HDFC 10X Rewards Program – October 2021 Update

By | October 27, 2021
HDFC 10X rewards Program

What is 10X Rewards?

HDFC 10X rewards is an accelerated rewards program that gets you 10X times more rewards than usual that you would get otherwise.

The program has set of partners only through which you can get 10X rewards and not with every merchant.

However, the 10X partners covers most of the needs like shopping, travel, etc so it ideally covers everything, especially after they added Amazon & Flipkart to the partners list.

Why is it Popular?

10X rewards program is popular especially because of 2 HDFC credit cards: HDFC Infinia & HDFC Diners Black because that could fetch you returns as good as 33% on your spends.

That means, if you spend 1Lakh, you get Rs.33,000 back. This is LOT, because the best reward rate in industry is usually in the range of ~3% and max ~10% on accelerated spends but it was never anywhere close to 33%.

So everyone who knows about rewards attempted to get Infinia or Diners Black and earned massive rewards. Some even created FD (which is not a great option to invest your money) just because of this 10X program.

I can easily say that 100’s of cardmembers earned over half a million reward points and 1000’s of them earned over 100K points just with the 10X rewards.

They’re almost equivalent to real money at 1:1 as they can be redeemed for flights & hotels. So now you know why its so popular 🙂

Types of 10X Rewards

They are multiple ways to earn 10X rewards. Initially they started this program for Diners Cards and then extended to other cards with the launch of HDFC smartbuy (a dedicated rewards portal from HDFC) which expands the 10X coverage to many cards.

Interestingly though, the Diners 10X program partners are currently paused (more on that later) but Smartbuy still continues. Here are more details:

Smartbuy

hdfc bank 10x rewards program - smartbuy

Smartbuy further has multiple merchants that could fetch you 10X/5X/3X rewards. These all used to be 10X rewards prior 1st June 2020

  • Amazon
  • Flipkart
  • Instant Vouchers
  • Hotels
  • Bus Booking
  • Train Bookings
  • Flight Bookings
  • Smartbuy Offer T&C (June 2020 Update)

Do refer to savings table for more info on which earns how much.

Diners Partners

Diners Partner merchants used to give 10X points for a long time but this has been temporarily paused due to Covid-19 as managing too many partners isn’t possible at this time, mostly because those merchant partners are facing tough times due to the impact of lockdown.

  • Update: HDFC brings back Diners 10X merchant partners this Nov 2020.

Savings

Here is how much you can save on respective categories as a part of Smart-buy 10X program.

CategoryInfinia/Diners Black (points)Other Cards (cashback)
Instant Vouchers33% (10X Rewards)5%
Flights / Hotels33% (10X Rewards)5%
Bus33% (10X Rewards)5%
Rail16.5% (5X Rewards)5%
Amazon16.5% (5X Rewards)5%
Flipkart9.9% (3X Rewards)1%
Compare & Shop9.9% (3X Rewards)1%

Max. Cap (Smartbuy)

Below are the max. caps of the Bonus rewards (9X, 4X & 2X) that you can earn through smartbuy, as on 1st June 2020

HDFC Credit Card VariantMax. Cap (per calendar month)
Infinia15,000 Points
Diners Black7,500 Points
Regalia / Diners Privilege Credit cardRs. 2,000 cashback
Other Credit / Debit card / Prepaid cardsRs. 1,000 cashback

Best Practices

Here are the best practices for purchasing to avail 10X rewards, especially for Flipkart & Amazon as that’s where most of them get issues.

Here’s the foolproof way to get the 10X rewards without fail. Even if you don’t get, following these steps will ensure you have a proof for escalation. Here are the steps to earn 10X rewards:

  1. Open Flipkart or Amazon or respective merchant from Smartbuy on Desktop. Don’t use Mobile apps or Mobile web. It creates unwanted tracking issues.
  2. Keep your products ready in Wishlist (if amazon/flipkart). Empty your cart.
  3. Keep your Video recording tool ready. Its easy on Mac.
  4. Now Open Flipkart or Amazon or other merchant via Smartbuy
  5. Goto your Wishlist, open the links and add to Cart. Better don’t add to cart directly from wishlist page.
  6. Better don’t open multiple tabs. Stay in one tab and add all to cart one by one.
  7. Now checkout, pay through your credit card.
  8. You may now stop the video. Take a snapshot of the confirmation page.
  9. You’re done!

While above is the fool-proof way, not all steps are required, but it helps just incase if anything goes wrong.

Also, for Flipkart, you don’t need video as you will anyway transact on their customised store url. So the full browser snapshot at checkout is sufficient.

For Amazon, you mostly get confirmation mail from Amazon within 24 hours mentioning ‘Your order#**** is completed through HDFC smartbuy’. You can use this mail as well in future for any disputes on bonus 9X.

Tracking Points

Despite the program being hugely successful, the only disadvantage of the HDFC 10X Rewards program or any other accelerated reward points program run by HDFC Bank is that its not easy to track them.

This issue is there for years together and the bank haven’t done anything about it.

It wouldn’t take a developer more than few hours to update their net-banking and statement to reflect the reward points against transactions but HDFC haven’t done it yet.

That maybe because they don’t want to do it. Reason being, it may increase redemptions, meaning more expenses to bank.

FYI, banks like ICICI & IndusInd reports reward points against each transaction.

So how to track HDFC 10X rewards?

Create & maintain your own Excel sheet and verify every 90 days whether the points are matching or not.

To reduce time spent on tracking, just track the high value transactions. Forget the rest and see if the numbers are more or less close. If there is a difference,

  • Call Infinia/DCB support and they should be able to tell you Reward points history for both billed & un-billed statements, transaction wise.
  • If calling doesn’t help, you may email them and ask to re-look into it.
  • If it still doesn’t help, you may ask for escalation via social media.

From my experience, they used to have lot of tracking issues in the past, but lately (since 2019) I’m not seeing any major difference in points.

Unable to get the difference in points despite following above steps? Do let us know in the comments below, other experts maybe able to help you out.

Updates & Changes

June 2020 Update

  • This program has seen countless updates since its launch but this is the major update, as the primary merchants (Amazon/Flipkart) have been moved from 10X to 5X & 3X respectively. Along with it max. caps for smartbuy too reduced for Infinia & DCB to 15K & 7.5K respectively. This marks a major devaluation of the program.

July – Oct 2020 Update

  • 10X Program extended through 31st Oct 2020 without any major changes.

Nov 2020 Update

  • Smartbuy 10X Program extended through 30th Nov 2020 without any major changes.
  • HDFC brings back Diners 10X Merchant partners.

Dec 2020 Update

May 2021 Update

  • CRED (Store & Travel) is now HDFC Diners 10X Partner.
  • CRED RentPay remains as a 2X Partner for May 2021

June 2021 Update

  • Swiggy is the new Diners 10X Partner.

August 2021 Update

  • Vijay Sales Instant Voucher is now available on HDFC Smartbuy.

FAQ’s

1. Is 10X rewards program still worth it?

Definitely, as long as you have Infinia or Diners Black as this program now makes sense only for super-premium cards.

And you still can earn 10X Rewards on instant vouchers, so you could save something or other. But I don’t think this would stay longer either.

2. Will 10X on Flipkart & Amazon return?

Before we predict, we must know the reason why it was gone. There are two main reasons: 1. the usual change, 2. due to Covid-19 outbreak.

Out of the two, Covid-19 is the primary one (I guess), reason being, they are already flooded with orders without any promotion and why would they spend for the promo at this point in time?

So it makes no sense for Amazon/Flipkart to run the program now, so its gone (almost). And I doubt its comeback under 10X in near future, but let’s hope it happens.

3. Will we get better Max. Cap in future?

I don’t think so. But current max. caps may stay for long as they’re pretty low for super premium cards anyway.

4. Should I close my Infinia/ Diners Black now?

As long as you can spend the required amount on respective cards to get the renewal fee waiver, it makes sense to hold, as 3.3% rewards is still a very good return on regular spends.

5. I can’t redeem points for travel now, so whats the point in holding?

You have about ~2 years (3 Yrs for Diners Black & Infinia) to spend the points you earn now. By then Covid-19 fear would be over and everyone would be travelling as usual (more or less).

Though, whether you & I will be alive or not is the major concern 😀

6. What can be done to make 10X rewards better?

Following the 10X rewards program updates EVERY SINGLE MONTH in such a PAIN. Wanting the top tier card members to follow new rules every other month is never fair either.

Ideally bank has to come up with quarterly or half-yearly updates to make the entire process smooth. Further, reporting regular & accelerated points transaction wise would give peace of mind for customers and less support calls for the bank.

Bottom line

Despite the changes HDFC 10X rewards program remains attractive, but of-course definitely not as good as it used to be. While the changes might not look good for most of us, its inevitable.

We saw a glimpse of these changes by April 2019 and seeing this happen after an year means a lot of time was already given. But if you’re new to the game, I feel sorry for you. I still wonder how they managed to run the 10X program for about 4 Yrs in a row.

That is unbelievable and HDFC bank definitely made a history with its 10X program. Its not just the bank, even a lot of customers earned tons of reward points in a short time that would instead take them a decade or two if they play the regular game.

That said, let’s hope HDFC finds new partners or put Amazon/Flipkart back to 10X soon to make a history, yet one more time. Meanwhile, what’s your thoughts about the major changes to 10X rewards program? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

865 thoughts on “HDFC 10X Rewards Program – October 2021 Update

  1. Binay

    I do think that 10X will return temporarily during Diwali and festivals for Amazon/Flipkart
    Also, Siddarth are u sure Diners Partners are temporairly removed ?
    If not, I will be applying for Infinia and giving up Diners.
    Please clarify

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      I’m 90% sure of that but it may take a while for the comeback given the current situation.

      Infinia is anyway a better option in most cases.

      Reply
      1. Chintan

        I believe Diners Partners will return in some form as fee for the black card is 10k which is similar to Infinia card. But who knows like they also give those memberships with the Black Card.

        Reply
      2. Arpit

        +1 if diners partner program is not more, then it definitely makes sense to move to infinia.
        Atleast diners acceptance issue is solved!

        Reply
      3. Harshit

        Hi Siddharth,

        I have Diners Black; in fact just got it in January this year. This devaluation came as a rude shock to me in spite of many comments on this website and other forums about its inevitable demise. I am now trying to see if I should upgrade to Infinia or stick to Diners Black. If you could clarify on one thing, it would be great. Infinia has an annual charge of INR 10,000 plus 18% GST. Against that, we get 10,000 points. In case, I spend more than 8 lakhs in a year, annual charges are waived off. In such a scenario, do I get the 10,000 points. The bank’s website says points will be credited on realization of annual fee. Is that really the case or do we get points irrespective of spending 8 lakhs in the preceding year.

        Reply
        1. Tejas Ghongadi

          No, you dont get 10,000 Points if you get Annual Fee Waiver.

          Reply
    2. GCA

      Confirmed with DCB Customer Support, Partner 10X is temporarily stopped due to Covid-19. Was told it will be back after the lockdown ends.

      Reply
      1. Dhaval

        Instant voucher still shows 10x reward points, any idea how that may turn up for Amazon voucher?

        Reply
        1. Nishant Patel

          there’s a limit of buying 5k amazon and 5k flipkart vouchers.

          i’ve bought them both 🙂 and will continue to buy them every month and stock it up for eventual purchase. Its a sleek way to still get full 33% cashback benefit on infinia and diners black (i have two each in the family).

          Reply
          1. George Mathews

            Hi Nishant,

            How are you using the Flipkart vouchers. Still trying to unlock some value from them other than regular shopping of electronics, etc.. are you able to pay bills,recharge etc with them?

            Thanks!

          2. bhunesh

            hi , can you post the link where they have mentioned 5k limit …it would be helpful . unable to find out.

          3. ranpreet

            but what if they stop the 10X on vouchers from next month ?

          4. Irshad

            How to buy instant vouchers from smart buy ?

          5. Madhav Boddapu

            Are you sure? I am trying to buy Amazon voucher for the past 2 days. Looks like amazon voucher is removed

          6. Joyce

            When I tried to buy Amazon voucher today worth 5k, below was the breakup shown of the site:
            Upfront Discount: ₹ 0
            Regular Reward Points: 165
            Bonus Reward Points: 1485
            Value of Reward Points: ₹ 1650
            Net Effective Price: ₹ 3350

            Can you or anyone in this league, explain how the last 2 values have been calculated or arrived at? Please bear with my ignorance in this area. Thanks in anticipation.

    3. Nitish Midha

      You can purchase vouchers of partners brand from Instant voucher section. So go for Infinia.

      Reply
  2. Chintan

    I use mobile app for amazon and it works fine. I do receive email as well after a successful amazon transaction through SmartBuy. I guess there are more factors connected to it when you use it through phones. Specifically for me it works.

    Reply
    1. Eshwar

      Can you please tell us the process of using amazon via smartbuy on mobile?

      Reply
      1. Chintan

        Ya. Just go to the SmartBuy home page in browser, select amazon give your cell number and last 4 digits of your card. You ll then land in Amazon application, search and place your order that’s it.

        Reply
  3. Nihar Das

    Nice article Sid ! It made a good read .
    Somehow I waited till midnight yesterday to track this on smart buy. Let’s hope 10X on Amazon and Flipkart are back , not just throw GV.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Glad you liked it.

      Yes, many were restless since past 3 days. 🙂

      Reply
      1. Manish jain

        want to know about any other bank’s card which reward point is similar to dinners black also gives 10x rewards ?

        Reply
  4. Sree

    Fantastic article Sid. I own a regalia and i still feel something is better than nothing. HDFC is way better than what most of its competitors offer. So i guess we can all still use the benefits till they last even if they’re slightly lesser than they used to be.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Glad you like the article.

      That’s true. Let’s hope they’ve better promos for Diwali.

      Reply
  5. Vaibhab

    Hi. Could you share some light on how much FD would be required to get a good card with HDFC?

    Reply
    1. Eshwar

      I called the customer care recently and they require a 12L FD for now.

      Reply
      1. MrNightStar

        12L FD for DCB?!
        Last i checked they wanted 625k fd for which they would give 80% limit which is bare minimum 500k for DCB.

        Reply
      2. AJ

        It is 11L, but you will need to push them for it. Normally they will ask for 12L only.

        Reply
  6. Mouli

    Sid,

    I think for a year you are predicting this .
    HDFC introduced the new version of DCB and most are paid variant now and most of us chosen this card mainly for the 10x ,though the acceptance is less.

    Now HDFC has to add more in Diners Partners category else its tough for HDFC moving ahead
    Though its a heartbreaking still I earned good number of points and owe it to this forum to inform me about this program
    Hope something will return.

    When all good things has to come to an end ,this is the best in the credit card industry and it has to end at some point so not complaining much

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      I’m sure they would do something or other, if not they wouldn’t have run this program for this long. But the Covid-19 situation might delay them, as partners too wont be interested in burning cash now.

      Reply
  7. Aman Gupta

    What are the other recommended ways to redeem these rewards apart from travel? Not sure when the travel will return 😐

    Reply
  8. Mayank

    @Prashant. Can You share the link for the Savings account offer that have DCB LTF?

    Reply
    1. Prashant Gupta

      Hi
      U can talk to RM. *** PFB the content of mail

      Dear Sir/Madam,

      Greetings of the day !!

      Hope you are keeping safe and healthy.
      HDFC Bank has come out with an exclusive offer for you, If you choose to open a savings account with us, your existing charged card will be converted into a “lifetime free card” and you also get to earn additional reward points:

      Diners Black- 5000 Rewards point
      Regalia- 3500 Reward points

      Reply
    2. Prashant Gupta

      @Mayank.
      U need to talk to the RM and tell them about the offer. Its only for thise Who have Regalia and DCB. I submitted my documents today and selected an a/c no. 😀 a nice one. Lets see if i get my infinia ltf as verbally promised.

      Reply
      1. GTMAX

        Hi Prashant,

        Are you referring to some currently running offer? And if there is any offer source to share with the RM as they won’t be aware about it.

        Reply
      2. Siva

        Hi Prashant and mayank… . Can you tell us about this offer in detail.. I think I missed your earlier statements… Or I can’t find it in the current comments section.

        Reply
      3. Parida

        @Prashant, can you pls give some details abt the offer (if not the link)? I’ll talk to my RM.

        Reply
      4. Umesh

        Prashant – Did you get the LTF free card ? I spoke to my RM and says there is no such offers going on.. He is saying if we can provide any reference who got such offer, he can try once again..

        Reply
        1. Prashant Gupta

          There is. I am getting regular email. Account is opened, they say it will take 45 days for status change of card. Will update then.
          The offer on regalia and dcb is 5000 points and ltf.

          Reply
  9. Naval Kala

    I am holding an Infinia card. It is understandable that the earlier offer was extreme and was sustained much longer than expected. Now no more amazing as it used to be for sure. However, the thing which has disappointed me the most is the devaluation of the cash value of the points.

    It is not wrong, however, either we should have been given a certain time frame to use/redeem the accumulated points before rolling it out or it should have been effective for new points generation. I used the card excitedly in the last year in hopes of using /redeeming the value this year. But to my shock, they have devalued the points. Frankly, HDFC has disappointed me for the manner they have handled the transition.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Yes, HDFC doesn’t have the habit of informing these important changes via email despite them being best at emailers.

      This is because if they shoot an email, a LOT of them who are unaware of it will start redeeming. Not good for them.

      Anyway, do call them and inform that you’re disappointed about this. It might help for future updates.

      Reply
      1. Vinit Lenka

        What was the devaluation? I might have missed that. Can you please clarify.

        For DCB, is 1 point not equal to 1 rupee anymore for travel(hotel/flight) redemption?

        Reply
        1. JD

          it is .. they are talkin about converting your points to cash

          Reply
      2. Anil Nagesh

        Sir recently my card has been upgraded to LTF Diners Black card from Regalia Card.. I need few details from you:
        1)They Confirmed me that only 50% of my existing points will transferred to Diners Black..
        2) Are these points redeemable to Cash.
        3)If yes then,1 Point is equal to how much when converted to cash
        4) For instance if I buy vouchers worth 1000 either from Amazon or Flipkart is says that I would be receiving 10x rewards which is equal to 330…
        4) When will this points be added to my account… Will I have an option to immediately convert that into Cash..

        Reply
        1. MT

          1. ratio is 50% as total value of your points in Rs. terms remains the same
          2. yes redeemable for cash as statement credit
          3. 1point = 30paisa (Rs. 0.3) for cash , 50paisa for instant vouchers , 1rs for hdfc smartbuy travel redemptions
          4. 1x points will be credited immediately ( redeemable after statement generation) , 9x within 3 months from end of transaction month
          5. within 3 working days from redemption

          Reply
  10. Ashin

    I’m just happy that the change is only for SmartBuy 10x offer and not to the reward point ratio of 1:1 for my Infinia. I’ve more than 150K reward point and it’d hurt if they decide to reduce it before covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      They wont touch Infinia that soon on conversion ratio, so less to worry.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      @Ashin
      That would not happen because it is case of fraud and I have already escalated about that few years before.
      I have seen many complaining with DCB not being value now after changes. I would like to say that few years back there was no 10x for amazon and flipkart and instant voucher was introduced recently. Which means you make max out of 10x only for international flights .Now with instant voucher worst case 2k to 3k is easily earned in a month for groceries .So even if you pay 12k easily 30k + points equivalent can be earned. Also people who are buying in flipkart can covert it into EMI to earn every month 7500. Still a great card and dont cancel it .

      Reply
      1. Nihal

        Bro how to use instant voucher? I bought it from smart buy and used it in amazon. But didnt get 10X reward points.

        Reply
  11. Satish Sundar

    I think one difference for people who can meet the minimum spend criteria for Diners is the welcome rewards you get every year, not really sure if that is matched in Infinia. If that is also removed, then Diners black becomes worthless.

    Reply
  12. Jimeet Gala

    A very good and detailed article Sid. Btw, can u share a excel (to track 10x points) template or a screenshot of how u have made that, wud be easy and useful to make one. Thanks in advance. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      I personally don’t track them on sheet lately as I’ve reduced 10X spends a lot since 2018.

      But yes, will work on the sheet shortly. Thanks for asking.

      Reply
      1. PANKAJ

        Nice article Sid. Very well presented.
        I would also request to share the excel sheet and that will be very useful for us.. Thanks !

        Reply
      2. Abhishek Lakhotia

        Hey Siddharth, any other bank card which you would suggest to compensate for the loss or having erstwhile benefits of HDFC DCB or Infinia.

        Reply
      3. Zaheer Thaha

        Hey Siddharth, that be much helpful for a lot of us.

        Had maxed out the infinia 10x on the last day of May and had in past would have done at least every alternative month, but never could track the points credit properly and was going on with good faith.

        One such sheet or a tracking mechanism would be appreciated as HDFC is not providing much clarity and now there are delays than the usual.

        Between superb article, kudos !!!

        Reply
    2. Ashwin Kumar

      Great article Siddharth..I am having a Diners club black card…Please let me know how to instant voucher thing works..Let’s say If I take a Flipkart voucher of 5000 rs can it be used to buy anything on Flipkart platform or are there any exclusions.?

      Reply
      1. PANKAJ

        You can buy anything on flipkart but you wont be able to do do a utility bill payments/flight booking etc. However oif you buy Amazon voucher you can do anything you want to..

        Reply
        1. Madhav

          Looks like Amazon voucher options is removed
          Has anyone generated Amazon voucher in June?

          Reply
    3. Ragul N

      Very surprised to hear 10x offer.

      Since amazon has 5x offer (16 percent), if I order a product with cart value 20k through smartbuy, I will get 3200 RP which is equal to Rs3200 with which I can book a DOMESTIC FLIGHT TICKET.

      Is it true?

      Reply
  13. Angmar

    I have q clubmiles card, and was planning on having it upgraded to DCB. Would that still make sense or is it better to go for Infinia?

    Separately, in case the upgrade does not go ahead, is there an alternative which gives roughly the same value as DCB or even ClubMiles, which is now just a cashback card?
    Thanks..

    Reply
  14. Manveet

    As always an engaging article Sidhharth.
    But really disappointing news. It seems they have also devalued redemption of reward points especially for vouchers such as Amazon such are now giving a meagre 15paise value for every 1 point. It seems Hdfc infinia now no more the king of credit cards except if use is for travelling. If redeemed for cash, reward points value offering seems to be only 0.9% for every Re 1 spent.
    Would request Siddharth to please come up with a updated list of card offering latest comparison for reward offerings.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Cash was never a primary option of redemption for Infinia Cardholders. It only complicates your life with taxes.

      Reply
    2. DHARNIDHAR GUNDU

      What devaluation are you referring to Manveet i still see amazon 1000rs voucher available for 2000 points like earlier. I have diners black card

      Reply
      1. A.A

        It has changed now to INR 0.15 per 1 point. Doesnt make any sense though since cash redemption is INR 0.3 per 1 point.

        Still, a huge disappointment since amazon was giving redemption of INR 0.5 per 1 point earlier.

        Reply
        1. nikhil

          Redemption to amazon vouchers is still at 0.5 per 1 point. I can buy 1000 amazon voucher for 2000 points. I have DCB card, if it shows something else for you then contact cc.

          Reply
      2. Shashank

        I have Regalia Credit card with limit of 3 lakhs and holding it from April. How can i get my card upgraded to Diners Black .

        Reply
    3. Rama Gurubaran

      You can buy Amazon voucher at 50p per point on Diners smartbuy site.

      Reply
      1. Rajiv

        How to redeem points for voucher on Smartbuy site. Whenever I select a voucher on Smartbuy site and go to cart, only option available is payment by card / NetBanking / payzapp etc. There is no option to pay by points. Please advice.

        Reply
        1. Rama Gurubaran

          I hope you are there on “Diners Smartbuy” site. There you can click on Rewards and after logging in , you will be seeing amazon vouchers.

          Reply
  15. Dr Pankaj Gupta

    Does cashback offer for Regalia also applicable for Business Regalia ? I was given Business Regalia as I was self employed professional.

    Reply
  16. Ankur

    Hi Sid,

    Great Analysis.

    But I have one thought, previously many people got points and they did not redeemed it so hdfc would not have incurred direct hit but now they will be giving out cashback, so this will be direct expense and people will be able to calculate easily too based on transaction value as it will have to be shown in statement.

    Did hdfc went for simplified devaluation to soften the blow ?

    Reply
  17. Karan Singh

    Sid,
    I never see you mention the hotel benefits [unless i missed it] one gets with DCB, like offers from Manadarian Oriental group and Signature hotel group , through which i have many a times booked at Shangrila in YVR and HKG and got upgraded and got 100 usd hotel credit,
    I have even found their rates a tad better than on Amex Plat charge card
    I dont think Infinia offers anything similar, except for the Visa Infinite program (which is there on any other Visa Infinite card as well]

    Nice article, and totally agree wrt the Transparency of crediting points

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      I’ve never used those benefits. Will explore.
      Most of us here just stay on points 🙂

      Reply
    2. A.A

      Can you explain this – what are these offers and how do you get them?

      Reply
    3. Akshat

      Hi Karan
      CC and concierge are mute on this.

      Can you guide towards these benefits(any link or webpage)
      Thanks

      Reply
      1. Karan Singh

        Hi,
        Had posted the signature hotel benefits with a link , but for some reason it has not got posted ,
        I had mentioned that it made sense just Amex FHR for high end properties
        Regards

        Reply
  18. Dhruv Soni

    Hi all,

    Even if Amazon is now having 5x rewards i/o 10x previously, we can still buy vouchers upt0 5k each month which would fetch us 10x, right?

    Reply
      1. Ashish

        we can buy vouchers by login in from different phone numbers into Gyftr Account
        The restriction of 5000 is on each Gyftr account but not on a card

        Is that right?

        Reply
        1. Abhishek

          Terms and conditions mentions sign up for instant voucher with different credentials and should not be same as smartbuy. What does that mean .

          Reply
        2. Kamal

          I tried that thing but received the points (remaining 9x) for only 1. So, don’t try it.

          Reply
      2. Avinash

        HI Siddharth,

        Thanks for the article. I was searching for the 10x offer yesterday but couldnt find it. This article cleared my doubts. As you said HDFC should have sent a mail to inform changes.

        I have a follow up question to Dhruv.

        I never used the instant vouchers option in smart buy. Correct my below statements if wrong

        1. Instant vouchers purchased on smartbuy will give 10x reward points.
        2. We can use this vouchers in Amazon/Flipkart and it would be similar to getting 10x reward points
        3. If 1,2 are true then purchasing vouchers and using on Amazon/Flipkart is better than direct purchase.

        Reply
        1. Manzil Bora

          You are correct. But only 5K each in a block of 30/31 days. So once bought, you can’t buy for next 30 days. (it is not calendar month).

          Reply
        2. Dhruv Soni

          Hi Avinash,

          All above mentioned points are correct, short and crisp, buying from Amazon from vouchers is now more lucrative than direct purchases.

          Reply
      3. Vinit Lenka

        Is it combined cap of Rs 5000/month across brands or Rs 5000 per brand/category? I can see the terms of Rs 5000/month for Flipkart and Amazon Gift Voucher(GV) page but there is no such rule/terms for Big Bazaar, More etc.

        So if I buy 5000 Amazon and 5000 Flipkart GVs in a month, will I get 10x reward on both? Has anyone tried it?

        Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Dhruv Soni
      You can keep accumulating same with flipkart, But amazon 5k goes of for electricity /water bill. very difficult to save.
      It would be great if Paytm gift cards are out 🙂 since most states are not available in amazon.

      Reply
  19. Pranab

    Great article Sid.
    One suggestion: We need not the tracking part. You’ve already mentioned about Flipkart, like to add one more point in that. If go through smartbuy, the payment option is only HDFC cards and Payzapp. So, no tracking issues.

    For Amazon, within 24 hours we’re getting a confirmation mail from Amazon mentioning ‘Your order#**** is completed through HDFC smartbuy’. We can use this mail in future for any disputes on bonus 9X.

    Also like to thank you as only after getting information from you, I opted for Infinia last August. I was having it pre-approved (FYF) for the last 4 months prior to it but sceptical to go for it as they were treating my nobroker transactions as Paytm wallet load and not crediting any points. I was fed-up contacting and explaining them every month.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Thanks for the inputs. Have added them to article.

      Yes, HDFC wasn’t giving points on any Paytm Gateway txn, have seen once during in-store Paytm txn too which purchasing a mobile.

      Reply
      1. Ankur

        Funny, I was getting 3.3% RP on paytm wallet loads for several months on my DCB. But on my latest statement, I didnt.

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          They give you & then they revoke. Are you sure its not revoked?

          Reply
          1. Murad

            I am receiving reward points for electrical bill payment and gas cylinder bookings on PayTm and never revoked. The final payments are completed by Infinia Credit Card. #

          2. Ankur

            Yes, it wasn’t revoked for last 3-4 months. They revoked only on the spend on the latest statement. Now, to move back all my wallet reloads to Amex.
            [The benefits of maintaining a detailed excel sheet for HDFC RP]

            They have glitches, once a while. For example, all my redgiraffe rent payments made by Payzapp are marked by them as insurance for some reason. (helped me get 2000 bonus RP per month on their insurance 5X offer from Nov-Mar for no reason.. haha)

          3. GTMAX

            Ankur,

            That Redgiraffe 5X is not a glitch. Redgiraffe would have got themselves listed as Insurance category merchant as they started offering Insurance products/services from Oct/Nov. And people already paying rent through Redgiraffe got this additional benefit of 2000 points every month.

        2. Akshat

          Hi Ankur

          How do you get transaction wise point summary.

          In my experience cc guys are lazy around it. I have to spell each transaction to know about the points accrued, they dont really communicate transaction wise points in one go making the process a tad dragging.

          Reply
          1. Ankur

            Before starting, I tell them clearly what I want and how I want it.. Example, first – billed items for that statement date wise, with amount and RP; then bonus points, date of posting it, etc. You get my point.

            Once in a while you might get some CC person who is really bad at telling things clearly. I usually realize it in the first few minutes. I just tell them to forget it, and give a call back. Most probably I will be connected to someone better.

    2. Sudheer

      Pranab, if you complain about No broker transaction of not getting points, are you getting points?

      Reply
    3. Ankit

      Is anyone getting mail confirmation for amazon saying ‘Your order#**** is completed through HDFC smartbuy’? Did 2 transaction recently didnt get any mail

      Reply
      1. Kiran

        It depends, some products I get confirmation with in 24 hours and few after 2-3 days.

        But I’m getting confirmation on all smart buy transactions.

        Cheers,
        Kiran

        Reply
      2. Rama Gurubaran

        I haven’t received that email even once for Amazon. I used to receive sms for Flipkart transactions and not that also stopped.

        Reply
    4. Sachin

      I have never got a confirmation mail from Amazon for smartbuy transactions. But points get credited in 90-120 days. I login to smartbuy, navigate to amazon from smartbuy, lands on smartbuy page, search for the item, add to cart and then place order with hdfc card. Any idea what I am missing here.

      Reply
    5. Murad

      Even with Flipkart, I recommend to make video while doing transaction through SmartBuy. I had the final confirmation page screenshot of my one transaction for iPhone 11 Pro worth 100K and HDFC said its not went through SmartBuy. This was purchased in Nov2019. Currently the issue is escalated with both (Flipkart and HDFC) Senior Managements and ongoining.

      Reply
      1. Murad

        Finally after 6 months of escalation with both Flipkart and HDFC Senior Managements today, I received the pending 34600 reward points for my Nov2019 EMI transaction on Flipkart. Since I opted for EMI, iPhone 11 Pro cost me for around INR73800. Actual cost was INR113900.

        Reply
  20. Harshit

    Do you know any alternate credit card which can now compete with Infinia/Diners black.
    Since the valuation is reduced, there must be other bank credit cards which provide 10x reward point system just like HDFC. I am only aware that yesBank has something called as yesCart which works on similar concept.

    Reply
  21. Milan

    I was planning to upgrade from HDFC jet privilege platinum to Regalia first? Is the upgrade still worth it?

    Hdfc Jet privilege used to provide me 8 lounge access every year and in 2020 they silently made it Domestic only lounge

    Reply
  22. Saurabh

    Thanks for sharing this info.

    I wanted some clarification on the 5x reward point on amazon.
    This means Diners black customers will receive 25 points for every 150 Rs spent via Smart Buy portal on Amazon right?

    Reply
    1. Ramesh Kumar

      Yes, but 1x you’ll receive within 2-3 days from date of transaction and remaining 4x within 90 days.

      Reply
    2. Harshit Jaiswal

      Correct, 5 points (1x) in a day and 20 points after 90 days

      Reply
    3. CHALAM

      Correct.
      But try to grab Insta vouchers, You will get 50.

      Reply
  23. Rohit

    You have mentioned points validity is 2 years. For infinia/DCB is it not 3 years ?
    Also regalia users who are upset I guess previously it was max of 5000 points/month and now it is Rs 2000 which is 4000 points equivalent so You guys have not lost much when it comes to limit.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Sohail
      As per bank infinia is only through invitation and if you apply they would ask ITR of 60 lakh plus. I am not sure after devalue of DCB they are offering infinia . Might be you can let us know after you enquire with bank,

      Reply
  24. Vinith

    Hi,
    Why don’t we all put out a mail to our relationship manager about being upset regarding the changes done towards DCB and Infinia.

    Sid, why don’t you draft out a mail and we all could proactively mail the same. It has worked earlier. Should work this time also.

    Reply
  25. Vishvesh Kumar

    Good article sidharth, The smartbuy mob app works fine for amazon and flipkart. Your suggestions is well taken to maintain excel sheet for transactions.
    Furter i would highlight that in last 2-3 month , the HDFC has distrubuted diners balck card like anything. Every one from HDFC was like giving diners black to everyone . I was
    In doubt that how they are distributing 33% value back . Now the things are clear to me.

    Reply
  26. deva

    Thanks sid for t article..finally rumour became tomour as said by someone …
    And what would happen to the flipkart samrtbuy emi transaction which was donr on may month ?..will it get earlier 10x or 3x..and will max cap on reward points for infinia change based on the previous 10x flipkart emi transaction..

    Reply
  27. SAS

    Hi Sid, thanks for sharing. one more good thing is, Now Pay with Payzapp at Merchant websites (not sure about payzapp app payments) also earns 10X rewards with Diners/Infinia added already on Payzapp account. I think other cards also earn rewards as mentioned on the TnC.

    Reply
      1. Rohit

        @Nipun Jain
        No where it is mentioned (checked with payzaap). Just a fake info SAS has got it.

        Reply
    1. GTMAX

      Where is this mentioned? 10X for merchant payments with Payzapp?

      Reply
      1. Akshat

        Terms and Conditions: “Offer Applicable on Pay with PayZapp option too. The offer as per the linked card used for completing the transaction would be applicable.”

        Not sure if this applies to payzapp wallet payments too.

        Reply
    2. ATS

      Pay with Payzapp was giving only 1x rewards for all HDFC cards. Do you have any offer email/URL for 10x on the same? Please share. Thanks.

      Reply
  28. Rahul Verma

    Hey Sid,
    Since the instant vouchers still have 10X points, I can go ahead and buy Flipkart voucher and then use that. This way I will still be getting 10X points. Is this understanding correct?

    Reply
  29. Mr

    Do we still get Amazon/flipkart 10x points even if we pay partially using vouchers?

    Can someone confirm?

    Reply
    1. Ravindra Saini

      Yes. I have tried this and I got 10X reward points 2-3 months back. The only caveat is that we cannot have HDFC card discount (if any) on the product that we are purchasing if we make partial payment using vouchers and rest using the card. This is the difference between having 10X through vouchers vs directly through Smartbuy- previously double dip (HDFC card discount + 10X) was possible and not it is not.

      Reply
      1. Akshat

        Are you sure about this?

        Tnc clearly say for full payment across all categories.

        The way i see it if you use amazon pay balance or any promotion on amazon or any other site then that takes precedence and the 10x rule does not apply, resultant you get only 1x points for these transactions even though you land through smartbuy.

        can others clarify please.

        Reply
        1. Nikhil

          You get 10X on the amount paid by card even if it is partial paid. It’s clearly mentioned in T&C of smartbuy 10X. Please read it.

          Reply
          1. Akshat

            @nikhil: “transaction eligibility: Applicable for Full payment across all categories (on flights / Hotels / Bus / Rail/ Instant Vouchers / Flipkart store/ Amazon store / compare and shop section / Exprience booking and DTH recharge in SmartBuy)”

            Are you sure you aren’t referring to an outdated condition.

            Smartbuy page doesn’t have anything on partial payments

          2. Nikhil

            Yes, this seems to be new update fro June, In past I have got 10X by paying partially. They have update their t&c. This changes things for those who are buying amazon/flipkart vouchers.

        2. Ravindra Saini

          Agree to your points. Not sure if ‘full payment’ condition was there before June update. I purchased an item in February’2020 worth Rs. 8499 and paid Rs. 5000 using gift card and rest Rs. 3499 using DCB. I maintain an excel sheet and my calculation showed 115 RP (1X) got credited after T+2 days and 1035 RP (9X) got credited after T+3 days. It would be great is someone else has tried it too and confirm. However, it makes sense to try again after June’s big update.

          Reply
  30. Arvind

    Hi Sid I have a DC for more than 9 months now how do I apply for infinia and will the RP be carried over to infinia (as generally HDFC does not permit 2 super premium cards)

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @arvind
      If you ask for Infinia you should show 60 + lakh ITR. Inspite of me having invitation for Infinia they didnt give the card since they were desperate to see my ITR of 60 plus. Also they made it clear for LTF card ,it varies from customer to customer. Bank has no concrete rules at all. Might be you can try and let us know about your upgrade.

      Reply
    2. rajesh

      You get all the points transferred if you upgrade from diners to infinia and the eligibility is 40 lakhs ITR. Proof- I did it recently.

      Reply
  31. Abhishek

    Hey Sid

    Well summarized. Frankly I feel so gutted with this change.

    What are you thought in devaluation on existing points for the present 1:1 to a lower Re equivalent.

    I feel so unsecured about it because have accrued about 1.5 million points as on date.

    Reply
  32. Sourav

    Hi Siddharth,
    Thanks for the detailed article. I think all good things come to an end oneday. I have been earning lot of points since 2017 and still many left in my card now as there are no travel plans.
    One thing I wanted to check if there has been a devaluation of the reward ratio for cash also in DCB. It was 50p earlier.
    And this sms you mentioned, I have never received it. Most of the month I notice lots of points in the statement and never tried to check against transactions. Earlier there was a sms that 9x reward point will be credited after 3 months. But this has also stopped now. Do I need to call them to enable the sms you have mentioned ?

    Reply
    1. Akshat

      yes its 30p now.

      no sms, if you order through amazon via smartbuy you get a mail from amazon confirming it was a smartbuy purchase. It usually is sent 24hours post order completion.

      Reply
      1. VV

        Sometimes, you get a mail and sometimes you don’t. However, I have received 9x for the times when I didn’t receive the mail also always.

        Reply
  33. Chintan

    I guess with reduced max cap HDFC has more control on spend then ever, just imagine after a few months if they declare that for just one month the cap will be 25000 each then every customer will opt for getting it while till it was regular people use to just take it for granted.

    Reply
  34. Saransh

    So does that mean diners club miles is completely worthless now? No 10x even upto 2k points?

    Reply
    1. Saurabh

      Yes…sort of. Even Regalia suffered huge setback and is completely worthless now. An entry level card like SBI SimplyClick now has better reward rate than these so called premium cards (upto 2 Lakhs spend).
      Only DCB and Infinia are the true premium cards from HDFC in true sense now. Or maybe we need to downgrade our definition of premium now.

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        Regalia was useless when the cap was 5000 max points. I enjoyed the benefit of regalia when there was no cap at all and also I used to use priority pass every year for international travels.I cancelled regalia when the points were maxed at 5000. And now this card is only good if you use priority pass.

        Reply
  35. CHALAM

    Dcb is a fantastic card. Despite of my tours and vacation once in 3 or 4 months, now i’m holding more than 1.9 Lakh points. For the past >2 years all my flight and Hotel bookings are free.
    You need not worry about points credit. some times some delay, but you will get definitely. Just go through the procedure said to buy. I got more points than my approximate calculation. Several times Hdfc runs promotions , sometimes which they wont even come to our notice / simply you forget.
    The combination of Hdfc and Amazon is terrific. First priority is always insta vouchers.
    You will also get 10 X ( now 5x ) for purchasing Amazon pay physical gift cards. Confirmed from my side.
    This balance can be used for anything. mobile / DTH recharges etc.
    And for petrol I always ( most of times ) use HPCL gift card available at amazon ( which can be used in limited Hpcl bunks with special swipe machine ) , which you can purchase through smartbuy or directly with pay balance. So 33% savings on fuel…..

    Reply
    1. Ramesh V L

      Hello CHALAM,

      …. tours and vacation once in 3 or 4 months, now i’m holding more than 1.9 Lakh points. For the past >2 years all my flight and Hotel bookings are free. THIS IS AWESOME!
      Sitting on 1.9 lakh points even after free trips for >2 years !!!

      We really need more tips from you to get such points especially with the current scenario where earning points is lot more difficult.

      Reply
      1. CHALAM

        It just depends on your spending , Mine around 50 to 60K per month.
        Current scenario difficult to get in those huge numbers.

        Reply
    2. Rohit

      @CHALAM
      Amazon pay instant voucher remains 10x not 5x. Only if you buy products from amazon it would be 5x. Rather buy vouchers for 10x ,accumulate then purchase . Can you throw some more info on HPCL gift card(Drive track plus card) . I checked at amazon and minimum denomination is 2500 + 100 delivery charges from seller Woohoo ? How can we check balance in the prepaid card once debited from card ? Also HPCL gift card is not available in smartbuy .

      Reply
      1. CHALAM

        Yeah its a prepaid card , I always purchase with highest denomination available. ( Just ignore that 100 /- shipping charges in comparison with rewards ). 10000 Denomination con be used for 4 months in my case.
        as i mentioned it can be used in some bigger bunks with their proprietary swipe machine. The remaining balance visible on the slip generated after every use.
        Its available in Amazon. can buy through … Smart buy > Amazon etc. The usual procedure like when you buy an article.
        Disclamer:: Totally my personal user experience. Neither promoting nor working with them.

        Reply
        1. Malav rana

          I didn’t find any this of voucher in Amazon.
          Can you help to find out this HPCL voucher.

          Reply
        2. Rohit

          @CHALAM
          Thanks for the info . I checked with HPCL near my home and they indeed said it works. My question now is how do we activate it,set pin ? HPCL office said that with phone number payment can be made. How are we going to assign phone number to a gift card received from amazon. I did not get that part. I never knew smartbuy->amazon->gift card used to fetch 10x.Do we also get 5x for smartbuy->amazon-> mobile recharge ? I used to use amazon pay balance for bill payments. By the way no one promotes here and all end users and are here to fetch the best of their cards 🙂 so no one will mistake you.

          Reply
          1. CHALAM

            The card comes with default PIN of ” 0000 ” ( four zeros ). On your first swipe you have to change it to the desired one. No phone number is assigned or I dont know that part. You need to select “CARD SALE ” option on swipe machine.
            In my view any item couriered will fetch the rewards. In that way the physical Gift cards too.
            I always use mobile or utility payment with Pay Balance which i accrued through Insta voucher / Gift card.

      2. CHALAM

        Insta vouchers are 10X.
        But there is amazon physical gift cards , which can be purchased like any other item, which will be couriered. this will give now 5x ( previously 10x )

        Reply
        1. Harshit

          Hey Chalam,

          Great advise.I did take pepperfry gift card sometime back and did receive the reward points.
          We can also purchase Insta voucher of flipkart from smartbuy. Do you know a hack in flipkart through which we can redeem it for our daily use. Amazon gift cards can be used in mobile, bill payment so it always get consumed but flipkart card are hard to use. As of now , I am using it for supermarket purchase as bigbasket voucher have been removed from instaVoucher list.
          Do you have done any hack for the flipkart gift card then please let me know.

          Reply
        2. Ashish

          Just wanted to confirm. If you buy any physical gift card from amazon by going to the site via smartbuy you still get 5x points in the spends ( thought you don’t get points on gift cards?)

          Reply
        3. manoj singh

          Chalam
          Is this hpcl card for Amazon 5X still working. Can we still buy and get 5X points. Please throw some light on the same

          Reply
          1. CHALAM

            I didn’t tried in the recent past. But It should give like any other item. Should go through in proper way . Smartbuy > card, Phone number > Amazon …. etc.
            Thanks.

    3. George Mathews

      Thanks, Siddharth for shedding light on the new changes in 10x rewards. Looks like the end of the golden age of Indian credit cards. Thanks for all the guidance that helped us make the most of the 10x rewards.

      Is there any way to move the money in Flipkart vouchers purchased on the isnta vouchers site to phone pe balance?

      While Amazon Pay is basically enabling that, FLipkart voucher to Phone pe would make it cash equivalent given that Phone pe is also accepted in lots of places.

      Anyone who has done this ps let us know. Free beer from my end 🙂

      Thanks!
      George Mathews

      Reply
      1. Murad

        @George Mathews,

        Can you guide the way on moving money from Amazon pay to Phone Pe?

        Reply
    4. Dhruv Soni

      Hi Chalam,

      The HPCL card thing sounds fabulous, fantastic find, thanks for that.

      Do you see any list of pumps which accept this? Or shall we just go by hit and trial around us?

      Reply
  36. Ramesh V L

    Hi Experts,

    I can still see the offer in HDFC diners web site as below with validity of 1-30 June, only change is in max. cap.
    Am I missing anything?

    **********************
    Enjoy Up to 10X Reward Points & more on SmartBuy

    (Offer Valid from 1st June to 30th June 2020)

    Now enjoy up to 10X Reward Points on HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Credit Cards.on purchases via SmartBuy while you Compare and Shop, Compare and Fly and with brands like Flipkart, Amazon, RedBus, Cleartrip & Yatra, etc.
    Maximum cap on the incremental 9X Rewards is 7500 in a calendar month.
    Get up to 5% CashBack on Diners Club® Privilege, Diners Club Rewardz, Diners Premium Credit Cards, Diners ClubMiles on purchases made via SmartBuy.
    Maximum cap on the CashBack is 2000 in a calendar month.

    Reply
    1. Sudheep

      enjoy “UP TO ” is the key word there…

      but they also say incremental points 9X capped at 7500..
      which means diners have unlimited 4x and 2x ??????
      Wish if its not a TYPO

      Reply
    2. GTMAX

      You are not missing anything. You just need to correctly interpret what you are reading.

      Reply
    3. Sumit

      Keyword here is upto, so which covers 3,5 and 10 all categories

      Reply
    4. Harshit

      If you go on smartbuy website and click on flipkart or amazon.
      In the header they have clearly mentioned 3x/5x reward points respectively. Therefore, what is said in this article is absolutely correct and you will only receive 3x/5x points from June onwards.

      Reply
  37. Krishna

    Hi Sid, Last month i did one transaction in Flipkart (6 months emi) through smartbuy. For this next successive months charges, will i get 10x or 3x?

    Reply
    1. Roshan

      Just enquired with customer care, Flipkart ongoing EMI transactions will receive only 3x on remaining EMIs

      Reply
  38. SANDEEP GADGIL

    Hi Siddarth, is there any limit to the vouchers that can be purchased? Or can I earn all 7500 points in a month through vouchers only? I understand Amazon has a limit of Rs. 5000

    Reply
  39. Bhavya

    Any updates on February points ? Have not received the 9x points for insta vouchers yet.

    Reply
    1. Murad

      Same here. I was informed that the 9X will be posted within 7 days.

      Reply
  40. ajay

    Hi Sid, Why do you mention this “You have about ~2 years to spend the points you earn now.” Aren’t the points valid till 3 years from the date of earning? Or have they changed this as well?

    Reply
  41. Shiv Kumar Singh

    Nothing to worry as both my Infinia and DCB are LTF, and also my primary spends are on non 10X Category and mostly on Insurance.

    Just indicates how low are bank running on liquidity due to CoVID-19.

    Reply
  42. ManzB

    You are correct. But only 5K each in a block of 30/31 days. So once bought, you can’t buy for next 30 days. (it is not calendar month).

    Reply
    1. Dnyanesh

      I bought on 5K vouchers on 20-May and 01-June, so it is calendar month, I believe ..

      Reply
      1. Aastha Chawla

        Calendar month. Clearly mentioned on gyftr website.

        Reply
  43. Rohit

    I would be reaching my 5 lakh spend in a month time for DCB and would still have 2 months odd for reaching annual year. Would it be worth for me to get an Infinia at this point of time ? or continue DCB for another year without annual fee . I cannot reach 8 lakh spend on Infinia but I would atleast get 10000 RP for infinia fee.

    Reply
  44. FrequentFlyer15

    Hi Guys,

    Just providing an update. I bought Amazon and Flipkart Gift cards using different numbers worth 20k on Gyftr on 30th May using my Club Miles Card. Today, I received 5k points in my account.

    Reply
    1. Ankur

      Are you sure it was for May? Usually they take ~90 days to credit points isnt it

      Reply
      1. FrequentFlyer15

        I am 100% Sure. Since Jan, I was using only my Amex Plat Travel to hit the 4 Lac spends. So there is no way, they added points for anything else.

        Reply
    2. Arshdeep Singh

      so if we buy more than 5K amazon vouchers using different login on smartbuy with same cad, it will be applicable for 10X reward points. is it correct..?
      thanks

      Reply
      1. Garima

        Even i want to know. Is it possible to buy using different phn nos through same card?

        Reply
      2. FrequentFlyer15

        Yes. I have multiple smartbuy accounts with family members phone numbers which I used for buying Amazon and Flipkart Vouchers.

        Reply
    3. Rajeev K R

      Hi, I have Regalia and Regalia First with me. Both are having different smartbuy accounts. Can I use my Regalia card in both the accounts for purchasing 5k amazon vouichers each and get a cashback for 10k ?

      Reply
      1. FrequentFlyer15

        Yes. Have been doing that for months now until Jan when I switched for completing Amex spend bonus.

        Reply
    4. ghanshyam

      Hi,
      I tried with my wife smartbuy account, but when I am trying to use my credit card, transaction is always failing. How did you manage to use same card in different smart buy (and insta voucher) accounts? Did you use same name in another smartbuy account?

      Reply
      1. Ashu

        Till last month it was allowing to buy more than 5k amazon vouchers from different account using same card. Looks like now they have introduced some restriction. I bought 5k Amazon vouchers today and then unable to buy amazon vouchers of 5k from other account. Transaction is failing when card details entered on payment page.

        Reply
        1. Murad

          @Ashu
          You will need to have different (phone number) account on gyftr not smartbuy to get the benefits to purchase above 5K amazon vouchers. You can purchase every alternative days to get these benefits. if you try to purchase second amazon voucher on same/next day, then you will see error message instead of payment page or error message stating 5K limit exceeded.

          Currently I have purchased 6 amazon voucher from 01Jun till 10Jun and I have 1 more to buy to get full benefits of 9X to get 15K.

          Reply
      2. Sudheep

        forget smartbuy account..

        Gyftr Account should be different., has to be routed via smartbuy page ,smartbuy login not mandatory. (Use different mobile numbers for gyftr login)

        Reply
      3. ghanshyam

        Update: Tried it again today, and it went thru successfully. May have to do it with per day limit? Now, lets see If I get the incremental reward points 🙂

        Reply
      4. Murad

        @ghanshyam
        You will need to have different (phone number) account on gyftr not smartbuy to get the benefits to purchase above 5K amazon vouchers. You can purchase every alternative days to get these benefits. if you try to purchase second amazon voucher on same/next day, then you will see error message instead of payment page or error message stating 5K limit exceeded.

        Currently I have purchased 6 amazon voucher from 01Jun till 10Jun and I have 1 more to buy to get full benefits of 9X to get 15K.

        Reply
        1. VC

          hi Murad,

          Ive been doing the same since March of this year, but dont seem to be getting the incremental points. Is it confirmed that incremental points are given by using other numbers ?

          Reply
        2. Avinash K

          Hey Murad,

          Jus want to clarify one thing ,

          If I buy 5000 gift card of Amazon from Gyftr (which gives 1650 points with 10x) from a mobile number and use another mobile number on gyfter and same DCB card for another purchase. It would give me 3300 points effectively .

          Correct me if I am wrong

          Reply
    5. Avinash Kuchipudi

      Hey Mr.FrequentFlyer15,

      Jus want to clarify one thing ,

      If I buy 5000 gift card from Amazon (which gives 1650 points with 10x) from a mobile number and use another mobile number on gyfter and same DCB card for another purchase. It would give me 3300 points effectively .

      Correct me if I am wrong

      Reply
  45. Amann

    HDFC has run out of Amazon Insta Vouchers of smartbuy even after limiting purchase to 5k per month. Guess this was bound to happen after it withdrew 10x on Amazon website via Smartbuy. Please post whenever they are available.

    Reply
  46. bhunesh

    well yes amazon is definitely issue .. i have bought through smart buy in November and till dated not posted . have escalated the matter , don’t know how they would be able to solve it. now anyways 10x is gonna for flipkart and amazon… (/3x and 5x) so becomes less attractive . even their global programmer have enrolled but its difficult to track about bonus point and yatra voucher

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @bhunesh
      I purchased a phone from amazon in dec month and exactly after 3 months i got 9x points. Make sure you send mail after 3 months. I did the same mistake for not receiving 5x bonus points for insurance. Now everything is messed up . Not sure for what they have given points .

      Reply
    2. FrequentFlyer15

      Always add the following email address to all emails, grievance.redressalcc [at] hdfcbank.com, they respond within a few days. I got my missed out points within a week of sending the email.

      Reply
  47. Akshat

    HDFC customer care informed me that they’re working on a transaction wise points view system that should be underway shortly.

    Unclear whether it’ll be portal like SCB or statement like ICICI

    Reply
  48. phil

    It is getting difficult to track amazon transactions as for many transactions, an email saying “order placed through smartbuy” is not being received. If I call Amazon, they say that they have no info and please ask the bank. When called the bank, they say that amazon has to track. And hence in the balance.

    Reply
    1. Gaurav

      Actually, I had sent an email to Amazon ([email protected]) and they gladly sorted the problem. They reverted with mentioning if order IDs I had sent were done through Smartbuy.

      Reply
  49. Dhruv Soni

    Hi all,

    What do you think is the best way to use your points right now on DCB?

    Previously ofcourse best redemption was on flights where you get straight 1:1 conversion. What’s the best way to use points now? Can we use them on any ecommerce or something?

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      There is no other way . Flight and hotels are the best way to get the most of the points.

      Reply
    2. Amann

      If you accept 50% value on the points, you can get Amazon gift card and redeem 1000 points for Rs. 500 /- voucher. Only for DCB.

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        How to get voucher on points for DCB. I generally use it only for flights.

        Reply
    3. Sid

      When I tried to book a flight now, it was still showing 1:1 conversion for points (on my DCB card). So I’m confused? where does it state that the conversion ratios have changed?

      Reply
  50. SANDEEP GADGIL

    Just clarifying my arlier question: Is there a sub-limit on how much amount can be spent on vouchers for 10x rewards?

    Reply
    1. Abhi

      you can use your entire cap solely on instant vouchers.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      you can get all 7500 points just by purchasing vouchers.

      Reply
    3. deva

      got 2500 voucher in june for card upgradation(regalia to infinia in jan)..was never informed that i will get voucher..yet to get spend based voucher 5000×2 nos for last oct and december spends on regalia…strange

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        @deva
        May i know how you got yor card upgraded from regalia to Infinia ?

        Reply
        1. deva

          my limit was 8L on regalia and got call from.bank that there is an offer for credit limit enhancement to 10.5 lakhs and when i asked for what to do with limt enhancement without card upgrade .and he replied u can get infinia card (never expected) and i said please…Though i spend around 6 lakhs in sep to nov period that triggered limit enhancement and upgradation..

          and within next 2 days i received infinia

          upgradation of regalia first to regalia took 1.5 years and regalia to infinia took 10months

          Reply
          1. Rohit

            @Deva
            thats very lucky and bank has no rules on upgrading. Are you an imperia/preferred account holder. Even though my spends are huge by default every march i get a limit enhancement but never a card upgrade and i have to ask for an upgrade when my card expires (3 years). ANy ways as of now i am happy with DCB because 5 lakh spend is possible to achieve and then get fee waived off. And big con is acceptance . I loose atleast 50k worth of spend due to non acceptance.

  51. Nikhil

    It seems HDFC has credited bulk of points in last few days. They considered my several non-insurance transactions as insurance & given 4X points. Also received a random 2500 bigbasket voucher for which I have no idea under which offer as spends were low in last few months. God knows how HDFC systems works. But no complaints

    Reply
    1. Abhi

      yah its weird how their systems work. I called CC to ask for my March milestone vouchers, they said I m not eligible for any since my last March transaction actually got posted in April and I fell short of 80K. They consider posting date and not transaction date to arrive at 80K. Now I got email saying I have won the vouchers for March and can claim them.

      Reply
      1. Neeraj

        My 3 transactions done on last 3 days of May also got posted in June and fell short of 80000 milestone due to this. Customer care told they cannot do anything about it. I have complained to Nodal officer, because unless they be transparent about the transaction posting date, they can do tricks in that to deny us our benefits. Bank is clearly aware of the transaction date and still they opt for a more opaque posting date. I feel this is not correct.

        Reply
    2. shashank bapat

      Nikhil,

      Can you please tell how you are able to track points on daily basis? I am aware of only credit card statement to do this.

      Reply
      1. Nikhil

        Only way is to maintain an excel & put every transaction in it, this is only way as of now. If any discrepancy is there, you can reconcile it with CC

        Reply
    3. George Mathews

      Amazon 5k vouchers are now available. Someone had asked earlier.

      Also, anyone knows how to use Flipkart vouchers from Instavouchers to make payments on Phone Pe? If you do, pls help and explain how.

      Thanks!

      Reply
  52. Chintan

    I guess the Rs. 5000 amazon voucher is perfectly locked to calendar month now unlike before when they use to count 30 days after the purchase. I purchased 1 amazon 5000 voucher on 25th may and another today.

    Reply
  53. Adi

    What is the total benefit one can get from gytr instant vouchers.
    Can i buy Amazon,flipkart,bigbasket vouchers of 5K each meaning getting 10x for all 3 vouchers in a month or cumulative of 5K voucher?

    Reply
    1. Sumit

      Well Effectively you can buy them for 9x advantage as long as you do not cross 7500 10x bonus points limit

      Reply
  54. Ankit Saraf

    got an email (wont call it offer) to spend 2,21,000 from 3rd-30th june and get 5000 voucher among amazon/flipkart, etc.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Seems some got it. But I haven’t got one!

      Reply
      1. Prashant Gupta

        I got on my DCB spend 12000 and get Rs750 voucher.

        Reply
        1. Praveen Katiyar

          I got on both Regalia and Diners Club Miles. Spend between 3rd June -30 June.
          Regalia spend 61,000 and get 2000 voucher..
          Club Miles spend 89,000 and get 2500 voucher..

          Reply
        2. Rohit

          getting 750 for 12000 is insane 🙂 Was wondering what triggered the offer. Whether you dont use DCB at all ?

          Reply
      2. MT

        On wife’s DC Club miles , spend 12000 to get 750rs voucher , 56000 for 2000rs voucher on sister s DCB and 378000 for 7500 voucher on my infinia

        Reply
      3. DHARNIDHAR GUNDU

        Siddharth, Off late I don’t get any Spend Based Offers from HDFC ? Any Pointers how I could become eligible for their Marketing Targets, I have Diners Black and Spent almost 8 Lacs in Last one year

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          This month I didn’t get it either. It all depends on whom they wish to target at a given time. Will see if I could dig further on this shortly.

          Reply
          1. Keyur Mavani

            Earlier I used to get spend based offers a lot. Reason being I didn’t use my credit card much. Then they forced me to setup standing instruction on my postpaid mobile, so cc is used every month and no spend based offer for me since then

        2. Rohit

          I guess it is for people who kept their DCB in dormant. I am about to reach 5 lakh mark so probably bank is making enough money on that (MDR charges n others). I have never received spend based offer.

          Reply
      4. Aniit Saraf

        I got it first time. I just completed 1 yr with dcb. By the way what to do with bms vouchers on 80k milestone. They seem useless to me.

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          Useless for all. Mine already got expired. probably hdfc changes it since no one will be hitting theater for another year.

          Reply
    2. Rohit

      I get nothing for DCB. Might be it is for those who dont spend much with their DCB.

      Reply
    3. GTMAX

      Received the following recent spend based offers on different credit cards in the family:

      1. DCB – Spend 69K from 3rd-30th June & get voucher worth 2500/-
      2. Infinia – Spend 13K from 3rd-30th June & get voucher worth 750/-
      3. Business Regalia First – Spend 6K from 16th May-15th June within 6 specified merchant categories & get voucher worth 750/-
      4. Regalia – Do at least 1 transaction of any value in May month & get voucher worth 250/-

      Reply
      1. Srikanth Nalla

        Got 2500/- voucher for upgrading the card to Infinia

        Reply
  55. sudheep

    Hi Siddharth

    I think updation is required in max cap portion were you have highlighted as 9x . Smartbuy t&c says cap is for incremental points , it should therefore includes 4x and 2x too..

    Reply
  56. The Conscience

    Received 1000 rs voucher from corpkonnex .and no idea which campaign triggered it. Striving to get payzapp cashback and getting this. Hdfc please hire some logical employees.

    Reply
    1. Nishant Agarwal

      Did you really got the voucher after you submitted your name, number and the code that came with the text???

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        @nishant
        It’s been 2 days and I did not get spend based voucher. There was a message that give a missed call if you don’t get voucher and I did that. After that I got a message that they have resent it which again I did not receive.

        Reply
  57. Roshan Mangal

    Just enquired with customer care, Flipkart ongoing EMI transactions will receive only 3x on remaining EMIs

    Reply
  58. Mandeep Ryait

    Are HDFC commercial credit cards like Business Regalia and Business Regalia FIrst not eligible for cashback and discount offers like that on iPhone or other products?
    Also can a self-employed apply for regular variants of HDFC credit cards?

    Reply
    1. MT

      Yes , when applying for card , you need to be specific for personal variant , business variants go get cashback unless specifically expemted

      Reply
  59. Abhi

    Was expecting that after raising fee on DCB to the same as Infinia, they may match the monthly cap with Infinia’s as well. With partner brands included the cap was infact better (15K on smartbuy and 25K on partners, although the reverse would have made more sense), though partners were not really big spend brands. Instead they have literally halved the 9X cap on DCB. When Infinia cap was reduced from 25K to 15K, the cap on DCB could’ve been atleast 10K rather than 7.5K . Hopefully they ve done this to leave some room for potential 9X partners reintroduction..
    DCB was a winner over Infinia before the 9X caps were dropped, coz it additionally has monthly milestones and complimentary memberships, but now am considering switch to Infinia purely due to it’s better cap.
    Question though, would they give Infinia as LTF if one holds an LTF DCB?

    Reply
  60. Dnyanesh

    Buying Amazon pay vouchers by redeeming RP has become pathetic now – 500₹ voucher for 3300 RP

    Any idea what’s the best use of RP currently, except travel/hotel bookings?

    Reply
    1. Amann

      If you accept 50% value on the points, you can get Amazon gift card and redeem 1000 points for Rs. 500 /- voucher. Only for DCB.

      Reply
      1. Pratik

        Where is this available? On the site redemption , value of points for amazon vouchers is far lower

        Reply
    2. MT

      You must be on regalia first variant , the default reward rate calculation is for hotels/flights, reward rate for redemption for vouchers/products half of default rate , and cash redemption (statement credit) is 30% of default rate … for example , infinia hotel/flight/dth(only infinia) is 3.3% , vouchers is 1.65% and cash redemption is 1%

      Reply
      1. MT

        And ofcourse if earned under 2x/3x/5x/10x offers , the reward rate is proportionally higher

        Reply
      2. Prem Taparia

        @Murad,

        I’m not quite sure about your calculation to avail the 15000 9X bonus points (I’m assuming you’re having Infinia card, since for Diners the max cap is only 7500 9X points). My understanding is you’d need to purchase 50K Smartbuy vouchers monthly to get 15K bonus points, whereas you seem to think that only 35K need to be purchased to get the 15K points. Please recheck!

        Reply
        1. Murad

          @Prem Taparia,

          I have one last EMI of around INR11000 for the month . Hence it will max my limit of 9X bonus of 15000 RP for Infinia.

          Reply
          1. Prem Taparia

            @Murad: thanks, that explains it then…I guess you still have room to buy around Rs4500 Amazon voucher this month to completely exhaust the 15k limit…’coz the purchase should be 50K to fully exhaust 15K points….many card users think the purchase should be 45K, but it’s 50K.

          2. Rohit

            @Murad
            Hope you are aware that you would be getting only 3x for june month so you would still have balance to max out.

          3. Murad

            @Prem Taparia,

            Yes, I am aware of 3X RP for Flipkart. But I want to see the posting of RP on 16Jun and ensure its 3X or 10X for previous Flipkart purchases with EMI. Once I receive RP and still room available, then I will go head and get 1 more voucher.

          4. Murad

            @Prem Taparia,

            I have received old 10X (not 3X) benefits for my last/final EMI which was purchased on Flipkart in jan2020. Also, I have been receiving double 20X RP for EMI installments for past 3 months.

            It looks like old purchase till May2020 will attract the old 10X benefits and not new 3X benefits which is effective from Jun2020.

          5. Prem Taparia

            @Murad: The 3X RP for Flipkart query was posted by Rohit. My query to you was that you still have room to max out your 15K 9X points for June by buying Amazon vouchers worth Rs4000. You had purchased 35K vouchers and had 11K EMI for this month, which totals to 46K spends. But to max out the 15K bonus points, the total spend on Smartbuy vouchers should be 50K every month for Infinia card holders.

  61. shashank bapat

    Can someone please tell me the following
    1. Do we get 10x on instant vouchers purchased using different accounts as there is limitation of 5k for amazon vouchers per account
    2. How are you guys tracking points on daily basis. I see some people saying that the points were credited after 7 days. I thought we could only track points using the credit card statement once a month?

    Reply
    1. Nikhil

      1. I did got 9X points for transaction done in March month.
      2. Rewards points gets updated in rewards portal launched via netbanking. 1X is posted in 3 days & 9X gets posted in anything from 1 week to 6 months. Typical HDFC system. I received 9X points pending from november 19 on 1st June 😛

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        How in the world did you conclude that you got all reward points 🙂 Excel sheet is no longer working because they are not crediting points after 90 days and I have 9x transaction done every alternate days.

        Reply
        1. Nikhil

          I reconcile transactions with CC for all big transactions (>5K). They can confirm that points are against which transaction. I specifically asked for March one’s. They confirmed that it’s credited, except 1 for which I raised a complaint.

          Reply
          1. Rohit

            May i know which number or mail id you are contacting ? Last mail i sent has been more than 10 days and got an auto reply stating due to covid replies would be delayed for weeks.

    2. Sagar Agarwal

      I am also looking for the same information. Can someone please help us answer these questions.

      Thank you.

      Reply
  62. Manish Arora

    1. Fo insta vouchers could we apply promo code and get the benefits in addition to 10x rps or any one (10x vs promo code) be applied at one point.
    2. Are insta vouchers applicable on all categories? If yes, this is helpful as urban ladder, myntra etc are also included in 10x program this way.

    Reply
  63. Rohit

    Did any 1 ask for an upgrade to Infinia from DCb after devaluation of card. someone said there is an offer for preferred customers ?
    I used to get points for loading into payzaap. Is there any chances that they adjust/take back the points. Inspite of excel sheet i lost complete track of points since they are not getting credited exactly on 90th day. Points recently credited is it for Feb month ? I did not get any 9x points for March 1st week

    Reply
    1. Abhi

      DCB is gold mine for HDFC compared to Infinia. They don’t really want to move DCB cust to Infinia, unless someone can really twist arm. I have Imperia relationship, got my RM changed over this. Had multiple escalations, but HDFC won’t budge even a bit. Recently I had a case where due to DCB not getting accepted one of my order (from US) took 1 week hit and I shouted loud to change to Infinia… but HDFC just smiled and told me to FO. Had it not been for >1.5 L reward points, I’d have probably shifted to Regalia for acceptance. But seems like I am stuck for sometime now as International travel is out of question and other than that RP are waste.

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        @Abhi
        I had similar issue but much bigger. I had an invitation for infinia and 2 staff confirmed it but after they applied it got declined. When escalated they said it was a mistake commuted by staff which was BS. Worst part is they made me open/refer an account on this. I took this matter to top head but they just denied neither gave me An LTF DCb for their mistake. Finally what i realized that since i am an old customer 10 plus years with preferred account they are not bothered thinking i would stick on typical indian corporate mentality. Probably i close the account then they would come running to give infinia. Any ways now i find no difference between infinia and dcb after devaluation 🙂 and DCB has its own advantage. Just get a backup card from other bank is what i did and you are good to go.

        Reply
    2. Mudit

      Talked to CC. The points credited recently are 90 day points for Jan and 9x smartbuy for May.
      The pending 90 day points from feb would be credited in July

      Reply
  64. Alok Agarwal

    Well the wow factor seems to be gone with the updates though the benefits are still better that most of the other offerings in the market. However I feel if some competitor ups the game, I might think of moving my spends.

    The increase in annual fees and the accompanying benefits in my view are too poor in terms of the value they give. Almost less that 75% I feel. This is why:

    Marriot membership: 20% on dining. Nearbuy gives better offers on Marriot restaurants (~50%)
    MMT Double black: HDFC has tie up with cleartrip and Yatra. So either I loose 10X on flights and hotel or avail the no cancellation fee benefit given by this membership.
    Forbes: not sure how many will utilize it.
    Others are smallet ones on which you see discounts anyways through other means.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      Previously few years back 10x was applicable only for flights and hotel. There were no 10x for vouchers/amazon/flipkart. So considering people fly less ,instant voucher is great way to accumulate points. I have no complaints on that. But reducing flipkart and amazon 10x is a bit disappointing because max cap for dcb is also reduced to 7500.
      And now inclusion of airport lounge to add on is also great and i have already utilised 7 times from Jan to March this year. In the end DCB is only beneficial for people who spend a lot and if its your back up card then definitely not worth.
      You can but MMT vouchers and get 10x but there are lots of TC which makes it not worth for me. Might be you can have a look on that.

      Reply
  65. Mohan

    Hello,
    Great article as always, Sid. Since they have curtailed our earning of points, I have a couple of questions here:

    I have an Infinia card.
    1. Will I get 5x points if I buy Amazon Pay vouchers on the Amazon Website after landing there through Smartbuy.
    2. Can I create multiple Gyftyr User accounts to utilize the Rs.5000 cap on Amazon Vouchers per account using the Same infinia Credit Card? (Will i Get the 10x benefit?)

    Thank you 🙂

    Reply
    1. ghanshyam

      I tried to use my wife’s smartbuy account (for hdfc solitaire cc) to purchase amazon voucher. when using my diners black for payment, the transaction simply failed. I have tried multiple times. So I don’t think it is possible to buy amazon vouchers from multiple account, though one user above claimed, he had bought it from two different account.

      Reply
      1. FrequentFlyer15

        Wait for atleast 24 hours before using the same card. Ideally I wait 2 days.

        Reply
    2. Sudheep

      Hi Mohan

      1.– Not SURE

      2. YES.Multiple gyftr accounts will work to override 5K barrior.

      Reply
      1. Arshdeep Singh

        Multiple accounts will override 5k barrier but will it give 10x rewards beyond 5k..?

        Reply
        1. FrequentFlyer15

          Yes. I can confirm that I have received the points bypassing the 5k limit.

          Reply
    3. Gautam

      1. You will not get any points for vouchers bought on Amazon. You can buy amazon vouchers on Smartbuy-Giftyr and get 10x.
      2. No. The bank wasn’t born yesterday. It is applicable per card basis.

      Reply
  66. shashank bapat

    Can Flipkart vouchers be used to pay electricity, gas and mobile bills?

    Reply
  67. Trinadh

    I am holding a Diners Clubmiles card.
    How these changes of 10x program impact clubmiles card?

    Reply
    1. FrequentFlyer15

      I hold the same. Unfortunately the card that has got hit the most is our clubmiles. We will now get only Rs 1000 cashback.

      Reply
  68. Abhishek Agarwak

    This might be a bit unrelated…I am using Infinia, and had redeemed my points for some shopping and travel vouchers (Worth over INR 20K). Most of these vouchers had an expiry date for either May or June 2020.

    Because of COVID, has HDFC extended the expiry dates of these vouchers? They should because most people would have been unable to redeem them because of lockdown. Any info on the same would be helpful! Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Abhishek Agarwak
      I had a value of around 1200 voucher expiring in the month of march so i just booked a ticket for may month. Since the flight got cancelled airlines offered me a refund only to their wallet but gave a validity of 730 days. So i happily converted my 1 month validity voucher to 2 yrs validity.
      I have some milestone achievement vouchers such has BMS of 500 which already got expired .Not sure how it would work.

      Reply
    2. Ashish

      Even i am wondering the same, using DB and have got monthly spend voucher, ola is no more an option, BMS – HOW TO USE?, TATAclick still usable. Have anybody got any suggestions for this

      Reply
      1. Ramesh Kumar

        I have contacted BookMyShow and they extended 2 expired vouchers with validity till 30th September, so trying contacting bookmyshow customer care.

        Reply
  69. Sohail

    So i hade a ltf card dcb and got upgraded to new dcb but now after 6 months of getting dcb i got charged 10k+gst what to do? Why was i billed after 6 month when my card was ltf.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      reason for upgrading to paid when you had LTF ? I would have never done that. You have no option but to escalate. HDFC might have their own rules for charging.

      Reply
  70. Murad

    Does anyone know how to transfer amazon voucher to phonepe and use.

    Reply
  71. Dr Patil

    Hi Siddhartha

    I am a doctor by profession. I have HDFC diners black and Amex platinum travel cards. Sometimes i do get stuck when none of the cards get accepted. So now, I am looking for a premium Visa or Mastercard. Which one would you suggest?
    Ive heard SC Ultimate is good, but dont know whats the current status of that card in Covid situation. Any other card which you would recommend?

    Reply
    1. Amann

      SC ULTIMATE is good but redemption options are e-vouchers like croma/ Bigbazaar/ MMT etc. And they keep going out of stock quickly. So if you don’t mind redeeming once in 3 months, you get 3.3% reward rate and all transaction wise points details are available.

      No Amazon / Flipkart in more than a year.

      PS rewards portal is showing a new Cash option but is not working as of now. Don’t know the plan there…

      Reply
      1. Prem Taparia

        @Amann
        The cash redemption option on the Std Chtd rewards portal is not new. It has always been there. But its only applicable for Titanium & Manhattan Card holders. As an Ultimate credit card holder, I’m more concerned that their ‘new rewards portal’ (going to be released by next weekend I’m told) may be on the same lines as the Diners redemption option. That is, 100% ratio for flight & hotel booking and 50% ratio for other vouchers. Like a trailer window, one can see the ‘Travel further with SCB’ banner on their current 360 degree rewards portal. If this devaluation (for NON-hotel-flight vouchers) happens, it will be big blow. Because these options were the only scoring points that SCB had over DCB, in terms of redemption value. Anyone having both cards would have normally redeemed DCB points for travel and SCB points for shopping vouches. Now (IF the devaluation happens for SCB) it would seem that there would be a luxury of choices for travel options while a poverty (poor redemption ratio) of choices for other shopping voucher options.

        Reply
    2. ManzB

      I suggest Axis Vistara Infinite or SC Ultimate.

      Axis Vistara Visa Infinte – Fees 10k- You get a free Buisness class ticket and 2 Upgrade vouchers (to compensate the fees). Returns on spend depneds on the value of Vistara rewards points, but approx 10% and diminishes progressively beyond 2.5 lacs PA.

      SC Ultimate Master Card – Fees 5K- Gives 5K rewards to compensate the fees plus 3.3% return on all spends including Wallet. Also gives free unlimited lounge access (domestic/ international) incl the add on cardholders.

      Reply
    3. Praveen Katiyar

      Dr. Patil,
      Now that fee of DCB and Infinia is same, try to get Infinia. Else take any basic card (like ICICI Amazon) as there is no annual spend target and cashback (Amazon Pay) earned can be used to shop/bill payment.

      Reply
      1. Dr Patil

        Thank you Praveen for your suggestion.
        Actually I received DCB as an upgrade to Regalia in Dec 2019. So not sure if I will be eligible for upgrade. Though I have spend about 8 lakhs since Jan as i paid down payment of my car on my card. I believe Infinia is only by invitation ?

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          @ Dr Patil
          there are no rules in HDFC bank. In spite of having invitation bank did not give me Infinia . Since you have already spent 8 lakhs you will have to do the sales part by telling to the bank that Many are not accepting DCB and you are having problem with that. There are chances bank might upgrade. There might be another problem too what some one pointed out. MDR charges is very high with DCb which means bank makes more money when we use more of DCB. In that context bank might deny. Something similar happened to one of the DCB holders. Bank is not bothered of customer satisfaction. There is nothing wrong if you could try and keep us posted.
          Reason why i wont be asking for infinia is :
          1. Easy to reach 5 lakh spend making the card free (12k savings)
          2. DCb has Millestone achievements.
          3. if your flight ticket is more than 50k or even lakh convert it into 3 month paid EMI so that you can get 7500 points on following months.
          Just few benefits i have listed on DCB. You can easily get ICICI amazon pay visa card which is free card as a backup.

          Reply
          1. Prashant Gupta

            U get the 10x on the spends in a month. Any emi converted will only get u 7500 and not 7500 every month. Right now its better to go with infinia. For annual fee u get points GST of 1800 can easily be recovered because of double cap on points. Milestones on DCB are useless as in any case u get 1on1 on BMS via visa infinite. And i have both DCB and infinia.

      2. Rohit

        Exactly . I got Amazon pay and rubyx for DCB. Bad thing is spends get diverted because of non acceptance of dcb.

        Reply
  72. Su nny

    In Credit Card Statement for vouchers purchase earlier it used to appear as SMARTBUY VOUCHERS NEW DELHI” but now is is appearing as ”WWW GYFTR COM GURGAON”. Do other also see this in their statement. Is there a possibility that they don’t credit 10X for the latter.

    Reply
    1. Ramesh Kumar

      That’s changed few months ago, but getting 9x on first or second day of month. For example, I got 9x on June 1st for May month transactions including voucher purchases.

      Reply
    2. GTMAX

      Sunny, you don’t need to be worried about it. 9X Points for the same(WWW GYFTR COM GURGAON) are getting credited in 2-3 days now..

      Reply
      1. Tejas Ghongadi

        Are you sure that the 9X Points are crediting in 2-3 days now?

        It isnt for me. In fact, I have over 16-17K Points balance to be credited from January till now. Due to the sporadic points crediting of 9X points by HDFC, it has really become a pain to monitor.

        Reply
        1. GTMAX

          February & March 9x points posting is still pending.
          However, received 9x points within T+3 days for txns done on 30th May & had confirmed the same with customer care (Amazon, Compare & Shop will still take 90 days)

          Reply
          1. Rohit

            I have noticed that May 30th trans I got 9x too but i was not sure for what since my points are pending since Dec 19. Is there a separate number for DCB whom i c ould call and check. or have to call regular credit card team who are useless most of the time.

      2. Rohit

        So for June month transaction from smartbuy 9X credits points in T+3 days just like how it was in april ?

        Reply
        1. Ramesh Kumar

          No, I did few GYFTR transactions(via smartbuy) on first week of June but not received 9x till now.

          Reply
  73. Nexuson

    As Travel and Hotel have become less, everyone must be wondering where to use RP for getting maximum points. One thing i found for now is for recharging your DTH which gives 1RP=1Rs. I use it to recharge my TATA Sky. Though u have to select a plan in that, bt finally only amount will get credited to your account and it will get debited on monthly basis as per your current plan.

    Reply
    1. Aims

      @Nexuson From where do u do the DTH recharge?
      Please provide more details

      Reply
    2. Vijay

      Option for DTH recharge is only for Infinia and not for DCB

      Reply
    3. Sumeet

      Thanks a lot, buddy! I wasn’t aware of this. Very helpful info.

      Reply
    4. Arun

      Do we get to recharge DTH @ 1:1 with DCB points?
      I don’t see any option in the redemption portal. How do we do that?

      Reply
    5. Rohit

      Its been almost 2 to 3 years since i last recharged DTH. I cast jio tv on my smart tv and watch it free 🙂
      Still surprised people are using DTH when we can watch things for free (Jio mobile recharge required)
      I guess now even with airtel tv you can do.

      Reply
  74. Aastha Chawla

    Hey Siddhartha,

    Very well written article. I’ve been through all the comments and it would be great if you could confirm the following as it will clear many peoples’ doubts:

    Will we get 10x reward points on Amazon Insta vouchers bought through multiple GYFTR accounts but same DCB to circumvent the 5k cap as long as DCB RP limit of 7500 is not reached? Someone above said they got it, while someone said the Bank wasn’t born yesterday so the limit is on per card basis! PLEASE CLARIFY.

    I can confirm the transaction is not failing and it allows you to purchase.

    Also checked with customer care and they said as long as a transaction is completed through DCB and portal is allowing to purchase it will be counted. But I don’t trust a customer care executive who may not be fully aware and that the ‘Bank was not born yesterday’ makes a lot of sense.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Well, it appears that everyone is getting points for using multiple a/c’s “for now”. And that the subsequent transaction via other a/c post hitting the limit needs to be done with ~2 days gap for better success rate.

      That said, the point to note is bank may revoke these points anytime if they wish to. So play safe!

      Reply
      1. Prem Taparia

        Agree. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I feel HDFC will come up with fresh caps, especially on Amazon Vouchers. It may either completely remove them or impose ‘card-wise’ limit rather than ‘account-wise’ limit.

        Reply
      2. Pranav Sharma

        I tried 2 months back don’t do that shit ,the payment provider which they are using will tell bank is it Amazon voucher or flipkart voucher by some id code which appears while purchasing so after 90 days you will get points only on 5000 rs , all those are scammers plz don’t waste money in this time

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          @Pranav Sharma
          Agree with you. only because of people panic purchase on amazon voucher last year this 5k cap came into existence and now genuine buyers are affected because of this. If people purchased what they wanted nothing would have happened. Now as you said HDFC would bring restrictions on this too. I neither tried nor would in spite of having short of voucher. Would advice people also not to create multiple accounts.

          Reply
          1. Tejas Ghongadi

            What’s Panic Purchase in this?

            The Amazon Vouchers are valid for 1 year and the 10X program isnt going to last forever. So if there is a chance that I am getting unlimited Amazon Vouchers at 33.3% reward rate, I will pick it up even if I don’t need it immediately. Amazon Portal has almost everything that one can think of. I don’t see the point in blaming others for the capping brought in by HDFC. Finally, its about accumulating reward points under 10X as much as possible.

      3. Abdul

        Hi Siddharth,
        I indeed checked with the HDFC Customer care , smartbuy Gyftr team as well. They repeatedly confirmed that points posting shall be as per Gyftr account basis not card. For the sake of proof I have the call recordings as well which might be helpful.

        Will these proof serve the purpose while bank contradicts in near future?

        Reply
        1. Abdul

          Also to add the point, the bank has no where mentioned in the T & Cs that points posting capping would be on card basis.

          Reply
          1. GTMAX

            Precisely. You are right Abdul.

            Hence, I would suggest other folks to not create so much of buzz by calling them or posting it here in large numbers that they take notice of the same & add the restriction of points capping on card basis.

            Until they add this dreaded one liner in the T&C, I do not think there is anything to be worried about 9x points posting & they also have no right to revoke it in the future.

    2. GTMAX

      The bank was not born yesterday isn’t making sense in this context right now.

      Reply
      1. NIkhil

        You were right. Now amazon vouchers are removed. HDFC might have noticed all this, also multiple people enquired CC about this.

        Reply
  75. Aman Gulati

    Can someone confirm if 9X rewards are getting credited in 2-3 days now? I cannot see points for smartbuy gyftr transactions made in May 2020. I did grt some points on June 1st but they seem to be for Feb 2020 transactions.

    Reply
  76. karun

    DCB is awesome card… and now its time to redeem points on domestic tickets (specially for travelers ) for those who say travel will be less it depends … Still people can earn (9X) 7500 reward points per month and in a year its 90000/-…. Also annually 5 lakhs milestone is normal . So card is basically free and so much perks… I think many people in this group are age of 25-35 …so travel , travel and travel !

    Reply
  77. Sid

    I’m a little confused – when I tried to book a flight on Smartbuy just now, it was showing me a 1:1 conversion still for points vs Rs (points earned on my DCB card) – am I missing something? Has the ratio been changed on other categories? It looks like Flights can still be booked for 1:1?

    Reply
    1. Tejas Ghongadi

      It has always been 1:1 for Flights & Hotels and 2:1 or lower for other rewards.

      Reply
  78. MSK

    Hi siddharh,

    Well, I checked with HDFC CC and also smarbuy Gyftr team too. They double confirmed that max cap of 5k is applicable per Gyftr account not on card basis. I have proof of call records of these for future purpose.
    1.Are these proofs enough if in case bank denies the such claim?
    2. No where in T&Cs it’s mentioned that capping is on card level basis, so they can’t revoke the points already credited or can deny the 9X in case of multiple accounts purchase untill the card level capping is achieved (Infinia_15K & DCB_7.5K)

    Reply
    1. Pranav Sharma

      Bro all these are just customer care agents and are parrots, will they give you points or hdfc bank system i myself have experienced this situation and denied points, do you know why hdfc changed the gateway and not using itself gateway which was earlier their only because of this

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        Agree. Also reason to credit points after 90 days is to eat away half the points. HDFC is know for that. Just follow T&C take screenshot for proof and you are good to go.

        Reply
  79. Naresh Kumar

    FOR ANYONE WANTING TO REDEEM THEIR POINTS TO AMAZON GIFT VOUCHERS, REDEEM THEM VIA DINNERS SMARTBUY PORTAL WHERE THE VALUE OF THE POINTS IS 1/2 NOW, HURRY!

    Reply
    1. MT

      Exists for a long time already, no need to hurry , people were not exercising it bcoz of higher redemption rate on smartbuy portal

      Reply
  80. Arun

    Amazon vouchers are available for redemption @ 2:1. Grab before it goes.

    Amazon Pay eGift Card INR 1000
    SRGV8027
    2000 Pts

    Reply
    1. Umesh

      How and where to buy.. The reward redemption option is from net banking and don’t see Amazon at that ratio

      Reply
      1. MT

        That ratio is only valid for infinia and dcb , all vouchers are going at 50% of smartbuy redemption rate and statement credit at 30% of smartbuy redemption rate

        Reply
        1. Abhi

          I am seeing 15% for Amazon vouchers on my DCB. Not sure if HDFC has stared differentiating with older customers even on rewards redumption as well?

          Reply
          1. MT

            @Abhi , you are right , they have changed their reward rates , i am also now seeing 5000gv for 33330 pts , making it 15ps per point for amazon and flipkart GVs , but there are others which can be redeemed upto 50ps per point…. i was defending 50ps per point for amazon bcoz just 25days ago (from this comment gate) , i had redeem 20k points for 10k worth of amazon GVs … cash redemption still stands at 30ps per points for me forDCB and Infinia both , however , given the circumstances , i think they will devalue to 15ps soon

      2. MT

        go via smartbuy portal -> privileges section , the netbanking is showing 5000gv at 33330pts , while smartbuy portal is showing 1000gv at 2000points (for dcb and infinia)

        Reply
        1. Abhi

          Wow, thanks. Never knew there are two different ways and different values 😀 Spent 10K points. But looks like gift voucher is physical and will take some time t reach.

          Reply
    2. Abhi

      Is it only me seeing much bad redemption rate? I see Amazon 1K voucher for 6660 & 5K voucher for 33330 (33K ????) Redumption rate of nearly 7:1 (Or Rs 0.15/ RP ) Half of even cash redumption @ Rs0.30 /RP.

      Reply
      1. Mohan Eluri

        Limit Enhanced on my Infinia Card…..with the crazy situation around my limit on my Infinia Card enhanced from 12 lakh to 15 Lakh…..

        Reply
    3. Rohit

      Do it only if points are going to expire. Do not panic redeem. Also I have noticed that bank is promoting to redeem points to cash 🙂
      I never got the vouchers. Is this correct
      Smartbuy->Privileges–>Select card–> rewards and then choose amazon . Is that correct ?
      or anything else.

      Reply
  81. Abhi

    Lot of folks have this query if they can buy GVs from multiple gyftr accounts using the same card to get 10X and overcome the 5K voucher cap.
    One must note that it works for some people and declines for many others, even after a 2day or even 2 month wait etc. For those for whom it works, it usually works after 2 days of a previous transaction on a different acc for same brand voucher using same card.
    Importantly, the cap is NOT levied by HDFC but by gyftr. HDFC doesn’t say that your card is capped to buy only 5K Amazon or FK GV per 30 days. That’s a cap levied by gyftr only for a given gyftr acc linked to smartbuy. And gyftr has no control over how many accounts exist in your family.
    So if you can successfully transact on multiple accounts, Hdfc doesnt have a problem, they simply track every purchase as a gyftr transaction and not based on which brand voucher you purchased, or whose account was used, so 10X is valid. Lot of people have got 10X already credited for this, and no T&C of HDFC is violated, until they change something in future.

    Reply
    1. Pranav Sharma

      I have done this and points are denied by hdfc Bank use your money wisely

      Reply
        1. Rajat

          How much time it takes to reflect Gyftr 10x Points to show in the account?

          Also, is it okay to buy different brand voucher for more then 5k and i will still get 10X reward point.

          Reply
    2. Naresh kumar

      The limit was so that everyone gets vouchers but because of these commentors, now they are gone and probably won’t come back or with more restrictions.

      GOOD JOB EVERYONE FOR MESSING IT FOR EVERYONE!!

      Reply
      1. Prashant Gupta

        Which vouchers have gone. I can see all are there

        Reply
  82. Rohit

    Should it be worth to renew by dcb card after this devaluation ,10k is too much had it been 5k it was ok

    Reply
  83. Amit

    Hi please help.. if the flight ticket is booked via diner black points and the flight is cancelled, any idea how does the refund mechanism work? Do we get back the points?

    Reply
    1. Himanshu

      I booked to n fro return tickets and only return ticket was cancelled by airline. So points related to return ticket were refunded back by end of the month.

      Reply
  84. Gurkirat

    Talked to RM, upgrading Regalia to DCB.
    Considering the annual anniversary reward points have been discontinued now, Is it worth an upgrade? or Wait for few months.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Gurkirat
      Depends on your spends. If you dont travel at all with no flight and hotel booking then you can forget Infinia/DCB
      Also if your spend is not more than 5 lakh then you dont get much in return provided you get max from 9x. In a nutshell if you spend more it is for you or you can leave it. Also now the fee is 12k and not 6k so even that you should keep in mind.

      Reply
      1. Gurkirat

        My annual spends are around 8-9L , but most of it isnt via smartbuy. I’m planning multiple trips from next year onwards. May be accumulate points by then. I’ll try to shift expenditure via smartbuy.

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          If thats the case then you can get it if being offered. I think i have accumulated 40k points in matter of 8 months because of grocery so yes it is possible. Also now you get unlimited airport lounge access for Add on card. (Lounge might not be available for an year)

          Reply
          1. gurkirat singh

            Thanks for insight, but considering further rounds of devaluation in DCB, i think I’m gonna stick with regalia for now. Also is it recommended by any chance to transfer rewards for intermiles , as they’re offering 40% extra miles on transfer. PS new to intermiles is it worth.

          2. Manmeet Nagar

            Can someone confirm that the limit of 15000 points for infinia on smartbuy is per card or per account? If i take an add on card for infinia, add om card’s points will be counted separately or in the same 15000 points limit?

  85. Srikkanth

    Hi Siddharth,

    Can anyone confirm what happens to pending dcb 9x points of previous months if we upgrade dcb to Infinia ? Will they deny those 9x points or credit it to Infinia credit card ?

    Reply
    1. Prashant Gupta

      You will get the points in infinia. I too got them in infinia on spends done in dcb.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      Last time when i upgraded i waited till all my points got credited and then asked for upgrade. I did not take a chance since i had lots of pending points.Might be someone else can share info on this.

      Reply
    3. Chintan

      Maintain an excel of pending points and go for the upgrade, incase if you do not receive points call the dcb premium customer care, you will receive the same for sure.

      Reply
    1. Krishnakumar

      Please call up GyftR customer care. I called them a couple of days ago and they said that shortly they will make BB available on smartbuy. However they have not acted. So if few mare people call them they will get it sooner on popular demand.

      Reply
  86. Manpal Singh Julka

    1 question !
    I have a Regalia card.
    If i transact via smartbuy (5% cashack) ; ill get 1.3% worth of points PLUS 5% cashback ?
    Can anybody confirm please ?

    Reply
    1. Rahil Shah

      I’d the same query. I tested with a minor transaction of INR 350 on Flipkart. Received 8 points a couple of days back on my Diners Privilege card. Now, I guess we may have to wait for the cashback to be credited. I don’t know if HDFC bank would reverse the points once the cashback is credited within 90 days.

      Keeping fingers crossed!

      Reply
  87. Soham

    Whoaaaaa….

    Amazon Vouchers are not available in Instant Vouchers any more….

    Reply
  88. Naval

    Hi all,
    I have a question here; some people are saying points are credited in T+2 or T+3 (Bonus), how do you come to know when the points are credited?

    On Excel Sheet; I have created my own excel sheet wherein you need to enter the Date and Transaction amount with Type (1X/3X/5X/10X) and it will calculate everything like how much normal points or bonus points are earned in calendar month.

    Reply
  89. Siddharth Jain

    Hi Guys,

    I own a DCB and I was getting a good amount of points for my grocery spending by buying big basket gyftr vouchers.
    I don’t see those vouchers listed this month,

    I’ve already bought amazon and flipkart gift vouchers ?

    My question is : Have anyone ever tried creating two hdfc smart buy accounts and buying flipkart and amazon voucher two times.
    Since from the same account it has a cap of 5k.

    Can anyone let me know if it works ?

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      You can always move your purchase to bigbazaar and More. Considering lockdown I have moved my grocery shopping to more. Bigbasket is way expensive when compared to Amazon pantry . Bigbasket sells most of the products in MRP. Bigbasket is only useful for emergency purpose and for Senior citizens 🙂

      Reply
      1. ghanshyam

        I use Bigbasket, Grofers, Amazon pantry and Flipkart for grocery shopping for the last many years
        Grofers is cheapest, but no 10x benefit (doesn’t even accept amazon pay as payment method)
        BigBasket is good for fruit, vegetables but rates very drastically on daily basis. 3kg pack of sweet lime is priced 89-149 within a week :O. I order when prices are cheaper.
        Amazon pantry is better for packed items (ghee, sugar, oil, surf etc)
        Flipkart have limited inventory, but insane discount on select products.
        In addition, home brand products of Bigbasket, Grofers (for non-personal cosmetics) like toilet cleaners, air fresheners etc are better and way cheaper then branded ones.

        Reply
      2. Krishnakumar

        @Rohit “Considering lockdown I have moved my grocery shopping to more.”- Can you elaborate? Does More gives you online purchase option? I prefer Bigbasket because of Online option and Home delivery.

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          @Krishnakumar
          If you are at big cities more is available at a distance of less than 2 km . I have seen a banner of free delivery but not sure you can book online. but one good thing of more is vegetables are of good quality and if you use 250 voucher and extra bill can be paid through amazon pay. Big basket sells in mrp so if you shop for 1000 you would loose 200. Amazon pantry is way better but you would not get vegetables.

          Reply
  90. Jigar Patel

    Amazon Vouchers no longer listed on the Smartbuy page, only option is the 5X discount via direct purchase on Amazon. It now says ‘No Branb Available’ and you can’t even find it listed under ‘Online’ brands on the gyftr page. I guess it is not going to come back anytime soon 🙁

    No vouchers being listed was a different thing since they got replenished every couple weeks, but now ‘No Brand Available’ is worrisome. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

    Reply
    1. Murad

      Amazon vouchers are live as of now on 16Jun20 09PM. I just purchased it.

      Reply
      1. Jigar Patel

        Yeah, thank you for the info. Apparently the brand had completely vanished for 12 hours. Came back on the next day. 🙂

        Reply
  91. Abhi

    Once you exhaust your 10X cap on DCB, and hold a Yes Excl card, shift your remaining purchase there when they run their 5X program occasionally. Translates to 7.5% RP value. Available for platforms like Amazon, FK, Tatacliq.

    Reply
  92. Amann

    More devaluation / capping of DCB:

    WEF 1ST JUL 20, 2X RP ON WEEKEND DINING WILL BE CAPPED AT 1000 RP PER DAY. FOR DETAILS, VISIT HDFCBANKDINERSCLUB.COM

    Got this in my card statement. Believe its already capped for Infinia as well.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Yes, they capped it on all cards. Just got the article live.

      Reply
  93. Varun

    Hi Everyone
    I have one query .Its mentioned in Gyftr smartbuy that the maximum allowed Vouchers purchase is 5k.Does that mean If I buy Uber or other vocuhers above 5k in a month O wont be eligible for a cash back.Till date I was buying more than 15k Vouchers of more Amzon Flipkart etc everymonth from Smartbuy

    Reply
    1. Pranav Sharma

      No no only for Amazon and flipkart seperately limit

      Reply
    2. Jigar Patel

      Point cap is 7500 RP on DCB & 15000 RP on Infinia, so I guess you can buy 25k worth of different brand vouchers on Smartbuy in a month provided you don’t spend on direct purchases on Amazon/Flipkart/Flights/Hotels (@5X RP) in the same month… or keep a check on transactions done in a month and calculate points accordingly (5X/10X).

      Reply
    3. Jigar Patel

      That calculation was for DCB, for Infinia you can spend 50k a month post which you will only get 3.3% RP

      Reply
  94. Pranab

    Got 20X (19X bonus) points now 3 months in a row for flipkart EMI purchase (EMI posting date: 14th June, 20X points posted today 16th June).
    Assumed this month it would be 3X (2X bonus) as per terms and conditions.
    CC is also don’t have any knowledge on this.

    Reply
    1. Murad

      @ Pranab

      Same here. I have received 20X reward points for past three months.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      lol on other hand I didnt even receive points for 9x Feb month . Got some 2k points on may end might be for bonus points for insurance Dec 19.

      Reply
    3. ManzB

      20X .. wow !! seems like a glitch. It means 67% discount. Please confirm

      Reply
  95. Rohit

    Yesterday I was checking Gyftr site and I wanted to know whether there is an option to make payment from Amazon pay as wallet at gyftr if so then we can get vouchers for bigbasket or whatever available there.

    Reply
  96. Aakash

    Hey, All I own an HDFC DCB, and I plan to buy a product worth 40K!
    Should I go for it now or wait till July 1 to see whether 10x would be back or not? Your Thoughts?

    Reply
  97. Srikkanth

    Did anyone receive 9x amazon points for the month of March? Was it supposed to be 90 days from txn date or 90 days from last date of txn month ?

    Reply
  98. Pranab

    Today received the Feb 9X points for Amazon & Gyftr (correct points, no less or more).

    Reply
    1. GCA

      @Pranab
      Are you sure it’s for Feb? I didn’t receive any points.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      @Pranab
      How did you confirm its for Feb since march month is also pending .

      Reply
  99. Karan Chawla

    Got for Amazon not gyftr. Can someone confirm for gyftr

    Reply
  100. Amann

    I got 9x for Amazon transactions of Feb 2020. Think at that time, flipkart & smartbuy 9x used to come in 1 week’s time.

    No sure if I got Diners 9x like First Cry transactions.

    Reply
  101. Gautam

    Mysteriously, available points on my DCB are 7k higher than what my excel sheet suggests (including 4k pending points from Amazon). Anybody else got suspense additional credit?

    Reply
    1. Chintan

      It might be because of occasional 5x program hdfc runs after every couple of months. I received 5000 points in February. When I asked the customer care they said it was for a 5x program they ran during September 2019. I did receive mail communication during sep but I wasn’t tracking it.

      Reply
  102. Pranab

    @Rohit, GCA & Karan Chawla,
    It was for ‘Feb Smartbuy’ as confirmed by CC. I got 12600 points today. My due for ‘Feb Amazon’ is exactly 12600. Also there was negative 120 points for gyftr (as I exceeded 25000 cap by 120 points), but that negative was nullified by IRCTC cancellation.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Pranab
      I have posted this multiple times but no one is sharing 🙁 whom to contact no/mail id for points discrepancy on DCB. I mailed to customer care 20 days back and got auto mail due to covid you would get delayed response and actually there is no response.
      Today 19/6 I got a credit of 590 ( in that 85+165 is payzaap and amazon 1x making it 304 points) and for feb I am suppose to get 1665. I guess dec 19 5x insurance is 2000 max cap so even that i will have to check. My biggest problem is I have 9x every alternate days so it is becoming impossible to know what is getting credited since even june is coming to an end not sure it is feb or march points .

      Reply
    2. GCA

      @Pranab
      Contacted CC today. As expected due to change in PG on 25th Feb they want order ids and all for Smartbuy Insta Voucher Transactions.

      Reply
  103. Sid

    Has anyone else suddenly stopped getting email confirmation for Smartbuy transactions on Amazon? Usually I used to get the emails within 2 days but I haven’t received any mails for my purchases in the past 10 days.

    Reply
    1. Divyang Patel

      Dear i received on latest purchase of Laptop in June 1st week.

      I got mail confirmation between 48-72 Hrs

      Reply
    2. shashank bapat

      Did not receive response for May 31st transactions which I made to benefit from 10x the last time
      Did a transaction on Jun17th for which received email after 2 days

      Reply
    3. Shivang

      I purchased a phone on Amazon in June 3rd week and got a confirmation mail from Smartbuy the next day

      Reply
  104. Divyang Pate;

    Dear friends,
    pls clear my doubt,

    1) For infinia Card, If monthly capp is 15000RP, but is 9x cap calculation or 10X cap calculation?
    If its 10x cap then i use maximum 45000 per month per Infinia card,,,,,,,,,and
    if its 9x cap then i use 50000 per month per infinia card

    pls give me clarity

    2) 15000 RP cap only applicable to 10x/5x/3x/2x transaction OR applicable to over all purchase including 1x normal routine transactions???

    Pls clear my both doubt

    Reply
    1. Gaurav

      There is no limit of 1x points on any eligible transactions, you can as many 1x points.
      The cap of 15000 is on 9x. So in order to max out the 15000 bonus points, you’ll precisely need to spend 50,100 on 10x categories.

      15000 cap is applicable to all 10x, 5x, 3x and 2x transactions.

      Reply
  105. Aravind

    I think the 10X or a (lesser)X will return, ineterestingly HDFC is having a sale on flipkart from 22 – 26 June for 10% discount, may be they want the not so premium CC holders to use this advantage for a few times. Until then i dont think 1)X will return or even until the whole COVID thing dies down.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Arvind
      any offer now is BS due to covid issue. I ordered phone on march 22 and still i did not get due to lock down and not even sure will get it in july but i was lucky enough to get at 12% GST so did not cancel my order.

      Reply
  106. Nithin

    In the current scheme of things,

    Is it better to redeem infinia points for Amzn vochers at 16% value or wait for travel post covid for 33% value?
    Just wondering if they will devalue the points for travel redeemption in future?

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Nithin
      If your points are going to expire then redeem or else hold. Travel will get to normal at max in 1 year and infinia/dcb has 3 yrs validity. They will not devalue for travel then it would become a fraud by offering onething and then giving something. Thats why we have seen a reduction in 10x program and a cap on cards.

      Reply
  107. Pranab

    @Rohit,
    Every time I get a bulk of points (not sure for which transaction), I contact dedicated ‘Super Premium Card Services’ helpdesk and ask for bifurcation of bonus points for last few days. Every time it matches.

    Reply
    1. Sayantan

      @pranab: what is the email-id or phone number of this helpdesk that you are referring to above? Even I keep facing issues in tracking Reward Points when a bunch of them gets posted en-mass to my account.

      Reply
    2. Varun

      Dear Pranab,
      Can you help, how and where to contact for this ‘Super Premium Card Services’ helpdesk??

      Reply
  108. Pranab

    @Divyang Pate,
    1. It’s ₹50000.
    2. The cap is for SMARTBUY transactions (Shopping/Flights/Hotel/Train/Bus/Gyftr). Free from any other regular transactions and occasionial promotions like insurance.

    Reply
  109. Divyang Patel

    Thnks friends for your reply, Now my both doubt is clear

    Reply
  110. Divyang Patel

    As Today’s discussion with HDFC bank CC,

    They said initially incremental points credited within 10-15 days of transaction date but now onwards from Mar 2020, It will credited after near around 90 days (Applicable to Gift Voucher and Amazon)

    GV contract change from Smartby to GYFTER directly, In statement you also observed that initially upto Feb 2020 Its Smartbuy.com, new Delhi and from Mar-2020 onwards its GYFTER.com Gurgaon

    So calculate accordingly. we will wait 90 days minimum for points

    Reply
  111. Aakash

    Flipkart Voucher Not available in Instant voucher section!! on 20 JUNE 7 PM!!

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      bro chill just after checking this website check gyftr.com official site too if that does not haave how can this one have, they are keep getting out of stock so they buy more and then upload it

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      Yes its gone and generally flipkart voucher doesnt come for 2 months odd.

      Reply
  112. Ashwin Kumar

    Any good offers to make electricity bill payment online. I have a bill of Rs. 18000 and have a diners balck card. Please suggest offer on any other card as well.

    Reply
    1. Tejas Ghongadi

      Nothing much you can do with regards to utility payment, except buying Amazon Vouchers on 10X and paying the Electricity bill via Amazon Pay.

      If you have any other card which gives you some benefit for loading Amazon Pay (Like the Amex MRCC & Gold Charge Card), then you can use the combination of DCB and such cards to load Amazon Pay and then pay the bill.

      Reply
  113. Mgadakar

    I recently got HDFC Regalia card. I am new to Payzapp. How to get reward points? Should I pay by Credit card or Payzapp wallet? Does that mean I should load the money in Payzapp wallet and pay via that (Regalia is charging 2.5% for wallet load)

    Reply
    1. Ramesh Kumar

      HDFC won’t give reward points for wallet loading, so use your card during payment.

      Reply
  114. Abhishek N Joshi

    Sid and Readers,
    I got recently upgraded to HDFC DCB from Club Miles in Feb 20. I hold HDFC Saving AC and FD of 5 Lacs.
    My May 20 bill was charged with Annual Fee 10,000/- and 18% GST. I raised concern on phone banking about the annual fee. The lady told that if I would have spent 1 lac in 1st 3 months from the issuance of card, the annual fee would have not been charged, but I spent 99,500/- (500/- less than 1 lac), hence I was charged Annual fee.
    I requested them to get approval for waiver of fee in goodwill keeping lockdown and 500/- difference (Very low).

    What is the chance that it will be waived off?
    Will the GST be refunded too?
    She mentioned that GST will not be refunded. In that case, can I ask to compensate some other way like RW points or voucher of GST amount?

    Your experiences may help.

    Reply
    1. GTMAX

      Escalate for GST refund, keep following up patiently for 1-2 months & you will get it back. However, the bank is making an exception here for you & hence cannot be 100% sure about it as you would not be able to dictate terms to them.

      Otherwise I have always got my GST refunded along with the primary amount for other banking services.

      Reply
  115. Malav

    I didn’t get any points of March,April,may and June Transaction.
    Customer service said our back in team it’s less staff so we will do it soon.wait for 90 days also for flight booking points.

    When u call SmartBuy concierge services and ask about- what is max cap limit DBC so he will answer that before we have monthly 7500 limit but we are increasing limit again now 15000.I told him in website not mention so he said still website not upgrad.even credit card customer care said no any changes in limit.

    Reply
  116. Dr Pankaj Gupta

    I received mail in first week of June that I have achieved monthly milestone for DCB for month of May 2020 and the mail asked to redeem the benefits of GV of BMS/Tatacliq/Ola. However, on logging to my DCB account to redeem these, there are no vouchers seen for month of May. The site only shows expired/claimed vouchers of previous month. This is the first time such a thing is happening. Has any one else also faced this issue ?

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Dr Pankaj Gupta
      yes there is a glitch. Just call to the number provided back of the card and they will fix it. Also if BMS vouchers are getting expired then ask them to extend validity. As of now my voucher validity is extended till sep end.

      Reply
  117. Rakesh

    Hi Sid,
    Found in amazon T&C – the monthly limit of Diners Black as 15000 points per month through smartbuy.

    The hdfc smartbuy page says 7500 points. Which is correct?

    Reply
  118. Lavin Bhamblani

    Hi Cardexpert team,
    I have Regalia-AmexplatTravel-Citi Premier-SBI Elite. All of them have plenty of points. Do u think can i redeem them for Amazon Vouchers and use them all together in single purchase? By redeeming them for amazon pay balance first or something like that? Awaiting revert

    Reply
    1. Kiran

      Hi Lavin,

      You can redeem them all from different banks and you would get a e gift card which will add to your amazon balance and you could purchase anything of your choice of the consolidated redemption.

      Hope this helps.

      Cheers,
      Kiran

      Reply
  119. Puneet

    I actually came across your article in response to my shock upon finding out that the 10x program had been diluted. I logged on smartbuy to go to amazon and kept thinking im seeing something wrong because its showed 5x points on amazon.
    I am so disappointed to see this happen and now feel like I missed a good opportunity.
    The smartest way to get points now IMO is to buy Rs.5000/- voucher from their instant voucher section now – it still gives 10X points but limits to Rs.5000/- voucher per month. Is there a way around this?
    What else can we do to get max points?

    Reply
  120. Karan Chawla

    Did anyone get reward points for smartbuy purchases in Feb. Its pending since a long time. Not able to get proper answers from CS.

    Reply
  121. mgadakar

    Is amazon still there in smartly? I see only Flipkart option in Payzapp mobile app.

    Reply
  122. Ritz

    Had a query. Incase I were to purchase the Amazon e-gift card through Smartbuy using my DCB, load the gift card balance on Amazon pay and pay any utility bill from there, would I fetch 5X for the purchase amount of the e-gift card. If so, I intend to divert all my ulitily spends like mobile bill, electricity bills etc. through this route, which I have so far been paying through my DCB. Please clarify.

    Reply
  123. Ritz

    Had a query. Will I be entitled for 5X reward points incase I was to purchase Amazon e-gift cards from Amazon through Smartbuy (over and above the 5K instant vouchers that I get 10X RPs on).

    Reply
    1. MT

      Not as per TnC , but if you are lucky enough , you will get , go for physical cards to be on safer side

      Reply
    2. GTMAX

      No, Read the Smartbuy T&Cs as it clearly exludes this.

      “This offer is not applicable to the purchase of jewellery/gold coins or its equivalents; or purchase of prepaid cards/gift cards or its equivalents; or purchase of flight bookings done on Flipkart / Amazon store.”

      Reply
    3. Rohit

      Few days back someone named chakra said that he has been buying for long and received 10x for gift vouchers through smartbuy amazon. To be on safer side get 5k amazon pay gift card and then buy whatever cards you want.
      By the way i am not receiving any 9x for Feb, march. Will wait till 30 and see what gets credited.

      Reply
  124. FrequentFlyer15

    Good news guys, have heard from an inside friend that Amazon has launched something called a money vault which is available for select users (for now) where you can transfer all the pay balance to bank account for 0 fees (for now).

    The process is simple to check if you are eligible, update to the latest app version from the play store, open Amazon Pay and check near the insurance section, it should show Safegold Digital Vault.

    For the past months I had used 10x for my Clubmiles to buy multiple gyftr Amazon vouchers. Once the vault is open for me, I plan to transfer all of it to my bank.

    Reply
    1. Gaurav

      Looks like digital gold scheme. Here are two downsides to this:

      1) You’ll pay ₹1000 and get gold only worth Rs 970 (3% GST)
      2) Once you sell gold, the sell price is always lesser than the buy price

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        he said money being transferred to bank account not to some gold wallet. Also amazon usa always had an option to move money to bank.I always wondered why tht is not followed in india. Probably amazon india wants to make money out of wallet.

        Reply
    2. Rohit

      I can see only Gift cards below insurance section. So am i not applicable for it ? Should we have amazon pay UPI to avail this ? Does amazon pay transfer to ICICI savings account ?

      Reply
  125. Navneet

    How can one pay electricity bill (above 10,000/-) by Diners Black for BSES, Delhi and earn reward points? Reward points that they had credited for electricity bill, gas bill, prepaid mobile and broadband for last month bill payment by DCB through Payzapp have been reversed.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Navneet
      From past 3 to 4 months i have been adding money to payzap card using dcb and then used to complete payment. Every time i used to get points. Yesterday i have seen a decline of 610 points. Now looks like Bank has reversed payzaap points (have to calculate). Thats very disappointing If that the case why should i use payzaap other than 5% cashback. IF bill is high i can use paytm to pay bill and get 3.3% points.

      Reply
      1. Nikhil

        Why do you load money on payzapp? Simply use your card on payzapp by linking. You will get 5% cashback plus reward points as well.

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          @Nikhil
          CC was added in payzaap but I could find only Payzaap card. Also for cashback it was mentioned as only applicable for Visa/payzaap card and DCB was not mentioned so I did not take any chance.
          Whether DCB also fetch 5% and Points together ?
          Also do we get 5x if pay bills/buy insurance premium through smartbuy–> Amazon .

          Reply
          1. Nikhil

            Try refreshing or trey after sometime, Linked card should be visible in payzapp option. It is mentioned about visa/mastercard in T&C. but I always get cashback even on DCB.
            you would not get 5x if paid bill through smartbuy route. Simply buy amazon voucher & use it to pay bills, you will get 10X. Amazon pay is accepted almost everywhere. You can even use it to buy new insurance policies.

    2. Akshat

      did you ask cc the reason.. the diners page and tnc don’t say anything about points for utility if I’m not wrong.

      Only insurance and wallet spends are curtailed.

      Reply
  126. Ritz

    Update : HDFC customer care has confirmed to me today that any Amazon transaction done through Smartbuy, where a portion of the transaction is paid through voucher/amazon pay balance and the remaining through the DCB card, the amount paid through DCB card will qualify for 5X.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Ritz
      do we get 5x if we pay insurance premium, Bill recharge or buy gift cards through smartbuy–>amazon pay.
      Did any one try this. Also an update LIC insurance is now available in amazon insurance section 🙂

      Reply
  127. shashank

    Throughout this thread I see great confusion about whether purchasing multiple amazon vouchers using different phone numbers (to bypass 5k limit) will give 10x point or not

    Can someone put this to rest as at one end you can earn attractive 9k points over 5k purchases or end up losing even 4k points which one could have earned using normal smartbuy amazon route.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Because its a game!

      You’re not entitled for it, ideally. Loopholes may work at times and if HDFC decides they may close the way, even debit the points.

      So play at your own risk 🙂

      Reply
      1. Sudheep

        Sid
        No way HDFC can debit points afterwards as nowhere in smartbuy t&c its mentioned about amazon/flipkart capping..whereas vouchers purchased via smartbuy are eligible for 10x is in t&c.
        5K limit is set by Gyftr for individual gyftr account., reasons best known only to gyftr. ( may be for meeting account count target-)

        so am also playing.. but its a NO risk game 🙂

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          @Sudheep
          Do you think HDFC would not have share for GV purchased through smartbuy.
          Why Big basket and flipkart doesnt exist frequently. Coz they get sold out and probably HDFC doesnt want that burden. On other hand Pizza hut or Myntra how many of us purchase. So behind the screen HDFC would have statistics what is getting sold more and accordingly they would do business with them.

          Reply
  128. cardexpertfan

    for diners club miles/black,

    can anyone confirm if we get regular 1x reward points for emi/ non-emi transactions done on amazon/ flipkart without smartbuy?

    also what is the deal when done through smartbuy?

    the terms and conditions on the hdfc website are not comprehensive enough!

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      never tried but used EMI for flipkrt through smartbuy and got 9x (previous offer) every month.

      Reply
  129. Surya

    Using multiple phone numbers is a good option. HDFC doesn’t know which voucher you’ve bought since you have Rs.5000 vouchers for Flipkart, Makemytrip, Croma, Myntra etc etc.. In statement of HDFC it appears only as Gyftr. So people go ahead with this option.

    Reply
  130. Shashank

    Since last few days on 3 separate orders I have not been receiving smartbuy amazon confirmation email which one usually gets after a few days of ordering. Is anyone else facing the same issue?

    I have video recordings of those orders, should I contact HDFC customer support now and send these videos OR should I wait for 90 days and check if 5x is not credited then raise an issue and send the screen recording video
    Can anyone who has faced this help to go about it?

    Reply
  131. srikkanth

    yet to get amazon 9x points for the month of march , did anyone receive 9x points for march?

    Reply
    1. MT

      I had called them , they said between 15th and 31st july they will credit , complaint only after 1 aug for march 2020 transactions

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      I did not even get for Feb . Will call DCB concierge on monday. I am not at all happy with bank. Even though to some extent i agree for reduction of benefits for infinia/dcb due to current covid issues but even if they dont give points on time I would say bank is getting too greedy considering their profits of 6k crores.

      Reply
      1. Malav

        Dear Rohit,

        Yes I agree with you bank don’t want to give points and now customers support service also not like before.

        Reply
      2. GCA

        Did you get any response? They have been dilly delaying for over a month now. Giving different dates each time i call them.

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          No I havent but i got a reply after 2 months stating call to this number and sorry for late reply due to covid issue 🙂 For this year things would not be same as before since even banks are not able to generate funds due to less loan takers is what RM has said when spoke today. I am sure we would get points if they say wait for this month then just wait and see.

          Reply
  132. Ashwin Kumar

    Are u guys able to get 5000 Flipkart voucher through Gyftr?

    Reply
  133. roshan

    Hi All, Need help, I am going to do some LIC insurance payment. which is the best option ?
    1. Direct payment on LIC site using DCB
    2. other wallet payment
    or do you have any better alternative.

    Reply
    1. GG

      You can buy instant vouchers for Amazon pay from smartbuy website and pay.

      Reply
    2. Ashok

      Hi,

      But multiple amazon vouchers using different account and pay through amazon bill pay. Min 1x and max 10x points based on luck.

      Regards,
      Ashok.

      Reply
    3. Prasanna Bhat

      Hi Roshan,
      In my experience below is the best option
      1.Buy Amazon vouchers using DCB via smart buy
      2.Pay LIC Insurance through Amazon pay (they have added LIC recently)
      This way you can enjoy 33% rewards.
      Only issue is you have to plan in advance to accumulate enough Amazon vouchers.

      Reply
    4. Buck

      I used to load Airtel Wallet with Amex MRCC (4 *1000 Transactions every month) and pay LIC premium using Airtel wallet.

      Reply
  134. Bharat Kohli

    I think Amazon pay would give you good cash back with ICICI Amazon or with SBI simply click card.

    Reply
  135. Rahul

    Hi Guys,

    Can anyone help clarify how does the 1 month restriction of INR 5,000 Amazon Gift voucher work? Is it based on Calendar month cut-off or is there a 30-day cut-off?

    I mean if I bought a voucher on 25-June, can I buy one again on 15-July, or I will need to wait till 26-July (till 30 day elapses) to be eligible to buy next voucher for claiming 10x points.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    1. shashank

      It clearly says calendar month so even 29th of last month and 1st should be fine
      Anyways it doesn’t let you purchase more than 5k from an account so you will know anyways
      “You can buy a maximum of INR 5000 worth of Amazon Pay Gift Cards in a calender month.”

      Reply
    2. CHALAM

      Its not Calender month. Its exactly after crossing 30 days.

      Reply
  136. Anil

    If I use Diners black and make utility payments using HDFC Billpay service (inside netbanking) of INR 30,000 per month, do I get reward points for those? If not, should using HDFC Billpay service and pay directly on websites?

    Reply
  137. Chirayu

    Hi Siddharth,

    Two queries –

    1) On the smartbuy website it just says that the maximum benefit that could be earned per card in a calendar month is 15000 RP for Infinia CC. It is nowhere clearly mentioned that the 15k cap is for the additional 9x only and not for the basic 1x. As per the info on the smartbuy website it looks like the limit is for the whole 10x RP. Please clarify.

    2) If I made a transaction in April and received the additional 9x in July, then these 9x points will be counted in the which month’s max cap of 15k RP (April or July)?

    Reply
    1. CHALAM

      1. There is no capping for 1X. , its only for 9X.
      2. Your transaction month.. ie. April

      Reply
  138. JJ

    Hi everyone,
    I am planning buy a phone worth 40-50K INR from Amazon. I am having HDFC Diners Black Card. Please tell me what is the best way to maximize the reward points. Thanks

    Reply
    1. Sumit Gupta

      @JJ
      Well Amazon through smart buy….5X points
      But remember that ur cart should be empty before routing to Amazon through smart buy and only add the product then. Moreover @Siddharth told in one article that better to have video recording of screen. Sometimes they say the transaction is not through smart buy…..otherwise usually a email came in few days confirming transaction through smart buy.

      Reply
    2. ManzB

      Buy Amazon Pay voucher from Gyftr card for 1K per month for July and Aug. Pay the balance accessing Amazon site from Smartbuy. Suggest to buy on 6-7th Aug when there will be around 2K additional discount for using HDFC CC.

      So for 40K handset you will get –
      For 10K Gytr voucher – 3300 points
      For using HDFC CC (for balance 30K)- 2K upfront discount
      For using Amazon site thru Smartbuy – 4200 (5X points)+ approx 1000 regular points = total 5200
      So all together you will get 8500 points and 2K discount
      So effectively you will get the 40K handset at 30K, which is 25% discount.

      Reply
  139. CHALAM

    Today Bulk Reward ponts are posted, check yours if any due.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      When are gyftr 9x points are being Posted nowadays its been a month no point

      Reply
    1. Sudheer

      Anyone received 9x points for Mar month? Mar points are supposed to credit by Jun but as per customer care , it will be credited by July.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      Are you sure it is feb ? Mine is completely messed up in terms of tracking.
      On may 30 i got 1175 points and and june 1st to 3rd I got 3445 points. Till date I was assuming that those points are for Insurance Bonus 2k points for Dec 19. Just 3 days back I exactly got 2k points from nowhere which has to be Insurance points (Max cap of 2k). So I am just assuming that my previous points were of Feb and now march is pending. Whom do you guys contact for Infinia/DCB point discrepancy ?

      Reply
      1. Sumit Gupta

        @Rohit
        Contact customer care they will tell points for which transaction. But sometime even they tell incorrectly…but only sometimes

        Reply
      2. ManzB

        It is really tough to figure out which points are getting credited and when. Sometimes it gets credited within 72 Hrs and in some cases it takes weeks and months. So I have given up and considered that they will do the right thing under good faith. If you want you can keep an excel and also the record of all txns and match it with your own discretion and see if there is any major discrepancy which is not getting addressed in 90 days time and call CC accordingly and fight with them with proof. I don’t have the patience. I don’t understand why they can’t publish txn wise points accumulation details with cardholders?

        Reply
  140. Ashish Nikhare

    February Amazon + Gyftr 9X RPs received. Unusual date for posting RPs, neither calender month closing, nor statement generation date.

    Reply
    1. Shivang

      where do you get to check whether the RPs are posted or not?
      I have been checking my RPs only through the monthly statement which gets generated…

      Reply
      1. Sumit Gupta

        Well u need to manually check…mainly by using excel. But that is tedious so check major points and u can also ask customer care they will tell points for which transaction. Recently cc told that they are working on points statement and shall be available soon.

        Reply
  141. srikkanth

    yet to receive amazon 9x points for the month of march

    Reply
    1. Sumit Gupta

      Talked with customer care. They are yet to post the same. May be they were waiting for 25th july so that lesser points available before that

      Reply
  142. Xeon XP

    HI Guys,

    Need some clarification on EMI purchases on DCB. I’m sure this must have been asked many times in the past and got answered too. But please pardon my ignorance. How are points accrued (and not credited) on EMI purchases.

    Example if I buy a merchandise worth 90K from Amazon on 6 months EMI in July. shall I get 7500 points (max cap) or shall I expect 2500 points for next 6 months on monthly EMI of 15000 each.

    Reply
    1. Mayank

      As per latest terms and conditions, the Amazon EMI transactions are not valid for benefits of martbuy. Only flipkart are valid.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      @Xeon XP
      Just for Info read T&C mentioned at smartbuy 10x how to purchase and T&C for clear and detailed info. As of now you would get no points for EMI trans purchased through Amazon. For Flipkart you would get 3x every month of your billing trans for EMI (3x now). This 3x you would get as long as offer exists and if offer is removed then you wont get. For eg : for 1st 3 months you get 3x then 4th month HDFC pulls back then you wont get any points from 4th month. Last time when I spoke to customer care they said No cost emi in flipkart would not fetch points so i took a paid EMI which was little when compared to reward points i got. But here in this forum some one said that even no cost emi in flipkart fetches points so once confirm with customer care.

      Reply
  143. Rajnish

    Can someone please confirm that the limit of 15000 points for infinia is per card or per account? If i take an add on card for infinia, add on card’s points will be counted separately or in the same 15000 points limit?

    Reply
  144. Pranab

    As confirmed by Infinia CC, the points credited on 24th July was for Gyftr/Smartbuy 9X for the period 25-29 FEB (before 25th Feb, Gyftr points were credited within 3 days). I got the actual number of points, no less, no more (180 points for Rs 675 transaction). received Feb Amazon 9X last month 17th. But yet to receive any 9X for March.

    Reply
  145. PT

    I made a purchase on Flipkart in the month of May (3 months EMI), even though the first emi was deducted in June I am still getting 10X on EMI amount. I guess the month of txn and the offer in that particular month is honored irrespective of the future changes.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      I had the same doubt. If i make a purchase on 15th of month and my next month billing date is 14th then I was told by customer care that what offer is there on that billing month only that we would get not the date of transaction.
      Did you purchase in No cost emi ? Customer care said that no points would be given to No cost EMI.

      Reply
      1. PT

        Yes, it was no cost EMI
        HDFC customer care often gives info which they “think” is the logical explanation rather than facts, don’t hold your breath for their answers.

        Reply
  146. Anil

    yet to receive Instant Voucher 10X for the month of February. Has it been credited for other users?

    Reply
  147. Ashish Nikhare

    Massive inpouring of March Gyftr + Amazon 9X reward points. Got almost 8500 RPs at statement generation date.

    Reply
  148. Ashwin

    Hi Siddharth,

    Recently amazon has added an option to buy from ‘amazon fresh’ which is hyperlocal delivery. The cart for amazon fresh is separate from the regular cart. Can anyone confirm if the 10X smartbuy points for Infinia are applicable for ‘amazon fresh’ and ‘amazon prime now’ also…assuming that we follow the same procedure of adding to cart after going through the smartbuy page.

    Many thanks in advance for your responses!

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      I used amazon pay balance for amazon fresh and had no issues using. As per T&C You cannot buy GV to avail 5x not sure about other products.

      Reply
  149. Pranab

    Today (4th Aug) received March Smartbuy (both Amazon & Gyftr) 9X without any discrepancies.

    Reply
    1. Vipin

      How do you check that? Is that on new HDFC app or website? And how do you link it to which trnsaction it is for?

      Reply
    2. Ramesh Kumar

      Yes, seems it’s posted for March and June 10x Smartbuy.

      Reply
  150. Mo

    Received 11,880 points for the Instant Voucher (Amazon) purchases on the month of June.

    Reply
  151. Pranab

    Got another bulk of points (13380) on 4th Aug. CC confirmed, it’s for June Smartbuy. All of these are for Amazon GV purchase from different account (Rs. 43000). Surprisingly, I got a total of 15045 points (9X), exceeding my limit of 15000. Not to mention, I got 1850 extra points (total 19X) for Flipkart EMI. So actually I got 16895 BONUS points in June.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      You said you got for March and now June. What happened to May month ?

      Reply
    2. Harshit Jaiswal

      Hey Pranab,

      If I understand your comment properly, you have purchased Amazon gift voucher from differnt smartbuy account and uses your same Infinia card for all these purchase.Kindly correct me if I missed something here.

      So, this is the way by which you can purchase more than 5K rs amazon gift voucher from the single month?

      Reply
      1. Mo

        Harshit,

        Its not different smartbuy account, its gyftr account with different mobile number. You can purchase 5K amazon and flipkart voucher per each mobile numbers. You can purchase your next 5K voucher every alternative days.

        I purchased previously around 35K amazon vouchers in one month and received the bonus 9X RP for all purchases.

        Reply
        1. Shakti

          Hi,
          there is a cap on 10X per month to 7500 points in DCB.
          how did you manage to get ~10000 points ?
          Thanks,
          Shakti

          Reply
        2. Dev

          Hdfc started blocking cards for buying more than 5k Amazon or Flipkart vouchers using multiple gyftr account using same card number. gyftr.com/ hdfcsmartbuy/ is integrated with hdfc system. They also started cancelling reward points for the same. Doing this may lead to cancellation of DCB and infinia card along with accrued reward points. If someone has earned points like this way they should redeem points at the earliest and should not buy vouchers using multiple accounts not only Amazon Flipkart vouchers but others too. Hdfc mark it as suspicious activity or like business activities and cancelling cards because this incurs huge loss to bank.

          Reply
          1. Rohit

            @dev
            Dont worry bank will take that money from your savings 🙂
            And also permenantly black list the card.

    3. Avil

      Hi Pranab,

      How do you buy more than 5K gift vouchers of Amazon or Flipkart in SMARTbuy? Can you just let us know?

      Reply
  152. Chintan

    Received smartbuy transaction confirmation mail from Amazon, now they have stopped giving order I’d in confirmation mail. Like there is no number or anything it just says transaction done on this date is a smartbuy transaction.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      Purchased for 6k since once it is out of stock would not be available for another 2 months.

      Reply
  153. sham Dodiya

    dear siddharth,

    I bought Apple iphone 11 in Dec -2019 using HDFC regalia card. Till date 10x reawrd points are not reflecting in my statement. I called up customer care & sent them email also, but they are giving false assurance that it will happen soon. Its been 6 month of my purchase but no response till date.
    Can you help me in this ? How to get these reward points at the earliest from HDFC?

    Reply
    1. FrequentFlyer15

      Write to the nodal office and put customer care in cc. They solve issues within days. Similar thing had happened to me. After 6 months of assurances, mailed to nodal and got fixed in 12 days.

      Reply
      1. Shikhar Makkar

        Can you please let me know about the nodal officer email id?

        Reply
    2. Rohit

      Same thing happend to my brothers regalia card. He never got cash back for galaxy note 8. Later what I thought was it was due to card which was business regalia.

      Reply
  154. Pranab

    @ Rohit,
    9X of FEB Amazon: Jun 17
    FEB(25-29) Gyftr: Jul 24. Before 25th Feb SB transactions (ex Amazon), received on T+3 days.
    9X of MAR: Aug 3 (all SB including Amazon).
    APR 9X was credited on T+3 days (excluding Amazon).
    9X of MAY: May 31 (excluding Amazon).
    9X of JUN: Aug 4 (excluding Amazon).
    Now my due is Amazon Apr onward and rest SB Jul onward.
    These are confirmed by CC. Also please note, there was not a single discrepancies (except 20X on Flipkart EMI on 3 consecutive months, a total of 8600 extra points on my favor).
    Hope this help.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Pranab
      Will the concierge of infinia/DCB give info on points or the regular credit card customer care would say. Even though I maintain excel sheet i lost track coz almost every alternate days I have Smartbuy transactions. What I have noticed is they are crediting it for entire month (Is that part right). What I have noticed is 10x for may 31st I got it in T+3 days but not for transaction done from May1st to May 30. I got 2 credits on Aug 4 and Aug 5 th which i am not sure.
      Thanks for the info.

      Reply
      1. Pranab

        Hi Rohit,
        I call ‘Infinia/DCB Concierge’ every time I get extra points.
        In my excel sheet, I have a separate column for 9X and don’t add this in ‘Current Point Balance’. So it’s easier for me to track every time I get ‘Extra’ points.

        Reply
    1. Avik Rao

      Hi Pranab,

      I was reading the conversation…how do you maintain two smart buy accounts? Did you mean entering a different mobile number for the same card?

      Reply
  155. Rahul Khandelwal

    Hi,

    Which concierge number are you guys trying on for infinia? Not being able to get through any.

    Haven’t yet recieved for June, have gotten for May

    Reply
  156. Shakti

    Hello All,

    I have not been getting the 9X reward points for the shopping done in March 2020.
    I called Customer Care in June and they said that by July end, their backend team would start processing and update the points. I waited till August 10th and nothing happened. Now, they say, there is a huge backlog and with less staff it takes time to process 9X for all customer and asked me to wait for 1-2 weeks. Now, they tell me that please provide the order number for the purchases you made so that we can raise a complaint on priority and you will get 9X points for the same order. In last Removing the purchases for last 90 days, from Mar till May, I have done close to 40-50 transactions and it is not possible to list down all order numbers in my cimpliant.
    So, wanted to know how to speedup the process ?
    Customer care calls & emails are not working.
    Thank You.
    Regards,
    Shakti.

    Reply
    1. Prashant Gupta

      you will have to share order ids, there is no fast way here.

      Reply
      1. MOHAMMED TABREZ

        Hey Prashant,
        will i get smartbuy 5% cashback if i upgrade my CC within 90 days?

        Reply
    2. Rohit

      @Shakthi
      I think you are new to HDFC bank. The main reason for HDFC to move from T+3 days of credit of points to 3 months is this is the reason. Even I used to do like you using smartbuy every day but later from June month I started buying things in bulk like Buying Bigbasket for 6k or bigbazaar for 10k based on your spending pattern. In that way you can easily track points. Also i think bank is crediting points for entire month not on daily basis so it is easy to track. Still there are chances of getting 50 or 100 points less and practically we wont be having time or worth the time to track specifically.

      Reply
  157. Mrinal Singh

    I have a HDFC Business Bharat Credit card since 3 Years. My Limit is ₹ 4,80,000..
    Which card should I upgrade to now?
    & mention the process too
    Your suggestions would be Helpful

    Reply
  158. Pranab

    On 20th Aug, received bonus 9X for Apr Amazon.
    On 25th Aug, received bonus 4X for Mar Insurance.
    Current due is Amazon 9X May onward and other Smartbuy 9X July onward.

    Reply
  159. Akshat

    Can anyone update How frequent is a discrepancy noted in extra 9x reward posting through this process and how much effort goes to resolve it.
    How long does HDFC take to post such points?

    Seems like a lot of effort, not sure whether it is worth it to continuously keep calling hdfc for a duration that can last 30-45mins easily on one call.

    Reply
  160. Rohit

    I have crossed 5 lakh spend on DCB but when I checked Annual membership benefit it is mentioned as 8 lakhs. Is it for those free membership gift program ? What about the fee waiver . Will it get activated automatically or I have to talk to customer care for fee waiver ?
    What about monthly milestone for 80k crossing ? Is it currently on hold since there is no use of BMS. My previous vouchers has been luckily extended by BMS.

    Reply
    1. Akshat Garg

      Fee waiver on 5lakh spend, annual benefits like prime membership on 8L spend.

      4 vouchers available on 80k monthly spends..BMS(currently irrelevant), Tata cliq,Ola select one month voucher, and recently added cult live one month voucher

      Reply
      1. Rohit

        No idea what to take other than BMS and tata. BMS were kind enough to extend my validity to 6 months whcih is expiring on sep. Will have to call and ask them again .If they extend then will have to take BMS.

        Reply
  161. Pranab

    For the first time in 1 year, there’s a discrepancy on 9X posting. Received May Smartbuy Amazon 9X on 27th Aug but 9X of 1 transaction (₹13999) is missing. Raised a complaint today mentioning confirmation mail of order placed through smartbuy from Amazon, got a resolution timeline of 7 days.

    Reply
  162. KMS Rao

    Hi Guys,
    My card got upgraded to Regalia during secong week of September 2018. My query is that reward points are valid for Two years and my statement generated on 02nd August 2019 has not shown any points that may lapse in next 30 days/60 days. If points lapseat the end of Two years , I may loose around 9000 points Should i not worry as the statement has not shown any points that may lapse in next statement and moreover i am unable to speak to customer care as the call doesnot get connected.
    Kindly advise

    Reply
    1. Santosh Kumar

      Call up customer care sand say that you lost your card. reward point validity is 2 years from card ISSUANCE. When card is reissued, the insurance date changes. Hence your points will be extended by 2 more years.

      Reply
    2. Rohit

      you might have redeemed points . If u gained 300 points in sep 2018 only 300 points would lapse in sep 2020 not entire points. Nothing to worry if in statement 30/60 days nothing is mentioned regarding points expiry.

      Reply
  163. Sandeep

    Hi All,
    I am planning to buy a new phone 11 64gb, I have a diners black. What is the best way to get max discount?
    The value of iPhone fluctuates like a share price on amazon! on some days I’ve seen it as low as 59k, on other day its 66k.

    Reply
    1. Santosh Kumar

      I would suggest create 3-4 smart buy accounts and accumulate Flipkart or Amazon vouchers for 2-3 months. Untill you get 60k vouchers. You should be getting 20k reward points. This is one way.

      2nd I have seen retail shops offering 10% off on hdfc cards. You can use that.

      3rd. Hdfc sometimes offers 10x on pineliab machines.usually around Diwali for offline stores. I bought a one plus 7t last time.

      Reply
  164. Mayank

    I received an emailer(generic) from HDFC to apply for credit cards with no info on what kinds of cards. I opened it, logged in with my hdfc netbanking credentials(I was recently upgraded to just the Classic Banking programme), and I was pleasantly surprised to see Regalia AND DCB there for me. I hurriedly opted for DCB and there was an option for LTF – with smartpay/ utility bill payment setup. Did that and a couple of days later received an email with virtual card details with a limit of 5 lacs!
    Now, I hope this ill be LTF, but I’m not sure if this is going to be very useful considering the 10x has become 5x for Amazon and only 3x for Flipkart, not to mention the limit of 7,500 RP every month.
    Still, I guess I’ll hold on to this and see what best I can make of it. Anyone wants to give me ideas on how to best use this card now? Thanks in advance,

    Reply
  165. Vishal S

    Hi

    Does anyone know whether the monthly bonus reward points limit (For example, 15k points for Infinia) is applicable for the ‘buying month’ or the ‘award month’?

    If its the buying month, we can plan the shopping so as not to exceed the bonus reward points. However, if the limit is applicable for the award month, not much planning can be done as both Gyftr and Amazon don’t follow the T+90 day rule very well.

    Any insight on this would be most appreciated.

    Thanks
    Vishal

    Reply
    1. Anant

      It is always based on Buying month. The date on which the transaction is recorded is considered.

      Reply
    2. Gautam Garg

      Hi Vishal,
      The ‘buying month’ is considered for the calculation of the monthly limits.

      Reply
  166. Gawtham

    The smart buy flight bookings are not working for the last two days. This is the first time I am trying this. Is this all fake, does it ever work? Called customer care and they giving all excuses from your card is blocked to what not. Even the concierge is not helpful, feel like trapped in a scam.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      It is not fake. There are lots of covid restrictions so it all depends where exactly are you booking. If it is domestic then i am not sure since i guess flights are open .

      Reply
  167. Gautam Garg

    Hey fellow Cardexpert followers,

    Has anyone received the bonus points for DCB for the month of July yet? TIA.

    Reply
  168. Varun

    Ca someone inform how to redeem the annual milestone benefits on HDFC Diners Black card?? Last year i completed the milestone which i checked from Rewards portal. But HDFC did not send any communication reg same.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      Neither I got any communication for Fee waiver for crossing annual spends. I got sms for monthly millestone but still away for annual and i wont be reaching that. Call to DCb concierge they would sort it out.

      Reply
  169. Swapnil

    I got a message
    “make the most of your Credit Card xxxx today.
    Use it for ₹25000 during 07-30th September and
    get a Free voucher worth ₹2000.”

    Can I combine this target based spend offer with amazon smartbuy 5X offer on my regalia card ?
    Will I get 5X reward points and 2k voucher both for achieving spend based target ?

    Reply
  170. Rohit

    BMS vouchers as of now for at least 1 year is not worth (DCB millestone ). Did any 1 talk to customer care for an alternative.
    Tatacliq is there and other all are useless. I spoke to BMS customer care and they have been extending from past 6 months and again they are going to extend till dec 20. I am sure theaters would open before dec because of pressure and I dont want to hit theaters for atleast 1 year. What is an other alternate ?

    Reply
  171. Karann

    Hey my statement was generated couple of days back and I haven’t used 10x this month. If I buy now it’ll be counted in the month of September or October? The month limit works statement to statement? I’ll highly appreciate if someone can clarify on this.

    Reply
    1. Pranab

      It’s always calendar month, not the statement month.
      It’s better to utilise 10X (any transaction, to be precise) only on or after your statement date, to get the maximum credit period.

      Reply
      1. Karann

        Thanks Pranab for the quick response. So if I buy something end of September then I can use my 10x again 1st of October?

        Reply
  172. MannySJ

    Any hope or hint of 10x coming back on Amazon and Flipkart for festive season i.e. October onwards?

    Reply
  173. rahul khandelwal

    Received points on the 26th September. Anyone has an idea for which month it is? not matching the points i should be getting for july

    Reply
  174. Rohit

    Info on DCB/Infinia points :
    My RP for DCB got messed up. Even though i have daily track,i never bothered to call back bank to cross check and when I did from past Feb many transactions got missed. I wonder how much points are gone. I did not get for Feb,June one date. Funny part is as per my tracking April month we got points T+3 days. But what bank claims is even for May month they credited T+3 days which did not reflect in netbanking current statement. Can any one confirm whether even for may we got 9x on T+3. As long as i made a note only on 31st of may we got T+3. One good part is bank told me to call every month rather than doing what i did after 3 months 🙂 Also another funny part is what we see in netbanking current point does not reflect on their back end system. This led to lot of confusion since when i ask like on this date 2k points are credited bank said that there are no points credited on that day. Is this what others experienced? I requested to bring back T+3 to avoid confusion and waste of time and i was given some top head mail id to share the feedback. Might be if even you all Infina/DCb users do the same then bank would revert back to T+3. (All these points reduction and 90 days is due to Chinese virus )
    For me from July points are not posted as per customer care.

    Reply
  175. Madhav

    I had smartfly transaction done during Feb and the travel dates fell during lockdown period. Now the airlines issues a refund. I have the checked the statement and found that HDFC has adjusted only the 1x points and not the entire 10x points. Basically I want to know if HDFC is going to adjust the 9x points in the next statement?

    Reply
  176. Ghanshyam

    Haven’t got 9x yet for July transactions smart buy voucher purchases… Called customer care and they are saying it will only be done by Nov 🙁 :(. this is 90+30 days in total (If they do it by 1st Nov, else 90+60 days if done by Nov/E)… very sad state of affairs

    Reply
  177. Pranab

    Not able to purchase Flipkart or Amazon voucher. After entering card details, transactions getting failed. Not to mention, this is the first 5K GV purchase for the month.
    After failing for almost 25 times, purchased 5K Amazon GV with netsafe card. Will I be denied 9X?

    Reply
    1. Rahul Khandelwal

      Same thing has happened with me,

      Called gyftr then they told me that my card is showing as RISK, and told me to talk to HDFC. spoke to HDFC and they said that there is no problem, there is no risk in my card.

      Then contacted PAYU ( Payment gateway ) they said that GYFTR has blacklisted my card, so hjave dropped a mail to gyftr to allow PAYU to whitelist my card.

      Can buy other vouchers, but amazon and flipkart cant

      Reply
      1. Tarun

        Any idea why this has happened ? I have also been buying Amazon and Flipkart vouchers for the last few months up to the limit of 5k. Apart from that buying few other vouchers as needed. Did you by any chance buy multiple amazon vouchers from different gyftr accounts in the same calendar month?

        Reply
    2. MT

      This action is at gyftr’s end , they have started blacklisting cards which get swiped same card number across different user names for certain categories

      Reply
    3. Suresh

      I have the same problem. Looks like they have now tracked those cards where cumulatively (using different accounts) monthly limit breach and blocked those cards.

      Reply
      1. Pranav Sharma

        In which month you did multiple accounts more than 5k transactions.

        Reply
      2. Avijeet

        Did u receive any intimation of Card Blockage?
        I was not aware of this.

        I have done it too.

        Reply
      3. Rohit

        @Suresh
        Obviously they can track. Same thing i mentioned even in the month of march. Hdfc has tie up with all merchants whose voucher are present in smartbuy. So obviously they would have track which voucher is getting sold in how much quantity. So anything beyond once limit would get exposed.

        Reply
        1. SK

          I think they have unblocked the cards now. I was able to purchase Amazon voucher today. 🙂

          Reply
          1. Pranav Sharma

            your card was blocked initially , what did you do then

          2. Gouri Shankar Yadav

            Was you card blocked to purchase AMZ/FK GV at gyftr? Did you contact CC or emailed them for unblocking?

          3. SK

            I had purchased Amazon vouchers from two different Gyftyr accounts, so they had perhaps blocked my account. I didn’t do anything, just checked after 2-3 weeks and voila! it was working again

    4. Rohit

      please check with infinia cc and kindly update will you get 10x for this .

      Reply
      1. Ashish

        Did you get confirmation regarding 10x reward points for netsafe card?

        Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Pranab
      Only 31st May 9x was credited on T+3. But when spoke to customer care they asked me to check june statement. And to my surprise IN june month statement there were additional points. At this point of time I did not want to raise any questions coz they have raised dispute for Feb points and June last day 9x. At least from July I will start keeping track.

      Reply
  178. Sumit

    Hi Siddharth,
    Is 7,500/15,000 limit separate for add-on card? Or is it total per account?

    Reply
    1. Shivi

      Total per account till there is any standalone offer on add-on cards

      Reply
  179. Rohit

    Amazon and flip kart are no longer available at rewards redemption at 50% value. hDFC is having close watch on how people are reddening points and change things accordingly . Now other than flights and hotel there are no better way to use points for whom it is going to expire some time soon.

    Reply
    1. NITHIN

      i am able to see amazon GC in rewards section on infinia smartbuy website

      Reply
    2. AbhiKohli

      For some reason HDFC has this goof going on up since long now. They have made RP -> Amazon vouchers conversion really expensive on redemption page from netbanking. BUT if you login to smartbuy and their you go to rewards section, it is still 2:1.

      Reply
  180. George Mathews

    Hi folks,

    I have had DCB for a year and got myself upgraded to Infinia 9 months back.
    I have never received any spend offers in this entire time. About 2-3 times last year I have got SMSes informing me that I have received egift vouchers for Rs 500 for March’19 activation. I seem to be getting a lot of mails from HDFC otherwise.

    Pls help!
    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  181. Mohammed Ashraf

    Hi Guys,I just wanted to know do we get 9x rewards points on EMI transaction in Flipkart and Amazon? Actually I want to do some big amount purchase in big billion days sale….Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    1. Gkcards

      As per T&C, seems will get 10x on EMI on flipkart but NOT on Amazon for EMI transactions

      Reply
      1. Varun

        T&C of 10x/ 5X offers at smartbuy website says this:

        “Offer is applicable on Credit card Easy EMI Transactions on SmartBuy Amazon-exclusive store for transactions done from 1st October `20 onwards”

        What is this then??

        Reply
        1. Rohit

          From where did you see it is 9x?
          You would only get 3x for EMI flipkart and no points for Amazon EMI.
          Call customer care and confirm

          Reply
  182. Pranab

    @Rohit,
    Not sure what you are mentioning!
    I can see both Amazon & Flipkart vouchers. It’s still 50% value as earlier, nothing changed.
    1000 RP = 500 GV
    2000 RP = 1000 GV
    4000 RP = 2000 GV
    10000 RP = 5000 GV

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @pranab
      I checked at reward redemption through net banking.
      Did you check in smart buy?

      Reply
  183. Santosh kumar

    @sid,

    Can I make Amazon 5x purchase in my amazon.in business account? Will it work via smartbuy? Will I be in trouble or something?

    Reply
    1. Ankur

      Yes it works. Been using for 1+ year. Can claim GST as input credit for additional savings

      Reply
      1. rais

        Could you help me out with how to get directed onto the Amazon business site and not the regular amazon consumer site from HDFC smart buy as I automatically get directed to the consumer site and not the business site

        Reply
  184. Kalyan Maity

    Hi Sid and friends,
    I am Infinia CC holder.
    Whether any instant voucher purchase ( viz Spencer’s,
    Groffer’s etc ) under smartbuy would fetch 10× RP for infinia CC holder ?

    Reply
  185. George Mathews

    Just tried redeeming HDFC points for an Amazon voucher for the first time.

    33,310 points for a 5000/- voucher?

    Crazy devaluation.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      Get it from smart buy site you would get at 50% conversion rate. Even I mistook it as you did. In netbanking redemption it would show what you have mentioned.

      Reply
    2. Ganesh

      Please try redeeming through Diner specific website, for better redemption.

      Reply
  186. SK

    Do you guys receive email confirmation for Amazon SmartBuy transaction these day? I bought a TV from Amazon using SmartBuy but have not received any email confirming that it is a smartbuy transaction. Would Diners Black customer care help?

    Reply
    1. Pranab

      Yes, they stopped sending mails. But now the transactions read as “Amazon HDFC Smartbuy Mumbai In”. That’s confirmation of Smartbuy transaction.

      Reply
  187. Shivam

    Can you please tell where we can see this “amazon hdfc smartbuy Mumbai”
    Thanks

    Reply
  188. Akash

    Does grocery order from Amazon give 10x ? Becoz the statement shows amozon grocery instead of Amazon smartbuy

    Reply
  189. Punit Bansal

    I have 2 infinia cards – Visa and master card seperately in my and my wife name. I used to have redemption for travel but didn’t used for long time and have 5 lacs points in totality over period of 1.5 years of usage . I was happy with 3.3% payback especially i was travelling 75 days in a year for work and was not knowing about 10x smart buy options but since I used cards extensively for every purchase I had accumulated the points. I was afraid due to covid-19 and converted points into Amazon pay and bought 2.5 lac worth of products from Amazon in last 4 months.

    Now since i am not travellingI have monthly shopping of 50k from amazon so to maximize points suggest to use smart buy as will get 10x points which is 33% cash back. Is it correct

    Reply
    1. Ankur

      5X if you buy directly from Amazon (login via smartbuy)
      10x if you buy amazon voucher and load them on the amazon pay (max Rs 5000 per smartbuy account)
      Max points per month either way is 15000

      Reply
    2. Shivi

      Nah. It’s around 16.5% cashback in RP terms now with monthly limit on maximum RPs reduced too. Read tnc under offer scheme.

      Reply
    3. George Mathews

      Hi Punit
      As the other’s mentioned, Amazon gives you 10x upto 5000 through vouchers from Smartbuy/Gyftr.
      Post that you will only get 5x points fo purchase from Amazon.

      You can also explore the rest of instant Vouchers from Gyftr/Smartbuy to see if there are any other vouchers that help you build up the monthly 50k worth of shopping points.

      Hope this helps!

      Reply
  190. Jugal Shah

    Hello!
    I have a DCB card and I am trying to redeem Amazon voucher but the conversion is 33,330 points for 5,000 GV.
    Can someone please help me and tell me where can I convert my points and get a 5,000 GV from 10,000 points.

    Reply
    1. Amit

      Hi please visit smartbuy website, click on privileges and select Diners club. Sign in with your details and click on rewards. You will find amazon vouchers

      Reply
    2. Gaurav

      redeem by going in Smartbuy DCB portal , where you book flights and hotel using DCB points, you will found Amazon under instant vouchers.

      Reply
      1. Ariyanth P

        If i book flight tickets in smartbuy dcb portal .will i get 10x reward points

        Reply
  191. Murali

    You have to redeem through smartbuy Diners website.
    offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/diners -> Rewards tab
    select Reward tab and select the required vouchers.

    Where I can see Amazon voucer 5000 Rs for 10000 Reward points.

    Reply
    1. abhijeet

      How much time does it take to get these vouchers delivered ? They seem to be e gift vouchers and assume it to be delivered on the email address.

      Reply
    2. George Mathews

      Is this only for diners or applicable to jnfina card holders too?

      Reply
  192. Pranab

    October is about to end and I’m yet to get 10X of July. Did anyone got 10X of July or later months?

    Reply
    1. Ghanshyam

      I had a talk with customer care a few weeks back, and they said 9x points will be credited in the month ‘after 3 months (90 days)’ of the transaction month. So for July transactions, it would be in the month of Nov, worst case 30 Nov !!! Seems like, they are sticking to the very end of the dates 🙁

      Reply
  193. Rohit

    Can anyone tell how to claim spend based offer. In the month of July I got an offer to spend xxx to claim 750 Rs Amazon pay or big basket etc voucher . It was mentioned that I can claim after 90 days oct/November. Whom to contact and currently using DCB.

    Reply
      1. Rohit

        @akash
        How can I choose for Amazon pay or big basket voucher?
        There were some 3 to 4 options mentioned.

        Reply
        1. FrequentFlyer15

          They will give you a link where you have to use the code given in the SMS and then you can select the voucher from a list of about 10 brands.

          Reply
  194. Manav

    Before COVID everything is perfect regarding points but after COVID HDFC bank ko 10x point dene me problem ho raha hai.when u booked flight before COVID so 10x credited within 2 days only and this day not credited after 90 days/less credited/some customer representative told credit some told still pending.

    Basically I thought that hdfc customer ko Bewakoof bana raha hai.

    Reply
  195. Pranab

    @Ghanshyam,
    3 months from July is Oct end, not Nov.
    Talked with customer care today. As per him, it’ll be posted within first week of Nov (that is within 90 Working days from the last day of transaction month.

    Reply
    1. ajay

      This is generic response what they have given you. If not posted within 90 ‘working’ days from the ‘last day’ of transaction month, HDFC being so notorious can very well tell you they will post within 90 ‘Mon’days from the ‘last day’ of transaction month. that would be 90 weeks.

      Reply
  196. Nilesh

    If we use amazon wallet for part payment and balance using card, do we still get 5x on the amount paid thru card? Ofcourse would be landing on amazon through smartbuy

    Reply
    1. Mukul

      Yes, you should get as long as item was added in cart from smartbuy amazon landing page, Ideally you should receive SMS also but that is not consistent.

      Reply
  197. Saurav Das

    Which is a better card – Regalia vs Diners Privilege- when comparing offers and benefits? I want to add a HDFC credit card to my collection and would like opinions of people who have used them.

    Reply
  198. Tanmay

    HI,
    Does anyone know how do they decide how many points expire? Their webpage says
    Rewards Points Validity:
    Rewards Points are valid only for 3 years from the date of accumulation.
    ex:- if you receive Reward Points in Nov 2019, same will expire in Nov 2022.

    I got my DCB card only last July (2019) and in this month statement a huge stash of points are marked for expiry in next 60 days? Aren’t they supposed to be valid for 3 years? Has anyone else noticed this in their statement?

    Thanks, will appreciate some feedback.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      The points expiring might be the points carried over from previous card. What you have mentioned is right regarding points Expiry. Check with customer care and let us know. Hdfc has been doing strange things these days.

      Reply
      1. Tanmay

        The card was issued only a little a year ago. All the points were earned in last 1 year, nothing to carry forward from. Have raised a query with HDFC support. As usual no response till date.

        Reply
      1. Akshat

        Shivi
        That’s incorrect.
        It’s 3 years for DCB too

        “Rewards Points are valid only for 3 years from the date of accumulation.
        ex:- if you receive Reward Points in Nov 2019, same will expire in Nov 2022.”

        Reply
        1. Shivi

          Sorry, i don’t have DCB; only Infinia. So that makes Infinia and DCB with 3 years RP validity and others have 2.

          Reply
  199. Rohit

    I Received 9x for July month using DCB card on 05/11.
    Can any one let me know how i can use points to book hotel. Currently we can use only 70% points and rest I should keep. Do I get 9x for 30% of amount i pay for hotel ?

    Reply
      1. Anil Nagesh

        Hi, I would be receiving the LTF Diner Black card within 2 days… Can u please provide me your input with the below question I have:
        1)10X reward points is equal to how many Rs.. If for 150 it is 5 points then how much is 1 point..
        2) Called Customer Care they confirmed me that it is 0.30ps for 1 point..
        So for instance if I buy voucher worth 500 how many rewards will I get back under 10X.. plz confirm

        Reply
        1. Shivi

          I highly doubt anybody here converts DCB points to cash; It’s a total waste.

          Reply
  200. Gkcards

    Got SMS from HDFC for smartbuy points credited for July. This is a good service initiative by bank

    Reply
  201. Pranab

    Now for every transaction on Gyftr/smartbuy, a convenience fee of 1.18% (maximum 59) is being charged.

    Reply
  202. Sahil

    Anybody else getting CONVENIENCE FEE CHARGES on Insta vouchers from GYFTR?

    Extra 59 rs. being charged for the Amazon 5K vouchers!!

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      Lol came here to give that information but looks like people have already seen 😁 I guess 1.2 % is being charged. Now other than infinia and dcb for rest instant vouchers are going to be waste. Hdfc is going to loose lots of smart buy customers.

      Reply
  203. MT

    Looks like the banks/finance companies has found new ways to recover more money from customers, gyftr 1% , paytm 2%(+5% if someone is intelligent enough to transfer wallet balance to bank account)

    Reply
  204. Singh

    Two of DCB cards that I was using to buy multiple Amazon Vouchers seems to be blocked for further amazon Vouchers. Anyone else?

    Reply
  205. Pulkit

    Can anyone please confirm how many Rs worth of Croma instant vouchers I can buy from SB account, so that I get 9x RP.?? I am planning to buy something of about 50k from Croma. If it wont be a good deal, then I’ll reconsider.

    Reply
  206. Rohit

    Can Amazon registered number be different when compared to bank inorder to get 10x/5x.
    I want to change Amazon registered number but I doubt will there be issues in crediting of 10x after 90 days?

    Reply
    1. Pranab

      Hi Rohit,
      It doesn’t matter. I clicked out from smartbuy to various Amazon accounts and received accelerated RPs.
      Only important things are mentioning your HDFC registered mobile number and card number (last 4 digits) on Smartbuy and pay through that card.
      One can use Amazon pay balance. But bonus 4X will be given on the amount paid through HDFC Card.

      Reply
  207. Tanuj Gambhir

    What’s the current status on buying Amazon Instant Vouchers from multiple Gyftr accounts? As I read through all the comments, I saw that many got blacklisted from Gyftr for doing this but the card started working after some days/weeks. So is it the same now or card blacklisting has become permanent?

    If we can’t buy 25k Amazon vouchers every month on DCB for 10x RPs then what’s the next best use case for DCB?

    Reply
    1. Singh

      I was told, the block gets removed in a new calendar month. Will have to wait and see.
      (BTW, i just purchased 1k voucher each from 2 accounts. LOL. And still got blacklisted)

      Reply
    2. Jigar Patel

      I think HDFC plugged “that” loophole for gftyr vouchers since December 2020. I was going to upgrade to Infinia since I wanted more monthly Amazon/Flipkart vouchers but not going to do that now because probably they are now matching the card number as well.

      Reply
  208. Shridhar

    I had purchased a laptop on Flipkart in Feb 20 and have the screenshot of the purchase where it shows that it is through smart buy. However, when the 9x points did not get credited, I called and wrote to them about it. They dragged on for months citing lockdown and inadequate staff. Then I was told that my order ID is invalid. I rechecked with Flipkart who confirmed that the order id is valid. I also attached the Invoice copy, & the screenshots of the purchase but they are still saying that the transaction is not valid for 9x.
    Wrote to their grievance cell too but same reply. Can someone guide me on how to take this further. I am at my wits end.

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Shridhar
      You cannot do anything other than file a case 🙂
      It happened to me and I let it go. What ever points I get I just consider it as bonus. I am surpriced why they are not giving for such huge points . Mine is like not giving vouchers for 1000 Rs something like that. I had similar issue with flipkart but got points after raising complaint.

      Reply
    2. Shivi

      The tracking cookies are valid for at 2-3 months unless otherwise specified as per the privacy laws & hence the order ID is showing up as invalid in HDFC system due to covid induced disruptions in data backup/order links. There is not much you can do except keep on escalating it to higher up authorities in HDFC card hierarchy while also using social media to post about it.

      Reply
    3. Mo

      Shridhar,

      Escalate the issue to Senior Managements of both Flipkart and HDFC Bank and share the response received from both parties ( HDFC response with Flipkart and Flipkart response with HDFC). This is the way to get the issues resolved. I had same issue when I purchased iPhone 11 Pro worth of 40K RP. HDFC was stating that the transaction did not go through SmartBuy while I had the screenshots showing the transactions went through SmartBuy. Never ever give up. It took almost 8 month for HDFC to give me the RP.

      Reply
  209. Vinay

    Dear Sid,

    I am planning a purchase of 7.5 lakhs car ..I have hdfc diners club card with limit of 1.5 lakh.

    Please suggest how can I make maximum points out of credit card purchases.

    For example : My statement date is 5 th december ..so I am planning to swipe credit card on 4th December and immediately pay bill after statement generation on 6 th December ..Then again I plan to use hdfc credit card on 7 th December for additional 1.5 lakhs …

    Still I am left with 4.5 lakhs to pay …

    Please suggest how can pay entire 7.5 lakhs via hdfc credit card in a month or two max ..and are there any limitations on the same ?
    Please advise

    Reply
    1. Rohit

      @Vinay
      Other than getting points you have to swipe ,pay bill then again swipe. Not sure whether dealer would agree that.
      I split my payment into two for purchase of my bike.

      Reply
    2. Ankur

      There is no capping, but generally the car dealer will only accept credit card for initial deposit of 1-1.5 Lakhs. They will ask to settle the balance via cheque or RTGS.

      They do this because cars already have a thin margin, and dealers dont want to pay 2-3.5% for credit card usage fees.

      Reply
      1. Shivi

        Nah, it depends on car dealership. I bought Creta on Card. Full payment on single swipe. Got all reward points; no cap.

        Reply
    3. AbhiKohli

      HDFC CC mostly immediately restores the limit as soon as you make a payment. So theoretically, you can make 5 swipes in a day with money transfers in between. (For some reason I see limit restored immediately when I pay using Cred, but not when paying through HDFC netbanking.)

      Reply
      1. Siddharth Post author

        They restore the limit, but don’t allow to swipe the same day beyond the credit limit per day, lately.

        Reply
    1. Ravi

      No capping on points. You will get 3.3% points a couple of days after the transaction.

      Reply
  210. Chintan

    can someone through some light on following condition recently added to smartbuy,

    Point 3 in Transaction Eligibility:
    “Offer is applicable on Credit card Easy EMI Transactions on SmartBuy Amazon-exclusive store for transactions done from 1st October `20 onwards”

    What does Easy EMI means?

    Reply
  211. Pointer

    5x points are valid on amazon EMI from October onwards, so that should give us space to work with.

    Reply
  212. Rohit

    Can anyone tell how to redeem spend based gift voucher. They have sent a unique password and was a button to click here to redeem. But when i take my cursor there, it is not in clickable format 🙂

    Reply
  213. Rama Gurubaran

    Given that there is a max cap. on reward points that can be earned for the benefits program(with no cap on regular 3.33% reward points), is it advisable to go for an EMI option for bulk purchase like say 1L? The idea here is you will continue to get the reward points every month which otherwise would have been capped at 7,500 Reward points per month for Diners card holders.

    Reply
    1. Anil

      Sir can u please elaborate.. Could not understand.. Suppose if u make a transaction of 1L and convert that into emi will I get back 33% reward points plz confirm.. But as per hdfc you get maximum of only 7500 plz confirm

      Reply
      1. Rama Gurubaran

        Yes, that’s right. But it’s not 33% as Amazon offers only 5x and Flipkart only 3X. If your monthly EMI reward points fall within 7,500 threshold limit, then it’s really beneficial.

        Reply
    2. Shivi

      You won’t continue to get RPs every month! RPs are limited to max 7500 per month for DCB regardless of type of payment option (full/emi)

      Reply
  214. Surbhi Agrawal

    Hey thanks for the continually updated post. It is much appreciated.
    I have recently acquired a Diners Black card. I had query. The cap of 7500 points is limited only to the 10X programme or to the usual spends as well?

    Reply
    1. Ravindra Saini

      The cap is limited to 10X program only. In fact, it is limited to accelerated 9X reward points. This means you can spend Rs. 25,150 under 10X program and earn 8335 reward points (835 regular 1X points + 7500 9X points).

      You can earn as many reward points as you can on other regular spends with following conditions:
      1. Rewards Points will not be accrued for fuel transactions
      2. EasyEMI and e-wallet loading transactions will not accrue Rewards Points.
      3. Rewards Points accrued will be reversed if a retail transaction is converted into SmartEMI.
      4. Rewards Points accrued for Insurance transactions will have a maximum cap of 2,000 per transaction.

      Reply
  215. Rohit

    I have noticed in CC statement that for amazon smartbuy transaction in statement it is generally mentioned has
    “Amazon HDFC smartbuy mumbai” but for one of the smartbuy purchase it is mentioned has ” Amazon seller service Mumbai”. Does it mean 9x is not recorded for that ?

    Reply
  216. Sunil K

    I am not able to purchase flipkart Instant Voucher from smartbuy. CC says that it is working fine but I am getting “Transaction Error”. Does anyone else facing similar problem??

    Reply
    1. roshan

      Looks like your card has been blocked.
      Purpose: Transaction failed/cancelled – Unable to Purchase voucher
      Resolution Provided: Kindly send us a mail to help.hdfc [at] gyftr.com along with your registered mobile number, one government ID proof, and the last six digits of your card

      Note: we would request you to not use a single card against the multiple HDFC SmartBuy accounts in the future because in case the card gets blocked the same would not be unblocked again.

      Reply
  217. Shakti

    Yes, me too.
    M getting error on Flipkart n Amazon vouchers.
    Been trying everyday from 1st dec till today. No luck.

    Reply
    1. Atul Prabhu

      This happens if your card has been deemed risky. If you have used the card across accounts then such cards are getting flagged. You need to reach out to customer care and raise a case to address this.

      Reply
    2. Sunil K

      I could buy 1 amazon instant voucher of 5000/- but unable to get flipkart insta voucher. I have also tried many times in this month but no luck.

      Reply
  218. Rohit

    There is a current offer at smartbuy of 10% instant discount on flights and hotel. Can we avail both which is 10% instant discount and then use 70% of points?
    I want to know how to generate voucher for points for DCB. In netbanking I couldn’t find any options.

    Reply
  219. Mayank

    Does Anyone here have the screenshot of the smartbuy offer on flipkart in july month. I had bought a laptop from flipkart and the smartbuy cashback of 3% was not credited. On contacting CC, they are asking for proof. So can anyone please share the screenshot.

    Reply
  220. Krishnan

    Have created an excel formula to calculate expected points for each transaction category (i.e. 10x, 1x). It should also be noted that the minimum amount per transaction should be atleast 150 or a multiple 150. Hence the FLOOR function to below formula. I have only included 10x and 1x at this point. You can add other reward categories as per your liking by adding another IF condition to the zero in the end. You can download statement to an excel and add transaction category manually in a new column

    =IF(AF57=”10X”,(FLOOR.MATH(AD57,150)/150*5*10),(IF(AF57=”1X”,(FLOOR.MATH(AD57,150)/150*5),0)))
    Where AF57 = cell with transaction category and AF57 = transaction amount

    Reply
    1. Navin Agarwal

      Hi,
      I am not able to copy paste ad get expected results from this formula. Can you give me the excel sheet link

      Regards

      Navin

      Reply
  221. Aditya

    Hi, I have a query – do we get the 5RP for Rs. 150 spent if we performed the charged the payzapp wallet from diners black card and use it for the transaction?

    Reply
    1. Ashish Nikhare

      Yes ! We get it. Even we get it for Paytm Wallet/Voucher loads. But ! still keep a track at it on 29, 30, 31 & 1 st of every month and also the date after statement generation. Sometimes, they adjust it by deducting points on such Payzapp/Paytm loads. But, most of the time, they dont. Still, keep a check ! If they are not adjusted, you are the Lucky one !

      Reply
    2. Anant S

      Yes, I have always got points for Payzapp wallet loading. Never tried on Paytm though.

      Reply
  222. Meghna Bansal

    A new DCB user here.
    I used smartbuy.com to purchase flight tickets worth 20000.
    Paid 70% through point redemption i.e 14k.
    Remaining 30% i.e 6k through DCB card ( it’s mandatory).

    Will I get 10X points on the 6k spend too? Pls update.
    Thanks.

    Reply
      1. Ramesh

        What will happen if we buy Amazon Gift Vouchers via Infinia Smartbuy by paying 100% of the amount using Infinia Credit Card? Will we get 5X points on such transactions? Remember, this is not via the Instant Voucher section but the Infinia Smartbuy section.

        Reply
  223. Nsk

    To get the 5x/10x reward points on Flipkart and Amazon purchases every month . EMI option should be opted at respective site or from hdfc NetBanking after purchasing the product in full from the site ? Please advise.
    Great article !

    Reply
    1. Shivi

      EMI option should be opted at respective site after landing on them via smartbuy. 10x on Amazon is no longer a full time feature.

      Reply
  224. Anirban Roychowdhury

    New DCB user here – one query – if I make a purchase in flipkart using the smartbuy portal and make part payment by gift card and rest using hdfc card , will I be entitled for 3x reward points? Recently I made a purchase in flipkart (landing from smartbuy), used gift card and still got the instant hdfc card discount (10% max Rs 1500, – offer running at that time) and paid off the remaining by DCB. In NetBanking, the transaction came up as flipkart payments Bangalore. Will I get 3x points on the amount paid by card?

    Reply
    1. RAHUL

      No, no accelerated rewards for flights on flipkart as per T and C.

      Reply
    2. Shivi

      “Will I get 3x points on the amount paid by card?” – Yes; if you landed on FK through SB

      Reply
    3. Rohit

      You would get for hotel and flight bookings by using reward points and paying remaining by card. Even I want to know on Amazon and flipkart partial payment. I anyone else can let us know on this?

      Reply
  225. BSK

    Hi Have a quick question.

    During the 10X/15X promo period, I made purchases worth 75k to reach 15X smart buy transactions.
    two transactions worth ~25K were not considered as smart buy transactions. customer care says they need amazon order nos to investigate. I actually made the transactions through an amazon business account.

    Will sharing my order no’s invite unwanted trouble? such as business spends?

    Reply
      1. Shivi

        You mean you’ve been sharingAmazon Business Order IDs with HDFC & still getting reward points?

        Reply
    1. Rohit

      Happened to me before and ever since I stopped buying from bonus program. By the way I will again have to drop mail on this. Giving order no is the only way. But now hdfc has gone to an extent that even if you show them screen shot they will deny.
      I just buy instant voucher, flight, Hotel to get points correctly without any issue. Regarding business account I am not sure but as per policy you should not use card for business use.

      Reply
      1. Ankur M

        The terms at Smartbuy mentions the exclusion of Amazon Business from last month.

        Reply
  226. Karthik N

    Hey Guys,
    I want to buy s21 during the extra saving days which are live now. Can you confirm whether I will get the instant discount and the 10x/15x reward points at a time? Received DCB Last month.

    Reply
  227. The Quintessential Poor

    Guys I see an offer for an upgrade when I logged in via net banking. The upgrade is from a LTF Regalia to a paid Infinia. Should I take the offer ? My annual spend is around 5-6 L.

    Reply
    1. Praveen Katiyar

      @The Quintessential Poor
      You should take Infinia, eyes closed.
      1) For every lakh you spend on Infinia you get Rs. 2000 more than what you would earn on Regalia (of course for the best redemption in both cards).
      2) If you take Infinia (even Fee Variant), and suppose you have to pay Rs. 10000+gst (=Rs. 11800) as annual fee, and in return you get 10000 reward points which if redeemed for max value is equivalent to Rs. 10000, so max you losing is just Rs 1800.
      3) More important that above 2 points is you won’t be ‘The Quintessential Poor’ any more, after all you will be holding ‘Invite Only’ card.

      PS: I did not cared to see if Infinia is FYF of whatever when I was offered Infinia from Regalia in Jan 2021.

      Hope it helps.

      Reply
    2. Prashant bhushan

      Yes you should. You will save atleast 40000 per year considering an average of 8% savings

      Reply
  228. Anjali

    I don’t think that now you should buy things on Amazon via Smart buy on Infinia as Icici Amazon card can also give you 5% discount.

    Reply
    1. Umesh

      Infinia still gives 16.7% if we use fo travel and 8%+ if we redeem for gift vouchers…

      Reply
    2. Shivi

      Infinia gives 16.65% returns on Amazon compared to 5 percent of APay card.

      Reply
      1. Ankur M

        16.65 /2 = 8.3% when comparing Apples to Apples i.e. Amazon Pay Gift Balance.

        Reply
      2. Rahul

        And transparency has improved a lot as well. Now straightaway sms says smartbuy rather than amazon.. So no chance of confusion.

        Bonus points transparency has also improved. Still some scope for improvement

        Reply
  229. sumit

    hi
    I know my question may look stupid, but I want to speak HDFC credit card customer care and I am not finding the option in IVR .
    Can anybody tell me how to speak.

    Reply
    1. Sri

      What I did previously is to choose the Banking option and then select the option to speak to a phone banker. If you choose Credit Card, you wont get an option to speak to a human on the other end of the phone

      Reply
      1. Mayank

        Yes same here. GO for banking option. Do verification using customer id and tpin. Then u have to select saving/current account. Later on u will get an option to put a complaint. that will connect u to a phonebanker. That is the only option.

        Reply
    2. Ayush Agarwal

      If you are holding diners black credit Card, then dial the number on back of credit card. They will connect to customer care.

      Reply
  230. Shawn

    Swiggy (food only) is back as a Diners 10x rewards partner. Minimum order value of INR 300 to qualify for 10x reward points. I placed an order on swiggy this morning and it shows (in the “offers” section) that the offer is good until 31st December 2021.

    Reply
  231. Ankush Jagga

    I placed 5 order on Amazon through SmartBuy with infinia card. Right after placing the order I get sms that you have missed on 5x rewards. Placed order through SmartBuy. Ofcourse I keep my Cart empty before landing at Amazon but still it doesn’t get tracked. Can anyone suggest the possible reason for this?

    Reply
    1. Meghna Bansal

      I got such msg twice.
      Once because i had partly paid through AMazon Pay balance. 90% of the payment was through HDFC card. So 100% of the payment needs to be made through HDFC card to get smartbuy 5x benefit.

      Next time when i got it, I also couldn’t figure out the reason. I simply cancelled the order and re-ordered with full precautions. This time it got through correctly.

      Now, every time the “spend/debit” sms comes for the amazon transaction through smartbuy – its mentioned on the msg “on smartbuy”. If I don’t get a clear msg, I cancel the order and re-order properly.

      Reply
  232. Priyank Jain

    If i place an order on Amazon using smart-buy and return the order with refund in amazon pay balance, will i be eligible for 5x reward?

    Reply
    1. Saadat

      Yes, they have no way of knowing if the order has been cancelled. As long as you don’t get a refund in your card, you should be fine. I’ve tried it and it works.

      Reply
      1. Santosh Kumar

        Ideally, it means you are getting 5X. But do exhaust your 10X on amazon vouchers first

        Reply
    2. Perth

      Hi,
      How to get refund to amazon pay balance when then original payment mode was credit card ?

      Reply
  233. Madhu

    Hi All,
    I found that if total credit card expenditure is more than 10Lacs in a financial year, then income tax might send notice? I want to use credit card for me and my extended family!

    My question is if i am a salaried person having submitted ITR for every year, my income is ~30L and if my yearly credit card spend is <=30L and then will be i sent ITR notice by any chance?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Ideally if your annual spends are within the income it’s safe.

      Kindly allow me a week or so to do a detailed article on it.

      Reply
      1. Kris

        Hi Thala,
        I have personal experience with IT notice this year and this was for financial year 2017-18.
        I was receiving notices from 2020 because of huge spending on my credit cards it was close to 75L I had to sit with CA do a lot of paper work and it’s really big headache.
        As you suggested it is wise if you spend with in your annual income.
        Would like to give advice that don’t use credit cards too much simply to earn reward points.
        I used to do lot of transactions to reward points and be cautious that you are under IT radar you may get IT notices for any previous financial year.

        Reply
  234. Babai

    Hi All,
    As per ITR rules, if yearly spend on credit card is more than 10lacs then ITR may send notice. But what if i use 60%-70% of my gross income in credit card (which is more than 10lacs/ financial year) to transfer credit card money to my own account for earning rewards points, then would it be termed illegal or would i be under the ITR radar?

    Reply
    1. MT

      Forget IT dept , the bank will block your card for breach of terms and conditions, IT dept dont send you notice unless the algorithm catches a trend where your spends are way higher than your income , many gaming techniques which were possible earlier are being plugged by the bank , and if you transfer the money from credit card to bank account anywhere higher than the reward rate , you need to do the math

      Reply
    2. AbhiKohli

      Where did you get ‘on credit card is more than 10lacs then ITR may send notice’ ? If you have enough salary/earning legally and paid tax on it, you can spend your 100% income through CC.
      For transferring money, you maybe on IT radar since you’ll be receiving lot of money in your account which you are not paying tax on so you may get notice to explain that (getting notice is a big inconvenience you do have to do submit lot of papers, you can be asked for receipt for each and every expense.) not to mention it could trigger some bells in RBI (money laundering ?) and with bank as manufactured spends. Better to avoid it, chances are your points will get forfeited but you’d have to pay markup charge for the payment processor.

      Reply
    3. Sachin

      U will end paying more than what ur going to revive in ur hand.

      Like 2.6% charges for getting back into the account.
      Rewards points fetch less value
      Plus card company would soon realize this n block u permanently on their card

      Plus income tax department would love to see u soon as there would be mismatch in ur income, so CA would also charge u then

      Reply
  235. PB

    What is max cashback you can get by buying Croma vouchers?
    I intend to buy a 1.5L TV which is out of stock on amazon
    There’s a 10x on Croma vouchers

    What is the max cashback limit for this?

    Reply
    1. Deepak Jagga

      With croma i think you can use max 5 vouchers in one bill. So that’s 10000*5= 50000 rs voucher. Anyways with Infinia max points per month is 15000.

      Reply
    2. chandu

      for Infinia & DCB to 15K & 7.5K reqards points respectively.

      Reply
    3. Sandeep Kumar

      No limit on buying the vouchers (except amazon and flipkart) but the max rewards points you can earn in a month are 7.5k on dcb and 15k on infinia using smartbuy portal.

      Reply
    4. Sri

      At Croma, you can use a max of 5 vouchers. Each voucher is 10k. So 50k max.

      Reply
      1. Ashish

        Limit of 5 vouchers is only on croma website. At Physical store can use unlimited number of vouchers. Have used more than 15 vouchers recently.

        Reply
  236. Ayush Agrawal

    The overall 10x limit is 7500 on DCB and 15000 on Infinia.

    Reply
  237. rais

    Does anyone have any idea if :
    a) One can earn accelerated reward points on no cost EMI transactions
    and
    b) If one can go through from the smart buy page to Amazon business, make purchases, avail of GST input credit and earn accelerated reward point on the same.
    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  238. Jagath

    For Hdfc dinner club mile what is the max limit of reward points per month?
    For few months I got cash back now back to old days of reward points bt upper cap is not given any where?

    Reply
  239. Sid

    Does anyone know what is the next best redemption option after Flights and Hotels? Some of my points are expiring soon and I’d like to get at least something out of them,

    Reply
  240. USL

    Hi,

    I have infinia. If I buy instant vouchers via smartbuy portal and pay via Payzapp, will I still get 10X rewards?

    Reply
  241. Shree

    Has any Diners Card Black user tried redeeming Kalyan, PCJ, Candere gold jewellery vouchers for gold coins?

    Reply
    1. Pranab

      I redeemed my Regalia points for 20K Kalyan Jewellers vouchers approx 2 years ago and redeemed those at a store in Kolkata.
      I would suggest to redeem your points as Amazon/Flipkart vouchers and buy BRPL Gold coins, I purchased BRPL Gold coins from both Flipkart and Amazon (at discounted price during sale) and redeemed them for jewelleries in Kalyan Jewellers and Senco Gold store.

      Reply
  242. Navin Agarwal

    Dear Sid, As you have pointed that one might not be alive for 2 years. So best is to use the Reward points by buying Amazon Pay vouchers. You get 5000 Rupees Voucher for 10000 points. So the Reward ratio on 10X reward points would come at around 16.5% which is still great.

    Every month I buy 5000 Amazon Pay Voucher from Infinia. So effectively I am getting 5000 vouchers for 4175 ( by redeeming points for Amazon Pay Balance)

    And my family is also happy because all they have to do on Amazon is to buy things without asking me OTP for card.

    Reply
  243. KK

    Sid, 2 updates on SmartBuy 10x for diners & infinia cards:

    1. Instant vouchers has started to show in 5x instead of 10x. Date still shows of 01 Jun though, but I remember that even for August vouchers, including Amazon and flipkart vouchers, were in 10x
    2. Special offer on SmartBuy from 02 sep to 04 sep offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/offer_details/17751

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Thanks for the updates.
      1. Sad to know. This means eventually they will make it 5x very soon. Let me check with support and update shortly, while others try the same.
      2. Good to see 15X to be back again very soon.

      Reply
      1. KK

        Thanks. 15x should translate to 50% savings technically. But the devil is in the details. This 15x (on amazon website / app direct) has quite a lot of riders. For ex, 10x for diners black has a cap of 7500 points, which means any spend above Rs. 22500 won’t fetch a point beyond the regular points; But 15x triggers only Rs. 50001 onwards in spends! Best case scenario is 25% savings on 70k spends in case of Amazon; and 20% savings on Rs. 87500 spends on flipkart.

        Good offer nonetheless, but didn’t expect such play of words and deceptive marketing from SmartBuy.

        Reply
      2. Rohit

        @siddart
        I don’t think 10x would go for instant voucher because currently hdfc is making money only because of instant voucher considering reduction in flight and also hotel bookings.
        In addition to mdr charges on card’s which bank make they also get money from merchants to include in smartbuy so once it becomes 5x there would be a drastic fall in purchases. Also the main reason hdfc is bringing super savings day is because after the devaluation, dcb and infinia there is a fall in purchase even though I agree that hdfc has given more infinia and dcb to customer to compensate that loss. Anyways in the end we would never know what would happen coz makemytrip surfaced in the month of March just for few hours and not sure why hdfc pulled it out and now it is included again.

        Reply
    2. Gautam Garg

      Looks like there is a degradation. I can see the changes reflect on Gyftr Website as well.

      Reply
      1. Santosh Kumar

        I am more worried about devaluation currently. This is for upcoming spending. Don’t want it to affect points already accumulated!

        Also, my take on 5X for vouchers, it makes sense for them to reduce as earlier due to card ban, they had to make existing customers spend more, hence the generous offers. Not anymore.

        But still, they are running the 15X offer in which 10X for vouchers is available. So people taking regular amazon/FK vouchers will continue. Restricting 10X to few days will actually increase impulse buying for future usage. Both marketing wise and spending wise makes more sense for this

        Reply
        1. KK

          10x is on direct Amazon shopping (6x / 9x on flipkart), not vouchers. Infact voucher buying and Amazon pay loading is specifically excluded from 10x in the extra saving days.

          Reply
          1. Karthik N

            How about gold coins ? Hoping that is not excluded from the 10x.

  244. Deepak Jagga

    commenting to get added to the notifications. Need more info on this 5x change for smartbuy vouchers.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Support says that it’s 5x if it shows so.
      Yet, they don’t have a clarity.

      But looking at the other offer T&C, its mostly likely moving to 5x from 1st Sep 2021.

      Reply
  245. Navin Agarwal

    The Smartbuy Evoucher reduced to 5x from 10x for sure but One can purchase voucher of 10000 instead of 5000 earlier for Amazon Pay.

    Reply
  246. Shashank Karnawat

    Given that HDFC has significantly degraded the DCB/Infinia experience, is it still the best card out there? Are there better alternatives now?

    Reply
  247. Nitin Arora

    Dear all

    I have two queries
    1. Do we get Reward Points via smartbuy HDFC for EMI transactions on Amazon ? for this 10 x offer?
    2. Can we do part payment via Amazon Pay and Credit card through smart buy ?

    Reply
  248. Kalyan

    1. Is the monthly limit for Smartbuy points for DCB card still 7500?
    2. Does the limit apply only to the bonus reward points(i.e 4x/9x), or the complete 5x/10x points earned?

    Reply
    1. Shashank Karnawat

      1. Yes 7500 for DCB
      2. Limit applies to only bonus points 4x, 9x

      Also you might also want to check out the new daily limit on bonus points earned (2500 for DCB) which has started from 1st FEB 2022

      Reply
  249. Yuvaraj

    Where is link for instant vouchers now where we will get 5x or 10x?
    I have infinia.
    I can see instant vouchers can be redeemed against points and card combination(1 RP = ₹0.5).

    Reply
  250. Bharat

    Smartbuy 10x program further devalued. Now only 5x RP on flights and extended limits on per day bonus points earnings! 🙁

    Reply
    1. Raghu

      Devaluation every 4-5 months.. very sad to see these benefits coming down so fast and daily restrictions too (so sad).. not sure accumulating a lot of points makes any sense now, given they can reduce that value any day
      High-value spenders would seriously start considering Magnus as an alternative now..

      Also, I think they want to clearly differentiate Infinia and DCB in terms of points earned and limits as well

      Reply
  251. Shashank Karnawat

    I will ask this again now that it is all the more true – Given that HDFC has significantly degraded the DCB/Infinia experience, is it still the best card out there? Are there better alternatives now?

    Reply
  252. vicky

    for normal spend i use indusind legend on weekends (2%) + pay using HDFC bill pay (1%) = 3% cashback i get for normal spends.

    Reply
    1. Rejaneesh S R

      Hi
      I didn’t get you properly. Could you please explain this 3% reward rate. Thanks

      Reply
    2. Vamsi Krishna

      How do pay all your bills through HDFC pay and get 1%? How does that work? Can you pls explain?

      Reply
  253. SJ

    Infact DCB has 3X on Amazon and instant voucher while it is 5X for Infinia, Regalia and Privilege. Does it mean Regalia/Privilege is more premium card vs DCB?

    Reply
    1. Sivaram

      The value of reward points for redemption is much lesser in Regalia/Diners privilege than DCB. More or less benefits of DCB is getting rationalized with Regalia.

      Reply
  254. Mugunthan

    Another devaluation for Infinia card..

    Last year, the Smartbuy eVoucher (Amazon, Flipkart, etc) buying rewards rate reduced from 10x to 5x but HDFC allowed to purchase voucher of upto Rs. 10000 instead of Rs. 5000 so that total rewards per month remained the same.

    But today, when I tried to buy Amazon voucher, it limited to Rs.5000 per month and same 5X rewards.

    Reply
    1. Jay Deep Khandelwal

      Yes, and also they reduced flipkart rewards points to 2X from 3X for DCB. Now, flights at 5X, amazon/flipkart at 2-3X, paying 10k annually doesn’t worth it for DCB credit card. But, I am not sure about Infinia.
      Do they gift 10k rewards points for Infinia each year while paying card fees?

      Reply
  255. Jayesh

    Big Update on Infinia as on 1st July 2022: They have stopped the 5X reward points program on Amazon completely!

    This is a big comedown in the value of this card for me and has me looking for other cards now. @Siddhartha I believe this deserves an article of its own!

    Any recos for alternatives?

    Regards

    Reply
    1. vick

      it was obvious. HDFC now has grabbed market share and customers are stuck with their loans for long term. Well played HDFC

      Reply
  256. Ankit B

    Is anybody else facing problem in purchasing vouchers on Gyftr smartbuy? I am getting an error ‘MAF adviced deny due to Payu rules’ everytime I try to do a transaction for instant vouchers. I have tried multiple brands, multiple denominations – but same error on my Infinia. My wife is facing same problem on DCB.

    Not sure if anybody else had this error and was able to solve? I have escalated to Gyftr but not resolution yet.

    Reply
  257. shashank

    Yes facing same problem
    Able to purchase all other vouchers except Amazon and flipkart using DCB
    Oddly able to purchase Amazon and flipkart using regalia but it fails for DCB

    Reply
  258. Rohit

    Its been 2 to 3 months since I got Amazon voucher after dcb devalue but last month I tried and yes it failed. Had no issues with flipkart voucher. Whom to contact on this? I think Amazon voucher would be soon out from smartbuy.

    Reply
  259. Divyang Patel

    I am also getting an error ‘MAF adviced deny due to Payu rules’ everytime I try to do a transaction for instant vouchers.

    Any solution??????????

    Reply

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