My Zero to Hero Card Portfolio in just 2-3 weeks

[Panthera_Tigris]

I got my first card in 2011 from Citi. I used that card until 2025 when it went to sh#t because of Axis takeover. So, last month I decided to get some new cards and went a little overboard lol.

All these cards have been acquired in the last couple of weeks (except SCB):



ICICI Emeralde Private Metal
Even though I am a Private Banking client with my Savings Balance touching 1 cr occasionally, it still took 2 months to get this card. I believe it was just bad luck because my PB RM was a complete moron, and I had to change branches.

You can also see the ICICI Private Banking debit card which holds the unique distinction of being the ugliest card in my portfolio. Maintaining Private Banking TRV through Demat account now.

HDFC Biz Black
My most important card since I have to pay a LOT of taxes as a business owner.

Also visible is the HDFC Preferred Banking debit card which is quite useless.

HSBC Premier DC and CC
I have an international business, so I prefer international banks. HSBC gives me global Premier Banking status in all HSBC locations which is nice. My companies are registered in the UK, US and Dubai and HSBC is active in all these markets. Perfect. Still not sure how to use the cards, but the bank accounts will come in handy. Maintaining TRV through FDs.

SCB Preferred DC and CC
Mostly useless. Kept these around for nostalgia and because I have them since 2011 and the CC gives me CIBIL history. SCB can do the same thing that HSBC does since SCB is also active in the UK, US and Dubai. Let’s see.

IndusInd Pioneer Metal DC
The only debit card that is not useless. Very very good for forex shopping.

But I might close the account since IndusInd slashed their savings rate which was the main reason I opened a Pioneer account in the first place.

ICICI Amazon Pay
I just use it to shop on Amazon. Since EMP has a measly 12K amazon voucher limit, I guess I need this. Although SBI cashback would be superior for that as well.

SBI Cashback
I love this card for how hassle free it is. No buying vouchers, worrying about points or buggy gyftr/ ishop portals. If I could have just two cards, it would be BizBlack and this card!

US/UK cards
You can also see some of my UK cards below. Don’t want to go into too much detail about them as most people here will not find it useful. And they are all very boring cards anyway. I mostly use virtual cards for those countries. There is also a US card in the first picture (White one with the transparent bottom, very pretty!).



Future plans:

• Since IndusInd slashed savings rates, thinking of opening a Wealth account with IDFC First. I like to park 30-40L for general use in a high interest Savings Account.
• Kotak Solitaire – It looks promising, but I will only go for it if they accept Demat balance for TRV. Does anyone know if Kotak does that?
• Infinia is a possibility. But is it redundant given my EPM? BizBlack is definitely 10 times better for me than Infinia because of tax so I went for it first.
• J.P. Morgan Reserve Card – This is my real target!

Considered but rejected:

• Axis Magnus, Atlas etc. I don’t really see the point. Plus I hate them because they ruined Citi lol.
• Amex cards. Again, no point.
• Deutsche Bank Private and DBS Treasures. Almost opened a DBS Treaures account, but HSBC is just better.
• IndusInd. I am being offered Pioneer Legacy LTF but it’s kinda useless. Any point in it? Heritage Metal is nice but too expensive.

Note that my goal was always ease of use, premium service and not penny-pinching.

 

[SureShot]

You can also see the ICICI Private Banking debit card which holds the unique distinction of being the ugliest card in my portfolio.

I totally agree after seeing the card 😆

 

[akiratoriyama]

Might as well take the pioneer legacy if it's ltf i reckon.

 

[kiwi195]

EPM is very unstable and its future is unknown, with iShop still in beta. For that reason I believe Infinia is a better option for now

 

[abhiaj_geek]

Please let us know if you find a good use of hsbc premier cc along with epm. I was considering it but will have to move salary accounts for it.

 

[Panthera_Tigris]

Might as well take the pioneer legacy if it's ltf i reckon.

I thought about it but there is a good chance I will be closing IndusInd account soon anyway. They massively slashed the savings interest rate so it would be a waste to maintain Pioneer status now.

Please let us know if you find a good use of hsbc premier cc along with epm. I was considering it but will have to move salary accounts for it.

The card is definitely not worth it. I only got Premier because it gives me Premier status globally which I can use. I might try for their Prive card (Private Banking) one day.

 

[abhiaj_geek]

I thought about it but there is a good chance I will be closing IndusInd account soon anyway. They massively slashed the savings interest rate so it would be a waste to maintain Pioneer status now.



The card is definitely not worth it. I only got Premier because it gives me Premier status globally which I can use. I might try for their Prive card (Private Banking) one day.

Hm. Maybe useful for govt txns if I dont have bizblack

 

[Panthera_Tigris]

I applied for 3 new cards/ accounts on Monday/ Tuesday and they all came home on Friday.

1. HSBC Premier Metal CC - Didn't apply for the CC at first but then I thought, why not. Might as well get the whole package.

2. IDFC First Wealth - IDFC is one of my favourite banking stocks so I had to try them out. Think of it as "market research" and I wasn't disappointed.

3. Kotak Solitaire - Everything you see below (except the red velvet box) came with Kotak Solitaire account. The CC hasn't been launched yet but everything else is here. They are asking for 1 cr TRV (since I am a business owner) which I was planning to do via the AIF route but I dont think its worth it. Let's see how it goes.

I hope I am done after this!! But who am I kidding. Axis Burgundy is probably next lmao.

 

[kuchbhikuchbhi is verified member.]

I applied for 3 new cards/ accounts on Monday/ Tuesday and they all came home on Friday.

1. HSBC Premier Metal CC - Didn't apply for the CC at first but then I thought, why not. Might as well get the whole package.

2. IDFC First Wealth - IDFC is one of my favourite banking stocks so I had to try them out. Think of it as "market research" and I wasn't disappointed.

3. Kotak Solitaire - Everything you see below (except the red velvet box) came with Kotak Solitaire account. The CC hasn't been launched yet but everything else is here. They are asking for 1 cr TRV (since I am a business owner) which I was planning to do via the AIF route but I dont think its worth it. Let's see how it goes.

I hope I am done after this!! But who am I kidding. Axis Burgundy is probably next lmao.


View attachment 95647

lovely ❤️ ❤️

 

[abhiaj_geek]

I applied for 3 new cards/ accounts on Monday/ Tuesday and they all came home on Friday.

1. HSBC Premier Metal CC - Didn't apply for the CC at first but then I thought, why not. Might as well get the whole package.

2. IDFC First Wealth - IDFC is one of my favourite banking stocks so I had to try them out. Think of it as "market research" and I wasn't disappointed.

3. Kotak Solitaire - Everything you see below (except the red velvet box) came with Kotak Solitaire account. The CC hasn't been launched yet but everything else is here. They are asking for 1 cr TRV (since I am a business owner) which I was planning to do via the AIF route but I dont think its worth it. Let's see how it goes.

I hope I am done after this!! But who am I kidding. Axis Burgundy is probably next lmao.


View attachment 95647

Do you plan to maintain all of them?

 

[Panthera_Tigris]

Do you plan to maintain all of them?

Yes, except maybe Solitaire. That one doesn't seem worth it. But I will wait for the CC to launch and then decide.

 

[abhiaj_geek]

Yes, except maybe Solitaire. That one doesn't seem worth it. But I will wait for the CC to launch and then decide.

Nice. Doesnt hsbc require 40L trv?
Idfc is prolly 10L?
Axis Burgundy is also 10L savings

 

[rj_arora]

What is the criteria for IDFC First Wealth?

 

[Anshit]

How much did this affect your credit score?

 

[Panthera_Tigris]

Nice. Doesnt hsbc require 40L trv?
Idfc is prolly 10L?
Axis Burgundy is also 10L savings

Yes, correct. HSBC is def worth it for me because of global premier. Think of it this way - I am getting premier in 4 accounts (US, UK, UAE and India) for the price of 1. I visit those countries and own businesses there. Otherwise, its not worth it because the customer service is mediocre and the card is mediocre too. With Citi retreating, HSBC is now the best banker for global Indians. StanChart is also there in all those countries so I have kept them as my backup.

IDFC is also worth it because I need at least one account with high interest in savings account because that is where I park my general purpose funds. So TRV is met automatically.

Max TRV is with ICICI for Private Banking. Its only worth it for me because I use ICICI Demat a lot and they do count that for TRV at 70%. Other banks count demat only at 20-30% for TRV.

What is the criteria for IDFC First Wealth?

10L in savings account.

How much did this affect your credit score?

Not at all. Its the same.

In fact, my credit utilization ratio has come down a lot. From ~40%, I am now down to ~12% on average because its spread out across more cards.

 

[abhiaj_geek]

Yes, correct. HSBC is def worth it for me because of global premier. Think of it this way - I am getting premier in 4 accounts (US, UK, UAE and India) for the price of 1. I visit those countries and own businesses there. Otherwise, its not worth it because the customer service is mediocre and the card is mediocre too. With Citi retreating, HSBC is now the best banker for global Indians. StanChart is also there in all those countries so I have kept them as my backup.

IDFC is also worth it because I need at least one account with high interest in savings account because that is where I park my general purpose funds. So TRV is met automatically.

Max TRV is with ICICI for Private Banking. Its only worth it for me because I use ICICI Demat a lot and they do count that for TRV at 70%. Other banks count demat only at 20-30% for TRV.



10L in savings account.



Not at all. Its the same.

In fact, my credit utilization ratio has come down a lot. From ~40%, I am now down to ~12% on average because its spread out across more cards.

Hm, for someone with your needs, hsbc premier is great.

For icici, isnt the brokerage a lot? You will save tens of thousands shifting to somewhere like zerodha, much more than any icici private offering, no?

 

[kiwi195]

Hm, for someone with your needs, hsbc premier is great.

For icici, isnt the brokerage a lot? You will save tens of thousands shifting to somewhere like zerodha, much more than any icici private offering, no?

He definitely has the highest tier of icici direct, the brokerage on that plan is almost on par with zerodha

 

[abhiaj_geek]

He definitely has the highest tier of icici direct, the brokerage on that plan is almost on par with zerodha

brokerage is 0 on zerodha

 

[Panthera_Tigris]

I pay 7000 brokerage per 1 cr of shares traded. So its not much, especially since I use it for long term stocks only. For short term, I also use Zerodha.

STT etc. is more than the brokerage and that you have to pay on Zerodha also.

Besides, ICICI Direct has several other benefits:

1. You can withdraw funds from share sales within 2-3 minutes while with Zerodha it is next working day.
2. MTF is available at a very low interest rate (I think less than 9%).
3. It has a much better UI. I will gladly pay for that alone.
4. It is more advanced with algo trading features, option chains etc. Although Zerodha is also launching these things now.

Lastly, I dont like to put all my eggs in one basket for security reasons. I spread my stocks across brokerages once the amount gets too high.

Which is why I also signed up with Kotak Solitaire since their trading platform is also pretty good. But they only count stocks at 30% for TRV which is kinda meh.

Another little known fact: HDFC gives massive discounts on their brokerage plans for Imperia and Preferred customers. So maybe I'll use that too eventually.