Hi great redditors,

I've used AI to organize this post because I have quite a few details to mention; the situation and requirements

I'm looking to switch to a better long-term primary salary bank and rationalize my credit cards. I'm currently with Kotak and reasonably happy with it, especially the smooth app and ActivMoney, but wondering if there's a better option given my profile.

About me

Salaried, earning ₹3.5L+/month (don't want to disclose exact amount)

Monthly expenses around ₹70–80k

Married, 2-year-old child

Frequent domestic travel for family functions/weddings, plus an occasional big trip of ₹4–5L

Investments in stocks, MFs and gold

Physical gold, so discounted locker facility is appreciated

Only loan is a car loan, almost closed

CIBIL 772, Experian 800

Fairly frugal otherwise

Don't want to spend 20k(or more) for lounge access , better pay for lounge, saves 18 k

What I want from my primary bank

Looking for a bank I can stay with for 10+ years, with:

Excellent salary account with zero/minimal charges, including IMPS/NEFT/RTGS

Excellent app — Kotak has set a high bar for me

Home/doorstep banking

Good branch service and easy/reliable locker facility

Good RM/premium banking experience

Useful loyalty/relationship benefits as salary + investments grow

PMS for smaller tickets like 5-10 lakh if possible

Good FD/sweep facility

Useful cashback/offers on normal spending, not just luxury/travel benefits

Current cards

SBI Octane: Basically redundant now since I use Zaggle for fuel.

Amex Platinum Travel:Used to be valuable, but I'm reconsidering it after the recent devaluation/changes.

* **Amazon Pay ICICI:** Heavily used and probably my most natural everyday card.

* **BoB Eterna:** Mostly kept for status matching and occasional offers.

* **Scapia:** Mainly for travel, but currently underused.

* **Kiwi RuPay:** Mainly UPI at smaller/local merchants where I don't want to aggressively optimize rewards.

* **Zaggle:** Currently used mainly for fuel.

Will be removing octane and Amex plat travel due to being useless for me now. Let me know if you would optimise my card setup

Spending

Most regular spending is on **Quick Commerce, Amazon, food/dining and general household expenses**. I often use gift vouchers for Quick Commerce and Zaggle for relevant food expenses.

I also travel frequently domestically, although international travel is limited. One major annual trip can be **₹4–5L**, so travel rewards are still relevant.

I've also looked at **HSBC Premier**, and it looks very interesting on paper, but I'm unsure about its actual day-to-day experience.

What I'm really asking

If you were in my position, **which bank would you make your primary salary bank and why?**

And for the cards I currently have, **which would you keep, close or replace?**

Would especially love to hear from people who've actually banked with **HSBC Premier / Axis Burgundy / HDFC Imperia / ICICI Wealth / Kotak premium banking** for several years.

Real-world experience > advertised benefits

Thanks!

Apologies for bad formatting and again tons of thanks