HDFC Bank Credit Cards: Key changes in rewards and discounts you should know | Mint

In the last few months, several banks have made changes to their credit card rewards program. Some of these include spend-based access to domestic airport lounges, a levy of fees on utility bill payments, reduction or removal of reward points on some categories, etc. HDFC Bank has also made some changes to the benefits offered on credit cards.

These include a processing fee on the purchase of specific brand gift vouchers from the SmartBuy Instant Voucher Portal, no reward points during instant discount offers, exclusion of co-branded credit cards from instant discount offers, etc. Let us understand these changes in detail.

Processing fee on the purchase of specific brand gift vouchers from the SmartBuy Instant Voucher portal

The HDFC Bank credit cardholders have to pay a processing fee of up to 3% + GST on the purchase of specific brand gift vouchers from the SmartBuy Instant Voucher portal. These brands include Amazon Pay Gift Card, Amazon Shopping Voucher, and Flipkart.

The processing fee on the purchase of Amazon Pay Gift Card is 3% + GST. So, if you buy Amazon Pay gift vouchers worth Rs. 10,000, you will have to pay Rs. 10,354. The total fee, including the GST, amounts to 3.54%. Please note that there is a monthly limit of Rs. 10,000 for purchasing Amazon Pay gift vouchers from the SmartBuy Instant Voucher portal.

Similarly, there is a processing fee of 2.5% + GST on the purchase of an Amazon Shopping Voucher. The total fee, including the GST, is 2.95%. There is a monthly limit of Rs. 10,000 for purchasing the Amazon Shopping Voucher from the Smartbuy Instant Voucher portal.

There is a processing fee of 2.5% + GST on the purchase of Flipkart gift vouchers. The total fee, including the GST, is 2.95%. There is a monthly limit of Rs. 25,000 for purchase of Flipkart gift vouchers from the Smartbuy Instant Voucher portal.

As of December 2024, the processing fee is applicable on the purchase of the above three gift cards from the Smartbuy Instant Voucher portal. It remains to be seen whether the other brand gift vouchers will continue to be offered without a processing fee or they will also attract a processing fee in future.

The HDFC Bank Infinia, Regalia, Diners Privilege, and BizPower credit cardholders earn 5X reward points for gift vouchers bought through the SmartBuy Instant Voucher portal. The Diners Black, Diners Black Metal, and BizBlack Metal credit cardholders earn 3X reward points for gift vouchers purchased through the SmartBuy Instant Voucher portal. The other eligible credit cardholders earn 5% cashback for gift vouchers bought through the SmartBuy Instant Voucher portal. The processing fee of up to 3% + GST reduces the reward rate earned by the credit cardholders.

No reward points during instant discount offers

During the last week of December 2024, HDFC Bank ran a 10% instant discount offer on Amazon on EasyEMI transactions on credit cards. The various terms and conditions for the offer were mentioned on the SmartBuy portal.

One of the terms and conditions mentions: “Purchases eligible for instant discount/cashback on HDFC Bank credit card will not qualify for reward points. The same will be reversed within 120 days of the end of cashback posting month or end of offer month for instant discount offers”.

It means purchase transactions eligible for instant discount will not earn reward points. If the reward points are credited, they will be reversed later. Earlier, before the introduction of the above rule, the eligible transactions got instant discounts as well as earned reward points.

These days, we rarely see instant discount offers on HDFC Bank credit cards on non-EMI purchases during online sale events. The last big online sale when we saw HDFC Bank giving a 10% instant discount was in September 2024. During the Flipkart Big Billion Days sale, HDFC Bank credit cardholders were eligible for a 10% instant discount on EMI and non-EMI transactions. The terms and conditions of that sale also mentioned that purchases eligible for instant discount/cashback will not qualify for reward points.

Overall, it is disappointing news for HDFC Bank credit cardholders. Firstly, there are very few instances of instant discount offers on non-EMI purchases during big online sale events. Even if there is an instant discount offer, the transactions don’t qualify for reward points.

Exclusion of co-branded credit cards from instant discount offers

In the above section, we saw how HDFC Bank credit cardholders don’t get reward points during instant discount offers. If you are an HDFC Bank co-branded credit cardholder, there is some more bad news for you. During the Flipkart Big Billion Days sale instant discount offer, HDFC Bank co-branded credit cardholders were excluded.

One of the terms and conditions of the HDFC Bank instant discount offer mentioned: “This offer is not applicable on virtual cards, consumer durable, VPA, fleet, R&R commercial, purchase cards, Intermiles, Paytm, Equitas, Swiggy, Flipkart Wholesale, Pine Labs, Emirates, Harley, IBIBO, IRCTC, Times, Tata Neu, Shoppers, IOCL, Bestprice, 6E Rewards, Marriott, PhonePay, Snapdeal Cards.”

So, well-known co-branded credit cards like Swiggy, Tata Neu, Marriott, etc., are excluded from the instant discount offer.

In the last couple of years, all banks have been restructuring their credit card reward program. They have excluded categories from earning reward points, reducing the reward points earning rate, linked access to some benefits to spends, etc. They have been doing all this to keep the reward program profitable so that they can continue offering it in the long run on a sustainable basis.

Some bad actors have been misusing the credit card reward program for commercial transactions and for other individuals. Banks have been imposing limits to ensure credit cards are used by the cardholder only for their own personal use. They have even frozen the reward points of some people. Banks have asked these cardholders to submit a copy of the transaction invoices to prove they are within the allowed terms and conditions. 

You should always use your credit card for genuine transactions within the terms and conditions. As long as you do that, you need not worry about the bank freezing your reward points and asking you to submit the transaction invoices.

Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.