Coronavirus and its impact on Credit Card Industry

By | May 19, 2021

As you might know, coronovirus have infected over 2 Million people worldwide and taken lives of over 140K. Even-though infections in India are comparatively lower that stands at about 13K till date, that came at a price: lockdown of the entire country with 1.3 billion people.

This has affected almost all industries including the credit card industry. In this article we’ll discuss the impact and the future expectations on credit card industry and its linked industries like Airlines/Hotels.

Disclaimer: Everything written below are my personal thoughts on respective subject with limited information I have & this may or may not reflect actuals.

The Impact

Moratorium on Credit Cards

RBI came up with a moratorium on EMI and credit cards to smoothen the burden for those who’re unable to pay dues on time. This means you need not pay your dues in the 3 month period (March-May) which may sound good, but you’ve to pay exorbitant interest along with the due by June which makes it an expensive option when it comes to credit cards. 

Not to forget, you anyway have this option on credit cards even before as you only need to pay 5% min. due to stay good on credit reports.

The problem though is that the interest rates are unbelievably huge ( in the range of 20-40% p.a.) on credit card outstanding and I’m still unsure how/why RBI is allowing this practice, even for those with high credit scores.

I believe fixing this part would help many entry-level users to get into credit card system as they’re afraid to get into the high interest debt trap. 

So if you’re running out of money to pay credit card bill, the best way is to go for loan on credit card and pay back the bill or convert the transaction to EMI, both of which come at lot better rates.

Expiration of reward points

Chances are some of us may see certain portion of credit card reward points expire in coming months and we can’t do anything about it, as we can’t redeem points for travel as that’s where we get maximum value.

But in most cases credit card issuers may temporarily extend the validity, esp. if it’s Amex you may certainly count on them, for rest you need to give a try by requesting. 

Expiration of vouchers

Chances are a LOT of us including me hold many vouchers that are set to expire during the lockdown and also just after the lockdown. Ideally we need a cooling period of 3-6 months to do any safe travel but will the issuers help us in these cases? We need to wait and see. For now, these are the updates I have:

  • Amex travel vouchers: Amex automatically extended the unused vouchers by 1 month, esp. the travel vouchers received on spend based promo.
  • Pantaloons vouchers: Those vouchers that I’ve received via SBI Prime have expired during the lockdown and when asked about the same to pantaloons, I was asked to check with the store post lockdown to see what they can do. Ideally we must be able to use them.

Do update if you’ve any news on above or on any other vouchers, so we could update the same for others to know as well. 

Credit Card Renewals

Premium/travel credit cards (paid variants) may see a hit because of the situation as it makes less sense to pay for the credit card as you may neither use them for lounge access in near future nor use the travel vouchers and points that comes with it as joining/renewal benefit anytime soon.  

So it would make sense if credit card issuers relax the fees to an extent considering the situation, maybe based on the previous year spends. Or perhaps lower the spends required for fee waiver.

I guess Amex Platinum would be the most hit considering its fees & travel linked benefits.

Loyalty Program tier renewals

Airline and hotel loyalty programs are next in the line that needs some attention. For now, here are the updates we have:

  • Marriott: Extends the tier that you “earned in 2019″ through feb 2022
  • Taj Hotels: Extends current tier status till Feb 2021.
  • Shangri-la: “All Golden Circle Diamond and Jade members will be able to maintain their current tier status and benefits until December 31, 2021”. That means if you’ve got Jade status via Amex platinum, both Shangri la and Taj status should be safe through end of Dec 2021

Decline in Credit Card spends

There must a huge hit in credit card spends already across all categories, except the essentials which might see a different trend.

Majority of spends that would have got hit are the travel spends which will take 1-2 years to come back to normal levels as that’s when everyone will get a sense of safe travel. Well, atleast that’s what my mom thinks.

SBICard Stocks

Speaking about credit cards, how could we not speak about the sbicard stocks. The most awaited IPO of the year landed at wrong time and with not so great outlook in near future due to expected low spends and higher defaults, so its a bad year not only for SBICards but for all credit card issuers. 

That said, I guess sbicard may survive defaults as most defaulters at this time maybe from self-employed segment, and we need to note that SBICard has strict policies in issuing cards for self-employed lately.

But the spends may take longer to get back to normal as most SBI cardholders are entry-level users and they’re the ones who maybe in cash crunch. That’s partly a good news as SBICards may see good interest income, hoping they don’t default.

Given that the current ~500 level is attractive, you’ve to take a call considering above aspects, among many others!

Aftermath of Coronavirus

Now let’s predict what may happen to various industries after coronavirus leaves the planet, or at-least India for now, which may take till late June 2020 at-least, unless it doesn’t spread wide again.

Better Credit Card Offers

Every card issuer now need your spends on their credit cards. Some credit cards may come up with better benefits and offers especially in travel segment as anyway not many would avail it.

Wise are those who come up with spend linked offers just after quarantine period. Let’s see where it goes. 

Better Merchant Offers

Merchants may come up with jaw dropping offers so they might reach their revenue targets. I see it has already started a bit with 10% off on amazon via citi cards, but that’s a small promo. This may get better in coming months.

Unpredictable Airline Fares

Businesses cutting down costs and so less people would travel for work. Leisure travel may as well get postponed considering safety. So who’s going to travel? Very small portion, for unavoidable reasons.

While fares may-not be not lowered, you could get a better rate easily as you can grab those first few seats at relatively low fare.

While we can’t expect low fares in every route, some routes may fall under sale offer which would be very attractive, rest may remain usual enough.

But at the same time just as many think, some routes may be costlier too as airlines need to follow social distancing rules like empty middle rows, etc.

The already unpredictable industry just got worse!

Better hotel fares

It’s unbelievable to see how much hotels costs these days. Especially in metro cities like Bangalore/Mumbai/Delhi, you need to shell out anywhere in the range of 10k to get a good 4/5 star business hotel, forget about palaces and luxury properties. 

Going forward, this is likely to go down as they’ll have less occupancy for atleast an year and businesses anyway cutting down on travel expenses means their recurring customers are less.

So end of the day, they have to come up with better fares. But that would happen only when economy goes to bad stage, which would happen if Virus do not leave the country in ~6 months time.

So hotel fares may become reasonable (not cheap though) for next ~2 years.

Loyalty Program may get better

Let’s take Marriott Bonvoy for example. It used to be very lucrative when SPG was there. Marriott came in and started raising categories of many properties every year.

Most of the Marriott properties which I’ve visited in last 2 years are already up by at-least 1 category, means you need more points to burn for those redemptions. At this rate, we wont be able to play this game post 2020.

But less business travel means less ability to earn points, means less to burn. So let’s hope Marriott drops the categories by at-least 1 level in next round, or put them on low season rate. 

Bottomline

Overall, Coronavirus have made a huge impact to the world and have hurt many industries badly, especially the airlines, travel and tourism segment which would take a long time to recover.

But it has also done lot many better things that we could ever imagine. We’ve finally let the planet to breathe: air pollution have gone down, water pollution have gone down and much more. Someone rightly said:

What humans have done IN the world Is inspiring. What humans have done TO the world Is frightening.

It appears that earth is on full swing to maintain its balance, in its own way. Situations like this serves as a reminder how fragile & precious life is.

End of the day, Covid-19 have helped us to be more conscious, not only in washing hands, but also conscious of everything we do.

I’ve certainly enjoyed the Quarantine period by doing what I wanted to do for a long time: by reading books, less movies, less news and try to think more consciously of what I need in this life.

So that’s how I view at the current situation. How about you? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Author: Siddharth

Helping Indians to choose right credit cards, pick right offers and enjoy luxury vacations for less. Day & night exploring the spiritual reality of our human existence.

96 thoughts on “Coronavirus and its impact on Credit Card Industry

  1. Ankit

    I have a different opinion here. Reduced credit card spends means less earnings for the bank.

    So, super premium cards like Infinia and DCB might get devalued majorly. I hope they don’t, but I think they will take it as an excuse to reduce earnings from these cards, considering they have captured a sizeable audience already.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      They would also see less lounge usage, less redemption of points due to less travel. So if they don’t see expenses going up, why would they devalue?! It would all be proportional, so no devaluation is what is my guess 🙂

      Reply
  2. hari

    Being a conservative Bank, HDFC has disabled all loans on credit cards (Insta &Jumbo) to cut down the risk involved due to the uncertain situation. SBI is still offering Encash to eligible customers.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Not for all, I still see them active on my card. But ROI is as high as 20%

      Reply
      1. Anuj

        Same is the case on my HDFC Diners Black Card. Loan offer is there but at a ROI of 21.60%.

        Reply
  3. Dr Pankaj Gupta

    Today HDFC has officially removed 10x partners privilage from Diner club’s website, so now if you have DCB you get 10x points only through smart buy. what has prompted this removal ??!!!

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Mostly they might need time to extend/re-shuffle their 10X partners. Let’s hope so at-least 🙂

      Reply
    2. Himanshu Parida

      Looks like even the 10x through Smart Buy is also gone! Couldn’t see it on the HDFC or DCB site. It’s still there for Infinia though.

      Reply
      1. Varun

        Nice Articla.As far 10x on Dcb is concerned I think they will be back soon once online merchants get operational coz any ways none of the 10x partners are currently operating. Second 10x on smartbuy is still operational as it is reflecting on Website.A few observation
        No 10x points have beeb received from March 2020 onwards on any smartbuy transactions even flipkart which used to come in 3 days and knowing how pathetic and clueless Hdfc customer care is I think a lot of follow up will have to be done to get the points .
        Also their concierge services are least supportive and all my flight and hotel bookings for July is not getting cancelled inspite of the fact that hotels are closed .Atleast on that paratmeter I will give full marks to Amex.

        Reply
    3. Binay

      Ohh shit, Thats a heart breaking news.
      I wish and pray they extend.

      Reply
      1. SAI RANGA

        They have extended it (smartly 10X) for April 2020 and listed on site

        Reply
  4. Parth Patel

    I Think Air travel would become more expensive as they will have to follow social distancing rules for quite a while and may even have to decrease seating capacity in airport busses as well as airplanes.

    They also need to cover up for losses during lockdown periods.

    Only people with compulsion will be travelling in the next 6-8 months atleast.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Felt the same initially but I doubt if that would practically work. Let’s see how Airlines pass this phase. Fortunately award seats maybe easily available.

      Reply
      1. Varun

        My brother who works in airline industry says that they will have to maintain the social distancing in the flights and flights will not operate with full capacity for at least 3-6 months. To balance that the cost per seat the fares is bound to increase. People can still grab early fares which might be very competitive. Airlines are planning to reduce cancellation fees and allow rescheduling with very nominal rates to cater this situation.

        Regarding the hotel industry, one of my colleagues who works various booking agencies says that many hotels are now offering pay on arrival along with free cancellation before 24 hrs. Domestic hotel market is expected to revive early than international one.

        Reply
  5. ka

    vistara vouchers’ validity have not been extended. source: email communication

    Reply
  6. Shivi

    I don’t see the fares coming down for airlines industry. High demand and low/restricted supply would mean fares would be on the same levels if not higher side.

    Same for hotel chains. They might give you upgrades and complimentary meal/breakfast along with a few goodies thrown in but they won’t compromise on the price. On the contrary, people might spend more to take a well disinfected/cleaned hotel room than a lowly 3/no star hotel. Hardest hit would be the small inns/hotels etc.

    For unused card points one might as well book a flight 2 years ahead (vaccine development) or an in-town hotel to celebrate your birthday/anniversary!

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Airlines maybe, but hotels I highly doubt, unless the panic goes away soon. Let’s wait and watch anyway.

      Reply
  7. neil

    I have a different opinion on the Citi cashback. Citi recently stopped awarding points on a large number of categories. This would have led to large decrease in swipes for such transactions. Citi had offered attractive cashbacks (but no points) on loading paytm wallet thru its website and using it to pay for utilities (although with a high bar to qualify). So may be they are just attracting more spends by offering cashbacks instead of Rps.

    Lets see how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks and months.

    Reply
  8. BhavyeG

    I have got extension for movie tickets on my PVR Kotak Platinum card. The mail reads as follows.

    Dear PVR Cardholder,

    Your love for movies is well known. We are also fully aware that you will be missing out on watching your favorites at PVR Cinemas, albeit for a larger cause – to keep yourselves, your family and the society at large safe in the times of COVID-19.

    Since the Cinema halls and Multiplexes will remain shut over the next few weeks, as a safety measure, we want to re-assure you that your Free PVR Movie ticket is safe with us. Also as you spend on your PVR Kotak Credit Card, we will ensure the following:

    If you have become eligible for Free movie tickets after 1st Jan 2020 :
    ▶ And have already claimed your Free tickets (mCoupons) with expiry date later than 1st March 2020, but haven’t been able to use them: We will extend the validity of your codes when the situation normalizes.
    ▶ If you haven’t yet claimed your Free tickets, we will open a claim window exclusively for you to claim your eligible codes when the situation normalizes.

    Reply
  9. Sameer Valecha

    Hi Siddharth. You mentioned about the SBI Pantaloons 7K Voucher. My voucher is supposed to arrive in another 2-3 business days. What’s the normal validity of the Pantaloons voucher as it’s the first time I became eligible for this one.

    Reply
  10. Bhavya

    Have the milestone vouchers of Cleartrip for SBI card spending expiring late May 2020. No communication as of now from SBI Card regarding the same.

    Reply
  11. Nkin

    Do you think these situations cause relaxation to eligibility of super premium cards, like say HDFC Diners black salary criteria?

    Reply
  12. Shyam

    Have you got any communication on Amex Travel Voucher validity extenstion.

    Reply
    1. MT

      if you did not use it , its extended till 31st may , if used , no extension

      Reply
      1. Anupam Bhandari

        For DCB, it was possible to convert reward points into cash back albeit at 50% of the value. I was trying to do this given that the reward points won’t be of much use for travel for few months at least. However, when I tried this on HDFC website, it was only giving 30 paisa per reward point instead of 50 paisa. Did anything change recently?

        Reply
        1. Naga Kiran

          Yes. they de-valued the cash conversion ratio couple of months back

          Reply
  13. Anand

    Is there a possibility where DCB will increase the 10x smartbuy from 15000 RP to anything Higer?

    Reply
  14. Dhayapule

    My Bata welcome voucher received for Indus Amex Iconia of Rs 5000 expiry date might get extended as per my conversation with GyftR

    But My Manhattan BMS vouchers worth 2000 (500X4) is expired in March end but SC did not agree for extension of expiry date. Please suggest any alternative way for extension

    And pls share any experience of annual fee waiver for Manhattan card on account of lockdown

    Reply
  15. Ajay

    My Vistara vouchers will expire in May end and they will not extend them. The question is really should I travel for leisure in June first week? Is any of you travelling in June first week? Will it really be that risky since I am already going to office “essential services” everyday?

    Reply
    1. Nikhil Goel

      If it is expiring may end, how will you use it to travel in june first week?

      Reply
      1. Ajay

        Expires on May 31 and the flight is a late night one which will reach around 2am aka 1st June then the trip starts.

        Reply
  16. Gaurav Sahi

    Amex Taj Travel Vouchers extended by 6 Months for my Platinum Card.

    Reply
      1. Gaurav Sahi

        I received SMS from AMEX & i also called and crosscheck, they said we are extending by 180 days. Below is the sms i recieved:-

        Dear Cardmember, We hope you and your family is safe. We would like to inform you that we will extend the validity of your existing Taj Stay voucher which expires between 01-Mar-2020 till 30-Apr-2020 by 180 days. No new eGift Card required. T&C Apply.

        Reply
  17. Raju n

    In this forum any reader’s credit card limit got reduced recently, especially Axis bank.

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Paavan

      Same with me for axis. very good credit history. never missed a payment but limit reduced drastically. Cant understand what is rong with them

      Reply
    2. Dheeraj Yalamanchili

      Did Axis reduce your limit??? Without any reason??? My friends limit was reduced from 40k to 10k long back for paying the total amount but not before the due date, and they never increased it although he was very prompt afterwards.

      Reply
    3. Nikhil Goel

      My dad’s Axis bank card limit was reduced from 1.25L to 20k. It was the most basic card by axis. Received 7 years back but never used it once.
      I asked them for card cancellation instead they upgraded to My Zone LTF.

      Reply
  18. Vikram

    I am not able to buy instant vouchers on smartbuy website as the payment gateway is not reading my dinersbalck number (it is considering that number as RuPay 🙁 ) Not able to reach HDFC customer care for past 3 weeks…
    Will 10x offer be applicable if i buy instant vouchers through payzapp payment way on the smartbuy portal?

    Reply
    1. Santosh

      Add 2 zeros in front of your 14 digit number. Transaction goes through

      Reply
    2. Mr. Verma

      Same issue i have faced. tried with adding Zero also. No use.

      Reply
  19. Rohit

    worst part is points getting expired for Infinia and DCB. Flight ban for international destination to continue for another one year as per WHO recommendations. HDFC is going to make profit in that So no way they would devalue it. And also the only major income for banks would be credit card so they would not do any stupid moves like that.

    Reply
    1. Shivi

      Air India will restart International flights from June 1, 2020. WHO said what?! :-p

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        Might be it is only for rescue or stranded passengers. No way our government would open International borders. We still didnt start testing in mass numbers will show the real count like in United states.

        Reply
    2. Amann

      Redeem the points for Amazon voucher (50% value)/ statement credit (30% value) before they expire.

      Reply
  20. Ankit Malhotra

    Airline prices will not go down and they may in fact be on the higher side. People will fly for necessary reasons and low pricing is not going to impact their decision for the same. Nobody wants to fall sick just because tickets are cheap. Those who want to avoid travel will avoid it altogether no matter what the pricing. So low prices are not going to fill seats for the airline. Airlines will cut frequencies on routes which are not feasible, but keep pricing on the mid-upper side. With extensive past, pricing, load and advanced and seasonal ticketing data models, airline business analyst teams would have slogged out the lock-down to keep their jobs secure by charting out best revenue models. And since most of them price match their might be a pact to keep things high to float out of this mess together. A clear indication that things are not going to be customer friendly is the fact that they are not giving refunds and only giving credit shells. People with the credit shells are mostly going to be forced to redeem them for higher priced tickets to suck in more revenue. So don’t think that low priced flying is coming back soon.

    Reply
  21. Anup

    My credit card spends are down almost 80%. And I am still alive. The concept of spending to earn rewards will go.

    Reply
  22. Paavan

    Got a mail from taj today extending my tier and points till Feb, 2021

    Reply
  23. Dheeraj Yalamanchili

    My Barbeque Nation voucher worth ₹2000 expired on 14/03/20 & ₹1000 is going to expire on 24/04/20 both were issued by SBI Card based on spend based offer, was planning to use in March end but all the malls got closed by then, can’t reach SBI or Barbeque Nation don’t know what to do, maybe they are gone wasted by no means.

    Reply
  24. Gkcards

    Taj innercircle has extended membership in current tier till Feb 2021

    Reply
  25. Ishant Gupta

    For the past 2 months, I haven’t received the 10x rewards on smartbuy purchases through my regalia first card. Has anyone faced similar issues?

    Reply
    1. MT

      Regalia first i think goes into 5% cashback category upto max 1000 per month

      Reply
  26. Amex Guy

    I don’t think airfares and hotel prices will go down at all. The economics of reduced pricing leading to more sales doesn’t work as usual here. For at least end of year, the people who need to travel will travel anyway, and will have to use these services anyway. People who don’t need to, will not. So there is no upside to reducing prices. It won’t fill up rooms. And this exactly what’s happening in US. Check up any hotel, the pricing currently is pretty much the usual rates.

    In the second year I think a lot more people will want to travel than usual, and that should prices even higher. Loyalty programs will suffer greatly till then so expect hotels moving up categories due to them trying to clear their balance sheets of points liabilities.

    In short — I don’t see any upside for travelers at all. I hope I’m wrong. 😛

    Reply
    1. MT

      I agree with you

      On the other hand , lets hope none of the agents go bust , people are already suffering bcoz of Cox and Kings failure with many agents gone bust and not abke to refund money because their deposits got stuck

      Reply
    2. Amit

      Rightly pointed out. In fact, in case of airlines prices might even increase to offset the loss in operating flights with empty seats for ensuring social distancing.

      Reply
    3. Ankit Malhotra

      Yes, this is exactly my opinion above. Low pricing will not encourage travel in any significant way when there is such a high risk, not only to self but loved ones due to involuntary transmission. The travel industry is going to look at recovering their books through high margins at whatever low volumes they get and the volumes climbing is not going to reduce pricing as everybody wants to cover up. The smaller hotels may be the first one to reduce prices once they recover and see normalcy in business, but the airlines and premium hotels have a long way to go. Indian Airlines will be especially happy to mint those credit shells on higher prices.

      Reply
    4. Siddharth Post author

      Airfare, maybe

      Hotels,
      I don’t think so, assuming lockdown & its effects will stay for long time.

      Loyalty Programs,
      I don’t think so either too, as brands need to keep loyal customers closer than ever before. So I don’t think it would get into pressure in near future.

      Anyway, let’s see how it all goes.

      Reply
  27. Ashish sharma

    I have booked train ticket using HDFC smartbuy using ( Smartbuy Voucher Expire on 31 March ) But my journey was on 28 April
    The train ticket already cancelled By Railways
    I have received my Refund after Deduction of Smart buy voucher price
    What should I do??

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Ashish sharma
      How did you get your refund ? Did u get your voucher back or voucher equivalent money got credited ?
      You have no option but to raise a mail regarding voucher. But considering HDFc history they might not refund stating voucher expiry date .

      Reply
    2. Pranab

      Smartbuy train (IRCTC) vouchers??? Did I miss something, or is it that ₹100 discount voucher (RAILHDFC) you’re mentioning?

      Reply
  28. AAJ

    Infinia – Earlier Flipkart spends used to credit 1x upon unbilled transaction and 9x in a day or two, has this changed? When i enquired over email they said its 90 days

    Reply
  29. Ashish Sharma

    @pranav and @Rohit
    I have done shopping using HDFC smart buy at the time of Diwali 2019.
    I got smart buy voucher of 1374 RS in January
    this voucher work with no any minimum booking required
    I have booked train ticket of 2355 ( paid 1016 only at card )

    Reply
  30. Mohit Joshi

    Hi Sid, good to see few articles from you after a long wait😀
    I am holding an Amex Platinum charge card solely for the purpose of Marriott Bonvoy points and my annual subscription is due in July. Now that Marriott has extended their membership till Feb 2022 and I have transferred all Amex points to MB, would it be fine to discontinue the card. Don’t think I have much usage for the other benefits. Appreciate your thoughts here

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Yes, better to close as Marriott/SL/Taj tier statuses are extended. Moreover you can’t travel much in next 1yr, so 70K fee makes less sense.

      Reply
      1. Amex Guy

        Status earned through credit card will not be extended. If one cancels the card, the status will fall to whatever you have earned through stays in 2019, extended as per offer. Hilton and Marriott both have clarified this. Regardless of whatever it shows on the website. This has always been the case. When you get Plat, it shows expiration of status as next year, but if you cancel it a month the status goes away.

        Taj Silver (if earned through Epicure) will remain as Epicure is a bought membership. Taj Gold if matched through Shang may remain till prescribed date (not sure), but Shang Jade will fall to basic gold. So maybe Taj will fall to Silver too.

        The only status benefit that remains after cancelling Plat is years counted for lifetime status.

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          Meaning, does Amex inform Marriott/SL when we close the card?

          Reply
          1. Amex Guy

            Yup!

            I think current confusion is because Marriott showed extended status for everyone, even those who will lose it without card. Hilton did a better job. There is no “We’ve for you covered” message in status section for people who got it through card.

            People who will cancel will still retain the extra 1 year of lifetime status year that got added in March. People who will retain their Platinum card will also earn a status year for 2020 as well as 2021. People who got their status extended through Marriott COVID promotion (so people who got it through 2019 stays) will only not get lifetime status year for 2021, unless they retain it through 2020 stays (unlikely).

        2. Shivi

          Arihant! Last heard you were aiming for Citi UI card. Did the plan go through?!

          Reply
          1. Amex Guy

            Not yet. Let’s see how this year goes. Given the COVID situation I’d conjecture that getting both Ultima and Centurion would be easier than usual. Easier to be in top spender categories than usual, banks should be more desperate for fees, lesser people who get invited willing to spend.

  31. Sunil Patel

    A bit off topic. But would request if any card expert readers have experienced drop in credit limit post Corona Virus Pandemic. For your reference I am posting a link for your reference claiming Credit limit reduction for Axis Bank and Kotak Bank here : . Please post your experience.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Some of them have reported for Axis cards. Mine unaffected.

      Reply
    2. FreqFlyer

      Axis dropped mine by 50%. Doesn’t affect me since I haven’t used the card since December.

      Reply
    3. Rohit roy

      @Sunil Patel
      Did they inform before reducing ? Thats stupid move by bank not trusting the customers. Might be something to do with usage pattern too. If incase you have used more than due to lockdown and bank giving moratorium on that. Not sure the reason. By the way every year i get limit enhancement and there was no change on that.

      Reply
  32. AshishR

    yesbank also doing it
    limit reduced on exclusive card by 90%

    mine axis and kotak limits r untouched by now

    Reply
    1. Sunil Patel

      Gr8. Everyone please keep updating so that we can plan an analysis of the issue by Siddharth and may be an article if you (Siddharth) deem fit.

      Reply
      1. Nikhil Goel

        Holding cards from following banks. SBI, Axis, SC, HDFC Diners, ICICI, Kotak, AMEX, Yes Bank.
        None of them has reduced my credit limit. I guess they are doing limit reduction based on spending patterns to reduce their exposure. Since many people are facing job cuts and pay cuts. Banks are expecting people to spend more on credit cards and if (god forbid) any of them looses jobs, cards’ repayment wont be possible. So, based on spending and repayment appetite, banks are doing it.

        Reply
    2. Rohit roy

      @AshishR
      Any idea whether Yes bank is still issuing Credit cards post moratorium ?

      Reply
      1. SUNIL PATEL

        Yes, the CC department of yes bank is running normally. I received a verification call on 20th march for my application.

        Reply
        1. Shivi

          Lockdown started on 24th March. RBI announced measures in the last week of March & not before. You are talking of before covid emergency days.

          Reply
  33. S Padmanabhan

    I applied and got SBI prime card in Feb’20. I received the joining promotion sms which i think i deleted by mistake. Unable to view the same online in my card account. Also phone banking does not seem to work now. Is there a way bank can resend the sms.

    Reply
    1. SUNIL PATEL

      Try sending a DM on Facebook or twitter. Response and problem solving ratio is better than direct mail or calling .

      Reply
  34. SAI RANGA

    After reading post, if my guess is right, we are going to flood with lots of spend based offers from major banks, if not bank offers, might be VISA and MASTERCARD will be issuing them. Any thoughts on this?

    Reply
  35. Aakash

    1) Will credit card will come a bit down?
    2) will the Spend limit come down?
    3) Will any new credit would be introduced?

    Reply

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