Realizations after becoming credit card enthusiast

[cardgenie]

Sharing some of my learnings from my credit card journey

I was one among those old schoolers who always belived debt is bad in any form in my Initial career days and followed disciplined lifestyle in form of investing.

However after reaching mid 30s I started my credit card journey out of boredom and now I own decent collection of cards which almost takes care of my day to Day spendings like groceries, utilities, insurance, e-commerce, food delivery, movies, fuel .

Here are few things I realized through out this journey of credit cards which is keeping us away from earning rewards / cashbacks

1. Large Unorganized sector/ cash only merchants : India has large unorganized sector. There is still presence of large number of merchants who accept payments either through cash / rupay CC disabled UPI

Recently I have been to Sikkim for vacation and incurred expenses of around 1.5 lakhs apart from flight tickets and 1 or 2 hotels Everything was cash / upi from savings account .
Most of the vendors were using savings account to accept the payments

2. Schools/ colleges still accepting cash :

Spending on children education is major expense for most of us .yet we are not able to benefit by paying through CC as most of the schools still taking cash/ bank transfer

3. Fuel station POS machines not reliable: In majority of fuel stations the pos machine used is of other business as fuel station owners own multiple businesses making fuel cards useless during some refills
Recently, I came across an article where one of our group member was charged fuel surcharge for buying some products on fuel station store !!

4. Online / offline price Parity : I have compared grocery prices in online and offline . observed that online store prices are often 10 to 20% more than the offline store prices ( compared dmart ready prices with dmart store)

Hence this almost nullifies the rewards that we are making by using CC on online platforms or sometimes we end up paying more as well.

While CC are still rewarding but if above things are streamlined they would be even more rewarding and we would be able to reap more benefits of every penny we are spending

 

[aniketkr.sharma]

Sharing some of my learnings from my credit card journey

I was one among those old schoolers who always belived debt is bad in any form in my Initial career days and followed disciplined lifestyle in form of investing.

However after reaching mid 30s I started my credit card journey out of boredom and now I own decent collection of cards which almost takes care of my day to Day spendings like groceries, utilities, insurance, e-commerce, food delivery, movies, fuel .

Here are few things I realized through out this journey of credit cards which is keeping us away from earning rewards / cashbacks

1. Large Unorganized sector/ cash only merchants : India has large unorganized sector. There is still presence of large number of merchants who accept payments either through cash / rupay CC disabled UPI

Recently I have been to Sikkim for vacation and incurred expenses of around 1.5 lakhs apart from flight tickets and 1 or 2 hotels Everything was cash / upi from savings account .
Most of the vendors were using savings account to accept the payments

2. Schools/ colleges still accepting cash :

Spending on children education is major expense for most of us .yet we are not able to benefit by paying through CC as most of the schools still taking cash/ bank transfer

3. Fuel station POS machines not reliable: In majority of fuel stations the pos machine used is of other business as fuel station owners own multiple businesses making fuel cards useless during some refills
Recently, I came across an article where one of our group member was charged fuel surcharge for buying some products on fuel station store !!

4. Online / offline price Parity : I have compared grocery prices in online and offline . observed that online store prices are often 10 to 20% more than the offline store prices ( compared dmart ready prices with dmart store)

Hence this almost nullifies the rewards that we are making by using CC on online platforms or sometimes we end up paying more as well.

Online medicine 15-20% discount with card 3.3% = 18-23%
Offline medicine flat 20% discount with card 3.3% = Flat 23%

Now please let me know where the rewards gets nullified?

 

[Aegon]

Sharing some of my learnings from my credit card journey

I was one among those old schoolers who always belived debt is bad in any form in my Initial career days and followed disciplined lifestyle in form of investing.

However after reaching mid 30s I started my credit card journey out of boredom and now I own decent collection of cards which almost takes care of my day to Day spendings like groceries, utilities, insurance, e-commerce, food delivery, movies, fuel .

Here are few things I realized through out this journey of credit cards which is keeping us away from earning rewards / cashbacks

1. Large Unorganized sector/ cash only merchants : India has large unorganized sector. There is still presence of large number of merchants who accept payments either through cash / rupay CC disabled UPI

Recently I have been to Sikkim for vacation and incurred expenses of around 1.5 lakhs apart from flight tickets and 1 or 2 hotels Everything was cash / upi from savings account .
Most of the vendors were using savings account to accept the payments

2. Schools/ colleges still accepting cash :

Spending on children education is major expense for most of us .yet we are not able to benefit by paying through CC as most of the schools still taking cash/ bank transfer

3. Fuel station POS machines not reliable: In majority of fuel stations the pos machine used is of other business as fuel station owners own multiple businesses making fuel cards useless during some refills
Recently, I came across an article where one of our group member was charged fuel surcharge for buying some products on fuel station store !!

4. Online / offline price Parity : I have compared grocery prices in online and offline . observed that online store prices are often 10 to 20% more than the offline store prices ( compared dmart ready prices with dmart store)

Hence this almost nullifies the rewards that we are making by using CC on online platforms or sometimes we end up paying more as well.

D-mart groceries are cheaper but most of the d-mart branded are of subpar quality

would never prefer buying d-mart's own brand product over TCP/ITC or other brand's products.

 

[cardgenie]

Online medicine 15-20% discount with card 3.3% = 18-23%
Offline medicine flat 20% discount with card 3.3% = Flat 23%

Now please let me know where the rewards gets nullified?

Packing charges, handling charges, delivery charges..atleast happens in case of 1mg

 

[ashwinikumar900]

Online medicine 15-20% discount with card 3.3% = 18-23%
Offline medicine flat 20% discount with card 3.3% = Flat 23%

Now please let me know where the rewards gets nullified?

True, but one correct thought: online medicine with HDFC SUPER PREMIUM cards will give you more than 33% reward, PHARMEASY. ONEMG, the discount is more than 10% if you use TATA NEU INFINITY.

Grocery-Big Basket, Instamart, BLINKIT, all of them sell at cheaper prices than even the wholesale store, plus the rewards, and the convenience factor is additional.

 

[Adith]

I'm not sure how 2 or 3 examples allowed you to reach the consensus that the rewards are nullified.

1. Wallet loading is still available where if you know you are gonna go to a cash centred location that mostly uses upi without upi cc option enabled, you can wallet load. There are cards that reward you for wallet loading even after the insane convenience fees.

2. If most schools or colleges don't accept , why do banks keeps putting caps on education payments or a lot of cards don't give RP on education payments ? It is location dependent.

3. If online prices is costlier than offline , or if they get nullified, people won't be running around LTF Swiggy cards nor will online aggregators have such a presence in the market. Why stick to dmart ? There is flipkart , amazon, Instamart, zepto and bb for groceries. Along with blinkit . Quality and pricing along with offers are again dependent on the location. This means sbi cashback which is one of the most after cards actually sucks. But the reality is it doesn't. So ...

Finally , if cc rewards are nullified , why would technofino even exist or have such a huge following ? Why do credit card devaluations occur so much ? It's cause people are seeing good returns and availing great offers.

You just need to explore more and plan your cards better. Also, if you are using hsbc live +, why would you care about online or offline grocery? Both gives you 10% cashback.

 

[aniketkr.sharma]

True, but one correct thought: online medicine with HDFC SUPER PREMIUM cards will give you more than 33% reward, PHARMEASY. ONEMG, the discount is more than 10% if you use TATA NEU INFINITY.

Grocery-Big Basket, Instamart, BLINKIT, all of them sell at cheaper prices than even the wholesale store, plus the rewards, and the convenience factor is additional.

Yeah i just mentioned direct swipes, if using smartbuy it would be 56% on online shopping

 

[aniketkr.sharma]

Sharing some of my learnings from my credit card journey

I was one among those old schoolers who always belived debt is bad in any form in my Initial career days and followed disciplined lifestyle in form of investing.

However after reaching mid 30s I started my credit card journey out of boredom and now I own decent collection of cards which almost takes care of my day to Day spendings like groceries, utilities, insurance, e-commerce, food delivery, movies, fuel .

Here are few things I realized through out this journey of credit cards which is keeping us away from earning rewards / cashbacks

1. Large Unorganized sector/ cash only merchants : India has large unorganized sector. There is still presence of large number of merchants who accept payments either through cash / rupay CC disabled UPI

Recently I have been to Sikkim for vacation and incurred expenses of around 1.5 lakhs apart from flight tickets and 1 or 2 hotels Everything was cash / upi from savings account .
Most of the vendors were using savings account to accept the payments

2. Schools/ colleges still accepting cash :

Spending on children education is major expense for most of us .yet we are not able to benefit by paying through CC as most of the schools still taking cash/ bank transfer

3. Fuel station POS machines not reliable: In majority of fuel stations the pos machine used is of other business as fuel station owners own multiple businesses making fuel cards useless during some refills
Recently, I came across an article where one of our group member was charged fuel surcharge for buying some products on fuel station store !!

4. Online / offline price Parity : I have compared grocery prices in online and offline . observed that online store prices are often 10 to 20% more than the offline store prices ( compared dmart ready prices with dmart store)

Hence this almost nullifies the rewards that we are making by using CC on online platforms or sometimes we end up paying more as well.

While CC are still rewarding but if above things are streamlined they would be even more rewarding and we would be able to reap more benefits of every penny we are spending

1. You are almost right.
2. Popular schools have pos and they accept and we also get reward of 3.3% on education payment for direct swipes at there pos.
3. This maybe an exception as I am feeling only from jiobp as petrol quality matters and for fuel we atleast get surcharge waivers and 1% cashback atleast.
4. Online/offline if with smartbuy bumps upto 56% savings.


I think you haven't got good cards for savings, that's why your perception is going in wrong way

 

[hender]

Yeah i just mentioned direct swipes, if using smartbuy it would be 56% on online shopping

1. You are almost right.
2. Popular schools have pos and they accept and we also get reward of 3.3% on education payment for direct swipes at there pos.
3. This maybe an exception as I am feeling only from jiobp as petrol quality matters and for fuel we atleast get surcharge waivers and 1% cashback atleast.
4. Online/offline if with smartbuy bumps upto 56% savings.


I think you haven't got good cards for savings, that's why your perception is going in wrong way

Sharma Ji, If you can guide him 56% equation in simple step by step method, surely he will get more benefits, and perception will change.

 

[cardgenie]

No while I'm able to get decent rewards on spendings from my swiggy hdfc, live+, kiwi and amazon pay cards

I'm trying to point out some of the reasons Which is keeping most of us from getting optimal rewards ...if these things are streamline we will be able to use CC more efficiently

 

[aniketkr.sharma]

Sharma Ji, If you can guide him 56% equation in simple step by step method, surely he will get more benefits, and perception will change.

Bro, he don't have super premium cards, that's the reason of this perception.

For 56%
20% off directly on medicines on pharmeasy and 36% via gv on smartbuy.

Accelerated rewards points 36%
Base Reward Points 3.3%

On local markets some of medicine stores let you 20% flat off and 3.3% by direct swipes.

 

[hender]

I'm not sure how 2 or 3 examples allowed you to reach the consensus that the rewards are nullified.

1. Wallet loading is still available where if you know you are gonna go to a cash centred location that mostly uses upi without upi cc option enabled, you can wallet load. There are cards that reward you for wallet loading even after the insane convenience fees.

2. If most schools or colleges don't accept , why do banks keeps putting caps on education payments or a lot of cards don't give RP on education payments ? It is location dependent.

3. If online prices is costlier than offline , or if they get nullified, people won't be running around LTF Swiggy cards nor will online aggregators have such a presence in the market. Why stick to dmart ? There is flipkart , amazon, Instamart, zepto and bb for groceries. Along with blinkit . Quality and pricing along with offers are again dependent on the location. This means sbi cashback which is one of the most after cards actually sucks. But the reality is it doesn't. So ...

Finally , if cc rewards are nullified , why would technofino even exist or have such a huge following ? Why do credit card devaluations occur so much ? It's cause people are seeing good returns and availing great offers.

You just need to explore more and plan your cards better. Also, if you are using hsbc live +, why would you care about online or offline grocery? Both gives you 10% cashback.

No while I'm able to get decent rewards on spendings from my swiggy hdfc, live+, kiwi and amazon pay cards

I'm trying to point out some of the reasons Which is keeping most of us from getting optimal rewards ...if these things are streamline we will be able to use CC more efficiently

How to use CC in such a way that it will be really beneficial apart from 50 days credit is the key point.
"Alignment of the card with user specific requirements."

 

[panchabhut]

The main advantage of online shopping is convenience. Everything gets delivered to your home. If you have to go to offline store, the additional cost includes time and conveyance charges. For persons like me, who are mostly out of station while the wife manages everything at home and still have to attend her office, online is the only option. The discounts and card benefits are only extra incentives. Also, in most cases of daily necessities like edible oil etc, the net effective online prices are significantly lower than offline.

 

[sunit123]

Dmart is mostly for poor people and they stock only sub standard products sourced from some local vendors...Coming to rest of the points

1. UPI is available everywhere..This unorganized sector is hardly 10% and they know, if they will not turn digital then they will be out of business
2. Only shaddy school and colleges except CASH else everyone provide online payment option...Some provide Credit card without charge and rest all through UPI
3. Fuel: I work from home so no comment
4. For offline: Pls add cost of your time and fuel to the cost...I also i disagree that offline is cheap than online.....Most of the kirana store sell at MRP....Super store offer less discount..Dmart is wrong example to compare online and offline...On top of regular discount...I receive 10% cashback on swiggy CC

 

[Kushagra_]

charged fuel surcharge for buying some products on fuel station store

What can one do when this happens?
I assume there is a way to raise a complaint about the merchant to mastercard or visa for using incorrect machines for the business type, it is against the terms of service

 

[panchabhut]

I always pay for fuel via UPI (bank). 3% cashback and no surcharge. And for the same reason, if they use fuel POS for other items also, its even better.

 

[Kushagra_]

I always pay for fuel via UPI (bank). 3% cashback and no surcharge. And for the same reason, if they use fuel POS for other items also, its even better.

3 percent how?

 

[panchabhut]

3 percent how?

Indie Megastar UPI

 

[Kushagra_]

Indie Megastar UPI

Oh I see so indian oil is one of the brand's you've selected for 3%
And the 7% savings account interest is sweep in or normal savings interest

 

[cardgenie]

Indie Megastar UPI

Same here...indie megastar is really good...best part is it can be used across any fuel outlet ( iocl, bp,hp) ... few days back when hp was running offer of 3% inform of hpcoins ..I used hp pay+ indie..could get 6 percent...