ICICI Bank Ltd. of India will attempt to garnish wages of customers who fail to pay their credit card bills, said a representative for ICICI, one of the country's largest issuers.
The change to the issuer's agreement with cardholders took effect late last week, the representative said.
Details were unclear about the level of credit card default that would trigger the attempt to garnish wages, but the bank has informed cardholders of the policy change either through mailings or its Web site, the representative said.
ICICI is the first bank in India to try to recover credit card debts through garnishment of wages, said Prathima Rajan, an analyst in India for the Boston research firm Celent. The move could drive some cardholders to other issuers, while others may keep better track of credit card spending and repayments, she said.
