You cannot afford premium credit cards and you know it! 👎💳🔥

[1RC]

I know this article may hit someone negatively, but this is to those who earn less than a 1 Lac (net) a month.

If you have not read my previous article on - Advice to young working professionals who are starting their credit journey. (Advice no one asked for; CIBIL 802)
- Go and check it out. If you are new to the credit game.

Now on with this article. Note: I am no writer, and this could be a poorly written article.

Why am I discouraging any prospective premium credit card seeker, whose monthly net income is less than 1Lac, from applying for such premium cards? Simple answer: Because you cannot afford such cards.

Over the weekend, I came across multiple articles on this forum, wherein OPs are asking how they can get premium cards (such as Amex Plat, HDFC Infinia/DCB, Axis Magnus/Reserve) while their monthly income does not support the lifestyle needed to reap the benefits of such premium cards (that usually come with higher-than-average annual membership fees).

I don’t want to sugar coat harsh realities of life. Your hard-earned money is to maximize your wealth and not to waste it for illogical reasons. I know this is such a materialistic thing to say but so is expensing using credit on things you may not even need. We all have been taught about the difference between needs and wants early in our teenage years but somehow, we forget such lessons in our adulthood.

As rational people, we have one simple job – maximize our wealth. India’s stupid high double taxation is another story for another article.

Now coming to the numbers:

If you are making less than INR 1L a month, then you should not be wasting your efforts on getting premium-tier cards because your monthly expense may not support you to reach the reward points needed to satisfactorily reap the benefits of premium cards – yeah except for airport lounges – which are also available on almost all mid-tier cards.

Time gone will never comeback. A rupee spent will never come back. So, respect your time and money well. Don’t spend if you don’t need to just for the sake of reward points.

For ease of calculation let’s say you make 1L a month. Following is how I think you should manage your expenses:

Monthly Allocation	Range %​
Investment Target	35.0%​	40.0%​
Expected Expenses	30.0%​	35.0%​
Misc. Expense	15.0%​	20.0%​
Liquid Savings - Rainy Day Fund	20.0%​	5.0%​
Total Income	100.0%​	100.0%​

With an expected monthly expense fund of 30-35% = INR 30k-35k. How many of your expected expenses do you think you’ll be able to make using your credit card? Think wisely if you can even achieve certain milestones?

You should not fall into unnecessary spending loop. Read this article - Psychology of Credit Card Spending: Understanding Overspending and Strategies to Stop It

I am going to keep this article open-ended and let members of this community comment and share their thoughts on what they think the right type of credit card should be for someone with maximum monthly expense of 30k-35k. Maybe stick to a good mid-tier card?

1RC

 

[Deleted member 11974]

someone whose monthly savings is 30k after all expenses accounted for.What according to you should be that persons financial goals in life at an age of lets say 25, unmarried and parents not retired ?
no harm in living life in the present, but if your financials cant support the life that you dream of then maybe you shouldnt be living the life of your dreams on debt

Cardmaven does a good job simulating the returns when somebody does expenditure using Magnus cards. The numbers can be simulated for the kind of spends you are saying. Please find below the link. It opens at a number of about 38k spends in a month for me.

Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card Review – Card Maven

The rise and the downfall of Axis Bank Magnus credit card is a pretty interesting story. It was an overnight rage among credit card enthusiasts and has seen a

cardmaven.in

But apart from this one can buy vouchers for major spends with 5x for Amazon Shopping, Flipkart, Ola, Reliance Smart Superstores, Spencers, Swiggy & Zomato and 10x for Apollo Pharmacy, Bookmyshow, Domino's, KFC & Myntra from Axis Gyftr. I have written only the major brands especially used in daya to day life.

With spending of INR 10000 with 5x and 10x, one can get 3000 and 6000 points respectively which translates to INR 2400 and INR 4800 respectively in ITC or Accor. A total of INR 7200 on a spend of INR 20000 with half in 5x and half in 10x.

Do a spend of 40000 in a similar fashion in a year and you get INR 14400. You can use the points transferred for a nice dinner or even economy rooms in a hotel once or twice a year. With this much only, you have recovered the cost of the full card. Other benefits and Tata Cliq voucher is apart from this.

You can run the numbers for Infinia. With a max expense of 50k-70k in a month and one can certainly get returns better than cashback ones at similar numbers. Frugal people can make use of these cards like never before. Its just the bank does not make it available for general customers.

 

[starstruck]

someone whose monthly savings is 30k after all expenses accounted for.What according to you should be that persons financial goals in life at an age of lets say 25, unmarried and parents not retired ?
no harm in living life in the present, but if your financials cant support the life that you dream of then maybe you shouldnt be living the life of your dreams on debt

You should see what expenses that you have in daily life that can be matched with benefits of the card. If you are buying groceries or medicines or traveling, you can can certainly get benefits from the card. A spend of 50k in a year in Spencers for groceries using vouchers nets you INR 12000 return (50000/100*6*5/5*4). That equates to a spending of INR 4168 in grocery in a month.

You are talking about savings of 30k in a month. I am talking about getting returns on the normal expenses you do before that. You are free to spend it without any vouchers or with cashback cards. But the fact is the returns is better with a Magnus than a cashback one.

At age 25 buy your things that you need with the card. Dont spend an extra penny above it.

If your parents are not retired yet, when the whole family does its expenditure basis above, they can gain as a whole. A family together can even fulfill the 1 lakh in a month at least 2-3 times in a year.

Its up to you to run the numbers on benefits and pick your card.

 

[Deleted member 11974]

You should see what expenses that you have in daily life that can be matched with benefits of the card. If you are buying groceries or medicines or traveling, you can can certainly get benefits from the card. A spend of 50k in a year in Spencers for groceries using vouchers nets you INR 12000 return (50000/100*6*5/5*4). That equates to a spending of INR 4168 in grocery in a month.

You are talking about savings of 30k in a month. I am talking about getting returns on the normal expenses you do before that. You are free to spend it without any vouchers or with cashback cards. But the fact is the returns is better with a Magnus than a cashback one.

At age 25 buy your things that you need with the card. Dont spend an extra penny above it.

If your parents are not retired yet, when the whole family does its expenditure basis above, they can gain as a whole. A family together can even fulfill the 1 lakh in a month at least 2-3 times in a year.

Its up to you to run the numbers on benefits and pick your card.

Well every adult at the age of 25 in India doesn't have this kind of visibility and maturity.
If they have they can be a rationale consumer and will make the most financially sane decision

 

[Pankhuri]

usually businesses give corporate card to their employees for such expenses. You may want to explore those cards too.

Do corporate cards reflect in personal cibil? As per I am told by the HR person they both allow corporate card and personal card which is reimbursed later for business expenses. But I am under the impression that corporate cards won't reflect in cibil while raking up spending on my personal cards would be good.

 

[Walter White]

Do corporate cards reflect in personal cibil? As per I am told by the HR person they both allow corporate card and personal card which is reimbursed later for business expenses. But I am under the impression that corporate cards won't reflect in cibil while raking up spending on my personal cards would be good.

Amex Corporate Cards show up as Authorised User in credit reports. Not sure about others.

 

[1RC]

Do corporate cards reflect in personal cibil? As per I am told by the HR person they both allow corporate card and personal card which is reimbursed later for business expenses. But I am under the impression that corporate cards won't reflect in cibil while raking up spending on my personal cards would be good.

Yes corporate cards do show up on your CIBIL report. It shows you as an authorized user.

All the rewards generated from my corporate expense made on my Amex Corporate Card gets transferred to my Amex charge card. So its a win win situation for me and I don't have to worry about expensing on personal card.

 

[abhishek0882]

This is a wonderful discussion to have on this forum and the arguments from both sides have a lot of merit. While I personally tend to agree with the OP, I respect the views of the other side as well.

Well, someone mentioned over the discussion, different strokes for different folks, and that I think is what matters. Nothing is right for all people and nothing is wrong for all. Each individual, their maturity, their circumstances, their pov of life is different. What one can "afford" may be different for different people, even with the same income. Priorities are different for different people. Someone mentioned pooling in family expenses for meeting the cc milestones - works great for even people with lower income, while someone else mentioned having to take responsibility of family and kids and everything else, for them it may not work even with higher income. So, I personally agree with the OP on the principle of getting only cards that one can afford, what I disagree with is when he qualifies the income amount to define affordability. That may be different for different people. If someone can derive value from something whole others can't, they are welcome to do it. While everyone will discourage things like 'rotating money' and 'manufacturing spends', if the people doing it think they can 'manage' it, so be it. If they suffer later, they will be richer in experience. I would personally take the OP's advice very seriously, as it makes sense to me. For someone else it might not, it is up to them.

Another perspective on this is, it is about priorities in life. Some people quit high paying stable jobs to follow their passions - start a venture, travel the world, try to earn a living from a hobby they are passionate about - will never make sense to 'rational' people. Some of the people who follow their passion succeed, but many fail miserably and ruin their and their families, but the priority was different and if they understand and are willing to live with whatever the consequences of their decisions, that is all that matters.

Long rant? Do I make any sense? Sorry folks, if I got too long and boring - got a little carried away (being that person who quit a stable job and is trying to set up a risky startup 🤣 ). But in case of credit cards I am pretty rational though.

 

[1RC]

This is a wonderful discussion to have on this forum and the arguments from both sides have a lot of merit. While I personally tend to agree with the OP, I respect the views of the other side as well.

Well, someone mentioned over the discussion, different strokes for different folks, and that I think is what matters. Nothing is right for all people and nothing is wrong for all. Each individual, their maturity, their circumstances, their pov of life is different. What one can "afford" may be different for different people, even with the same income. Priorities are different for different people. Someone mentioned pooling in family expenses for meeting the cc milestones - works great for even people with lower income, while someone else mentioned having to take responsibility of family and kids and everything else, for them it may not work even with higher income. So, I personally agree with the OP on the principle of getting only cards that one can afford, what I disagree with is when he qualifies the income amount to define affordability. That may be different for different people. If someone can derive value from something whole others can't, they are welcome to do it. While everyone will discourage things like 'rotating money' and 'manufacturing spends', if the people doing it think they can 'manage' it, so be it. If they suffer later, they will be richer in experience. I would personally take the OP's advice very seriously, as it makes sense to me. For someone else it might not, it is up to them.

Another perspective on this is, it is about priorities in life. Some people quit high paying stable jobs to follow their passions - start a venture, travel the world, try to earn a living from a hobby they are passionate about - will never make sense to 'rational' people. Some of the people who follow their passion succeed, but many fail miserably and ruin their and their families, but the priority was different and if they understand and are willing to live with whatever the consequences of their decisions, that is all that matters.

Long rant? Do I make any sense? Sorry folks, if I got too long and boring - got a little carried away (being that person who quit a stable job and is trying to set up a risky startup 🤣 ). But in case of credit cards I am pretty rational though.

I loved it!

I completely agree with your response and your POV on the article. Also, I wish you all the very best with your venture. Starting something from scratch takes a different level of mental strength. So I honestly respect folks like you.

@starstruck and others also came in with great comments. I think that's the beauty of keeping the article open ended for all community members to bring in their POV.

Thank you.

1RC

 

[Deadman]

I know this article may hit someone negatively, but this is to those who earn less than a 1 Lac (net) a month.

If you have not read my previous article on - Advice to young working professionals who are starting their credit journey. (Advice no one asked for; CIBIL 802)
- Go and check it out. If you are new to the credit game.

Now on with this article. Note: I am no writer, and this could be a poorly written article.

Why am I discouraging any prospective premium credit card seeker, whose monthly net income is less than 1Lac, from applying for such premium cards? Simple answer: Because you cannot afford such cards.

Over the weekend, I came across multiple articles on this forum, wherein OPs are asking how they can get premium cards (such as Amex Plat, HDFC Infinia/DCB, Axis Magnus/Reserve) while their monthly income does not support the lifestyle needed to reap the benefits of such premium cards (that usually come with higher-than-average annual membership fees).

I don’t want to sugar coat harsh realities of life. Your hard-earned money is to maximize your wealth and not to waste it for illogical reasons. I know this is such a materialistic thing to say but so is expensing using credit on things you may not even need. We all have been taught about the difference between needs and wants early in our teenage years but somehow, we forget such lessons in our adulthood.

As rational people, we have one simple job – maximize our wealth. India’s stupid high double taxation is another story for another article.

Now coming to the numbers:

If you are making less than INR 1L a month, then you should not be wasting your efforts on getting premium-tier cards because your monthly expense may not support you to reach the reward points needed to satisfactorily reap the benefits of premium cards – yeah except for airport lounges – which are also available on almost all mid-tier cards.

Time gone will never comeback. A rupee spent will never come back. So, respect your time and money well. Don’t spend if you don’t need to just for the sake of reward points.

For ease of calculation let’s say you make 1L a month. Following is how I think you should manage your expenses:

​

Monthly Allocation	Range %​
Investment Target	35.0%​	40.0%​
Expected Expenses	30.0%​	35.0%​
Misc. Expense	15.0%​	20.0%​
Liquid Savings - Rainy Day Fund	20.0%​	5.0%​
Total Income	100.0%​	100.0%​

With an expected monthly expense fund of 30-35% = INR 30k-35k. How many of your expected expenses do you think you’ll be able to make using your credit card? Think wisely if you can even achieve certain milestones?

You should not fall into unnecessary spending loop. Read this article - Psychology of Credit Card Spending: Understanding Overspending and Strategies to Stop It

I am going to keep this article open-ended and let members of this community comment and share their thoughts on what they think the right type of credit card should be for someone with maximum monthly expense of 30k-35k. Maybe stick to a good mid-tier card?

1RC

Same thinking, that's why I am collecting only LTF cards, only for 1 reason- to maximize benefits during offers/festive sales days.

 

[4uziaul]

This is a wonderful discussion to have on this forum and the arguments from both sides have a lot of merit. While I personally tend to agree with the OP, I respect the views of the other side as well.

Well, someone mentioned over the discussion, different strokes for different folks, and that I think is what matters. Nothing is right for all people and nothing is wrong for all. Each individual, their maturity, their circumstances, their pov of life is different. What one can "afford" may be different for different people, even with the same income. Priorities are different for different people. Someone mentioned pooling in family expenses for meeting the cc milestones - works great for even people with lower income, while someone else mentioned having to take responsibility of family and kids and everything else, for them it may not work even with higher income. So, I personally agree with the OP on the principle of getting only cards that one can afford, what I disagree with is when he qualifies the income amount to define affordability. That may be different for different people. If someone can derive value from something whole others can't, they are welcome to do it. While everyone will discourage things like 'rotating money' and 'manufacturing spends', if the people doing it think they can 'manage' it, so be it. If they suffer later, they will be richer in experience. I would personally take the OP's advice very seriously, as it makes sense to me. For someone else it might not, it is up to them.

Another perspective on this is, it is about priorities in life. Some people quit high paying stable jobs to follow their passions - start a venture, travel the world, try to earn a living from a hobby they are passionate about - will never make sense to 'rational' people. Some of the people who follow their passion succeed, but many fail miserably and ruin their and their families, but the priority was different and if they understand and are willing to live with whatever the consequences of their decisions, that is all that matters.

Long rant? Do I make any sense? Sorry folks, if I got too long and boring - got a little carried away (being that person who quit a stable job and is trying to set up a risky startup 🤣 ). But in case of credit cards I am pretty rational though.

Nicely articulated post! 👏

 

[creditcardsforme]

I know this article may hit someone negatively, but this is to those who earn less than a 1 Lac (net) a month.

If you have not read my previous article on - Advice to young working professionals who are starting their credit journey. (Advice no one asked for; CIBIL 802)
- Go and check it out. If you are new to the credit game.

Now on with this article. Note: I am no writer, and this could be a poorly written article.

Why am I discouraging any prospective premium credit card seeker, whose monthly net income is less than 1Lac, from applying for such premium cards? Simple answer: Because you cannot afford such cards.

Over the weekend, I came across multiple articles on this forum, wherein OPs are asking how they can get premium cards (such as Amex Plat, HDFC Infinia/DCB, Axis Magnus/Reserve) while their monthly income does not support the lifestyle needed to reap the benefits of such premium cards (that usually come with higher-than-average annual membership fees).

I don’t want to sugar coat harsh realities of life. Your hard-earned money is to maximize your wealth and not to waste it for illogical reasons. I know this is such a materialistic thing to say but so is expensing using credit on things you may not even need. We all have been taught about the difference between needs and wants early in our teenage years but somehow, we forget such lessons in our adulthood.

As rational people, we have one simple job – maximize our wealth. India’s stupid high double taxation is another story for another article.

Now coming to the numbers:

If you are making less than INR 1L a month, then you should not be wasting your efforts on getting premium-tier cards because your monthly expense may not support you to reach the reward points needed to satisfactorily reap the benefits of premium cards – yeah except for airport lounges – which are also available on almost all mid-tier cards.

Time gone will never comeback. A rupee spent will never come back. So, respect your time and money well. Don’t spend if you don’t need to just for the sake of reward points.

For ease of calculation let’s say you make 1L a month. Following is how I think you should manage your expenses:

​

Monthly Allocation	Range %​
Investment Target	35.0%​	40.0%​
Expected Expenses	30.0%​	35.0%​
Misc. Expense	15.0%​	20.0%​
Liquid Savings - Rainy Day Fund	20.0%​	5.0%​
Total Income	100.0%​	100.0%​

With an expected monthly expense fund of 30-35% = INR 30k-35k. How many of your expected expenses do you think you’ll be able to make using your credit card? Think wisely if you can even achieve certain milestones?

You should not fall into unnecessary spending loop. Read this article - Psychology of Credit Card Spending: Understanding Overspending and Strategies to Stop It

I am going to keep this article open-ended and let members of this community comment and share their thoughts on what they think the right type of credit card should be for someone with maximum monthly expense of 30k-35k. Maybe stick to a good mid-tier card?

1RC

Hard hitting article !

 

[Survivor35]

Well articulated. In end it depends on person who uses the card if it is really useful to him/her whether it suits their requirement. Agreed that offer of LTF from banks is enticing to millenials who are being exposed to World of Opportunties with Plastic Money and cavaet is only take if it is needed.

 

[CCUser_1999]

I know this article may hit someone negatively, but this is to those who earn less than a 1 Lac (net) a month.

If you have not read my previous article on - Advice to young working professionals who are starting their credit journey. (Advice no one asked for; CIBIL 802)
- Go and check it out. If you are new to the credit game.

Now on with this article. Note: I am no writer, and this could be a poorly written article.

Why am I discouraging any prospective premium credit card seeker, whose monthly net income is less than 1Lac, from applying for such premium cards? Simple answer: Because you cannot afford such cards.

Over the weekend, I came across multiple articles on this forum, wherein OPs are asking how they can get premium cards (such as Amex Plat, HDFC Infinia/DCB, Axis Magnus/Reserve) while their monthly income does not support the lifestyle needed to reap the benefits of such premium cards (that usually come with higher-than-average annual membership fees).

I don’t want to sugar coat harsh realities of life. Your hard-earned money is to maximize your wealth and not to waste it for illogical reasons. I know this is such a materialistic thing to say but so is expensing using credit on things you may not even need. We all have been taught about the difference between needs and wants early in our teenage years but somehow, we forget such lessons in our adulthood.

As rational people, we have one simple job – maximize our wealth. India’s stupid high double taxation is another story for another article.

Now coming to the numbers:

If you are making less than INR 1L a month, then you should not be wasting your efforts on getting premium-tier cards because your monthly expense may not support you to reach the reward points needed to satisfactorily reap the benefits of premium cards – yeah except for airport lounges – which are also available on almost all mid-tier cards.

Time gone will never comeback. A rupee spent will never come back. So, respect your time and money well. Don’t spend if you don’t need to just for the sake of reward points.

For ease of calculation let’s say you make 1L a month. Following is how I think you should manage your expenses:

​

Monthly Allocation	Range %​
Investment Target	35.0%​	40.0%​
Expected Expenses	30.0%​	35.0%​
Misc. Expense	15.0%​	20.0%​
Liquid Savings - Rainy Day Fund	20.0%​	5.0%​
Total Income	100.0%​	100.0%​

With an expected monthly expense fund of 30-35% = INR 30k-35k. How many of your expected expenses do you think you’ll be able to make using your credit card? Think wisely if you can even achieve certain milestones?

You should not fall into unnecessary spending loop. Read this article - Psychology of Credit Card Spending: Understanding Overspending and Strategies to Stop It

I am going to keep this article open-ended and let members of this community comment and share their thoughts on what they think the right type of credit card should be for someone with maximum monthly expense of 30k-35k. Maybe stick to a good mid-tier card?

1RC

Great Article...... I don't 100% agree on the analysis and recommendation.

Even if I go by above analysis, except for liquid savings and some part of investment, remaining all can be put on the credit card with some planning. Even if you are able yo move 60% of expenses on credit card i.e. 60K per month, that is a goof 7.2lakh per annum. Any average to good card can help to get you 3-5% return on these expense which is 25-35K which you didn't had before. That is excluding the benefits like lounge access, discounted/free movie tickets which will come with any of these card.

The story is significantly different if you go for lifestyle super premium cards like Amex Platinum and Axis Reserve. For most other card, you can get more than what you spend.

The problem starts if you start spending to get points. The idea is to have financial discipline and planning to ensure you are spending only where you should and would have in case of cash. You definitely need to alter you point of purchases to maximize the rewards but it doesn't mean you start spending more than you can afford to.

Happy to hear counter views....

 

[Deleted member 9785]

True -

Credit Card NPAs Rose 25% To Over Rs 3,800 Crore in Nine Months of FY23: RBI Data​

Credit Card NPAs Rose 25% To Over Rs 3,800 Crore in Nine Months of FY23: RBI Data

The RBI has cautioned banks on unsecured loans, such as personal and credit card loans, which do not require a collateral. It's considering increasing the risk weights on these loans.

thewire.in

 

[federer.reddevil]

Based on my experience with CC the advantage I noticed is previously during online sales especially during Prime days and BBD I would buy home appliances now on the other hand I get a discount of Rs1500 in each card so I save around 6000 in a year. Other than that I use only 3 cards on a general basis Axis FK and ICICI Amazon for normal purchases and Axis IOCL for my fuel. This earns me a cashback around 3000 - 5000 a year.

I dont think I require any other card for myself as these cards give me all the rewards/cashback I need. Also most of my travel is in trains to nearby cities Bangalore and Chennai so rarely use Airport Lounge access and for the 1 or 2 times I use flights a year I have DC for the same. Other than these expense my main expense will be movies around 3-4 a month for that Legend, Supercard and IndusInd Select DC is enough. So for me I am happy with the cards I have and dont think I need to upgrade to paid cards as it will be a unnecessary expenditure every year for me

 

[jade]

The op is well articulated. I take a card if the cost of owning it is considerably less than benefits I get out of it. Before I used to pay by debt card, now I pay by credit card. I stopped using debt card altogether and sparingly use UPI and also in the process earn rewards and cashbacks. If having a premium credit card means licence to overspend, he/she is not fit to own a card irrespective of whether he/she can ‘afford’ it or not. I have seen some of my friends spend a lakh or more a month on Axis Magnus just for rewards or nullify the annual fee.

 

[BCh]

My approach to CC is fairly simple...
I use the card which gives instant discount, it works almost every time... and in other cases, the card which gives best CB. Obvious disadvantage is that the total spend is distributed among many cards but total gain is always significant. In any case most of my cards are LTF.
The other thing is I always keep track of my monthly expenses as if I am spending from savings account...so spends do not go beyond monthly income.

 

[krishc]

My approach to CC is fairly simple...
I use the card which gives instant discount, it works almost every time... and in other cases, the card which gives best CB. Obvious disadvantage is that the total spend is distributed among many cards but total gain is always significant. In any case most of my cards are LTF.
The other thing is I always keep track of my monthly expenses as if I am spending from savings account...so spends do not go beyond monthly income.

I also do the almost same stuff

 

[1RC]

Is it me or does OP sound like he’s worried about diminishing returns on so called Premium cards. It seems they are basing their opinion on common sentiment that customers are careless with their money which is the narrative built around Americans and their dependence on CC’s.

Also, I couldn’t find any substantial argument by OP on why someone who has the propensity to spend 30-35K on CC shouldn’t just smartly accumulate gift cards for their recurring spends. Even 25k spend monthly spend is going to get them net gain. Yearly gold purchase or wedding gifts bought using gift cards would go a long way than just getting a dummy CC. There are more cards in the market other than Axis Reserve and Magnus. It’s not like everyone and their grandma is getting CCs issued. CC penetration in Indian market is about 2% from what I’ve read so it’s pretty evident people are not lining up to get Premium cards when they don’t air travel, stay in Hotel chains or have an appetite for luxury.

Originally when I read this comment. Honestly I did not like it at first. Now that I am revisiting this comment after Magnus devaluation. I think, the first line now is so apt. I have seen couple of posts on this forum wherein folks are saying they make 75k a month are looking to get LTF Infinia or Magnus and such posts trigger me. Axis gave out magnus on c2c like candies, anyone who met 3-4lac CC limit. Seriously killling the card.

I am glad that getting Infinia is not that easy like Magnus but I hope Axis takes a cue from HDFC's book. Sorry about this rant!

 

[kirtivardhan]

Originally when I read this comment. Honestly I did not like it at first. Now that I am revisiting this comment after Magnus devaluation. I think, the first line now is so apt. I have seen couple of posts on this forum wherein folks are saying they make 75k a month are looking to get LTF Infinia or Magnus and such posts trigger me. Axis gave out magnus on c2c like candies, anyone who met 3-4lac CC limit. Seriously killling the card.

I am glad that getting Infinia is not that easy like Magnus but I hope Axis takes a cue from HDFC's book. Sorry about this rant!

I have till now avoided commenting on this thread, for I understood and appreciated the arguments being made by both sides. Let me start off by clarifying certain things before I go on with my story. I dont care too much about whether people use their cards with high joining fees to the maximum. If they can derive some value out of it and believe that value is greater than the fees then so be it. At the same time I do agree that financial prudence is absolutely necessary (as I have stated in other threads as well), do not get into the debt trap, whether you are earning 6 lpa or 60lpa banks incentivize you to spend more than you wanted to. You wanted to buy vouchers worth 1900 but you spend 100 more to ensure you get the extra 12 points. This attraction is there for everyone and every card and to me it should be avoided for these small things add up and can potentially hurt in the long run if we are not careful. Now coming to what I wanted to say. Slightly more than a decade ago, Citi ended its partnership with Jet. And a new partnership with HDFC was announced. As a frequent flier, I quite liked a cobranded card and I applied using my income statement which was much higher than the required income. While Citi replaced my card with PM, HDFC rejected my application. Cut to later my RM moved from Stanc to HDFC and she offered Infinia to convince me to move a part of my relationahip to HDFC. The point I am trying to make here is, it may seem unfair that people with certain limits get HNI cards but our banks our notoriously unreliable. They reject applications despite meeting all requirements give an extremely low credit limit. When the processes are such C2C applications are often very helpful. And this incident is not just with HDFC, when I applied for Axis VI, (again with my income statement despite knowing better) I got a CL of 1.21 lakhs. This is despite having a burgundy relationship and my income being significantly higher than the limit. Subsequently when I decided to take the plunge for Magnus I used the C2C method which was the saving grace in terms of credit limit. I have never faced this with amex or citi or stanc c. The way I see it is till the protocols are not in place or the entry requirments are not being followed in letter or spirit, the C2C method is pretty good.