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HDFC Bank Credit Cards Huge Devaluation Effective From 1st August 2024 | Extra Fees On Utility, Education Payments

TechnoFino

Founder
TF Family
Founder
Admin
A few months ago, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, and several other banks started charging extra fees on utility, education, and a few other category payments. Recently, HDFC Bank has also joined this trend. Now, HDFC Bank customers need to pay additional service fees for making payments for utilities, education, and similar categories using HDFC Bank credit cards. Let's learn more about the applicable fees.

Rent Pay Transactions: 1% fee on transaction amount will be levied on rental transactions done on any applicable merchant for the month.
Fee capped at Rs 3000 per transaction.

Utility Transactions: 1% fee will be levied on utility transactions exceeding Rs 50,000 for consumer cards and Rs.75,000 for business cards in a month Fee will be applied on the total transacted amount.
Fee capped at Rs 3000 per transaction.

Education Transactions: 1% fee will be levied on Education transactions done through third party applications like (but not limited to) CRED, PhonePe, No-broker, Cheq etc.
Fee capped at Rs 3000 per transaction.
Education transactions done directly through college / school websites or through POS machines at their premises will not be charged. International Education transactions will not be charged.

Rewards Redemption Fee: ₹99 Per redemption request - Applicable for all cards other than Infinia/ Infinia (Metal Edition)/ Diners Black Metal Edition/ Diners Black Card/ BizBlack Metal Card/ H.O.G Diners Club Credit Card. Rewards Redemption Fee will not be charged on redemption of reward points towards cashback.

Cashback Redemption Charges: ₹50 per cashback redemption (Excluding Infinia , Infinia (Metal Edition), Diners Black, Diners Black (Metal Edition), Biz Black, Biz Black (Metal Edition), Tata Neu Infinity, Tata Neu Plus, Swiggy , Flipkart Wholesale ,Marriot Bonvoy, IndiGo 6E Rewards, IndiGo 6E Rewards XL , Intermiles)

The above service fees apply to all HDFC Bank credit cards. As you may already know, HDFC Bank has a fair use policy for all their credit cards, which means they have set a limit on the maximum rewards you can earn per statement cycle. For example, with the HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card, you can earn a maximum of 2 lakhs, and with the Diners Black Card, 75K. I believe this is an effective way to prevent credit card misuse by business spenders. HDFC Bank has demonstrated to the industry that it is possible to curb misuse without devaluing the entire product. By capping the maximum rewards you can earn in a statement cycle and charging extra fees on low-margin categories like utility and education after certain spending limits are reached, they have struck a balance.

I think this devaluation will not affect majority of HDFC Bank credit card users, as the spending limits for each category are decent enough for a normal person. I believe other banks should follow this approach and implement fair use policies rather than devaluing the entire product.

Source Attached: HDFC Bank Credit Card MITC (25th June, 2024)
 

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bhavyegoel

TF Premier
TF Family
Chief Editor
Sr Moderator
So finally HDFC has started trimming rewards on Utilities and Education spending. A user has reportedly received the following email for an HDFC Moneyback Plus credit card but looks like this applies to all HDFC Credit Cards. Also, credits to @varun__goel_ and @SuperKnight who posted threads here originally.

Revisions to Your HDFC Bank Credit Card Terms Effective August 1st, 2024
Dear Valued Cardholder,
Here's an important update on your 005332 Credit Card. Effective August 15, 2024, the following revision to your HDFC Bank Credit card charges will apply.
1. Rental Transactions:
If you use services like (but not limited to) CRED, PayTM, Cheq, MobiKwik, Freecharge, and others to pay rent, a 1% fee will be charged on the transaction amount and capped at 3000 per transaction
Category. Rent

2. Fuel Transactions:
Merchant Category Codes (MCC) 6513
If you spend less than 15000 per transaction on fuel, no additional fee will be charged. However, if you spend more than 15000 per transaction on fuel, a 1% fee will be charged on the entire amount and capped at 3000 per transaction.
Category. Fuel

3. Utility Transactions:
Merchant Category Codes (MCC) 1361,5172,5541,5542,5983,9752
If you spend less than 50000 per transaction on Utilities, no additional fee will be charged. However, if you spend more than 50000 per transaction on utilities, a 1% fee will be charged on the entire amount and capped at 3000 per transaction.
Category. Utility
Merchant Category Codes (MCC) 4900
Insurance transactions will not be considered Utility transactions and hence no charge will be applicable.

4. Educational Transactions:
If you make education payments through college/school websites or their POS machines, there will be no fees. International education payments are excluded from this charge. However, on education payments through third-party apps like (but not limited to) CRED, PayTM, Cheq, MobiKwik and others, a 1% fee will be charged and capped at 3000 per transaction.
Category. Education
III
Merchant Category Codes (MCC) 8211,8220,8241,8244,8249,8299

5. Rewards Redemption towards Statement Credit:

If you redeem your rewards towards statement credit (CashBack), a ₹50 redemption fee will be charged.

Have you received any email regarding this?
 
Last edited:

m4b

TF Ace
VIP Lounge
Party at my place folks, when news about
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drops
 
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