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-   -   The Credit Card Thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/92603-credit-card-thread-378.html)

Wait, I don't think you need to get stuff on EMIs on cards to improve your
credit score. You are paying 36% interest on credit card loans. Just get a LTF card, and start using it normally, paying all the outstanding in the due month. No carrying forward of balance or EMIs unless they are zero interest EMIs.

You can pay your credit card bill on Amazon, CRED or the bank's own portal.

Ask the bank to close the bank. THey may offer to make it Life Time Free or make first year free. Your choice.

Lastly, read the book 'I will teach you to be rich' by Ramit Sethi. Many such questions are well addressed.

I see a lot of concern around CIBIL scores on this thread. Does a missed payment on a credit card or a loan really cause such a big dent for someone who has a clean history in general over a span of few years?

A couple of missed payment may only affect the CIBIL score temporarily, and the CIBIL score will return to normal after a couple of months.

However I have seen banks will report this delay in payments to CIBIL and it will appear in your CIBIL score for some years.

For example I delayed the payment of my HSBC credit card twice in 2014 and it appears on my CIBIL report to this day and when I applied for a home loan in 2016 with SBI they had asked for an undertaking about these delayed payments. Note that my CIBIL score was 804 at that time and no other issues with my CIBIL report. So these delayed payments may come back to haunt later :Frustrati

Thank you. I was getting a little worried with all the posts obsessing over CIBIL score. I have used credit cards for 25 years now and, for the most part, paid every single bill on time, almost never rolling over balances and only occasionally using the EMI feature (usually when there is a zero interest promotion). I find credit cards a great way to control and track my expenses but am acutely aware of the risks of overspending and getting into a debt cycle. It's not rocket science. There are also additional benefits like points redemption, lounge access, discount/cashbacks which are quite useful.

My advice: use a credit card prudently and don't sweat your CIBIL score. Mine has never dropped below 750 (typically in the mid-high 800s) so I guess the usage pattern I follow works. Have also observed that taking on debt for property or vehicle purchase doesn't drastically affect your CIBIL as long as you are 100% compliant on your EMIs.

I have a ICICI Accelero Credit Card since it was launched. Now they are asking me to upgrade to Manchester United Signature Credit Card or MakeMyTrip Signature Credit Card.

Would like to know:

1. If anyone is already using either of these? If yes,then comments on it.
2. And whether it is possible to get a free LTF upgrade or whether it is possible to get a free upgrade i.e. skip joining fees.

Thanks in advance.

I have been using this extensively as well. Every week, I have one class at the Qutub Golf Course in Delhi where I pay nothing. It covers the coach fee, one basket of balls, and one club usage. If you wish to add another basket, that's just 150 additional.

Had applied for Kotak CC on Friday night online using their website. It just took my name and phone number and a message popped up that you will get a call within 72 hours.

Havent yet got a call back from their sales team. Looks like either they are not very eager to sell the cards or they have too much backlog or they will really adhere to 72 hours deadline to call.

I have had a Citibank issued Mastercard CC for maybe 15+ years. My domestic usage has come down drastically in recent times due to UPI payments but this is my only means of payment for international transactions and it has served me really well. Always worked without any glitch. Looks like Citibank is selling its retail business to Axis bank and I got a mail asking for consent to transfer my account to Axis bank. I don't think very highly of Axis bank and don't plan to rely on them for a critical tool like CC for international transactions (especially during travel, etc).

I am not interested in any reward schemes. Just need an efficient and "always works" credit card especially for international usage. I absolutely hate getting security check phone calls every time I swipe, or transactions getting declined because of fraud prevention systems on steroids. I also don't like banks calling me to seek explanation of my transactions for their audit/records. Or never ending KYC paperwork. Sorry for the rant - but the wrong banks can make your life miserable.

Any good recommendation for a credit card especially for smooth international usage?

I have used Axis bank Forex cards on multiple ocassions as my ex organization had a tie up with them, We faced no problem with Axis on Forex cards. Not sure about their CC though.

Regards
Diesel

Guys, i have around 10k points on citi rewards card.

Which is the best way to go redeeming them before they move to axis.

Why would anyone use a high-cost credit card for international / foreign currency transactions anyway? Instead of just getting a Forex card from whichever bank you bank with?

Forex cards are not free to load, still now cumbersome to get and are not really designed for short travel and infrequent purchases. Balance amount if any has to be converted again as well.

Credit cards mostly apply similar conversion markups to Forex cards and are rather transaction based. And works for multiple currencies during travel all the same without having to convert from USD or Euro loaded in Forex card.

I think Niyo is the only Forex card or account somewhat up to date to modern times.

I just took the cashback. A bit of Excel magic ensured I ended a certain billing month with 0 outstanding and only 4 unredeemed reward points. At that point I promptly cancelled the card.

Thanks, Whats the conversion rate?
Did you call up customer care or directly via the portal?

Mine's HDFC. There were no charges at all (no issuance/joining charges, no loading charges) if I loaded the card with INR 20K equivalent in foreign currency. The currency exchange rate applied was exactly what was in the branch's display board.

I retained the card (did not surrender it after travel) and used to load more Forex when exchange rates were favourable and use it for transactions on Amazon.com and others. When the card expired I only had about $10-15 left which also they converted back to INR without any fees.

Now I am on my second Forex card. Happy that I loaded lots of $$$ on it when the exchange rate was somewhere around 72-73. :-)