Off late I have been observing a lot of hype around Axis Magnus, people on Twitter going bonkers for this card. I see unboxing images for it almost every other day on Twitter and absolute craze around this card simply reminds me of the hey days of Infinia and DCB. Since Infinia is an invite only card and DCB lost its sheen during recent devaluations, card enthusiasts are finding solace in Magnus. Almost 6% returns on spending of 1L sounds too good to be true and recent Edge reward conversion to Kris Flyer miles added icing on the cake for the travel enthusiasts.
While HDFC created exclusivity around Infinia and DCB, Magnus is easily available to those with annual income of 18L+ who are willing to shell out 10K+GST, this easy availability led to hoard of people applying for it, Axis is also showering card approvals in return as Magnus is truly bringing in lot of revenues for their credit card department in terms of joining and annual fees. Some may argue that in lieu of joining or annual fee one is getting 10K worth of Air ticket or Tata Cliq voucher, first of all air ticket comes with its own set of terms and conditions and not everyone would be comfortable complying with those. Secondly, Tata Cliq voucher does bring in some additional value however a person can get better deals on Amazon or Flipkart than on Tata Cliq and on top of this not all PIN codes are serviceable by Tata Cliq.
It would have really a match made in heaven had Axis offered 10K worth of Amazon Gift card in place of Tata Cliq. Alas, not all wishes come true.
Inspired by the social media hype around Magnus a lot of gullible individuals have applied for Magnus now finding it difficult to spend 1L per month to extract 6% value out of this card. Many of them are contacting Card experts on Twitter for suggestion to manufacture the 1L monthly spends.
This brings me to the crux of this topic, is the hoopla around Magnus really justified? Does one really have to be a part of the Magnus bandwagon to get this card?
Ask yourself following questions if you really wish to opt for this card.
1. Are you comfortable spending 1L every month?
2. If you yearly income ranges between 18L-24 L (18L is eligibility criteria for Magnus) and if you are spending 1L each month are you really saving enough for those emergency days?
3. Are you okay with a meagre reward rate of 1.2% if you do not manage to spend 1L in a month?
4. Is it really worth getting 6% value back on spending 1L via manufactured spends? You can make a fix deposit in bank and get 6% interest on your principle amount,
5. Even if you are having genuine spends of 1L aren't you letting go more returns on other cards in form of instant discounts (10% discounts offer from different banks offered on Flipkart/Amazon time to time).
6. Are you a travel enthusiast who can get more bang for buck in terms of Air miles.
If answers to above questions are a BIG NO then I would recommend you considering following cards.
1. SBI Cashback card:
Flat 5% discount on most of the online transactions except a few (utility, rent, insurance and fuel) it is offered first year free and an annual fee of 999 +GST doesn't hurt as at the end of each billing cycle you will be getting your cashback credited back your card account. Cashback in account worth more than those edge rewards.
2. Axis Ace:
Flat 5% off on utility bill payments (Via GPay Android) and 2% on all offline spends (except fuel, EMI and cash advances) makes this a perfect card to carry with you all the time. A meagre fee of 499 +GST is nothing in comparison to the value it offers.
3. BOB Eterna:
This one is a bit low profile card which 5X rewards (3.75%) value back on International, Travel and Dinning spends, for now one can get rewards on rent and insurance payments too. Best for those who have a monthly online spends of 42,000.
In the end I would say do not fall prey to Magnus bandwagon, there are better cards available which offer more value than Magnus. Make your decision wisely. Sooner or later Magnus will get devalued and then you would be staring at an annul fee of 11800 (including GST) every year without being able to extract most value out of it.
Do let me know your thoughts in the comment section of this thread.
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