The most recent novelty was announced by Amex. It advertised that if a customer's annual spending on the card is over Rs 45,000, he/she can have the card free the following year. That is, the annual fee will be waived for such a customer. And if one continues to spend that much or more on the card year after year, his/her card will automatically be free for life, says Sujit Mittra, manager, public affairs & communications, Amex.

But why this step? Replies Mittra that Amex launched its credit card with innovation as its product proposition. And waiving annual fee is one of them.Right from the beginning, the company encourages greater use of credit through innovative ways. Take for instance, its rate of interest. It's much lower than that offered by most players at 1.99 percent. Says Mittra that the pricing was arrived at after a survey of users. And it was found that a lower rate of interest will encourage customers to use the card more.

Mittra says that though a higher rate of interest is more attractive to credit card issuers, they forget that ultimately their revenues will be lower. For the simple reason that customers will like to spend more on the card which charges the minimum rate of interest. According to Mittra, out of the total charges that a customer is paying, 60 to 70 per cent is finance charges, and less than 30 per cent is annual fee. So, the rate of interest is much more important than anything else, says Mittra.

Similarly, `free for life' card is a concept which is likely to catch up among the credit card issuers. At the time of launch, this concept was tested with positive results. But it was announced only now. And is the annual fee waiver technique meant to hold on to customers? Mittra says that this is meant for someone who'll spend anyway. But, headds that with the Amex card around, such a customer may spend more on the Amex card for a fee waiver next year. Moreover, it's an international practice to offer freebies like this one to allow customers to build up spending on card, Mittra says.

There have been other innovations such as `earning and burning' points in Amex membership reward programme, where for every Rs 40 spent you earn a point. The idea is to build points, which can be redeemed later. And there's a wide range of options - free hotel stay, free dining, shopping vouchers, free miles, etc. And for frequent flyers, the points don't expire. So you build enough, and burn it off whenever you feel like.

The balance transfer facility was another imaginative feature from Amex, which is being picked up by other issuers as well.

Talking of other players, Stanchart has been very active too. Its global cards have caught on like nothing ever before. Spending abroad, and paying in Indian currency back home - a great idea for most card users.Apartfrom global cards, Stanchart has had other new things as well.

For instance, its InstaBuys. This feature provides a Stanchart card holder with the option of purchasing merchandise worth Rs 10,000 and above with flexible financing. Unlike the other EMI schemes, InstaBuys does not require the customer to make any down-payment or advance EMIs. The approval of purchase is given instantly, thereby eliminating the lengthy loan sanction procedures. No paperwork, nothing - just take home your buy. At the time of launching the product, Harpal Dugal, head-card services, India, Stanchart, had said: ``InstaBuys will offer the customer both the convenience of paying back in easy installments, while retaining the credit card advantage of getting instant approval for their purchas0es without going through any tedious loan sanctioning procedures.''

InstaBuys has begun with consumer electronics, home appliances, scooters, motorbikes, computers, cellular phone instruments, etc. Soon, travel and holiday packages will alsobe covered.

Stanchart's venture with the Indian Railways was another unique step by a credit card issuer. The Rail Credit Card from Stanchart offers business and other frequent travellers by trains , the convenience of booking the tickets on phone. Tickets, so booked, will be handed over through a special counter to the Rail Credit Cardholders.

There have been others too. Citibank was innovative with its special cards like Affinity Cards; HongKong Bank was the first with technology in every sphere; HDFC bank, Citibank and Stanchart tied up with Mastercard for using common ATMs; and others tried innovative pricing and freebies. And these developments indicate that as the marketplace gets crowded with more credit card issuers, customers will have it good.