HDFC Bank Paytm Credit Cards Review

Both HDFC Bank Paytm Credit Card and Paytm Select Credit Card, offer welcome benefits in the form of Paytm First Membership. However, note that you can avail this benefit only on completing the first transaction with your credit card, with a minimum value of Rs. 100. Currently, the Paytm First Membership costs around Rs. 899, thus, it is a feasible benefit as per the monthly and annual fee charged on the regular and select variants.

However, when it comes to the mobile variant, there is no welcome benefit offered. The card comes with a membership fee of Rs. 29 per month, that sums up to Rs. 348 per year. In this case, this is a drawback, as various credit cards with zero annual fees and credit cards up to an annual fee of Rs. 500, provide welcome benefits.

Cashback benefits are the primary USPs of these credit cards. However, note that the cashback proportions differ across all three variants.

All three cards offer cashback benefits, as per the fee they charge. Thus, the Select variant offers the highest cashback up to 5%, followed by the regular variant that offers up to 3% and the least is offered by the mobile variant with cashback values up to 2%. When it comes to general retail transactions, the maximum you can earn is 2% for select, 1% for regular variant and 0.5% for mobile version.

When compared with popular cashback credit cards such as Axis Bank Ace and Flipkart Axis Bank Card, the cashback rate of Paytm HDFC Card, especially for regular and mobile variant, are too low. Even HDFC’s Select variant offers general retail cashback rate of 1% while charging an annual fee of Rs. 1,000. Axis Ace, on the other hand, charges Rs. 500 and gives a general cashback value of 2% on all retail transactions. At an annual fee of Rs. 1,000 you can definitely look out for better options in replacement of the Paytm HDFC Bank Select Credit Card. Similarly, many low-annual fee cards are better in providing better rewards and cashbacks, in comparison to Paytm HDFC Bank Credit Card and Paytm HDFC Bank Mobile Credit Card.

All of these credit cards offer milestone benefits on spending a certain amount, as listed below:

• HDFC Bank Paytm Mobile Credit Card offers the flexibility to upgrade the card to HDFC Paytm Credit Card, on spending Rs. 10,000 in three consecutive months. However, this milestone benefit, in itself, is not that great. Firstly, upgrading a credit card should ensure better benefits, and shifting to another card level, say from entry-level to mid level. However, if you upgrade to the regular variant from the mobile version, there is not much difference between the benefits offered or between the cashback proportions. Also, if you are keen to apply for HDFC Bank Paytm Credit card, you can do so easily. Therefore, applying for a mobile variant and then completing the milestone to upgrade to an easily attainable card is not worth it.
• Paytm HDFC Bank Credit Card offers 1% cashback on spending Rs. 10,000 each month. This, however, is capped at Rs. 100 per month. Thereby, each year, you can earn a cashback of around Rs. 1200, on spending a minimum amount of Rs. 1,20,000. Though the value benefit offered here is very less, yet, keeping in view the monthly fee of Rs. 49 associated with this card, the benefit is, if not good, but acceptable.
• Similar to the regular variant, the Select variant offers the milestone benefit at the same rate, of 1% for each quarter. For every Rs. 50,000 spent on this card in a calendar quarter, you get a voucher of Rs. 500. As per this clause, on every Rs. 2 Lakh spent a year, you earn a benefit of Rs. 2,000. The good thing here is that you get the flexibility to choose the voucher as per your preference from categories such as Health & Wellness, Shopping, Food Delivery, Entertainment, etc. However, rewarding with 1% cashback benefit on a sum of Rs. 50,000 is a marginal benefit, if you compare other credit cards with annual fees up to Rs. 1,000.

Each of the three variants offer the fee waiver benefit on spending a minimum amount. These are listed as follows:

• Paytm HDFC Bank Mobile Credit Card offers a monthly fee waiver on spending Rs. 2,500 a month, whereas, Paytm HDFC Bank Credit Card offers the monthly fee waiver on spending Rs. 5,000 in a month. This benefit can easily be availed, as spending Rs. 2,500 or Rs. 5,000 a month on non-EMI expenses is not that big a hustle. Also, since the card is feasible for online and offline transactions, you can use the cards easily to earn the respective benefits.
• With the select variant, you can avail waiver benefits on spending Rs. 50,000 on the non-EMI spend in the first 90 days. Thereby on spending Rs. 50,000 you save up to Rs. 1,000. However, note that various cards at this annual fee offer a better benefit, even on easier terms and conditions. One such example is HDFC Bank Millennia Credit Card, which grants first-year membership fee waiver on spending above Rs. 30,000 within 90 days. Thereby, for a value of Rs. 30,000 you get a benefit of around Rs. 1,000. Paytm HDFC Bank Select Credit Card also offers an annual renewal benefit on spending Rs. 1.5 Lakh in 12 months. This benefit can again be easily availed, as spending Rs. 1.5 lakh involves spending an average of Rs. 12,500 per month.

The regular and mobile variants of HDFC Bank Paytm Credit Cards, do not offer any access to airport lounges. However, the select variant- HDFC Bank Paytm Select Credit Card, does offer 8 complimentary access to airport lounges across the country, subject to 2 airport visits per quarter.

Note that the regular and mobile variants charge annual fees of Rs. 588 and Rs. 348, thereby, no lounge access is a big drawback as various credit cards with zero or low annual fee offer lounge access across airport lounges or at least railway lounges. Further, while the Select variant offers airport lounge access, yet, it is limited to domestic lounges. This again is a marginal drawback as no international lounge access is offered at an annual fee of Rs. 1,000. However, since the frequency of domestic access stands satisfactory at 2 per quarter, this drawback can be adjusted for.

• All three variants of these co-branded credit cards offer up to 50 days of interest free credit period.
• These credit cards come with zero lost card liability, thereby, if you lose your credit card, you are not bound to pay any liability that occurs with the fraudulent use of the card. However, ensure that the loss or damage of the card is reported asap to HDFC Bank Credit Card Customer Care.
• If you make big purchases with any of these cards, you can avail the no cost and low cost EMI facility.
• You can get 4 complimentary add-on credit cards, if you avail the HDFC Bank Paytm Credit Card or HDFC Bank Paytm Select Credit Card.
• You can avail 1% fuel surcharge waiver on all three cards. However, the maximum waiver limit is Rs. 250 for the regular and mobile variants, whereas for the select variant, you can earn a maximum waiver of Rs. 500.

You should get these HDFC Bank Credit Cards if:

• You are new to cards and are looking for a basic card to develop your understanding of how a credit card functions (then consider getting regular or mobile variants)
• You are looking for a cashback credit card
• You are looking for exclusive benefits on Paytm purchases, as you shop frequently on Paytm
• Paytm is your preferred payment portal instead of other UPI or online payment portals
• You are looking for a low fee card, (then you may consider regular or mobile variants)
• You are looking for a cashback credit card, up to Rs. 1,000 with benefits on Paytm (then you may consider getting the select variant)

You may look out for other credit cards, if you are looking for:

• all-rounder credit card
• a credit card with benefits across specific categories such as fuel, shopping, rewards, etc
• a card that offers cashback benefits across all spends but not specific to any brand or portal
• a zero-annual fee credit card
• a premium credit card