[Fordlover88]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

3 months have passed and I am yet to receive the card. HDFC site says "no records found" when I look up the status. I am eager to know the status and also worried that it may fall into the wrong hands.

You can track with the application number provided while filling up the form. The default password for activating the card is sent separately. If you hadn't received that too then either your card is not processed or it is stuck in transit. It's not much of an issue even if it fall's in wrong hands as the card can only be activated with the default password & registered mobile number.

[metropolis]

Hello folks,
Recently, have received Citibank Corporate Credit Card and after three days got notification of statement generation which is reflecting INR 1000 plus GST for annual membership charges. I have being using other bank credit cards and never have been slammed with such kind of charges. This card was on pure curtsy discussion with the company's finance division though I was not aware of such charges. How can they charge to corporate employees?

I'm in no need for any extra card and want to cancel this but unable to contact citibank on phone banking due to the covid issue. Can anybody share their email address? Also, how to reverse these charges?

Thanks.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by metropolis

Hello folks,
Recently, have received Citibank Corporate Credit Card and after three days got notification of statement generation which is reflecting INR 1000 plus GST for annual membership charges. I have being using other bank credit cards and never have been slammed with such kind of charges. This card was on pure curtsy discussion with the company's finance division though I was not aware of such charges. How can they charge to corporate employees?

I'm in no need for any extra card and want to cancel this but unable to contact citibank on phone banking due to the covid issue. Can anybody share their email address? Also, how to reverse these charges?

Thanks.

I have had plenty of bad experience with Citibank both cards and loan. The general attitude is that the customer can always be taken for a ride, and your case adds another instance to my belief.

If I am asked for advise, the first thing that I do is to discourage them from dealing with Citibank and share my experiences. There are plenty of Banks and cards in the Indian Market, and most of them have a much better attitude towards customers.

Please note that though US was instrumental in sinking a lot of Foreign banks on counts of unethical and at times criminal charges, Citibank has been bailed out by US Government on the very same charges time and again.
https://www.corp-research.org/citigroup

[rajesh1868]

Recently logged into SC Manhattan rewards point redemption page only to find that all rewards have been removed except for Bookmyshow, yatra and makemytrip.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Aroy

As Amazon Pay card gives 5% unconditionally, it is a good card for Amazon purchases. At times Amazon has 10% and 15% schemes for ICICI or HDFC cards, so if you have them it is a bonus

I already have an long standing account with ICICI, and have been reminded to purchase an Amazon card every time i go to the payments page in Amazon.
I was in two minds since I didn't want another card, simply adds to the amount of tracking to be done. Since I do a bit of regular shopping in Amazon, it does make send to go for this.
Thanks.

Originally Posted by turbospooler

Check SBI SimplyClick for Amazon buying

The offers are on par with what Infinia used to offer (10x reward points) for buying in amazon. But the rewards redemption seem to be on par with Infinia all considered (Amazon vouchers at a redemption ratio of rs1:4points)
Since, I also don't have an account with SBI, don't want another set of account opening cycle. Thanks for the suggestion!

Originally Posted by tejas08

Top-Up Amazon Pay or PayTM via 4 x 1000 transaction on Amex MRCC for utility bill payments. You earn 12960 Points for spending Rs. 48,000. If you have this card as Life-Time Free, then that is a lowest reward rate of 6.75% on this card (4 Reward Points = 1 Re). Any other option and the reward rate only increases. There is a slight issue when the card is not free. You have to spend 1.5 Lacs to ensure fee waiver. Even with that, the lowest reward rate is 2.5%.
ICICI Amazon Pay does not give 5% rewards for loading Amazon Pay. Hence, using ICICI Amazon Pay card for any kind of bill payments or recharges is 1-2%.
For me, Amex MRCC makes sense as I have it as Life-Time Free & I recently took a paid Amex Gold Charge Card (First Year Free). This is now ensuring 2200 Points monthly for a spend of 10 x 1000 Rs. transactions (Most of which are loading PayTM or Amazon Pay). Also, I look at options like Taj Vouchers (@ 18K & 24K milestones) or Reward Point Conversion to Marriott Bonvoy Points. This pushes the reward rate cumulatively on both these cards in the region of 12-14% easily. For Example - Rs. 14,000 worth Taj Vouchers at 24,000 Points which is achieved in 11 Months on a total spends of 1.1 Lac Rs.
Hope I have tried to explain every little detail over here.

Thanks for the hints. My Amex card is a lifetime free one. I never tried paying bills with Amazon pay till now, based on your hints, I'm now thinking of using the Infinia for paying bills via Amazon Vouchers, normal purchases via Amazon CC and the Amex 1k*4 translations+ any other interesting deals.

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

Recently logged into SC Manhattan rewards point redemption page only to find that all rewards have been removed except for Bookmyshow, yatra and makemytrip.

That kind of makes the rewards, well, unrewarding.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I own HDFC DB card since last 2 years. Today, I got a call from one of their representative stating that I will no longer have ‘Unconditional Life Time Free’ option with my existing card, unless I open a savings accounts with them or do annual transaction of 5l.

Okay, after using this card for around 2 years, time has come for me to part with this card. When I took this card, they had told me that it will be life time free. Then, last month I got a call from bank stating that I need to open a SB account with them to make it life time free. Now, even after opening SB account with them, they are telling me that the annual fee will be waived off only if my previous year spend exceeds 5l. And, I don’t spend that much in a year. So, I am left with no other option but to cancel this card.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Then, last month I got a call from bank stating that I need to open a SB account with them to make it life time free. Now, even after opening SB account with them, they are telling me that the annual fee will be waived off only if my previous year spend exceeds 5l. And, I don’t spend that much in a year. So, I am left with no other option but to cancel this card.

Should also move your account to another bank. This was sheer lying on their part just to get your money. A good lesson here, always take these things in writing especially if it's HDFC.

[jkrishnakj]

HDFC bank is slowly forgetting the art of customer retention / satisfaction. I am on the verge of closing down everything, after being18 years with them. When I lost my all miles card and called them, they promptly blocked my card. It is now 23 months and after multiple emails and calls with their so called 'Relationship manager', nothing worked. I lost the card , the replacement card never came and the reward points I had accumulated in my previous card is now gone. I am just so done with them. I will be closing my Savings account , a Child savings account and though HDFC Ltd is a different entity, I still will go ahead and transfer my home loan.

[akhil_007]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

HDFC bank is slowly forgetting the art of customer retention / satisfaction. I am on the verge of closing down everything, after being18 years with them. When I lost my all miles card and called them, they promptly blocked my card. It is now 23 months and after multiple emails and calls with their so called 'Relationship manager', nothing worked. I lost the card , the replacement card never came and the reward points I had accumulated in my previous card is now gone. I am just so done with them. I will be closing my Savings account , a Child savings account and though HDFC Ltd is a different entity, I still will go ahead and transfer my home loan.

Ha no wonder. By the way, hdfc relationship manager is not even an employee of hdfc bank. Whole RM thing is outsourced to a third party. My RM could not help with a replacement debit card. But gladly calls once in a quarter to sell me a credit card or loan or some investment.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by AZT

Should also move your account to another bank. This was sheer lying on their part just to get your money. A good lesson here, always take these things in writing especially if it's HDFC.

I agree with you. For the time being, i will just keep the SB account alive as the minimum balance is 10k. But, i will definitely think about it in the future.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by AZT

Should also move your account to another bank. This was sheer lying on their part just to get your money. A good lesson here, always take these things in writing especially if it's HDFC.

That is something I learnt the hard way after a "rollback" of lifetime free, without me being informed. The provider was Standard Charted.
Post that, all "offers" are backed by an email confirming what has been promised. Not sure how much legal standing this has, atleast there is some evidence of what was promised.

Originally Posted by akhil_007

Ha no wonder. By the way, hdfc relationship manager is not even an employee of hdfc bank. Whole RM thing is outsourced to a third party. My RM could not help with a replacement debit card. But gladly calls once in a quarter to sell me a credit card or loan or some investment.

Did't know the RM was outsourced. Over the years, I've taken the RM's support only 2 times, and I must say it was a positive experience. It saved me a trip to the bank and the job was done promptly.

[Saanil]

Hi,

When you buy things on Amazon/Flipkart from Smartbuy using HDFC cards, how do you come to know that the reward points have been accrued correctly? Does the point accrual occur immediately after the transaction? I recently bought something from the Amazon website after being redirected from Smartbuy's portal but my points have not been updated. I am wondering if I did the transaction in the correct manner. I received an email from Amazon about the details of the order but there was no mention of 'Smartbuy' in that email. I have also not received an email from Smartbuy about this transaction.

[Mr. Nobody]

Originally Posted by Saanil

Hi,

When you buy things on Amazon/Flipkart from Smartbuy using HDFC cards, how do you come to know that the reward points have been accrued correctly? Does the point accrual occur immediately after the transaction? I recently bought something from the Amazon website after being redirected from Smartbuy's portal but my points have not been updated. I am wondering if I did the transaction in the correct manner. I received an email from Amazon about the details of the order but there was no mention of 'Smartbuy' in that email. I have also not received an email from Smartbuy about this transaction.

Points are accrued after statement is made for the prev month. However you never know for which purchase what number of points are added. Its all basis trust with these credit cards.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by whitewing

That is something I learnt the hard way after a "rollback" of lifetime free, without me being informed. The provider was Standard Charted.

Same here. My card was due for renewal. Received a mail from Standard Chartered that at the time of renewal, the Lifetime Free offer has been withdrawn and the renewed card would now be chargeable.

Apparently the meaning of "Lifetime Free" has undergone a change, unilaterally from the issuing Bank's point of view.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Fx14

Same here. My card was due for renewal. Received a mail from Standard Chartered that at the time of renewal, the Lifetime Free offer has been withdrawn and the renewed card would now be chargeable.

Apparently the meaning of "Lifetime Free" has undergone a change, unilaterally from the issuing Bank's point of view.

While my experience was of several years ago, maybe early 2000s, nothing seems to have changed.