HDFC refusing upgrade from MoneyBack+ on Imperia+Salary account, move out or stay?

[gopalkaul]

This is my first post, please bear with me TF folks!
I have an Imperia HDFC account(due to my dad, it's been imperia since the past 7-8 years), I was a student up until June 2023, when I started working. I got preapproved MoneyBack+ CC with conditional LTF(50k in 3 months), and I thought to take it since I had to spend 50k in that month only, and I applied for it, and took the card. Limit was 50k(no income then, only student). Got card in Feb 2023, used and made it LTF. Then, post joining job, I used the same account as my salary account.
I found out, to all new account holders, that my employer offered a Regalia Gold as LTF. I sent upgrade form via branch with salary slips, HDFC only gave LE of 1.5L and refused upgrade stating card didn't have too many spends. First of all, MoneyBack+ was such a useless card, I regret taking it, plus the limit was so low, I couldn't use it. I took an SBI BPCL Octane in Sept 2023, I got limit of 1.2 L.
I sent them mails asking them to upgrade my CC to Millenia and threatened to leave and move to Axis or ICICI(salary ~1L excl. stocks, other misc income 20k) so they are offering FYF Millenia to me. It's been 1 month of me fighting back and forth with them.
I feel like the bank is not treating me right. I escalated this to PNO today, said they'd respond by 15th. Is Millenia worth the hassle, or do I move to another bank?
I don't know if it'd be better to move. I don't need flights or any fancy stuff, looking for a good card with discount on Amazon, Flipkart and daily shopping. For fuel I already have BPCL Octane.
What would the TF experts suggest? Worth moving or no?
PS- RM said no way to get card upgrade, it's only paid(not even FYF). My dad whose income is 2+LPM, he refused to give DCB, says even MoneyBack+ is paid.
My dad says HDFC is a good bank don't move out, but I would like a usable card with discounts.
Should I keep fighting, or move out?
My HDFC account will still be Imperia as it is linked to family Imperia, only my salary account will be separate.
Spends are on Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance, DMart, Apollo Medicines. Bonus if I'd get BOGO or movie offers. Lounge access doesn't matter.
ICICI and Axis both have tie-ups with my employer as well. ICICI is offering Rubyx as LTF based on my salary if I open account, but doesn't seem special. Maybe I can try Burgundy? Have 5L saved up, though I don't meet the salary criteria.

 

[gopalkaul]

Axis sucks big time. I closed my Burgundy account last week. I haven’t seen such blatant lying in any of the banks. HDFC is much better. Bro give some time to the bank. Just seeing the posts of people don’t get over excited and start jumping. You have just started the journey give it time. We also have 3 Imperia + Salary accounts with HDFC but they are not ready to upgrade my brothers Regalia Gold to Infinia. My friend’s monthly take home is about 3.8-3.9L he is saying he would transfer his salary account from ICICI to HDFC if they give LTF Infinia but they are not ready to give. Now all the banks are getting slightly stricter in issuing LTF cards and giving facilities. HDFX is a pretty good bank when compared to others so I would suggest to have some patience.

What I realise is, all banks suck equally then.
I feel like leaving everything and going to SBI now 😀😛

 

[anish1516]

What I realise is, all banks suck equally then.
I feel like leaving everything and going to SBI now 😀😛

SBI is very good except calling you to the home branch for everything 😂 Jokes apart I have accounts with HDFC, ICICI, Axis, IDFC, BOB, SBI, Kotak. Most of them are premium accounts. And I would rate Axis and Kotak in the bottom. HDFC and ICICI are 2 very good banks to go with.

 

[gopalkaul]

I've not seen anyone recommend ICICI.
I know their cards aren't great, is there any other reason why people don't recommend ICICI for salary accounts?

 

[varun__goel_]

Axis sucks big time. I closed my Burgundy account last week. I haven’t seen such blatant lying in any of the banks. HDFC is much better. Bro give some time to the bank. Just seeing the posts of people don’t get over excited and start jumping. You have just started the journey give it time. We also have 3 Imperia + Salary accounts with HDFC but they are not ready to upgrade my brothers Regalia Gold to Infinia. My friend’s monthly take home is about 3.8-3.9L he is saying he would transfer his salary account from ICICI to HDFC if they give LTF Infinia but they are not ready to give. Now all the banks are getting slightly stricter in issuing LTF cards and giving facilities. HDFX is a pretty good bank when compared to others so I would suggest to have some patience.

True.... People really willing to switch there main acc from hdfc just because they are not providing their desired cc and at early stage makes me laugh. They will realise what they have entered into with Axis at a later point🤣🤣

 

[varun__goel_]

I've not seen anyone recommend ICICI.
I know their cards aren't great, is there any other reason why people don't recommend ICICI for salary accounts?

If you want to go for general banking(not looking into cc) then it is good enough.

 

[gopalkaul]

True.... People really willing to switch there main acc from hdfc just because they are not providing their desired cc and at early stage makes me laugh. They will realise later what they have entered into with Axis at later point🤣🤣

It's not just HDFC, it's Imperia. Thought that mattered, since they brand it as something special.
And as I said, my employer comes under the Tier A list of HDFC, others got a Regalia Gold LTF, why can't I get a Millenia LTF? Doesn't it seem logical that I should get the same treatment that my fellow employees do, with no prior relationship with HDFC?

 

[anish1516]

True.... People really willing to switch there main acc from hdfc just because they are not providing their desired cc and at early stage makes me laugh. They will realise later what they have entered into with Axis at later point🤣🤣

Axis folks are thugs! They charged some fee on my account and I went to the bank to get it reversed. The RM asks me to Remind him about this after a week! There’s when I lost it, bloody I am not giving you business to be your assistant to remind you stuff. You should keep and note and get it done.

 

[Akashn]

I'd suggest close this card and apply from branch c2c. 1L+ limit required on existing card. This way you'll get Millennia LTF. Then again try for limit increase by sending salary slip/itr..

 

[varun__goel_]

It's not just HDFC, it's Imperia. Thought that mattered, since they brand it as something special.
And as I said, my employer comes under the Tier A list of HDFC, others got a Regalia Gold LTF, why can't I get a Millenia LTF? Doesn't it seem logical that I should get the same treatment that my fellow employees do, with no prior relationship with HDFC?

I understand your frustration, even I am not able to secure a LTF Tata Neu cc. In hdfc, there is nothing to do with banking programmes and ccs TBH. What you can do is contact POC of your employer if it might help.
Second just close existing card, wait for pre approved offer. Patience is the key for HDFC CC.

 

[gopalkaul]

I'd suggest close this card and apply from branch c2c. 1L+ limit required on existing card. This way you'll get Millennia LTF. Then again try for limit increase by sending salary slip/itr..

Have SBI BPCL Octane, Limit 1.27L
Ironically when I applied for Regalia gold via branch they enhanced limit to 1.5, highest limit I have right now.

 

[varun__goel_]

I'd suggest close this card and apply from branch c2c. 1L+ limit required on existing card. This way you'll get Millennia LTF. Then again try for limit increase by sending salary slip/itr..

Yes, this is the best recommendation as hdfc gives ltf cc on c2c rn. Provide all docs, and if you have amex with good limit use that for c2c, avoid icici kotak cc for c2c. But don't be surprised if you receive mb+ again🤣🤣 That is why I have said go for pre approved way.

 

[Xposed]

What I realise is, all banks suck equally then.
I feel like leaving everything and going to SBI now 😀😛

Lunch ke baad Ana 😂

 

[nomad]

Yes, this is the best recommendation as hdfc gives ltf cc on c2c rn. Provide all docs, and if you have amex with good limit use that for c2c, avoid icici kotak cc for c2c. But don't be surprised if you receive mb+ again🤣🤣 That is why I have said go for pre approved way.

Mb+ even for AMEX C2C?

 

[varun__goel_]

Mb+ even for AMEX C2C?

There's no guarantee for hdfc offline applications.

 

[shubham393]

Bro, you should get hsbc cashback card for dmart, grocery shopping, restaurants etc. you will get 10% cashback upto 1000 capping+ 1.5% cashback elsewhere.
And sbi cashback card for 5% cashback on any online shopping.

There are 999+GST charges on both, but cashback will be more than enough to pay these charges

 

[gopalkaul]

Bro, you should get hsbc cashback card for dmart, grocery shopping, restaurants etc. you will get 10% cashback upto 1000 capping+ 1.5% cashback elsewhere.
And sbi cashback card for 5% cashback on any online shopping.

There are 999+GST charges on both, but cashback will be more than enough to pay these charges

Already holding SBI BPCL Octane, 1500+GST per year, that gives me 1.5% on departmental spends afaik
I do buy groceries a lot but it'll be tough to hit waiver for either of them then.
Do they offer this card LTF if I open savings account and park funds in it?

 

[NeoOnWheels]

Me seeing posts about people stuck with Moneyback while I got it converted to Regalia without any negotiation, income docs, or even a mail from my side.

I got upgrade from MB to Infinia 😍

 

[prashu]

Axis sucks big time. I closed my Burgundy account last week. I haven’t seen such blatant lying in any of the banks. HDFC is much better. Bro give some time to the bank. Just seeing the posts of people don’t get over excited and start jumping. You have just started the journey give it time. We also have 3 Imperia + Salary accounts with HDFC but they are not ready to upgrade my brothers Regalia Gold to Infinia. My friend’s monthly take home is about 3.8-3.9L he is saying he would transfer his salary account from ICICI to HDFC if they give LTF Infinia but they are not ready to give. Now all the banks are getting slightly stricter in issuing LTF cards and giving facilities. HDFX is a pretty good bank when compared to others so I would suggest to have some patience.

3.9L monthly? 😳

 

[money'r_dekha_nai]

Wow, how did you do that !

What sorcery is this 😱
😱😱

Honestly, I guess it was just patience and dumb luck.
HDFC gave me Business MB (limit 50k) with 50k-3month LTF offer (similar to OP) when I was a student with a part time job(2022).
I started using CC everywhere I could. Forger reward rate, I had no idea what cibil score was, and 1 CC was more than enough for me. No rotating, no manufactured spends, just normal shopping and travel (yearly spends definitely <<<3L).
So, 2023 May, I paid yearly income tax using HDFC account netbanking. A week after that the limit got increased to 3L, and a month after that they gave me a FYF Business Regalia. No idea if this payment flagged something, but the events happened exactly this way.
Also not so fun fact, I had filed ITR based on all the money that was credited to my account from my freelancing work, not realizing there are tons of ways to get that tax reduced (was my first time, went to a CA, he wasn't helpful at all, kept telling me to make a website for him). So, even though I did theoretically qualify for apparently above avg cards, I ended up losing money.
Another not so fun fact, I am assuming I might have a tough time converting from Business->non business cards (regalia gold and above). Still, 🤞.

I got upgrade from MB to Infinia 😍

But not without talking to RM 😏. Anyways, congrats man! I hope I will probably earn enough for Infinia someday 🤞(HDFC might just devaluate/phase it out by then, but anyways).

 

[vine]

For salary account and regular banking ICICI had the best experience for me.
For credit cards, only Amazon pay cc is good. You will get that anyway from the Amazon app