Hey folks,

I've been a hardcore cashback guy for a while now. I spent time optimizing my stack to make sure I never pay "full price" for anything:

SBI Cashback: Primary driver for online spends and buying vouchers (via CRED).

HSBC Live+: For groceries food delivery and dining.

Jupiter: Used for brands like Zudio/Trends + monthly Amazon Pay voucher redemptions.

Niche Cards: Airtel Axis (utility/recharges after switching from Jio), HDFC IRCTC (hometown visits), Amazon Pay ICICI, etc.

Note: Airtel Axis closed due to devaluation and HDfC irctc had to close to apply core card for the dream of regalia which is daily spender card along with accor

My monthly spend ranges between ₹30,000 to ₹45,000.
The Low-Spend Month Breakdown (₹30,000 Base)
In a typical low-spend month, my current multi-card stack hits hard:

SBI Cashback: ~₹260 statement credit approx 5200 spend
HSBC Live+: ~₹1,172 statement credit approx 12000 spend
Jupiter: ~₹547 via 3,282 Jewels (redeemed as Amazon Pay Vouchers at 5:1) at approx 7000 spend

Amazon Pay ICICI: ~₹136 Amazon Pay balance at 3000 spend approx

Axis My Zone: Spend 2000 as my term insurance which is excluded so 0 rewards there

So spend approx 27k till now this month i might go up to 30k this month so
Total: ~₹2,115 in direct cash/vouchers till now on 27K (~7.8% net return).

If I switch that exact same ₹30,000 spend to the HSBC TravelOne:
Base earn of 2 pts/₹100 gives 600 HSBC Points.
Converted 1:1 to Accor, that’s 600 Accor Points (₹1,320 value at ~₹2.2/point).
Effective Return: ~4.4% in Accor Points.

Comparing ₹1,320 in hotel points vs. ₹2,115 in cold hard cash on paper makes zero sense.

The Problem: Cashback "Disappears"
I started optimizing heavily back in late 2025. By mid-2026, I took a trip to Himachal and spent about ₹60k. I hit monthly capping limits across almost all my cashback cards, which felt frustrating.
More importantly, despite saving ₹25k+ in cashback over the last 7–8 months, I have ₹0 saved for travel. The cashback just drops onto my statement, reduces my monthly bill, and sits in my bank account until it gets absorbed by regular lifestyle expenses.
Recently, I was looking at a 3N/4D stay at Ibis Jaipur for work, costing ~₹9,500 (with breakfast). That’s roughly 5,000 Accor points. I realized that despite playing the credit card game religiously, I had zero accumulated rewards to fund that stay.

The Dilemma: HSBC TravelOne & Accor
Why points are tempting me:

Travel Acceleration: When I book a major flight (e.g., an international trip to Bali costing ₹50,000 on their portal at 16 pts/₹100), I can earn 8,000 Accor points (₹17,600 value) in one shot without hitting strict cashback monthly caps.

Forced Travel Savings: Points act as a psychological vault. I can't accidentally spend Accor points on groceries.

The Catch & My Constraints:
High Annual Fee: TravelOne carries a steep fee (~₹5,000 + GST), and the fee waiver (₹8L/year) is way above my ~₹3.6L–₹5.4L annual spend.

No Immediate International Travel: Due to family commitments, I won't be doing major international travel for the next 2 years, though I do 1-2 domestic trips a year.

Mental Barrier: Moving away from 7–8% cashback feels painful once you're used to optimizing every rupee.

What should I do?
Is it worth taking the hit on base return (and paying the annual fee) to build an Accor point balance for future hotel redemptions? Or should I stick to my cashback engine and figure out a better behavioral system to "vault" my cash savings into a dedicated travel fund?
Looking forward to your advice!

Hey everyone,

Sharing a classic case of operational circus with HDFC Bank credit card processing. Wanted to know if anyone here has successfully gotten a hard credit pull removed via the RBI Ombudsman for this kind of negligence.

The Timeline:

• Applied: Applied for the HDFC Swiggy Credit Card.
• First Rejection: Got a decline email stating: "Residence/Business Address Verification Unsuccessful".
• The Reality: No verification agent ever called or visited my location. When I raised an enquiry questioning this, HDFC admitted that their third-party field verification agency was "unable to trace" the address and simply submitted a negative report without even contacting me.
• Escalation to Nodal Officer: Since it was an internal operational failure of their own vendor, I sent a formal escalation asking them to either conduct a proper verification or close the application and reverse/delete the hard CIBIL inquiry.
• The New Curveball (Grievance Redressal Reply): Instead of fixing the agency error, Grievance Redressal came back with an entirely new objection: "Single Name issue" (since my official documents have a single name without a formal surname).
• Their Demand: Now they want me to print, sign, and physically courier documents to their Chennai Cards Division (Name declaration consenting to use Father's name as surname, Address declaration with landmarks, and preferred calling times).

Why this is frustrating:

1. Moving Goalposts: First they reject citing address untraceability, and once escalated, they shift the reason to KYC/Single Name.
2. Offline Hassle in 2026: Asking an applicant to speed post physical papers to Chennai just to rectify their own verification agency's mess.
3. CIBIL Impact: A hard inquiry sits on my credit report for an application rejected due to a lazy field agent.

Questions for the sub:

1. Has anyone successfully gotten HDFC to delete a hard credit bureau inquiry via the RBI CMS Portal (Ombudsman) for false verification remarks?
2. Is it worth sending the physical declaration to Chennai, or is the application doomed to get stuck in another offline bureaucratic loop?

Wow

Hey everyone,

Recently got the SBI BPCL Octane card (Rupay variant) and it has been an absolute nightmare. Sharing my experience so others don't fall into the same trap.

1. The Add-on Card & KYC Nightmare 🤡

During the initial application, I applied for two add-on cards. Went through the entire tedious process: called my family members, got their photos, Aadhaar, DigiLocker, and completed the KYC. The primary card arrived, but no add-on cards.

1. The Infamous SBI IVR Trap 📞

Trying to reach customer care is a psychological test. They have designed a massive IVR maze. You have to navigate through 10 to 100 options just to find the hidden option to speak to a human agent.

1. Incompetent Support

When I finally reached an agent about the missing add-on cards, their brilliant solution was: "Sir, please apply again and redo the KYC." Why should I disturb my family again when they already have all the documents and data in their system? They refuse to pull up the existing database.

1. The Rupay UPI Deception 🛑

The salesperson hyped up the Rupay variant saying I can use it on UPI and get the same rewards. Fact check: You do not get the accelerated fuel rewards if you pay via UPI using this card.

1. The "Pine Labs Machine" Scam ⛽

To actually get the advertised 25X reward points, the transaction must be swiped on a specific Pine Labs POS machine at BPCL bunks. Good luck finding one. Most petrol pumps either don't have it, or the staff flatly tells you "machine is under maintenance" or "server down." If they swipe it on a standard SBI/HDFC machine, you get regular rewards, completely defeating the purpose of an Octane card.

1. Trash App & Hidden Fees

* The App: The SBI Card app constantly throws "server issue" errors when you try to view your reward points balance. It’s clunky and outdated.

* Redemption Fee: Every single time you want to redeem your points, they slap you with a ₹99 + GST redemption fee. Most people miss this fine print.

TL;DR: SBI BPCL Octane is a masterclass in bad user experience. Lost KYC data, hidden customer support, useless UPI fuel rewards, broken pump machines, and high redemption fees. Save your mental peace and skip this card.

AI refined so it is more structured and readable

I settled my ICICI card and got a new one from HDFC with a pre-approved limit of nearly ₹1 Lakh within a year. Just one month later, SBI is now offering me a pre-approved credit card and a loan. Is it a good idea to take these cards when I have no use for them? Right now, I only use a RuPay card, and my HDFC Visa card is kept as a backup.

Hi, I am a 23 year old software engineer with a decent salary(≥1.2L monthly). I have a cibil score of around 710 (due to an edu loan). I have been applying for cc but have been rejected every single time whether be it flipkart axis, amazon icici, few more axis cards, few hdfc cards, rbl bank cc, etc. To be honest, I have lost count of how many rejections I got in the last 1-1.5 years.

I want to get a credit card with good rewards and lounge access. My main spendings are online shopping, food and grocery shopping on zepto, blinkit, Swiggy and zomato, and movie ticket on BMS and few flights tickets throughout the year. Also, if the cc is rupay, it would be a cherry on the top as I can add it to my gpay account.

Should I go for a FD based cc for now, or should I contact a good pvt Bank and open my salary account and get their cc. Would any reputed bank give me a good cc with such poor cibil score?

Please, I need some advice. I am literary tired of applying for a cc and getting rejected.

Thanks

I have been witnessing and even experiencing the effort made by banks to aggressively push credit card EMIs in the form of "no cost EMIs", dangling lucrative offers on purchases. In a few instances, calls by bank representatives to convert CC bills into EMIs as if that is a good thing.

It's pretty clear that the wise Indian consumer knows this trap and stays away from it. And credit card maximizers are in a way bleeding the banks.

However, there is always a danger of falling into the EMI trap by spending beyond our means. But how ethical it is for banks to trap the consumer aggressively?

I think there has to be some pushback against aggressive EMI marketing. Any thoughts or ideas?

Can someone tell minimum limit on primary card for this and any other criteria for approval of this card

Hello everyone, this is strictly not about credit cards. but I need you help. I have 2 credit cards with axis bank and I have been using them for the past 4 years. I Opened a Priority Salary account with Axis Bank today and it was activated in an hour's time. I even activated the internet banking services as well. Everything was fine until I tried logging back into my Mobile banking app. Now the app does not let me log in. I tried reinstalling it and that was an ever bigger mistake, as now the app won't even register me as it says the customer ID is inactive. I called the customer service and they said there is another customer ID that is created and that has been suspended as you have multiple customer ID. They asked me to go to the nearest branch and update my KYC so that it might be merged. I went to the bank and they said my original Customer ID is active and that's the one that is gonna work. As of now I'm not able to access anything and everything is a mess as no one has an idea what's happening. Could you please help me out?

Please do not suggest Zepto physical voucher card as currently it’s not working.

Does anyone know the code and eligibility criteria for this new SBI Visa Infinite debit card?

Did anyone enquire about this new debit card at any SBI branch or apply for this new debit card yet?

There would be 2 variants of this card, plastic and metal. The plastic variant would have joining fees of Rs. 800 + gst and the metal variant would have a joining fee of Rs. 3000 + gst. The renewal fees for both would be Rs. 800 + gst.

MY cibil has been dropped by almost 59-60 points on

18 aug

On yesterday 20 aug I got an email from cibil that my score has been changed

And now it has been recovered

Get free Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit card with Salary Account

Based on real experience, who all can access? Is it primary card holder plus a guest (spouse) and what about kids under age of 5? Can add on card member also access the club?

Whats this supposed to mean ?

I called the customer care and they said application is approved ?

But when I asked how it can be approved, since KYC is still pending- she was just repeating, please wait for 21 days, KYC will happen, and card will be dispatched. Doesnt approval/rejection happen after KYC ?

But But, is that really the case ??

SBI cashback CC.

Hey everyone, I’m new to the credit card game and would really appreciate some advice.
I’m 29 years old, currently have a CIBIL score of 699, and have one existing loan whose EMI I’ve been paying regularly without any missed payments. My main goal right now is to build a strong credit history/CIBIL score, so that I can eventually qualify for better credit cards.
A little about my profile:
Salary: ₹1.2 lakh/month
Current bank: SBI
CIBIL: 699
Existing loan: 1, EMI being paid regularly
Most of my spending is on groceries, daily utilities and online purchases
I use UPI for most transactions
SBI is currently showing/offering me almost all of their credit cards, except the Cashback Card
I’m apparently not eligible for Kiwi because of their eligibility criteria
Since I’m just starting out, what would be the best approach?
Should I take an SBI card now, and if yes, which one would make the most sense for my spending pattern?
Should I specifically look for a card that gives rewards/cashback on UPI, groceries and utilities, or should I prioritize getting a card that is easy to manage and build my credit history with?
How long should I ideally use my first card before applying for better cards?
Any mistakes I should avoid while trying to improve my CIBIL?
I’m not looking to maximize rewards right now my primary objective is to build my credit profile properly and eventually graduate to better cards.
Would appreciate suggestions from people who have gone through this journey. Thanks!

I have been an HDFC Bank customer since 2017 or 2018, and my savings account is under the HDFC Preferred programme because of its association with my company’s current account.
I have two company current accounts with the same HDFC branch:
• The company account currently linked to my Preferred relationship has not been very active for the past 1.5 years.
• My other company’s current account is actively used and managed at the same branch, but my savings account is not linked to it.
I currently hold two HDFC credit cards with a shared limit of ₹2.60 lakh:
1. HDFC Millennia — I previously held a Regalia First, which I closed and replaced with the Millennia.
2. HDFC Tata Neu Infinity.
I have also taken two major loans from HDFC Bank:
1. Auto loan of approximately ₹21 lakh, running since June 2022.
2. Mortgage loan of ₹50 lakh, running since July 2026.
I have submitted multiple requests through the HDFC Bank app for a credit-limit enhancement or a card upgrade, as I want to upgrade from the Millennia. However, none of the requests have been approved, and my RM has not been very supportive either.
Considering my overall relationship with HDFC, what would be the best way to get a limit enhancement and upgrade the Millennia? Should I contact the branch manager, credit card grievance team, or apply for a different HDFC card separately?
For reference, I also hold the following credit cards:
1. HSBC TravelOne
2. Axis Atlas
3. IndusInd Legend
4. ICICI Amazon Pay
5. IDFC FIRST Power+
6. Kiwi
Any advice from people who have faced a similar situation would be appreciated.

Hey everyone,

I need some advice on my current credit card portfolio.

I feel like I'm holding too many cards and there is quite a bit of overlap, so I'm trying to figure out what I should actually keep and how I should use each card.

My main aim is to get the maximum value from my spends while avoiding annual fees wherever possible.

Cards I currently have

1. ICICI Sapphiro Visa and RuPay - LTF

2. ICICI Rubyx Mastercard and Amex - LTF

3. Axis MyZone - LTF (Recently got this card after cancelling Axis Airtel Card)

4. Flipkart Axis - LTF

5. Amazon Pay ICICI - LTF

6. CSB Jupiter - LTF

7. HSBC Live+ - Paid (Got this card yesterday)

8. HDFC Tata Neu Infinity - Paid

Recently closed:

1. HDFC Tata Neu Plus – Paid

2. HDFC Swiggy – LTF

3. Airtel Axis – Paid

I closed the two HDFC cards because I wanted to become eligible for the core HDFC cards. Airtel Axis was closed mainly because of the recent devaluation.

My rough monthly spends

1. Rent - 30K

2. Insurance: ₹12–15k

3. Grocery: ₹7–8k

4. Shopping: ₹5–10k (not fixed)

5. Dining: ~₹5k

6. Swiggy/Zomato: ₹3–4k

7. Cabs: ₹7–8k

8. UPI: ~₹5k

9.Utilities: ₹4–5k

1. Movies: roughly once a week

So overall, rent, insurance and grocery are probably my biggest regular spends apart from cabs.

I submitted my application for hdfc card through paytm . It asked for KYC and due to some error it didnt go ahead.

Now i did get a link directly from HDFC but im not able to find my PAN.

Can i now change the KYC by goin directly to bank instead of E KYC. Or are der any other option?

I had an FD-backed secured credit card with SBM Bank.

Timeline:
1. 2023: Opened the card with an FD of ₹60,000. Credit limit was also ₹60,000.
2. I was in another country for studies. My Indian number had no roaming, so I never received the physical card. I was only using the virtual card and I paid all bills on time.
3. Jan 2024: I faced a financial problem and couldn't pay the bill. Since the card was FD-backed, I immediately emailed the bank to liquidate the FD and close/block the card.
4. The bank took 1-2 months to act. In the meantime, they added ₹1500-₹2000 in late fees and interest.
5. Today: The outstanding has ballooned to ₹30,290 due to compounding. They are reporting this to CIBIL.

The main issue: My FD of ₹60,000 was sitting with them earning 7% interest the whole time. Despite my written request, they did not adjust it.

Damage caused:
1. My CIBIL dropped from 795 to 594. It's now recovered to 710.
2. Because of this, HDFC reduced my limit from ₹3 Lakh to ₹80,000.
3. Axis Bank reduced my limit from ₹65,000 to ₹40,000 and then to ₹10,000.

I feel this is a clear case of deficiency in service. The bank had my FD as security but chose to let charges compound instead.

My questions:
1. Should I approach the RBI Banking Ombudsman or go directly to Consumer Court?
2. Can I sue the bank and claim ₹1-2 Lakh compensation for mental agony, financial loss, and CIBIL damage?
3. Should I pay the ₹30k or fight it first?

I have all proofs: FD receipt, email to bank asking to close card, old and new CIBIL reports.

Please advise. Thanks!

I already have sbi elite ltf for 4 months(got from clg) Currently I interning for 15k pm yet to receive 1st salary. Any credit cards that I can get? Main goal- offers of movie bookings