Silk Bank Credit Card 0% Markup Is A Lie – Things You Must Know

This article is based on my personal experience with Silk Bank Pakistan Credit Card.

If you are planning to get a Silk Bank Credit then you must read this to stay aware of the hidden charges and misleading instructions given by the Silk Bank Customer Support team.

As you know Daraz.pk is one of the biggest Online Shopping Website in Pakistan. They are offering products on 0% Installment if you have Credit Card of Silk Bank, MCB, SCB and Bank Al Falah. This is the reason I applied for the Silk Bank Credit Card. So that I can order products on 0% Installments Plans.

I have experienced some misleading tactics used by Silk Bank, that I would like to share with you.

1. Once you enroll in an Installment Plan via Silk Bank Credit Card and the first statement is generated. You will received the eStatement on your email and on SMS on your Mobile Number. It will contain 2 amounts. One Minimum Amount Due and 2nd is Full Amount Due. Here the misleading tactic begins. You will have to pay the full amount if you don’t want to be charged extra. If you pay the minimum amount due, then on your next statement you will see 3.5% markup charged on your card. The misleading part is that when you call the customer care center to clarify what is the Minimum Due and Full Due Amounts. They will never say that you will be charged 3.5% if you pay Minimum Payment. Instead they will say, that you can pay either minimum or full payments and there will be no charges. This has happened to me. On my first statement, I called the Customer Service Center and they said there will be no charges if you pay either of the amounts. However, after looking at my 6 months statements, I was shocked to know that 3.5% markup was added to all of my statements. So be aware of this, otherwise you will be charge markup every time you pay minimum amount due.
2. The 2nd misleading tactic used by Silk Bank is, that once you get your Credit Card. One of the representative will call and ask you if you want to avail insurance for your Credit Card. I got the same and I said NO to the offer. However, after looking at all my Credit Card Statements, I was shocked to know that Insurance Charges were added in the monthly statements. I called the customer care center and raised the issue. My complaint was lodged and after a few days, one of the representative called me and said that we can see that you have not opted for insurance but as per schedule of charges of our bank, every customer above 58 years must take the insurance service. This is totally misleading, as they were initially asking for the permission but later on another excuse was given.
3. Service Charges will be charged from you every month and they will be high enough that you will regret enrolling for a Installment Plans. I can see more than Rs.700 to Rs.1500 Services in every statement.
4. One of my colleague who’s card was blocked due to its unauthorized usage, is still charged Service Charges and he thought since the card is blocked and he can’t use it then why bother to pay the service charges. But now the Service Charges are increasing due to the markup factor and he has to clear the dues and then apply for cancellation. The whole process is so time consuming and he feel like “he has made the biggest mistake in life for enrolling for the Credit Card”.

These are the reasons, I would like You to think twice before enrolling for the Silk Bank or any bank Credit Card. Otherwise, you are going to go through such issues.