Today, credit cards have become an integral part of our lives, almost acting like a lifestyle statement. One of the key reasons for the popularity of credit cards is the convenience that they provide – they come to our rescue in times of cash crunch by providing short term loans with a 40 to 50 days “interest-free” period. Convenience aside, another key advantage of credit cards is that they can actually help you save, as you spend!
Here’s how you can swipe your card and save money in the process:
1) Get Rewarded for Signing Up
Almost every credit card company gives the cardholder welcome gifts as a gesture of appreciation for signing up. These welcome gifts come in various forms – travel vouchers, bonus joining points, gift vouchers, freebies, air miles, cash back rewards, discounts at partner merchants, and lots more! If not anything else, these free gifts are not far removed from money in your wallet.
SBI Advantage Platinum Card applicants receive welcome e-Gift vouchers worth Rs. 3,000 from brands like Marks & Spencer, Yatra, Hush Puppies/Bata, Shoppers Stop and Westside subsequent to activation of their new card. Card holders who activate their new SBI SimplyClick Credit Card receive an Amazon e-gift voucher worth Rs 500 as their welcome reward.
On the other hand, new Axis Privilege Credit Card holders get travel vouchers worth Rs. 5,000 from Yatra, which can be used for domestic and international flights, hotels and holiday bookings on the travel company’s website. To be eligible for this welcome gift, the cardholder simply needs to swipe the card thrice i.e. make 3 separate purchases within 60 days of receiving the card.
Axis Bank Signature Credit card offers vouchers worth Rs. 2,000 from Satya Paul, a prominent fashion chain, which can be redeemed against specific merchandise listed on their website or various outlets. Additionally, when cardholders use the card within 45 days of receiving a new card, a Satya Paul gift worth Rs 1,200 is sent out to the card holder. Cardholders also earn extra rewards of on their first online transaction.
2) Save with Cash back Rewards
Many credit cards have cash back options if the card is used towards certain spends, while a few cards provide this benefit on all transactions irrespective of spend category. This could include using the card to pay utility bills like electricity, telephone, mobile, etc. or transactions made at supermarkets, restaurants, fuel stations, etc. Apart from this, online shopping portals may provide additional cash back on select products purchased using cards of specific card issuers. Sometimes, cashback is also offered in case the card holder spends above a specific spending threshold. Exact cashback percentages vary from bank to bank, and differ as per the credit card type and the expenditure category.
Cash back on Shopping: Several credit cards offer cashback on shopping – the cardholder could avail of great shopping deals by swiping their credit cards at particular outlets the card company is tied up. For example E-Zone, Lifestyle, Big Bazaar, Shoppers Stop and Pantaloons offer co-branded cards with SBI Cards, Standard Chartered, American Express and ICICI Bank to name a few. Some cards such as those provided by HDFC Bank and CitiBank, provide additional cash back on online shopping too, thanks to their tie-up with certain brands such as Snapdeal, Myntra, Jabong, Flipkart, etc.
Cash back on dining: Most credit cards offer dining rewards – here, cardholders get a certain discount percentage or cashback on dining bills at partner outlets. Discounts usually range between 10-20%, but in some cases, higher discounts may be applicable. The exact discount % and its applicability vary between credit card categories and issuing banks. Some leading card issuers who provide dining benefits include HDFC Bank, Citi Bank and ICICI Bank.
3) Decrease interest payouts through EMI Conversions
Credit cards have definitely simplified making big-ticket purchases be it electronics, home appliances or air tickets for a vacation overseas. If you plan it right and pay off the bill during the interest free period, there is no issue. Otherwise, you might have to incur a hefty interest payout on the balance that you owe on the credit card. In such cases, you can save quite a bit of cash in the long term by opting for an EMI conversion, which features a much lower rate of interest on the balance amount. Unfortunately not all cards have this option, so do confirm with your card issuer. For instance, Axis Bank cardholders are allowed to convert transactions into affordable EMIs, provided the transaction amount exceeds Rs 2,500, while other issuers like Standard Chartered and HDFC often have the lower limit for EMI conversion fixed at Rs. 5,000.
4) Enjoy Discounts on Entertainment
Deals on entertainment especially on weekends such as discounted/free movie tickets, cashback on movie ticket purchase, etc. are definitely good deals if you are planning to have fun and save money at the same time. Some cards have monthly or yearly caps on the cash back that is offered, while some others restrict such offer to a specific day of the week. These benefits differ from one card to another so confirm with the card issuer before you attempt to avail these offers.
ICICI Bank’s Coral Card gives as much as 50% cash back on movie ticket purchase through its 1+1 free program throughout the year. Similiarly, IndusInd Bank credit cards provide the buy-one-get-one free offer on online movie ticket purchase on all days of the week; however, the maximum value of the free ticket is capped at Rs 200 per month. On the other hand the SBI Signature Credit card gives cardholders up to 2 movie tickets for free in or a discount of up to Rs. 500 on ticket purchases every month.
5) Add to your Savings through freebies
An attractive feature offered by many credit cards is the concept of giving reward points to cardholders for making specific purchases via the credit card. Though most cards provide you with reward points on every purchase, some selected expenditure categories provide you with accelerated reward earnings.
For instance, HDFC Regalia gives 6 reward points for every Rs. 150 dining spends and 4 reward points for every Rs. 150 on other spends. Standard Chartered Manhattan credit card offers 5x reward points whenever the card is swiped for hotels, dining, fuel, and air tickets.
Under Axis Privilege Credit Card’s eDGE Loyalty Rewards Program, cardholders earn 10 points on Domestic and/or International spends for every Rs. 200 spent through the card. Axis Signature Credit cardholders earn the same points for domestic spends, however on international spends, cardholders earn 20 points for every Rs. 200 spent on the card. Further, throughout the customer’s birthday month, they earn double the reward points on all expenditures. The accumulated reward points can be spent on hundreds of items featured in the Axis’s catalog. Similarly, Standard Chartered Bank offers its 360 Degree rewards program to its card holders and RBL Bank offers a similar digital catalog to their card holders which contains freebies, travel vouchers and more.
SBI SimplyClick Credit Card users earn up to 10 x reward points whenever they shop online with partners like Amazon, Lenskart, Foodpanda, FabFurnish, Cleartrip, BookMyShow and Ola Money. Shopping on other websites earns the cardholder 5 x reward points. For other spends, each time customers spend Rs. 100, they earn 1 reward point. Accumulated rewards points can be redeemed against gifts available in the Rewards Catalogue. While reward points can be used to purchase gifts listed on the company’s rewards webpage, in some cases, points can also be redeemed to settle the outstanding balance on the credit card.
Many credit cards offer air miles where the earned reward points can be converted into air miles at a pre-specified rate, and the accumulated air miles’ worth can be used to buy air tickets.
6) Save on your Daily Commute
The price of fuel has been creeping up steadily and that can pose a problem for a large portion of the Indian population. In such circumstances, the fuel surcharge waiver offers can be a godsend. All most every card issuer be it CitiBank, RBL Bank, Standard Chartered, HDFC or any other has teamed up with leading fuel companies in India such as BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil to provide co-branded cards that provide fuel surcharge waiver on expenses incurred in filling up at your local gas station. Some cards such as the Indian Oil CitiBank credit card even offer a discount of up to 5% on fuel expenses, which includes a 2.5% fuel surcharge waiver that is provided by most other fuel cards. Though there is always a monthly and or annual cap on the amount in can save, these savings which can run into thousands of rupees in a year and all of this gets added to your savings.
7) Live it up for free with complimentary Airport Lounge Access
Premier credit cards especially those targeted at frequent flyers offer cardholders complimentary airport lounge access within India as well as abroad. Though almost every card issuer provides lounge access on their premium credit cards, the following is a short list of the popular ones.
Axis Bank Signature Credit Card offers complimentary access to airport lounges within and outside of India. Additionally, the card provides automatic enrolment into the Priority Pass program that provides cardholders access to more than 700 VIP lounges in over 90 countries and 275 cities across the globe. The ICICI Visa Signature card and the RBL Insignia Card also provide similar benefits. Another premium card, the Axis Bank Privilege Credit card offers complimentary access to select MasterCard lounges two times every calendar quarter. The Citi Prestige Credit Card is a class apart as card holders get unlimited complimentary passes for free lounge access at over 700 airports across the world and this benefit is extended to the primary as well as supplementary cardholders.