Q17. Pan Card requirement for NRI Indian Credit Card Application

Question: I am a NRI living in USA and I saw promotions by a couple of banks in India offering INR credit cards for NRIs secured against deposits. I think that it(Indian Rupees credit card) will be very useful and convenient if and when my family makes trips to India, so I have sent in an application to one of these banks to open a fixed deposit.

But when I look at the application for credit card, I see that PAN number is mandatory, but when I call the bank, one bank officer said that PAN number is not required from NRIs applying for a credit card. But I must first open the account by sending the money & then send in application for the credit card pledging my deposit. I don't have a PAN number & I don't want to convert my US$ to rupees to open an account if PAN number is required by all applicants & my application for credit card gets held up waiting for my PAN number.

Thanks Dan Chawla

Answer: Your bank officer who advised you that a Pan number is not required from NRIs who apply for an Indian credit card is correct. I have a Visa credit card from an Indian bank and did not have a Pan Number when I applied for and received the credit card last year. Most banks will require that you have an account with them so that they have some kind of security that the credit card balance would be paid.

My credit card is setup so that its balance is automatically paid from my NRI bank account in India. When opening an account in India, I would advise you to select a NRE account and avoid NRO accounts. The money deposited in NRE accounts can be brought back to USA and secondly tax is withheld on NRO accounts and not on NRE accounts.