Nov 17, 2017 11:03 PM
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(Updated Jan 12, 2021 12:34 AM)
I took a voluntary decision to try this card out for some time. It was offered for free to me. But upon using it for 6 months or so, I came to the conclusion that it was really not worth having. This is why.
CARD FEATURES
1) The basic premise and maybe the only real feature of this card is that for a certain number of reward points accrued, there is a certain fraction of it which can be redeemed in rupees.
2) For every Rs. 150 spent, one gets 2x points and the same amount for online spends returns 4x points.
3) It is a VISA card, so it is easily accepted on most Platforms.
4) The credit limit for this is only Rs. 50000.
OTHER OFFERS
The only other offers with this is the "SmartBuys" options which appears very occasionally on very select basic outlets. Any alternative good credit card would have something more interesting.
MY EXPERIENCE
The MoneyBack feature was initially slated at "Rs. 30 could be redeemed for every 100 points" accrued. But it is not as direct as that. One cannot redeem it at any time. With such a low credit limit, one would imagine at least that option would be available. Minimum Rs. 150 could be redeemed. So, going by this equation, 500 points would need to be accrued first.
But the rate changed to "Rs. 20 could be redeemed for every 100 points" accrued with advent of GST. On top of that minimum amount that could redeemed was Rs. 250 instead of Rs. 150.
So, with the anyway slow accrual of points on this card and the even slighter returns, it ultimately proved to be not worth my while. Certainly, I would do better with any other half decent card.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
The customer service was average to marginally better for this particular card, overall. I don't say the same applies to all other HDFC cards or services. I have a lot of respect for many other HDFC products and services and their customer service. This is only w.r.t. this card. The main issue - The card is highly lacking in anything worthy of note.
One particular instance which comes to mind regarding customer service is that I wanted to convert the accrued little reward points that was there on the card to air miles before the card closure. They even have a form for the same on their website, clearly stating which of their card reward points can be converted to air miles with what ratio. So, I was advised to fill that up and post the same to them. But upon receiving it, they mentioned, conversion to air miles is only possible on "air miles card". So, why have a whole conversion table in the form just for that? Sounds ridiculous. Nor did they have a provision of transferring points to other cards at time of closure, like some other banks do.
Points to remember here are:
1) There's no conversion to air miles possible, despite having a procedure form for the same.
2) No transferal of points to alternative card(even of same bank) is possible, despite having a conversion chart.
3) All this has to be done by mailing by post. Not just by raising a ticket request over a call even though they have provision of doing so many other things by call.
Senseless!
HIGHLIGHTS
1) So, if I weigh advantages and disadvantages of the card, clearly the cons stand out - slow points accrual, low credit limit, less returns, no extra offers, no transferal or conversion of points, not great customer service(only for this HDFC card). Not much is left, is there now?
2) I suppose only positive is somewhat speedy accrual on online spends. But if you consider the above and compare with other cards, it doesn't tantamount to much.
To conclude, the card is certainly not worth possessing. There are plenty better things in the market. It's a good thing that I used it very sparsely while I had it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
