Banking: Prashant Joshi

I own a prepaid forex card, loaded with $150. I had bought foreign currency when the rupee was 47 for a dollar. Will the dollars be converted at the current rate if I offload the card?
Yes, the bank or money changer will convert the dollars at the current exchange rate. Foreign currency is always converted on that day's exchange rate.

I took a home loan three years before, with my wife as co-borrower. We are now getting divorced. My wife doesn't want any share in the house and won't be servicing the loan. We got a loan for a higher amount, based on our joint eligibility. I cannot service on my own. If I inform my bank about this, what will be its stance?
You will have to inform the bank of the situation and jointly work out a plan. The bank would need information on your ability to service and clarity on the title of the property. The ownership has to be transferred to your individual name and your wife's name needs to be removed from the loan.

If your income is not sufficient, you will have to look to reducing the monthly instalments.

The options are: i) increase the term of the loan, thereby decreasing the monthly outgo; ii) part-paying the loan and bringing down the monthly outgo; iii) disposing the property if both options not feasible.

I took a personal loan from a private bank two years ago. I was unemployed last year and not able to repay it. The company that has hired me last month has salary accounts with the same bank. Can the bank deduct the entire dues from my salary account?
Various laws in India allow banks the right to set-off dues against the amount held in the borrower's savings or current account, if held with the same bank. In case of personal and consumer loans, the legal agreement between the bank and the borrower usually has explicit provisions under which the bank may deduct the amount from your salary account.

I paid my credit card bill by cheque. However, it is still pending; either the bank didn't receive or lost it . Will it cancel the interest on the pending bill or am I still liable to pay it?
If you have an acknowledgment of the cheque handed over or can establish the cheque had been cleared from the drawee bank account (substantiated by a debit in your bank statement), then the credit card company is obliged to investigate and reverse the interest.

To avoid this in future, consider alternative means of payments such as standing instructions or online payments — direct debit, NEFT, account transfers.

The writer is MD, private and business clients (India), Deutsche Bank. Views expressed are his own. Send your queries at yourmoney@bsmail.in