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

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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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Despite 1% charges on rent I am still going to use it to pay rent coz of the following:
1. Helps me to earn 0.75% on my saving account for 45days of free credit period
2. 1% of CB while making CC payment vid DC
3. Milestones for fees waiver for my CC and DC

All these will help in mitigating 1.18% cost of CC and 0.5% cost of red girrafe
 
Despite 1% charges on rent I am still going to use it to pay rent coz of the following:
1. Helps me to earn 0.75% on my saving account for 45days of free credit period
2. 1% of CB while making CC payment vid DC
3. Milestones for fees waiver for my CC and DC

All these will help in mitigating 1.18% cost of CC and 0.5% cost of red girrafe
Have to test if HDFC is going to charge 1% on rent pay through billpay/payzapp. They only emphasized on paying via 3rd party apps.
 
I just got an email saying the changes are effective Sep 1st! Have they pushed the date back?
 

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  • Screen Shot 2024-07-29 at 7.35.14 PM.webp
    Screen Shot 2024-07-29 at 7.35.14 PM.webp
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Changes in reward system from Sept 2024. Just received email.
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Dear Valued Cardholder,

We have an important update regarding your xx3769 Credit Card.
Effective September 1st, 2024,

The following revisions to your HDFC Bank Credit Card will apply:

1. Reward Points earned on Utility transactions will be capped at 2000 Reward Points per calendar month.

2. Reward Points earned on Telecom & Cable transactions will be capped at 2000 Reward Points per calendar month.
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Category
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Merchant Category Codes (MCC)
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Utility
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4900
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Telecom & Cable
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4812, 4814, 4899
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3. Education payments made through third-party apps like (but not limited to) CRED, Cheq, MobiKwik, and others will NOT earn Reward Points. However, education payments made directly through college/school websites or their POS machines will earn Reward Points
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Category
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Merchant Category Codes (MCC)
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Education
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8211,8220,8241,8244,8249,8299
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Note: The Merchant Category Codes (MCC) are set by the network
(Visa, MasterCard, Rupay, Diners), not by HDFC Bank.

For more details, kindly refer to MITC <link>


If you have any questions or need further information, please contact our customer service team or visit your nearest HDFC Bank branch.

Thank you for choosing HDFC Bank!
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Warm regards,
HDFC Bank
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Can anyone tell me, From where did the cash charge come from?
Is it the cash redemption fee, which is imposed by HDFC from 1 Aug, 2024.
But I redeemed the cashback on 22July,2024.
How they can add charges like this? Screenshot_20240802-173341.webp
 
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