Part 1 of 2:
I initiated my Credit Card journey in June 2022 by submitting an application for the Amazon Pay ICICI Card. Since then,
I have consistently remained engaged in exploring new card options and striving to apply for them. Today,
I am here to share my one-year experience, focusing primarily on my outstanding encounters with Axis Bank.
First Card - APay ICICI
Upon receiving approval for the ICICI Card, I was delighted to discover that it came with a generous limit of 2.5L, which suited my needs perfectly. Throughout my usage, I have experienced no significant problems with ICICI until a few days ago. However, this minor issue was merely an automated security block and did not pose a major concern. Impressively, based on my usage pattern, ICICI increased my credit limit to 4.6L in just five months. Considering my overall experience, I would rate ICICI 4 out of 5.
Second Card - SBI SimplyClick
Since I had a positive experience with my first card, I made the decision to apply for another card within a span of just under two months. I was particularly attracted to the benefits offered by SBI SimplyClick. Thus, I proceeded with the online application, and soon after, an agent contacted me to schedule a KYC verification. During the conversation, I expressed my preference for conducting the verification based on C2C (Card 2 Card) and submitted all the necessary documents.
Despite this, my application was approved with a lower limit of 20K and accompanied by a First Year Fee (FYF). However, I decided to accept the card despite the lower limit.
Within a day or two,
I received the Virtual Card, followed by the physical card in just a few more days. As I had access to the card details, I proceeded to set up a PIN and configured it with the CRED App, which I had been using for bill payments. However,
this is when I began receiving an overwhelming number of spam or fake calls from individuals claiming to be representatives from SBI. They insisted that I needed to pay 2,000 INR to access the card benefits.
Recognizing the calls as fraudulent right from the first call due to my past experience with handling such calls, I played along and informed them that I did not require any benefits.
To my surprise, the frequency of these calls escalated to approximately 10 calls per day over the next three days, all stating the same demand.
This made me apprehensive about the potential risks associated with holding an SBI Card at that time. As a result, I promptly submitted a request to close the card. However, it was surprising that the SBI team did not make any efforts to retain me as a cardholder.
They swiftly disabled and permanently closed the card without attempting to address my concerns. Once the closure was completed, I no longer received any such calls. It was indeed a strange experience.
After a month or two, I received a call from the SBI CARD retention team, inquiring about the reasons behind my decision to close the card.
I took the opportunity to explain to them what had transpired with the numerous spam calls I received. However, by that time, my card had already been permanently disabled, making it too late for any immediate resolution.
The retention team advised me to write an email to both customer support and the cybersecurity department, detailing the issues I had faced. They assured me that they would take necessary measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
Third Card - Axis Bank
Based on my experiences with the previous two banks, I gained some insights. Since I already held a savings account with Axis Bank, I decided to give them a try. On September 2nd, 2022, I eagerly applied for the Flipkart Card from Axis Bank. The very next day, an agent visited me for KYC verification and collected my ICICI Card statements for the past three months. Unfortunately, the application was quickly rejected. I waited for a month and applied again, providing four months of statements, but this time it was blindly rejected without any notification. I reached out to the customer care after a few days and learned that the rejection was due to internal policies.
That's when I started receiving numerous phone calls from Axis Bank marketing agents regarding credit cards. Since my previous two applications were done online, I decided to try the agent-assisted approach. However, the outcome remained the same. The rejections continued despite visiting the branch multiple times, around 7 to 8 visits, in an attempt to apply for both secured and unsecured cards. Even when I visited a different branch where I didn't hold an account, they informed me that credit cards were not provided to account holders from other branches within the same bank.
After multiple tries with agents and branch visits, I made the decision not to give Axis Bank any more chances. However, I received a call from an agent stating that I was preapproved for an Axis Bank credit card. The agent suggested it was a good time to process the application since I had attempted four times before. Based on their suggestion, I decided to give it one more try. Unfortunately, even after completing all the necessary steps, I discovered that the last application was also rejected due to internal policies.
Following all these events, I started receiving 15 to 20 calls a day, mostly from the credit card department, and some were pre-recorded messages informing me about my preapproved Axis Bank credit card. Frustrated with Axis Bank and the constant phone calls, I consistently requested the callers to mark my number as "Do Not Disturb" (DND) and refrain from contacting me with such offers. Despite my requests, the calls persisted and became increasingly disruptive, making it difficult for me to focus on other tasks.
In an attempt to address the issue, I visited the branch to speak with the manager. I wanted to inform them about the multitude of calls I was receiving for preapproved cards and requested that their marketing team stop contacting me. However, it seemed that the manager misunderstood my intention. The situation worsened, with an overwhelming volume of calls. I would receive around 30 to 40 calls every day, even while driving. It became unbearable. Although my personal mobile number had been on DND for years without such issues, I decided to take action.
I wrote numerous emails to the branch manager, customer care, nodal officers, investors, and even the head office over the course of 20 days. Unfortunately, my efforts yielded no resolution. Frustrated, I took the matter to Twitter, sharing all the call recordings and tagging TRAI and RBI. This caught the attention of Axis Bank, and they decided to reduce the number of calls, although it was still not ideal. Finally, I took the step of sending them a legal notice. I knew that issuing a legal notice could have negative consequences for me, potentially leading to a ban from the bank. However, the incessant calls had reached a point where I would receive them at 6 AM, 10 PM, and even midnight.
After a long battle, Axis Bank eventually reduced the number of calls to a more manageable frequency. I now receive around two calls per month, which is tolerable. I decided to withdraw my legal notice since the situation has been resolved to some extent.
I have only provided a glimpse of my experience with Axis Bank, but there is more to it that I haven't shared. I'm open to answering any questions you may have to provide further details. Additionally, I plan to share another post soon, focusing on my experience with HDFC Bank.
I initiated my Credit Card journey in June 2022 by submitting an application for the Amazon Pay ICICI Card. Since then,
I have consistently remained engaged in exploring new card options and striving to apply for them. Today,
I am here to share my one-year experience, focusing primarily on my outstanding encounters with Axis Bank.
First Card - APay ICICI
Upon receiving approval for the ICICI Card, I was delighted to discover that it came with a generous limit of 2.5L, which suited my needs perfectly. Throughout my usage, I have experienced no significant problems with ICICI until a few days ago. However, this minor issue was merely an automated security block and did not pose a major concern. Impressively, based on my usage pattern, ICICI increased my credit limit to 4.6L in just five months. Considering my overall experience, I would rate ICICI 4 out of 5.
Second Card - SBI SimplyClick
Since I had a positive experience with my first card, I made the decision to apply for another card within a span of just under two months. I was particularly attracted to the benefits offered by SBI SimplyClick. Thus, I proceeded with the online application, and soon after, an agent contacted me to schedule a KYC verification. During the conversation, I expressed my preference for conducting the verification based on C2C (Card 2 Card) and submitted all the necessary documents.
Despite this, my application was approved with a lower limit of 20K and accompanied by a First Year Fee (FYF). However, I decided to accept the card despite the lower limit.
Within a day or two,
I received the Virtual Card, followed by the physical card in just a few more days. As I had access to the card details, I proceeded to set up a PIN and configured it with the CRED App, which I had been using for bill payments. However,
this is when I began receiving an overwhelming number of spam or fake calls from individuals claiming to be representatives from SBI. They insisted that I needed to pay 2,000 INR to access the card benefits.
Recognizing the calls as fraudulent right from the first call due to my past experience with handling such calls, I played along and informed them that I did not require any benefits.
To my surprise, the frequency of these calls escalated to approximately 10 calls per day over the next three days, all stating the same demand.
This made me apprehensive about the potential risks associated with holding an SBI Card at that time. As a result, I promptly submitted a request to close the card. However, it was surprising that the SBI team did not make any efforts to retain me as a cardholder.
They swiftly disabled and permanently closed the card without attempting to address my concerns. Once the closure was completed, I no longer received any such calls. It was indeed a strange experience.
After a month or two, I received a call from the SBI CARD retention team, inquiring about the reasons behind my decision to close the card.
I took the opportunity to explain to them what had transpired with the numerous spam calls I received. However, by that time, my card had already been permanently disabled, making it too late for any immediate resolution.
The retention team advised me to write an email to both customer support and the cybersecurity department, detailing the issues I had faced. They assured me that they would take necessary measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
Third Card - Axis Bank
Based on my experiences with the previous two banks, I gained some insights. Since I already held a savings account with Axis Bank, I decided to give them a try. On September 2nd, 2022, I eagerly applied for the Flipkart Card from Axis Bank. The very next day, an agent visited me for KYC verification and collected my ICICI Card statements for the past three months. Unfortunately, the application was quickly rejected. I waited for a month and applied again, providing four months of statements, but this time it was blindly rejected without any notification. I reached out to the customer care after a few days and learned that the rejection was due to internal policies.
That's when I started receiving numerous phone calls from Axis Bank marketing agents regarding credit cards. Since my previous two applications were done online, I decided to try the agent-assisted approach. However, the outcome remained the same. The rejections continued despite visiting the branch multiple times, around 7 to 8 visits, in an attempt to apply for both secured and unsecured cards. Even when I visited a different branch where I didn't hold an account, they informed me that credit cards were not provided to account holders from other branches within the same bank.
After multiple tries with agents and branch visits, I made the decision not to give Axis Bank any more chances. However, I received a call from an agent stating that I was preapproved for an Axis Bank credit card. The agent suggested it was a good time to process the application since I had attempted four times before. Based on their suggestion, I decided to give it one more try. Unfortunately, even after completing all the necessary steps, I discovered that the last application was also rejected due to internal policies.
Following all these events, I started receiving 15 to 20 calls a day, mostly from the credit card department, and some were pre-recorded messages informing me about my preapproved Axis Bank credit card. Frustrated with Axis Bank and the constant phone calls, I consistently requested the callers to mark my number as "Do Not Disturb" (DND) and refrain from contacting me with such offers. Despite my requests, the calls persisted and became increasingly disruptive, making it difficult for me to focus on other tasks.
In an attempt to address the issue, I visited the branch to speak with the manager. I wanted to inform them about the multitude of calls I was receiving for preapproved cards and requested that their marketing team stop contacting me. However, it seemed that the manager misunderstood my intention. The situation worsened, with an overwhelming volume of calls. I would receive around 30 to 40 calls every day, even while driving. It became unbearable. Although my personal mobile number had been on DND for years without such issues, I decided to take action.
I wrote numerous emails to the branch manager, customer care, nodal officers, investors, and even the head office over the course of 20 days. Unfortunately, my efforts yielded no resolution. Frustrated, I took the matter to Twitter, sharing all the call recordings and tagging TRAI and RBI. This caught the attention of Axis Bank, and they decided to reduce the number of calls, although it was still not ideal. Finally, I took the step of sending them a legal notice. I knew that issuing a legal notice could have negative consequences for me, potentially leading to a ban from the bank. However, the incessant calls had reached a point where I would receive them at 6 AM, 10 PM, and even midnight.
After a long battle, Axis Bank eventually reduced the number of calls to a more manageable frequency. I now receive around two calls per month, which is tolerable. I decided to withdraw my legal notice since the situation has been resolved to some extent.
I have only provided a glimpse of my experience with Axis Bank, but there is more to it that I haven't shared. I'm open to answering any questions you may have to provide further details. Additionally, I plan to share another post soon, focusing on my experience with HDFC Bank.
