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U can think about the upgrade from Regalia to DCB only after 6-7 months. In these 6-7 Months, you will need to spend a decent amount on the credit card (My guesstimate would be around 3+ Lacs cumulative). This may still not guarantee you getting an upgrade on netbanking. You will need to download the upgrade form from HDFC Website and then send it across to Chennai office.

Thanks for responding. Did you get a free automatic upgrade or you too filled the upgrade form?

Banks usually work on NRV (net relationship value).
So another way could be give them more business by doing FDs or doing investment through them.

I hold a lifetime free infinia card, offered by relationship manager purely on the basis of NRV. I wasn't holding any hdfc card before that.

I had sent a slightly nasty email to HDFC customer care regarding the devaluation of Regalia. The process I explained was a response received from them.lol:

I can't ask your NRV on a public forum, but I am assuming it will be very high as they are giving their best card free of cost.

Standard Chartered was at my office today for salary account opening. I agreed to open the account with them if they also give me a SC Ultimate credit card.

Let's see.

I have tried it over a decade but failed gloriously to manage credit cards. I somehow always end up screwing up the payment cycles, end up overpaying. In last two months I have paid up two cards of mine in full, would be doing the same for 3rd in a while. Then I would pledge to never ever ever use a CC in my life again.

It is a wonderful tool in the hand of financially wise man, the kind we have plenty here but it can create havoc in the hands of financially fool monkey like me.

I am out of here.

I have been using CC since early 2000 and never ever paid a single rupee as late payment. I began my CC journey with Citibank Rewards and now I have 3 CC, Citibank IOC (2L), HDFC DB (6L) and ICICI Amazon Pay (2.4L). All 3 CC are lifetime free. I hardly use CC for availing ‘Credit’ per se, but use it mainly to earn the reward points, to avail offers, cashbacks, etc. So, most of the time, I never wait for the statement to get generated and just pay off the outstanding as soon as I receive my salary. I know I am not utilizing the my CCs to its full advantage, but for me, peace of mind (that I don’t have any credit) matters more than the little SB interest that I might earn if I hold on the payment till last date.
Anyway, my intention of this post is, if you know how to manage your finance, then you can have as many CC as possible and utilize it to avail great benefits.

Ask to give it as Lifetime Free.



Keep away two cards and use only one card.. try this for couple of months.

That's a very sound advice. This helps two ways.
- ensuring one doesn't forget paying in time.
- accumulate all reward points/benefits at one place so that they actually total up to something usable! With good usage, you would likely get upgrades as well from that card.

With all billers communicating by e-mail and SMS it is extremely easy to use the computer to track the bills, and pay electronically. (you have to register and activate electronic communications for each biller)

I just have an excel sheet for Payments - MTNL, Cell Phone, Electricity, DJB, House Tax and all the credit cards.

The sheet has Due Date, Amount, Date Paid and Amount Paid. Whenever a bill comes (it is normally by e-mail and then an SMS), I enter the amount and due date in the sheet as the bills come. That way I keep track of around 10 payments which are spread over 15 days. I check the sheet regularly and pay at last two to three days ahead.

When ever I pay I update the sheet and at the end of last payment zero them. In case I missed the bill due to any reason I can check it online.

How do these "Lifetime Free" cards work? Do they remain free for as long as you hold the card, or can the bank take away the "Free" feature one fine morning after some changes made in the list of features (like a credit limit upgrade, for example)?

My "Lifetime Free" HDFC bank card has remained so for several years now. But just the other day I got an automated call (supposedly from HDFC bank) offering me a 3x credit line increase if I pressed "1". I got nervous (this year's budget still being fresh in mind!), and declined by pressing "2". --- Is it even prudent to respond to such automated calls?
.

If you read the Terms and Conditions (the 100 page thing printed in font size 2), you will see 'bank can change the conditions anytime'. So theoretically it is possible for them to remove the free thing overnight. But usually it doesn't happen like that. Only when they discontinue that specific card etc.


It's better to 'press 2' in such cases. It's safer to check HDFC Netbanking, Credit Card, Upgrade Option or to call the customer service in case you are looking for upgrade of credit limit or to a higher level card.

This SMS based redemption is a hit or miss thing. Today I got a message after i filled Rs 1000 worth of fuel at IOC using PremierMiles card. I have not received any such messages for IOC fuel purchases before.
Other thing is, this SMS based redemption link was there earlier too. I found couple of similar messages in my phone for transactions at MORE and Starbucks from 2018 and 2019. But only two such messages in last couple of years!

Don't know what your cards or bank is, but it's always good to have a standing instruction set which will take care of full payment on the due date. Works great when the card is from the same bank and card payments will be on autopilot. Only thing to ensure is that there is sufficient balance in the bank on the due date.

This is what I was going to suggest to you, BANDHAV.
First reduce your usage to just one card after you have paid up the dues on the other cards.
Create one excel sheet for your cards. Separate tabs for each card.
Type the billing cycle for each month's entries. And Due date.
Dutifully fill up this page every week with every debit and credit - this can be found in your credit card statement online.
Keep track of all your expenses. This will make you aware of where you are spending your money.

Additionally use the Calendar App on your phone to set reminders for the last date to pay the bills. And set two alerts - one alert for two days before and one alert for one day before due date.
All your financial planning will go for a toss when you pay those late fees and taxes on those fees - something that could have been avoided with a little prudent expenses tracking.

All the best.

I would recommend folks here trying to keep up with due dates etc to try out SMS Organizer app from Microsoft. I use it on android phone for last few years and there is no going back from it for me.

It will keep track of your credit cards for you based on all the SMS messages you get - showing you your credit account statement, current outstanding, due date etc... all reconstructed/tracked through SMS.