up has to come down!