I have had HDFC Infinia since 2020. They upgraded my Regalia once I used that card for more than ₹12,00,000/- for a year. I have a high usage of around ₹15L - ₹20L.
I've recently moved to the UK but gave my parents the addon card for things like grocery and other heavy expenses. After moving here, I realised the reward rate on Credit Cards in the UK is abysmal. Some cards offer no reward points; others offer 1%, which is the maximum I've seen until now.
I did some calculations and discovered something interesting.
Reward rate of Infinia is ~3.3%
International transaction charges ~2.36% (2% + GST)
GVP (Global Value Program): 1% cashback on international transactions. (₹1000/- capping per month)
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Total reward + cashback = 3.3% + 1% - 2.36% = 1.94%
1.94% - 0.7% (when converting to INR, they don't give you the market value) = 1.3%
My question to the community is, is this something anyone else has explored? Is using Infinia truly more beneficial than any other Credit Card in the UK? Or am I losing something because of high forex rates?
P.S. Standard Chartered Ultimate will also give similar reward rates when combined with HDFC Bill Pay for 1% cashback on HDFC Platinum Debit Cards. Sadly, I don't have SC Ultimate, would be great if someone could give me a contact person for a Bengaluru address.
Note: Found out that MasterCard and VISA happen to give you a worse value when converting. £1 = ₹96.46 when the market rate was ~₹95. Brings down the value by 0.7%
I've recently moved to the UK but gave my parents the addon card for things like grocery and other heavy expenses. After moving here, I realised the reward rate on Credit Cards in the UK is abysmal. Some cards offer no reward points; others offer 1%, which is the maximum I've seen until now.
I did some calculations and discovered something interesting.
Reward rate of Infinia is ~3.3%
International transaction charges ~2.36% (2% + GST)
GVP (Global Value Program): 1% cashback on international transactions. (₹1000/- capping per month)
-----------
Total reward + cashback = 3.3% + 1% - 2.36% = 1.94%
1.94% - 0.7% (when converting to INR, they don't give you the market value) = 1.3%
My question to the community is, is this something anyone else has explored? Is using Infinia truly more beneficial than any other Credit Card in the UK? Or am I losing something because of high forex rates?
P.S. Standard Chartered Ultimate will also give similar reward rates when combined with HDFC Bill Pay for 1% cashback on HDFC Platinum Debit Cards. Sadly, I don't have SC Ultimate, would be great if someone could give me a contact person for a Bengaluru address.
Note: Found out that MasterCard and VISA happen to give you a worse value when converting. £1 = ₹96.46 when the market rate was ~₹95. Brings down the value by 0.7%
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