HDFC Bank Solitaire Credit Card Review

The card is called an exclusive card for women, yet offers no welcome benefit on activating the card. This is a drawback in comparison to other low-fee cards at an annual fee of Rs. 500, since most cards do come with the welcome benefit either in terms of reward points or gift vouchers. 

Instead of a welcome benefit, you however get a milestone benefit of a shopping voucher worth Rs. 1,000 on spending Rs. 75,000 in six months. This again is not sufficient as rewarding with Rs. 1,000 for a spend of Rs. 75,000 is not that great a benefit, as the value back is pretty low. However, the silver lining here is unlike various cards that offer milestone benefits as per anniversary year, this card lets you avail milestone benefits twice a year for every six months.

HDFC Bank Solitaire Credit Card offers 3 reward points on every Rs. 150 spent. This reward structure is the average reward that HDFC Bank credit cards offer. On the other hand, the 50% more rewards on dining and grocery is an added benefit that justifies the exclusivity of this card. What keeps this credit card at par with other cards is that you can use these rewards points in multiple ways. You can use the accumulated reward points to:

• Avail exclusive gifts and offers 
• For cashback to pay the outstanding credit card amount. Here 100 cashback points are equivalent to Rs. 20

Thereby, even when the card offers a basic reward structure, the option to avail multiple redemption options makes the reward structure of this credit card a bit impressive.

Some other benefits offered on HDFC Solitaire Credit Card are listed as follows:

• Various cards at an annual fee of Rs. 500 offer fuel surcharge waiver only at selected petrol pumps. This credit card however provides a 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all fuel stations in India and is not specific to limited petrol pumps.
• The credit card is secured with EMV chip technology, thereby you get protection from unauthorized use of the card.
• In case the credit card is lost or stolen, you are liable for Zero lost card liability if reported immediately.

Read full details of the HDFC Bank Solitaire Credit Card here.

You should get HDFC Bank Solitaire Credit Card if you are a woman:

• Who is new to credit cards and wants to improve her credit score
• Looking for a low maintenance credit card with a low annual fee
• Who wants a credit card with extra benefits on dining and grocery

You should look out for other credit card options if

• You are looking for a credit card with all rounder benefits
• You are looking for a credit card across specific categories such as travel, fuel, etc
• You are looking for a zero annual fee credit card

HDFC Bank Solitaire Credit Card justifies itself as an exclusive credit card for women, with the benefits it offers around shopping, dining and grocery with gift vouchers from popular brands among women such as Shoppers Stop/Westside/ Lifestyle and 50% extra rewards on shopping and grocery. However, when it comes to offering the basic benefits that a credit card with an annual fee of Rs. 500 should provide, the card lacks marginally.

Though you get a 1% fuel surcharge waiver, there is no welcome benefit or airport lounge access offered on the card. These marginal drawbacks are however overshadowed with benefits such as flexible reward redemption and twice a year milestone benefit. All-in-all HDFC Bank Solitaire Credit Card is a good option for women at a low annual fee of Rs. 500. However, if you are not that obsessed with women-centric credit cards and want a credit card with a good cashback rate you can also consider HDFC MoneyBack Credit Card or SBI Simply Click.