India is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world. Our standard of living is rising, and along with it our wants. Hence the need for wealth creation. It is also reflected in the rising consumerism in the country, and the increasing number of credit and debit cards. And with that number, chances of card fraud increase as well. Since wealth protection is the other side of the coin, here we look at what measures you can take in case of theft or loss of card.

The first thing to do is to report the missing card to the bank and get it blocked. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it is the banks’ responsibility to provide protection against and fight frauds. Once you get your card blocked, you won’t be liable for any transactions that happen after this. Credit cards typically have stronger fraud protections than debit cards.

Process

You should lodge a First Information Report with the police and get an acknowledgement. You will be required to submit a written application, with details such as the card number, bank account number, and the date of loss. The bank will issue a new card in place of the stolen/lost one.

Liability

Most banks have a zero liability policy, which means that you will not have to pay anything against the expenses occurred during the period between the loss and you reporting the theft. You should be clear on the bank’s policy regarding this before you issue a card. For example, some banks give a time period of 7 days to report the loss of card.

It is important to always monitor your transactions, and if you see any suspicious activity, report it to the bank immediately.

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Honest wealth creation through a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) has a formula! Mutual Funds help you in wealth creation by adding dividend or gains to the principal amount, which results in a large amount at the end of investment period. The compound interest is added to the principal of a deposit and the added interest again earns an interest.

Following are a few points which will help you get more profits through an SIP (Systematic Investment Plan):

Invest early

To make most of compounding in an SIP, one must follow the golden rule of investing that is beginning early. This is because of fact that longer the investment cycle is, bigger will be the returns in the end.

Keep the investments for long time
The longer the period of investment is, more the chance to increase the gain is. It is due to dividend that someone receives on the current sum of money, which is higher, the longer you invest.

Invest regularly

SIP can give great returns on the wealth of investors who have a regular monthly income and cannot make lump sum investments. SIP is suitable for first time investors and for investors those who invest in equities due to market volatility and risk.

Cost averaging

One of the most important benefits of an SIP is cost averaging. The amount invested is fixed for an SIP; hence the number of units purchased for it in the market will be high and vice versa. Therefore, the average cost of a unit is reduced which in turn benefits the investor.     

Conclusively, compounding and SIP can benefit you the most if you begin investing early, keep investments for long time and invest in a regular and disciplined way. By following these steps, your principle will keep growing and will earn you a larger amount at the end of the investment period.

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