How To Get HDFC Bank Infinia & DCB Credit Card Easily - New & Upgrade

[TechnoFino]

HDFC Bank Infinia is the best credit card available in India for frequent air travellers. HDFC Bank market this credit card as an invite only card, but in reality you can actually apply for this card.
Official Eligible Income Criteria For HDFC Infinia- 43L ITR (depends on location)
DCB - 24L ITR
If you don't have ITR of 43L/24L you can still get HDFC Infinia/DCB, you have to fulfil some other criteria.
This information is not available publicly on HDFC Bank website.
Hidden Criteria For "New HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card" - You can apply for new HDFC Bank Infinia credit card using "Card To Card" method, you need a minimum 1 year old other bank credit card with minimum 10 lakhs credit limit for this.
"New HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card" - You can apply for new HDFC Bank DCB credit card using "Card To Card" method, you need a minimum 1 year old other bank credit card with minimum 5 lakhs credit limit for this.

If your already have a HDFC Bank credit card, then you have to upgrade your existing card to Infinia/DCB,
For Upgrade To Infinia-
1. You need minimum 8 lakhs credit limit on your existing HDFC Bank Credit card
2. Send an email to- grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com & request for card upgrade, fill up and attach credit card upgrade form with the email.
*Credit card upgrade form (New Version) - attached with this thread.

For Upgrade To DCB-
1. You need minimum 5 lakhs credit limit on your existing HDFC Bank Credit card
2. Send an email to- grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com & request for card upgrade, attach card upgrade form with the email.

Update- HDFC Bank asking for 10 lakhs limit on your existing credit card for infinia upgrade.



So, don't be surprised if hdfc bank ask you for 10L limit. 😃

 

[gurubhai]

I have been an LTF Regalia holder for almost a year and half now, with a limit of 2.85L. Today I got a limit enhancement offer from them to make it 9.01L. I tallied my spends on the card from the statements to check the spend in the last 6 months and it is coming out to 6.12L. I have my salary account with them and I am a preferred account holder though going by some of the replies in the thread, it seems that doesn't really matter. I also have an ICICI Sapphiro LTF with a limit of 8L if it would help for a card-based offer but I guess now that my Regalia's limit itself is 9.01L, that doesn't matter either.

Would I be eligible for an upgrade directly to Infinia or do I need to go for a DCB first and then go for Infinia? If yes to either of these, should I expect an LTF card or FYF or paid? What would be the best way to approach them, through my RM or through grievance redressal email?

Thanks in advance.

Hey, Is that your spends in last 6 months or in general it took 18 months for your CC limit enhancement?
Asking because it seems to be a huge jump.

 

[Invictus]

Hey, Is that your spends in last 6 months or in general it took 18 months for your CC limit enhancement?
Asking because it seems to be a huge jump.

I don't know if my banking relationship had anything to do with it (most likely not), but I did open a salary a/c with them in Jan this year along with accounts for my parents and we all were upgraded to preferred in a month. I actually asked for Imperia and they did offer that but the RM mentioned that apart from the 100% waiver on the annual charges for the locker (Preferred only waives off 50% charges), there is no difference between the features offered by Imperia & Preferred. In fact, Imperia had the downside of having to maintain an MAB of 10L as compared to the 2L by Preferred. As soon as I was upgraded, I egged my RM to upgrade my card to Infinia (my limit was still 2.85L at the time) but he said I would need my limit increased for that first. They said that since they were going the offline route for this, they would need my Form-16s which I hadn't received for the last financial year. So I thought of waiting till now (when I receive my Form-16) but before I could submit it, I automatically received an offer from them to bump it up to 9.01L.

As far as my card usage is concerned, I have had the Regalia for 18 months but I started off with an LTF Regalia First about 18 months before being upgraded. So my overall relationship with HDFC cards is closer to 3 years. My usage wasn't always this high but has been consistent since a couple of years as I have been paying my house rent (~50k) every month with it so it has been pretty much in the range of 50k-60k every month at the very least, with a few spikes every odd month. I roughly spend 80k-1L every month on credit cards but I end up splitting the costs between different cards to meet the annual spend criteria on other cards (mostly Amex). My Cibil score is ~750, nothing great, but that might be mostly because I didn't have any secured loans till I got a home loan recently. Banks love it when you're in debt, and I wasn't so there's that. So the big jump in credit limit might be due to a multiple factors like having a salary a/c with them, increased income over the past couple of years, having a card from a different bank with a decent limit (ICICI Sapphiro with 8L limit) and an increased spending pattern on their own card. Can't really say why exactly, not sure what their criteria/algorithm is based on. But the limit enhancement came after about a year and half (I last got it when the card was upgraded from Regalia First to Regalia).

 

[gurubhai]

I don't know if my banking relationship had anything to do with it (most likely not), but I did open a salary a/c with them in Jan this year along with accounts for my parents and we all were upgraded to preferred in a month. I actually asked for Imperia and they did offer that but the RM mentioned that apart from the 100% waiver on the annual charges for the locker (Preferred only waives off 50% charges), there is no difference between the features offered by Imperia & Preferred. In fact, Imperia had the downside of having to maintain an MAB of 10L as compared to the 2L by Preferred. As soon as I was upgraded, I egged my RM to upgrade my card to Infinia (my limit was still 2.85L at the time) but he said I would need my limit increased for that first. They said that since they were going the offline route for this, they would need my Form-16s which I hadn't received for the last financial year. So I thought of waiting till now (when I receive my Form-16) but before I could submit it, I automatically received an offer from them to bump it up to 9.01L.

As far as my card usage is concerned, I have had the Regalia for 18 months but I started off with an LTF Regalia First about 18 months before being upgraded. So my overall relationship with HDFC cards is closer to 3 years. My usage wasn't always this high but has been consistent since a couple of years as I have been paying my house rent (~50k) every month with it so it has been pretty much in the range of 50k-60k every month at the very least, with a few spikes every odd month. I roughly spend 80k-1L every month on credit cards but I end up splitting the costs between different cards to meet the annual spend criteria on other cards (mostly Amex). My Cibil score is ~750, nothing great, but that might be mostly because I didn't have any secured loans till I got a home loan recently. Banks love it when you're in debt, and I wasn't so there's that. So the big jump in credit limit might be due to a multiple factors like having a salary a/c with them, increased income over the past couple of years, having a card from a different bank with a decent limit (ICICI Sapphiro with 8L limit) and an increased spending pattern on their own card. Can't really say why exactly, not sure what their criteria/algorithm is based on. But the limit enhancement came after about a year and half (I last got it when the card was upgraded from Regalia First to Regalia).

Thanks for such detailed explanation
I have ~6-7 years only account with them with some decent MAB. Hope can I can use it to have LE first and then apply for better card. Having moneyback card at the moment.
But also one sad part is that I have moved out from the city where my branch is and its difficult to visit the branch. Plus my RM hardly answer any calls/messages.

 

[Invictus]

What was your initial limit with this card?

Is your Sapphiro LTF?

I don't remember the exact limit when the Regalia First was issued but it was somewhere around 1.8L. Then it got bumped up to 2.35L and then it got bumped to 2.85L when the card was upgraded to Regalia.

Yes, the Sapphiro is LTF. Along with the Preferred relationship with HDFC I am also a Wealth Management (WM) customer of ICICI (their version of Imperia I guess) and the regional manager for WM has a good relationship with my father as my father has been a WM customer for almost 12 years now. He helped with getting the card, otherwise they have a very weird criteria with regards to issuing LTF cards.

 

[Invictus]

Thanks for such detailed explanation
I have ~6-7 years only account with them with some decent MAB. Hope can I can use it to have LE first and then apply for better card. Having moneyback card at the moment.
But also one sad part is that I have moved out from the city where my branch is and its difficult to visit the branch. Plus my RM hardly answer any calls/messages.

You don't need to be in the same city as your branch to get the service you need now. My a/c branch is in Bangalore as that's where my company's head office is but I work remotely from Mumbai. I opened my parents' accounts in Mumbai and we all have the same RM and I only ever had to visit the branch once, to open their accounts. For every other request, the RM has visited my house.

Worst case scenario, you can request for a change in RM. That will either prompt a call from your RM and force him/her to be more proactive or you will get a new RM. You can also make a request to change your branch to one in your city and there's no limit on the number of times you can do that if you decide to move again.

My suggestion for getting a LE right now, rather than waiting for an offer from them, is to speak to them and tell them that you need to make a large transaction and your current limit isn't sufficient. I needed to make a transaction of 5L and I told my RM that the limit on my card is just 2.85L so I will have to split it among other cards, which is when he offered to get it bumped up offline if I submitted my Form-16 which unfortunately I didn't have at the time as I mentioned earlier.

 

[Invictus]

Wealth Management or Wealth Select?

Wealth Management. Wealth Select falls under Wealth Management but I don't have the Wealth Select debit card. Now that you mention it, I think I should enquire with my RM to check if I'm eligible for Wealth Select.

Which area BTW?

Did you ever ask about LTF Emeralde?

I'm in Mumbai, Western line.

I did enquire about the Emeralde but the RM said Emeralde is never issued LTF (like the Infinia at the moment). The Sapphiro is the highest tier for the LTF cards at present. Also, the eligibility for the Emeralde was to have a salary of 3L+ which I did when I applied but my income was from multiple sources and oddly enough they required a single source of income that was more than 3L so I wasn't eligible even for a paid Emeralde. The Wealth Select a/c does waive the joining fees for Emeralde but I'm not sure if it also extends to renewal fees as well. I will check up on it now when I check for the Wealth Select eligibility.

 

[Invictus]

Trust me when I say this, I am a preferred customer, I know many HNI customers. Your RM is if the rarest kind. Not all HDFC RMs are like this ... Ghar aana to bohot dur ki baat hai ... Branch pe bhi theek se kaam nehi korte wo

Which is why I suggested to put in a request to change the RM.

They may not be very proactive (I had the same experience with ICICI RMs) but no one likes being pulled up when a customer escalates, especially through the right channels. Do it once by writing an email and make sure you get an acknowledgement of the email at least, for official records. Not over the phone or through Whatsapp with the RM. If your email does not illicit the expected response, write a follow-up email saying that your next email is going to the nodal officer/appellate authority followed by a complaint to the RBI Ombudsman along with copies of your communication regarding the bank's services. Forget about the RM, the branch manager himself will come to your house

 

[bdasultan]

Ask for DCB, after limit enhancement to 8 lakhs, raise a request again for Infinia.

Is DCB worth it? Costs 10k a year and gives peanuts in return as welcome/annual benefits. With the recent devaluation; Amazon 5X reward points program ending, I'm unable to justify DCB.

 

[7faizbook]

Thanks for the super quick response guys.

I have already taken the LE offer and now the limit is set to 9.01L (Don't know why they gave such an odd number - 901000).

So just to be clear, if I receive the option to choose between a FYF Infinia and an LTF DCB, I should opt for the LTF DCB initially? Is that in order to progress to an LTF Infinia?

That won’t work. My experience says infinia metal is not LTF at any cost.

 

[7faizbook]

As you dad is an old customer tell them to get you all wealth select ... After that it'll be easier for LTF Emeralde

U won’t get wealth select card on wealth management. Instead world debit card is provided to wealth account holders

 

[gurubhai]

Which is why I suggested to put in a request to change the RM.

They may not be very proactive (I had the same experience with ICICI RMs) but no one likes being pulled up when a customer escalates, especially through the right channels. Do it once by writing an email and make sure you get an acknowledgement of the email at least, for official records. Not over the phone or through Whatsapp with the RM. If your email does not illicit the expected response, write a follow-up email saying that your next email is going to the nodal officer/appellate authority followed by a complaint to the RBI Ombudsman along with copies of your communication regarding the bank's services. Forget about the RM, the branch manager himself will come to your house

If you know any right channels to escalate, please let me know. grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com email will work?

 

[Invictus]

That won’t work. My experience says infinia metal is not LTF at any cost.

Yeah, I realize that now. I was under the impression that the plastic Infinia is still being issued and thought I could try for an LTF upgrade to that rather than the metal variant.

U won’t get wealth select card on wealth management. Instead world debit card is provided to wealth account holders

Yes, that's the one I have. I spoke with the manager, the eligibility criteria for Wealth Select is to have an NRV/TRV of 3.5Cr which makes me ineligible for now. The features on the Visa Infinite and the Mastercard World debit card seem to be the same though, as listed on their site except for the higher withdrawal/transaction limits on the Visa. The added benefit of Select is the waiver on the joining fees for Emeralde and exclusive memberships. Which makes me curious as to what's the criteria for Diamante.

If you know any right channels to escalate, please let me know. grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com email will work?

You can email directly from their website (link posted at the end) and escalate it to their senior management from the grievance redressal officer right up to the MD/CEO of HDFC bank.

Start with your RM. If that doesn't work, just walk into any local branch and ask to speak with the branch manager. If that doesn't work as well then get in touch with the grievance redressal officer and follow the hierarchy as described on the website right up to the MD/CEO. I highly doubt your problem won't be addressed till then. And if it still isn't, inform them of your next step and proceed to contact the RBI Ombudsman. It might take you a few days to get it done but trust me, it will be a one time thing. Once you escalate it to the right people you will always receive proper service after that. I did it just once with ICICI and immediately my RM was changed and going ahead the regional manager for WM handled all our requests personally and he has been excellent. I'm not saying it will be the same for you given that it's HDFC but in the end they all answer to someone and there's no way around it.

Keep in mind, however, that you need to maintain the hierarchy when escalating the issue. There are people that think that they are the center of the universe and directly write to the MD/CEO. You will not get a response if you do that. If you are lucky, they will kick it down to the right level in the hierarchy and that person might get in touch with you. Otherwise they might not even bother. And at no point should you be aggressive, despite your frustrations. Keep it professional, short and to the point. At every level, let them know your concern and inform them that if you do not receive regular communication and your issue is not resolved by a certain time, you would be obligated to escalate it to the next level. Get them to commit to a timeline and do not give that person a second chance. The moment they exceed that timeline, escalate it to the next level. Let them know you mean business.

https://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/need-help/contact-us/senior-management-team

 

[7faizbook]

Yeah, I realize that now. I was under the impression that the plastic Infinia is still being issued and thought I could try for an LTF upgrade to that rather than the metal variant.


Yes, that's the one I have. I spoke with the manager, the eligibility criteria for Wealth Select is to have an NRV/TRV of 3.5Cr which makes me ineligible for now. The features on the Visa Infinite and the Mastercard World debit card seem to be the same though, as listed on their site except for the higher withdrawal/transaction limits on the Visa. The added benefit of Select is the waiver on the joining fees for Emeralde and exclusive memberships. Which makes me curious as to what's the criteria for Diamante.


You can email directly from their website (link posted at the end) and escalate it to their senior management from the grievance redressal officer right up to the MD/CEO of HDFC bank.

Start with your RM. If that doesn't work, just walk into any local branch and ask to speak with the branch manager. If that doesn't work as well then get in touch with the grievance redressal officer and follow the hierarchy as described on the website right up to the MD/CEO. I highly doubt your problem won't be addressed till then. And if it still isn't, inform them of your next step and proceed to contact the RBI Ombudsman. It might take you a few days to get it done but trust me, it will be a one time thing. Once you escalate it to the right people you will always receive proper service after that. I did it just once with ICICI and immediately my RM was changed and going ahead the regional manager for WM handled all our requests personally and he has been excellent. I'm not saying it will be the same for you given that it's HDFC but in the end they all answer to someone and there's no way around it.

Keep in mind, however, that you need to maintain the hierarchy when escalating the issue. There are people that think that they are the center of the universe and directly write to the MD/CEO. You will not get a response if you do that. If you are lucky, they will kick it down to the right level in the hierarchy and that person might get in touch with you. Otherwise they might not even bother. And at no point should you be aggressive, despite your frustrations. Keep it professional, short and to the point. At every level, let them know your concern and inform them that if you do not receive regular communication and your issue is not resolved by a certain time, you would be obligated to escalate

Yeah, I realize that now. I was under the impression that the plastic Infinia is still being issued and thought I could try for an LTF upgrade to that rather than the metal variant.


Yes, that's the one I have. I spoke with the manager, the eligibility criteria for Wealth Select is to have an NRV/TRV of 3.5Cr which makes me ineligible for now. The features on the Visa Infinite and the Mastercard World debit card seem to be the same though, as listed on their site except for the higher withdrawal/transaction limits on the Visa. The added benefit of Select is the waiver on the joining fees for Emeralde and exclusive memberships. Which makes me curious as to what's the criteria for Diamante.


You can email directly from their website (link posted at the end) and escalate it to their senior management from the grievance redressal officer right up to the MD/CEO of HDFC bank.

Start with your RM. If that doesn't work, just walk into any local branch and ask to speak with the branch manager. If that doesn't work as well then get in touch with the grievance redressal officer and follow the hierarchy as described on the website right up to the MD/CEO. I highly doubt your problem won't be addressed till then. And if it still isn't, inform them of your next step and proceed to contact the RBI Ombudsman. It might take you a few days to get it done but trust me, it will be a one time thing. Once you escalate it to the right people you will always receive proper service after that. I did it just once with ICICI and immediately my RM was changed and going ahead the regional manager for WM handled all our requests personally and he has been excellent. I'm not saying it will be the same for you given that it's HDFC but in the end they all answer to someone and there's no way around it.

Keep in mind, however, that you need to maintain the hierarchy when escalating the issue. There are people that think that they are the center of the universe and directly write to the MD/CEO. You will not get a response if you do that. If you are lucky, they will kick it down to the right level in the hierarchy and that person might get in touch with you. Otherwise they might not even bother. And at no point should you be aggressive, despite your frustrations. Keep it professional, short and to the point. At every level, let them know your concern and inform them that if you do not receive regular communication and your issue is not resolved by a certain time, you would be obligated to escalate it to the next level. Get them to commit to a timeline and do not give that person a second chance. The moment they exceed that timeline, escalate it to the next level. Let them know you mean business.

Icici has stopped issuing diamant credit card.

 

[legend.sudsier]

HDFC Bank Infinia is the best credit card available in India for frequent air travellers. HDFC Bank market this credit card as an invite only card, but in reality you can actually apply for this card.
Official Eligible Income Criteria For HDFC Infinia- 43L ITR (depends on location)
DCB - 24L ITR
If you don't have ITR of 43L/24L you can still get HDFC Infinia/DCB, you have to fulfil some other criteria.
This information is not available publicly on HDFC Bank website.
Hidden Criteria For "New HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card" - You can apply for new HDFC Bank Infinia credit card using "Card To Card" method, you need a minimum 1 year old other bank credit card with minimum 10 lakhs credit limit for this.
"New HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Card" - You can apply for new HDFC Bank DCB credit card using "Card To Card" method, you need a minimum 1 year old other bank credit card with minimum 5 lakhs credit limit for this.

If your already have a HDFC Bank credit card, then you have to upgrade your existing card to Infinia/DCB,
For Upgrade To Infinia-
1. You need minimum 8 lakhs credit limit on your existing HDFC Bank Credit card
2. Send an email to- grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com & request for card upgrade, fill up and attach credit card upgrade form with the email.
*Credit card upgrade form (New Version) - attached with this thread.

For Upgrade To DCB-
1. You need minimum 5 lakhs credit limit on your existing HDFC Bank Credit card
2. Send an email to- grievance.redressalcc@hdfcbank.com & request for card upgrade, attach card upgrade form with the email.

Done!

This works! I too got the DCB to Infinia upgrade today. I had also attached last month salary slip, and last financial year's Form 16 as an income proof in the email.

Thanks a lot for sharing this!

 

[gurubhai]

This works! I too got the DCB to Infinia upgrade today. I had also attached last month salary slip, and last financial year's Form 16 as an income proof in the email.

Thanks a lot for sharing this!

Was your DCB LTF?
Just wondering if Infinia metal (not LTF) is worth considering over DCB LTF or not.

 

[legend.sudsier]

Congratulations

What are your spends on your HDFC CC?

Well, pretty much everything that accepts credit cards.

House Rent, Travel (flights and occasional hotel stays), Gift Vouchers (Amazon, BigBasket, Clothing brands), Fuel (recently moved those to SCB Ultimate), Occasional household appliances, Insurance premiums, Utility Bills (Electricity, Internet, Phone) etc.

 

[legend.sudsier]

I am asking about approximate monthly or annual spends

Averages around 70-80K per month

 

[legend.sudsier]

Was your DCB LTF?
Just wondering if Infinia metal (not LTF) is worth considering over DCB LTF or not.

Technically, it was not LTF but I hadn't paid the fees even once in the last 3 years of ownership. The yearly spends used to cross the waiver threshold of 5L (the monthly house rent payments themselves did most of the job).

Well, why Infinia?
- Prestige/exclusivity, duh!
- 16.5% vs 10% on Amazon via Smartbuy
- Higher daily limits on SmartBuy (occasional flight purchases)
- 16.5% vs 10% points on the Instant Gift Vouchers

Also, given that you anyways get 12.5K back as points, the effective cost is just the GST of 2.5K

I expect to recoup at least 325*12 (~4K) in extra reward points from the monthly 5K Amazon vouchers purchases via Infinia, compared to DCB

 

[pandeyji]

I am currently holding a DCB LTF card with 7.8L CL. What are my chances of getting it upgrade to Infinia Metal? Would it be LTF as well? If yes, how do I request for an upgrade? Also I currently have around 90K reward points on my DCB card, what would happen to them?

 

[sahil624]

Your points will be converted on a pro rata basis from DCB to Infinia. Same they communicated to me while upgrading from Regalia to DCB.