Hyderabad: Gone are the days when customers needed to own credit or debit cards to purchase electronic appliances or mobile phones on EMIs (equated monthly instalments).
On Thursday, ICICI Bank became the first lender in the country to give its account holders an option to shop electronics in a fully digital and secure manner with the ‘Cardless EMI’ facility.
The facility allows ICICI account holders who don’t own any credit or debit card to opt for the EMI option by just providing their registered mobile phone numbers and PAN to the retail store.
The facility can also be used by customers who own an ICICI bank credit/debit card but are not carrying it at the time of purchase.
“ICICI Bank Cardless EMI is a unique proposition that enables ICICI Bank’s pre-approved customers to avail of No-Cost EMI option for the purchase of their favourite gadget/home appliances at a retail store without having to remove the card from their wallets,” the bank said in a release.
Currently, customers can avail this facility at pan-India outlets of Croma, Reliance Digital, My Jio stores and Sangeetha Mobiles. However, more retailers will offer this facility in the near future, the bank said.
Here’s how ICICI Bank account holders can avail this facility:
1) Customers first need to check if they are eligible for ‘Cardless EMI’. They can do that by sending an SMS saying ‘CF’ to 5676766 from their registered mobile number. Android users can also check that on the ‘Offers’ section on the iMobile app.
2) If eligible, the Customer(s) can apply for the facility through a Dealer outlet equipped with a POS (point of sale) machine where the Cardless EMI option has been enabled. As mentioned earlier, currently these machines are available at Croma, Reliance Digital, My Jio stores and Sangeetha Mobiles across the country.
3) The retailer initiates the process at the POS terminal by selecting the Cardless EMI option. The customer is then asked to provide his/her mobile number registered with ICICI Bank.
4) After that, an OTP (one-time password) is generated and sent to the registered phone number. The customer is required to enter the OTP into the POS machine.
5) The customer is then prompted to enter his/her PAN for second factor authentication.
6) By entering the OTP, PAN and other details, the customer provides consent for EMI auto debit from his/her linked ICICI Bank account.
7) On availing the auto debit facility, the bank account of the borrower will be debited for the EMI amount on or within the payment due date.
8) In the event if the bank account does not have sufficient funds on the payment due date, the customer shall be liable to pay all the charges applicable in addition to the EMI as generated in the next month’s account statement.
9) If the customers want to cancel/return the product, he/she may raise a cancellation request to the dealer within a period of 14 days from the date of availing the facility. Beyond the period of 14 days, the borrower shall not be entitled to such a cancellation.
10) The customer has the option to prepay the facility with the prior written consent of ICICI Bank by payment of the charges stipulated by the lender.
