How to get a FREE VISA Card - International Debit Card From Axis ASAP Account

A VISA Card for Free, Really?

There are many ways to get a VISA Credit / Debit / Prepaid card and most of them will cost you money in terms of registration fees, yearly / monthly fees, per-transaction fees etc. However, there are a few FREE options available as well! In this article, we will focus on Debit / Prepaid Cards and to be more specific, the most attractive offering of the Visa Debit Cards that are available for free. It is not going to cost you any registration fees or yearly or monthly fees. It doesn't even have any kind of per-transaction fees. There's more, you also get a free zero-balance bank account along with this and it comes from one of the most trusted banks in India.

First of all,

The only compromise you have to make is that you will have to stick with online payments / transactions with your free VISA Debit card because it will be "Virtual". That means you will get all the card details including 16-digit card number, CVV, 4-digit PIN etc. but you will not get a physical plastic card with the free version. If you forget your card details at any point of time, there is an app from the bank which will show your card details (except the 4-digit PIN) or you can also take a note of these details as a precaution and save it in a secure place. So, you will not be able to use the Virtual Debit Card at ATMs. Other than that, it basically doesn't have any difference with a physical Debit card. Anyways, if you are willing, you can get a physical debit card at any point of time but that comes with usual charges just like the other physical debit cards. For that, you can apply from the online banking portal or visit the local branch. Keep reading to know more about how and from where you can get one for yourself.

What is a "Virtual" Debit Card?

A Virtual Debit Card is a debit / prepaid card that you can use for making any online purchase or payment or transaction. The amount of transaction is debited directly from the savings account to which the virtual card is linked. Some virtual cards are valid for a limited time like the physical debit cards and some other kinds of virtual cards can be used for a single transaction only. You can top up your virtual debit card with a certain amount by loading that amount to your savings account to which that card is connected. Basically, if your savings account has balance of amount N, your virtual card will also have the same N amount of balance. Any cashback for the card is automatically credited back to the debited savings account. These cards are called "Virtual" as all the card details (Card Number, PIN, CVV, Expiry Date) are provided to the user but no physical card is issued.

Where to get it?

At present, Axis Bank is offering ASAP savings account which comes with a Free Virtual Debit Card. This is a zero-balance account and doesn't have any Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC) and there are no yearly or per-transaction charges for the card too! However, there are a few limits. For example, maximum transaction limit for a day, which can also be found in case of the other usual bank accounts and debit cards. So, nothing unusual here. For basic usages for an average user, who does not go over the limit, there are almost no charges or fees. There is a very nominal charge for SMS alerts, just Rs. 5 (0.7$) per month and it can be opted out if you are not willing to receive SMS alerts. You will also get all the common banking features that you might expect from any basic savings account.

Why Axis ASAP Account?

There are numerous savings account schemes available from multiple banks and most of them offer at least one zero-balance savings account scheme. Some of these offerings are actually zero-maintenance savings account where you do not need to pay any kind of annual or quarterly or monthly maintenance charges. Some of these have paid SMS alerts, paid chequebook and some other paid features which are optional in most cases. So, a few of the zero-balance savings account schemes available are literally free-to-use. Axis ASAP is a free-to-use savings bank account and it ensures that your basic banking necessities are well met and you do not have to pay charges for all the little things if you do not 'heavily' depend on cash transactions and ATMs. Even if you use ATMs on a regular basis, a paid physical Debit cum ATM option is there. A zero-balance savings account saves the hassle of maintaining the monthly/quarterly average balance so that you can stay tension-free.

Axis bank is among the top three private-sector banks and among the top five banks overall in India. It is considered to be a very reliable bank by the masses. Axis bank has it's good will when it comes to customer service. It has it's own flaws like every other banks but with more than 3300 branches all over India, Axis bank has reached almost every corner of the country.

The ASAP account has some of the most attractive features. If you have an ASAP account, you can enjoy full fledged internet banking like you do with any premium savings account. It includes most of the features of the internet banking facility including fund transfer, fixed deposit management, downloading account statements and even features related to bill payments, insurance payments and tax payments. You will also enjoy an attractive 7.1% interest rate which is one of the highest interest rates for savings accounts in India.

The ease of opening a bank account is a very important factor. To open an ASAP account, you just need two documents - AADHAAR and PAN. That's it! You don't even need to visit any branch; you can just visit the Axis ASAP website and finish the process in just 5 minutes. Axis bank has tied up with several merchants or third parties to offer attractive discounts and cashbacks which makes the ASAP account and it's free virtual debit card even more desirable. Amazingly, the virtual debit card is an international debit card. So, you will be able to shop online from international eCommerce stores as well.

||  Link to Axis ASAP Website (click here)

Check Out the "How to get a FREE VISA Card with Axis ASAP" Video on YouTube!

Best Bluetooth Speaker under 2000 Rs / 30$ : PORTRONICS SOUND DRUM 10W (Water Resistant)

Modes and Connectivity Options

Portronics Sound Drum is a 10 watt Bluetooth Speaker that looks good and sounds good. First of all, this speaker has 4 modes- Bluetooth mode, FM Radio Mode, Aux Mode and USB mode. The Bluetooth version is 4.2. To turn on the speaker, just press the top circular button for 3 seconds and it will turn on. By default, it should enter Bluetooth mode and the blue light will start blinking, which indicates that it is waiting for a Bluetooth device to be paired. You can simply pair your phone or another Bluetooth audio source with it and start playing audio. Just open Bluetooth settings in your phone and "Sound Drum" will be listed. If you don't see it in the list, just refresh and it should be there. After pairing, the blue light will be constant. To increase the volume of your phone or any other audio device that is connected, press and hold the plus button, and the minus button to decrease the volume. To change the mode to FM Radio mode, simply press the same circular button once. The volume level of the phone sometimes goes down to 0% when the device gets paired with the phone. Then after a few seconds, it automatically goes back to the normal volume level and then works just fine. However, it may be an issue with my phone or Bluetooth version incompatibility. So, not exactly sure about that and surely it is not a deal breaker. When you turn on the device, it will resume the same mode which was activated when it was turned on the last time. So, if it was in FM Radio mode before turning off, it will start with FM Radio mode when you turn it on again.

Below this rubber flap, there is a LED light at the top which is also visible when the flap is closed. Then there is a full sized USB port and that means you can use a pen drive or even a card reader to play music. Below that, there is an auxiliary port or Aux port and in Aux mode, you need to plug-in an 3.5mm Aux cable from your audio source (laptop, smartphone etc.) to the speaker and it will automatically enter the Aux mode. In aux mode, it has independent volume control and it will not change the volume of the connected device directly.

The most Important Aspect : Sound Quality!

The Portronics Sound Drum has dual 5 watt speakers. The sound output was good and the loudness of the sound is really surprisingly high for it's size. It is really loud and while editing it's unboxing / review video for YouTube, I had to get the volumes down in a few places in this video where this speaker was playing music. It has a dedicated bass radiator too and again it sounds surprisingly good for the price. The bass radiator is upwards firing. The sound is like 360 degree sound though it is not confirmed but it seems that way. It has an inbuilt microphone. That means, you can use it to take calls with it's really loud speakers.

How does it look?

It looks good with it's textured body, it is kind of braided and made with special synthetic fibers which also makes it water resistant! No specific water resistance rating was provided in the specifications mentioned in the Portronics website but it is mentioned there that this device is protected against water splashing and light rain. The rubber flap protects the ports from liquid spilling. I was really amazed to witness it's water resistance capabilities. I am really impressed!

Battery Life

It has a 1800mAh battery inbuilt. Portronics claims that it has a playback time of 6 hours. As per my testing, if you use it with 50% to 60% volume most of the time, you will get close to 6 hours of playback time. You can charge it with a regular smartphone charger or power bank or even from the USB port of your laptop or desktop with any Micro-USB cable or the supplied one. The led will be red while charging and when the charging is complete, the led will turn off automatically.

A Few Downsides

A few things that I don't like about this product is that the button clicks feel a little cheap. You have to apply some pressure to click the buttons and the clicky sounds are towards the cheaper side. So, the buttons could have been smoother. There is no native SD / MicroSD card support. Again, you can use a card reader for the same (it has a full sized USB port) but a dedicated card slot would have been even better.

Price and Where to Buy?

This Bluetooth Speaker comes with a really attractive price. The price usually varies from 1800 Rs. to 2300 Rs. in different online stores and you should check where it is available for the lowest price. Check out the following links from where you can buy the Portronics Sound Drum :

Flipkart (India) - https://goo.gl/62KnsM
Amazon (India) - https://goo.gl/K1GvXy


Similar Bluetooth Speaker @ Amazon (US) - https://goo.gl/PSDBdX

Check Out the Review Video on YouTube

Credit Card vs. Debit Card vs. ATM card - Comparison

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• A Credit card or Debit card or ATM card is issued usually by a bank. However, some other service providers are also issuing Credit cards nowadays.
• Debit cards and ATM cards are directly linked to your bank account but a Credit card is not linked to a bank account, that means Debit cards are prepaid.

• Credit card and debit card, both are used to make payments to merchants or sellers for goods and services, while an ATM card is only used to withdraw cash from ATMs. So, a Credit or Debit card can be used online or in POS machines in shops and other places to pay.
• Debit and credit cards offer multiple ways to access money without any need to carry cash or a checkbook around. Debit cards are more like digitized versions of checkbooks; they are linked to your bank account, and money is withdrawn or debited from the account as soon as the transaction occurs. Credit cards are different; they offer a line of credit or loan that is interest-free if the monthly credit card bill is paid on time. But if you fail to pay the bill on time, there will be a fine or interest rate applied with the main payable sum. Instead of being connected to a personal bank account, a credit card is connected to the bank or financial institution that issued the card. So when you use a credit card, the issuer or bank pays the merchant on behalf of you and you go into debt to the bank.

• Debit cards and ATM cards can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs because they are linked to your bank account. But on the other hand, usually a Credit card cannot be used to withdraw cash because, yes you guessed it right, they are not linked to a bank account. Then again, nowadays Credit cards can actually be used to withdraw cash from ATMs which is considered as “cash in advance” and those transactions are not free, they are chargeable.
• Nowadays, ATM cards are becoming rare day by day because an ATM card has only one job which is withdrawing cash and a Debit card can serve that purpose. So, the banks endorse Debit cards more.
• Let’s talk about EMIs now. EMI (Equated Monthly Installments) is easily available with Credit cards but not with Debit cards. Then again, nowadays EMI can be availed with Debit cards as well in limited scenarios and the availability varies from bank to bank and merchant to merchant.
• Yearly charges and other service charges vary from bank to bank for Credit and Debit Cards and many banks offer 0 yearly charges. “Per transaction” charges for Debit cards are coming down day by day and mostly there are no such charges.

• There are lots of payment network companies like VISA, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, Rupay etc. on the Credit and Debit cards but not on the ATM cards because ATM cards are not used to pay online or offline merchants or sellers. The banks work in collaboration with the payment network companies to make the whole payment system going.
• Last but not the least, a credit check is required to get a Credit card. The bank will check your credit history and maybe current financial status. It is done from their end to make sure that you are well able to pay the money back after spending it with the Credit card. But a debit card does not require such credit check because it is prepaid.