Get Unsecured Credit Card when Remote Work for Non-Indian Company

[_amit_]

1. Connect with bank whom you have the savings account. Call their support and ask for this.
2. You mentioned EOR, so you are employed as regular rather a contractor by Deel, they can not deny you dont work for them. Legally you do not work for the company out of india, because Deel has a contract with that company you dont. If you receive payslips, deel is submitting your PF and TDS. In case you are not employed by deel as an employee, then you are a contractor.
3. Connecting with bank in which savings account is would be better. If agents do not help or create issues, just go to the branch and ask the BM about it.

 

[ScaredIRL]

1. Connect with bank whom you have the savings account. Call their support and ask for this.
2. You mentioned EOR, so you are employed as regular rather a contractor by Deel, they can not deny you dont work for them. Legally you do not work for the company out of india, because Deel has a contract with that company you dont. If you receive payslips, deel is submitting your PF and TDS. In case you are not employed by deel as an employee, then you are a contractor.
3. Connecting with bank in which savings account is would be better. If agents do not help or create issues, just go to the branch and ask the BM about it.

Thank you.

1. Yes, I asked AXIS about that. They just kept pushing me to provide an Indian business address or to get a secured card for a few months which they will upgrade after 6 months.
2. You're correct. I signed a contract with the company through Deel, and Deel got my PAN during the contract process. But I had no idea it was so different from other work. I got the payslips from Deel, but still, nothing from Deel or my company shows in Form 26AS. They didn't deduct anything from the salary. The CA I spoke with said he would handle the taxes.
3. Same as 1. I tried going to the AXIS branch and even threatened to close the account that I've had for years. The BM is friends with my dad, but still, that didn't help. Seems like they're clueless about my work.

From what you and @NAB saying, it does make sense to give Deel a shot as my employer.

I will also later upload redacted payslips and contract if that helps.

 

[varun__goel_]

That's not false information bro! Most of the foreign companies operate by this model only in India. So, people need to mention the employer's name per the Payroll company's name.

Ohhh wasn't aware of such thing. I thought that Deel was just acting as an remittance agent. Thanx for letting me know😉

 

[_amit_]

Thank you.

1. Yes, I asked AXIS about that. They just kept pushing me to provide an Indian business address or to get a secured card for a few months which they will upgrade after 6 months.
2. You're correct. I signed a contract with the company through Deel, and Deel got my PAN during the contract process. But I had no idea it was so different from other work. I got the payslips from Deel, but still, nothing from Deel or my company shows in Form 26AS. They didn't deduct anything from the salary. The CA I spoke with said he would handle the taxes.
3. Same as 1. I tried going to the AXIS branch and even threatened to close the account that I've had for years. The BM is friends with my dad, but still, that didn't help. Seems like they're clueless about my work.

From what you and @NAB saying, it does make sense to give Deel a shot as my employer.

I will also later upload redacted payslips and contract if that helps.

1/3. Try at another branch near you. BM has a lot of power, but your "friend" BM is not helping.

Did you ask if they are open to provide you unsecured card via self employed route if they are rejecting on salaried basis? Neo/Myzone are LTF, so maybe simply call axis customer care to get these entry level if possible and tell them about this.

2. Few pointers:

I signed a contract with the company through Deel, and Deel got my PAN during the contract process.

• Taking PAN does not mean you are employee. PAN is taken from freelances to deduct 194J too.

I got the payslips from Deel, but still, nothing from Deel or my company shows in Form 26AS.

• Sometimes companies delay tax payments and it might be the case.

I still am not clear if you are employed as regular employee by deel or contractor. Deel contract must have specified this explicitly.

• Do you get health insurance from deel? I think they have umatter unigroup as a partner for health insurance.
• Does the payslip mentions PF No OR PF UAN ?
• The pay slip also must be showing a table with how much tax is deducted at which month.

I think knowing the above will give you a good idea. So simply ask their support from their portal.

 

[Mr. Bean]

Since you have Axis Bank savings account, you may try Axis Kiwi CC as self-employed. As previously mentioned, co-branded cards have higher chance of approval.

MyBusiness CC is another option within Axis. I had it for 10 years. Zero rewards. Paid card. Worked everywhere where other CCs failed.

 

[ScaredIRL]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I connected with Deel's support and reviewed the agreement (a sample agreement template by Deel and the invoice are attached).

The overview: Deel offers two options for clients: the independent contractor model and the EOR (Employer of Record). I'm categorized as an independent contractor under a 'Fixed Rate' contract. An Independent Contractor is a person who is not considered an Employee and hence does not have the same benefits as a regular Employee in a country (More here) And yes an independent contractor is considered self-employed (Read here). As an independent contractor, I'm responsible for taxes and can't use Deel's business address.

So, I realized that I'm self-employed! Better late than never, I guess 💀.

 

[ScaredIRL]

Since you have Axis Bank savings account, you may try Axis Kiwi CC as self-employed. As previously mentioned, co-branded cards have higher chance of approval.

MyBusiness CC is another option within Axis. I had it for 10 years. Zero rewards. Paid card. Worked everywhere where other CCs failed.

Okay, I will look into these. Thanks.

 

[_amit_]

• Deel has one interesting issue, it does not have any bank tie-ups, so you would not have gotten a salary account regardless with any bank which helps a lot.
• However, you will find this setting better over time, except that you have to find good health insurance as self-employed and getting loan gets a bit difficult with self-employed atleast with new ones, but credit score may help with it with time.
• Your tax would be less, assuming you would be filing under 44ADA with 50% profit, if you earn <75LPA.

But you will have issues with this setup for atleast a year as self-employed are asked ITR and based on your post, this would be the first time you would be filing in July 2024?

For credit card, the banks still have not got around the idea that people can work remotely after so mant years with it, and rejects application based on this. And self-employed with ITR still to be filed is again difficult to get around.

So better to go bank route with savings account and push for pre-approved card without income information.

Maybe talk to the IDFC agent once to get an unsecured card?
A number was shared here:
https://www.technofino.in/community/threads/idfc-first-wealth-easily-approved.24115/post-563285

All this while, do keep an eye on your CIBIL, if you get a lot of enquries and not much account, it might be red flag so just be cautious and do not go around asking for CC with banks online, as they hit CIBIL and then are like, "ye to hota hi hai babu bhaiya".

 

[ScaredIRL]

• Deel has one interesting issue, it does not have any bank tie-ups, so you would not have gotten a salary account regardless with any bank which helps a lot.
• However, you will find this setting better over time, except that you have to find good health insurance as self-employed and getting loan gets a bit difficult with self-employed atleast with new ones, but credit score may help with it with time.
• Your tax would be less, assuming you would be filing under 44ADA with 50% profit, if you earn <75LPA.

But you will have issues with this setup for atleast a year as self-employed are asked ITR and based on your post, this would be the first time you would be filing in July 2024?

For credit card, the banks still have not got around the idea that people can work remotely after so mant years with it, and rejects application based on this. And self-employed with ITR still to be filed is again difficult to get around.

So better to go bank route with savings account and push for pre-approved card without income information.

Maybe talk to the IDFC agent once to get an unsecured card?
A number was shared here:
https://www.technofino.in/community/threads/idfc-first-wealth-easily-approved.24115/post-563285

All this while, do keep an eye on your CIBIL, if you get a lot of enquries and not much account, it might be red flag so just be cautious and do not go around asking for CC with banks online, as they hit CIBIL and then are like, "ye to hota hi hai babu bhaiya".

Thanks for all the info. Yes, you're right, an ITR containing this income will be filed this year (good to know about 44ADA), and I have good personal health insurance.

I've had an Axis Bank zero-balance savings account since childhood because my father has a salary account there. My income has also been credited to Axis only. Recently, the RM contacted me to apply for the pre-approved My Zone CC, but it got rejected, maybe because I applied as salaried or due to other reasons.

I don't think IDFC would give me a CC as recently in 2023 I opened an account with them, and currently, I'm fighting for that account to get unfreezed, and I also have their secured WOW CC.

So, I will file the ITR and let my credit score get better. Then I'll apply as self-employed. I'll also try again at an Axis branch with this new info.

 

[ScaredIRL]

Update on credit card and ITR:

ITR:
I consulted with a CA about my taxes and confirmed that my income falls under 44ADA. But, I'm yet to file the ITR.

Credit card:
I gave one last try at applying for a credit card as a salaried individual. Instead of mentioning contractor/self-employed anywhere, I just used my payroll provider, Deel, as my employer, using their Bangalore address. All my invoices and bank statements already had Deel on them, so not a problem I think.

I applied to both Axis Bank and ICICI. Today, Axis Bank approved my application and shipped me the AXIS Bank Neo Mastercard LTF credit card for which I applied.

I realized that being too exact was problem in my case. What I did wasn’t a lie. Sometimes, we just have to give information in a way that works.

 

[ScaredIRL]

I will update regarding ICICI credit card status soon.

Hopefully this will help others having such issues in future.

 

[SSV]

Sometimes, we just have to give information in a way that works.

100 % correct ..
we can not live with 100% perfection in this imperfect world.. I was like you until about 2 years ago..

 

[SaiRaj_Mambeti]

DM me 😉

Hey @varun__goel_ I'm facing the same issue, can you please help me out