HDFC Bank To Cap Rewards, Levy Charges On Credit Cards From January 1, 2023

Starting January 1, 2023, HDFC Bank is revising its credit card charges and reward programme, according to a notification by the bank on its website.

“There is a revision in the reward points program on your HDFC Bank credit card,” the bank said in the notification.

Here are the details of the rewards programme as listed on its website.

1] The redemption of reward points for flights and hotel bookings will be capped per calendar month on the HDFC Bank SmartBuy portal. It will be capped at 150,000 reward points for Infinia, 75,000 reward points for Diners Black and 50,000 reward points for all other cards, the bank said.

2) Likewise, the redemption of reward points for Tanishq vouchers will be capped at 50,000 per calendar month for Infinia cards.

3) Redemption of reward points against statement balance (CashBack redemption) will be capped per calendar month at 3,000 reward points for Millennia, Easy Emi millennia, Bharat, Pharmeasy and Paytm cards and 50,000 Reward Points for all other cards. w.e.f February 1, 2023, the notification said.

4) For select products and vouchers, the redemption of reward points will be capped at 70 per cent of the total value. The remaining amount must be paid using the same credit card w.e.f February 1, 2023. This would, however, not be applicable for Infina and Diners Black cards.

5) Reward Points earned on grocery transactions will be capped per calendar month.

5a) It will be 2,000 for Infinia, Diners Black, Regalia, Regalia Gold, Regalia First, Business Regalia, Business Regalia First, Diners Privilege, Diners Premium, Diners Clubmiles, and Tata Neu Infinity cards.

5b) It will be 1,000 for the rest of the cards.

Rent Payments

 If you pay your rent through credit card, then there is bad news for you. Not only will you not earn any reward points on the payment, on the contrary, you will have to pay an extra 1 per cent as charge effective from January 1, 2023.

“Rent payments will not earn reward points on any card. For rent payments made through third-party merchants, a fee of 1 per cent of the total transaction amount will be levied from the second rental transaction of the calendar month,” the bank said in its notification.

Exclusions On Reward Points

Besides rent, there are other payments as well for which you will not earn any points on your credit card.

“Government related transactions will not earn reward points on any cards, except Business Regalia, Business Regalia First, Business Moneyback, CSC Small Business Moneyback, Paytm Business, Flipkart Business, Retailio, Best Price Save Smart, Best Price Save Max and Pinelabs,” HDFC Bank said in the notification.

Besides these, education-related transactions will not earn reward points on Business Regalia, Business Regalia First, Business Moneyback, CSC Small Business Moneyback, Paytm Business, Flipkart Business, Retailio, Best Price Save Smart, Best Price Save Max and Pinelab, the notification added.

International Charges

The international charges levied by the bank will also be altered.

HDFC Bank said in the notification: “If you conduct a transaction (in-store or online) in Indian currency at an international location or with a merchant located in India, but registered overseas, a dynamic and static conversion mark-up fee of 1 per cent will be charged.”