[iamahunter]

I've been using citibank's credit cards for over 2 years now. Absolutly satisfied with them.

Indian Oil Card and the Rewards card.

Indian oil card : 4 points on every Rs 150 spent.
Best part : 1 point = 1 rupee.

Usually I full the tank and then only fill at the low fuel light.
Costs me approximatly Rs 2500, giving me some 64 points.

Rewards card has a different system for points and discounts.
A list of hotels in which discount is available is mentioned on the company website.

Redemption of points is absolutly simple, just ask the person in charge to swipe points instead of cash, done.

You can use points of the rewards card on websites such as for eg: Book my show dot com.

Fairly simple and beneficial.

Note: To avail the discount in restaurants on the Citi Rewards card, you need to inform BEFORE the bill is generated.


I follow the golden rule for credit card expenditure : Spend only as much as as you have in your account.

Credit cards are beneficial if used in a right manner.

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by narayan

Guys
what is the best card for fuel spending ? I have been using the Citi IOC card for long but many times, the Citi card machines alone dont work in the IOC pumps and all other machines are working fine.

I am thinking of switching over to some other card ? What are the best options ?

This one looks good to me.

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

For fuel charge wavier I regularly use Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Card which gives me 2.5% Surcharge wavier plus 2.5% cashback. I believe it is the best card for Fuel fill ups. More details here

Disclaimer : Only user of SCB card. NOT related to them anyhow.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

This one looks good to me.

I went through their website and it looks too good to be true. There is a straight 5% cash back on fuel ( 2.5 % surcharge + 2.5% cash back ) and it says OVER AND ABOVE THAT another 5% cash back. Quoting below from their website

"5% cash back on fuel at all petrol pumps in India. You’ll also receive a 2.5% surcharge reversal and 2.5% cash back on the transaction amount, be it BPCL, IOC, HPCL or Reliance"

I think this could be a typo !

Anyway 5% alone will take care of what the Citi IOC card gives presently.

Over and above this whatever one gets is a bonus

Only catch is the annual fee/Joining fee which they say they will waive if spends are above a threshold. Let me apply and see !

Thanks for sharing

[noopster]

Originally Posted by narayan

"5% cash back on fuel at all petrol pumps in India. You’ll also receive a 2.5% surcharge reversal and 2.5% cash back on the transaction amount, be it BPCL, IOC, HPCL or Reliance"

I think this could be a typo !

Typo, surely! I had one of those cards about 7-8 years ago. You get your surcharge refunded plus an equivalent amount as cashback. Pretty cool especially with petrol prices being high. But when I tried to get the same card after returning from overseas they told me they had stopped issuing those (don't remember which bank- must be Citi or Stanchart). Nice to know this scheme is back.

[Kamikaze]

Originally Posted by narayan

I went through their website and it looks too good to be true. There is a straight 5% cash back on fuel ( 2.5 % surcharge + 2.5% cash back ) and it says OVER AND ABOVE THAT another 5% cash back. Quoting below from their website

"5% cash back on fuel at all petrol pumps in India. You’ll also receive a 2.5% surcharge reversal and 2.5% cash back on the transaction amount, be it BPCL, IOC, HPCL or Reliance"

I did a comparo between Citi IOC card and the SC Super Value Titanium card a couple of weeks back - I was looking to switch from my current Citi IOC Plat card. Here are pros and cons of the SC card:

Pros of SC card:
1. No surcharge at any fuel pump. Citi is restricted to Citi EDCs at IOC pumps.
2. Total benefit = 5% of fuel fill up. But no rewards points.
3. SC APR varies between 23.88% to 41.88%. Citi has fixed APR of 39%. Not recommended to fall into the credit card interest rate trap anyway.

Cons of SC card:
1. Citi card gives 2.5% surcharge waiver and 2.67% in the form of rewards points for fuel txns. Total of 5.17% per txn higher than SC and with no constraints on max waiver per transaction or monthly
2. Utility Transactions: No cashback below Rs. 750 and no rewards points either. Leaves me with a few no-benefit transactions on the SC card
3. It states here - "Rs 99 will be charged towards handling and courier charges for redemption of reward points". Seriously?
4. 1 reward point = Rs. 1 for Citi. SC seems to be much lesser going by this

Other Points:
1. Will the entry and annual fee be waived off for SC? If not, then this may be costlier than the Citi card - unable to verify / confirm
2. In the fine print, it states - "Cashback will be subject to a maximum of Rs. 100 per Eligible Transaction" and elsewhere it states "5% Cashback on fuel (inclusive of surcharge)" - putting the 2 together, does that mean that the refund will be limited to Rs. 100 per txn including surcharge? - this is a deal breaker for me, since my avg fill up is close to Rs 3k per txn. Unable to verify / confirm this
3. Citi offers Rs. 250 activation benefits - irrelevant for me. SC may have similar activation benefits.
4. Citi reward points never expire - I can accumulate over the years and spend in bulk. Not sure of the SC reward points.

Fineprint of SC card here.
Fineprint of Citi card here.

All in all, I have decided to retain my existing Citi card and put up with the inconvenience (and irritation) of ensuring its use only on Citi EDCs at IOC pumps. The SC card has way too many fine print and constraints for my comfort.

[narayan]

kamikaze

some pts I noted and quoting from their website

1) Spend Rs 30,000 in a year and we waive your joining fee and Spend Rs 60,000 in a year and we waive your annual fee
2) On the redemption cost - I think this would be if you are redeeming against any gift vouchers. Did you read anywhere if redemption can be done against o/s balance ? Also were you able to check the Rupee value of the pts ?


So I am thinking of trying out this card given the convenience of going to any fuel outlet and swipe at any EDC. Because even if I spend Rs2500 per month on this card I it becomes a free card and I can restrict this for that occasion where I need to fill up urgently ( especially on outstation trips etc ) where I have to hunt for an IOC pump that too with a Citi EDC

[Kamikaze]

Originally Posted by narayan

On the redemption cost - I think this would be if you are redeeming against any gift vouchers. Did you read anywhere if redemption can be done against o/s balance ? Also were you able to check the Rupee value of the pts ?

No, I did not come across ability to redeem against outstanding. Will be great if you can let us know rupee value of points if you come across it.

Originally Posted by narayan

So I am thinking of trying out this card given the convenience of going to any fuel outlet and swipe at any EDC. Because even if I spend Rs2500 per month on this card I it becomes a free card and I can restrict this for that occasion where I need to fill up urgently ( especially on outstation trips etc ) where I have to hunt for an IOC pump that too with a Citi EDC

From Year 2 onwards, we will have to spend at least Rs 5000 per month to gain annual fee waiver based on what you have posted.

I am very uncomfortable incurring charges first (joining, annual, surcharge etc) and then waiting for the bank to refund it to me. I am paranoid that they will find some fine print to not refund the money to me. I would rather not incur them in the first place - but that is just me.

All said and done, this does not seem to be a bad card and is a good alternative to the Citi IOC card. Do try it, and let us know your experience & feedback after you have spent some time with the card. Thanks!

[rajesh1868]

Based on my experience with Manhattan cashback cards(also by SC), you need to login to https://360rewards.standardchartered.com/in and specifically request for cashback for it to get credited to your account. Handling charges are there in Manhattan as well and you cannot redeem points against current outstanding.

One other issue is that there is no way to track the cashback generated. Earlier, it used to happen automatically and in the monthly statement they used to show cashback obtained under each transaction. Now, after moving to a user generated request model, there is no way to track cashback generated for each transaction. You will see that Rs xxx is in account. There is an option to use this money as points and redeem for some items

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

Now, after moving to a user generated request model, there is no way to track cashback generated for each transaction.

Hi, there is a way - You need to click on the Transaction History under the My account option in the top right corner of the screen

[manduvindupondu]

Credit card companies are not refunding the 12.36% Service tax charged on 2.5% Fuel surcharge. I dont understand it. When the fuel surcharge itself is waived, how can they retain with them the 12.36% service tax?
I am sure they wont pay it to the central government. 0*12.36% = 0 is my line of contention.

Successfully followed up with HDFC bank and got the service tax refunded. Now its the turn with Axis bank and Indusind.
What is the official line? Can someone please confirm? I noticed that irctc also does not refund the service tax when we cancel a train ticket. Can we file a RTI or a PIL?

Comments are welcome.

[null]

Originally Posted by manduvindupondu

Credit card companies are not refunding the 12.36% Service tax charged on 2.5% Fuel surcharge. I dont understand it. When the fuel surcharge itself is waived, how can they retain with them the 12.36% service tax?
I am sure they wont pay it to the central government. 0*12.36% = 0 is my line of contention.

Service tax gets refunded on my ICICI HPCL card. The reversal is usually after a day or two though.

[rajesh1868]

Originally Posted by Fx14

Hi, there is a way - You need to click on the Transaction History under the My account option in the top right corner of the screen

Didnt know that. will check it. Thanks

[rana_kirti]

anyone got call by their credit card bank saying reward points being discontinued and rs 10 cash per point being given by bank and new credit card being issued...? just got a call and they were asking for my card details.

[rajesh1868]

Originally Posted by rana_kirti

anyone got call by their credit card bank saying reward points being discontinued and rs 10 cash per point being given by bank and new credit card being issued...? just got a call and they were asking for my card details.

You believed Rs 10 per point?

[scorpion_blore]

I have more than 3000 points in my Citi IndianOil credit card. I tried to redeem the points in lieu of petrol in Indian Oil fuel station in Hennur Road. However I was told this is not possible in this fuel station.
Any other fuel stations from where I can redeem these points?
Can I use these points for purchasing other items instead of fuel?