HDFC Smartbuy 10X Program becomes 5X (Never went live)

By | June 10, 2019

HDFC 10X Reward Points Program has been one of the highly rewarding program in the country world. As they say, Good Things Don’t Last Forever, 10X program on smartbuy is seeing a major change starting 1st April 2019.

Note that we currently have update only on Smartbuy 10X rewards, for Diners 10X rewards, we may know the changes in a day or two. Here’s the previous update on January 2019 just incase if you want to compare.

Offer Details

  • 5X Reward Points on HDFC Bank Infinia or Diners Black Credit Card (16.5% Value)
  • 5% Cashback on other HDFC Bank Credit cards
  • 5% Cashback on Debit Cards
  • This Covers: Flights, Hotels & Flipkart/Amazon via Smartbuy
  • Offer Validity: 1st Apr’19 – 30th Apr’19 
  • Source:Terms & Conditions

Maximum Cap

  • 25,000 Points on Infinia
  • 15,000 Points on Diners Black
  • Rs.2000 cashback on using other HDFC bank Credit card or Debit card

Fulfillment

  • Reward points or Cashback will be posted within 90 working days from the last date of transaction month. 
  • Cashback will be posted on the customer’s PayZapp account. The mobile number registered on the respective card used would be considered for PayZapp account number

Thanks to Pankaj for sharing the updated offer info.

Bottomline

So, the party is over for many! Its obvious that 10X is not going to stay for long, yet 5X is OKAY on super premium cards. For other cards, 5% cashback might makes sense at times, but note that it’ll be added to Payzapp a/c and not as cash credit to the card.

While this is the update on Smartbuy 10X, we still await an update on the Diners 10X promo, which i guess will stay, except that the max. cap may go down. Follow Cardexpert on Facebook to get quicker updates once the changes go live.

That all said, you still have 2 DAYS LEFT (till March 31st) to make use of the smartbuy 10X offer.

While everyone would be disappointed with this update, we may also need to be thankful to HDFC for giving 10X for quite sometime. So, for now, we’re counting on Diners 10X Promo. Your thoughts?

100 thoughts on “HDFC Smartbuy 10X Program becomes 5X (Never went live)

  1. Avinash

    What about the points that we accure for EMIs that we’re purchased during 10x period and they get posted during 5X period. So we get less points ?

      1. Sharad

        Eager to know what they have on offer for Diners Black :)….As Sid pointed rightly: Party is largely over….but let’s see how long DJ can sustain with our wishful songs 🙂 …but I am happy, that this will induce some financial discipline in people like me….10x was too mouth watering 🙂

      2. A2Z

        1. Do we get points for EMI transactions?
        Weren’t these excluded!

        2. Why just Diners Black?
        they haven’t differentiated among diners so DCB gets 25/150 ie 16.67% & DCP gets 20/150 ie 6.67% value

      3. Piyush Aggarwal

        Hello Sir,

        I have a big confusion, I am using HDFC Moneyback card which gives me 2 points on Rs 150 spends and 4 points on Rs 150 for online transactions. Each reward point can be converted into cash at 0.20% . It also gives me 500 Rs cash voucher for Myntra every quarter on spends of RS 50,000 for each quarter. I have been given numerous options to upgrade to Regalia First but I am reluctant to do so since Regalia points in my opinion regalia reward points can only be spend on Flights and Hotels and I am a less of travel person but somewhere down the line I am really confused if I am at loss or profit. Please guide me if I am right or wrong since you are the Credit Card Expert.

        Regards

        Piyush Aggarwal

    1. Parshav

      I think it is not valid on emissions transactions.

  2. Nandhakumar

    If tis is applicable for all smartbuy transactions

  3. mayank sharma

    So if I understand correctly Clubmiles has no benefits now?

  4. Prashant Gupta

    Its sad for many of us who have been milking points ……but its the logical end. How long can hhdfc burn money ? Still 15% is decent for super premium card…… although i am a bit sad as i have some mobile phones to buy next month as i have exausted this month quota of 25K points.

  5. Praveen Katiyar

    @Sid
    Anxiously waiting for 2019 list of best credit cards. After Yes Bank and HDFC making devaluations all of us would like to know how to maximise cashbacks/rewards.

  6. S&S

    I held back taking DCB on FD in anticipation of this.
    Kitty party is still on though ! 5X is pretty handy.
    Glad I took the Infinia upgrade offer when it came my way.

    Great work Siddharth.

    S&S

  7. Navi

    Best april fool ever Sid. But only the ones who are loyal to your website will be able to identify that Mr. Sid never speaks without source link which is missing here.

    1. Siddharth Post author

      Looks like you missed the source link. Anyway, i’ve mentioned it as “source” now. 🙂

      1. Abhishek

        Hi Sid, Where is this source link retrieved from? I am checking on Smartbuy website but it is still showing 31st March 2019 expiry for 10x but no update of 5x.

  8. Joseph

    Sad news indeed…Well the party was good when it lasted.
    Atleast if they had kept 5% cashback to card it was ok.
    Looks like regalia is going to the bin for me…

    1. Pankaj Singhal

      Joseph, which card will you use if you bin the Regalia.

      1. Joseph

        Sbi prime has already replaced regalia for day to day spends dining grocery etc. Was using regalia for flight tickets, Amazon and flipkart through smartbuy. I guess will keep the regalia just for its 12 lounge access per year as it’s LTF anyway.

  9. Pankaj Singhal

    Do note that this is only till 30 April 2019. More changes can be expected after that.

    Also, the following line now appears on the HDFC Diners site:

    Diners 10X Rewards and SmartBUY 10X Rewards programs are getting revamped from 1 April 2019. The details will be updated in coming days.

  10. Mickey

    @Joseph

    So are you saying that now Regalia has no value because of this devaluation? Why is that. Which other card would you make your primary card now?

    1. Joseph

      Certainly not. It still is a great card for those who don’t have other premium cards. For ME perse the SBI PRIME replaces regalia especially while using it on categories with bonus RPs.

  11. KETAN CHAUDHARY

    Some good news 10x reward point extended till 30th june with same cap…
    Source bms…

  12. Rahul Singh

    When I called customer care for diners black, they said that there is no such announcement as of now and wait for 2 ddays.

  13. Shivi

    Expect another round of RP devaluation to follow.

  14. Hardik

    Diners Club Card customers cannot club the 10X benefit with any of the existing programs with the Diners.
    Does this means dinners 10X is still there?if yes how?

  15. Gala

    Specifically for DCB Card
    For Smartbuy Travel – Compare & FLY.. when we book Domestic & International Flight.. we loose out Aprox ~10% Discount which many Travel Sites give (different card of different days), Additionally when we burn points, we again lose out on same as 10% Discount again, Net Loss of 20%, However earlier we use to get 33% reward, so benefit / profit of card holder was ~ 13% .
    With this downgrade, No point using Smart Buy Compare & Fly.

    Also for Amazon & Flipkart, affiliate (topcashback /cashkaro/etc) sites give anywhere between CASH – 3 % to 10% based on product, While burning point we again lose on ~10% discount on flights, So Net benefit of 3-8%.

    Agreed… HDFC was aggressive in giving point, but they were too getting revenue in form of afflilate income & Flights margins . I don’t think they would be loosing money even when giving 33%. All Loss, if any would be born by Diner Card. to expand presence in india.
    Now Dinner has tied up with RuPay as parter for International Spends for Rupay Card holders, so dynamic would have got changed i think.

    Happy to hear differ view / perspective / correct my above assumptions

    1. Pankaj Singhal

      Lot of double counting in your working.
      Also, the cashback sites give only 1-2 % on electronics. So the savings are around 30%.

    2. GTMAX

      Assuming a transaction value of 6000/- through Smartbuy on any of the 5X category spends, an Infinia or Diners Black Credit card holder will get 1000 reward points which is worth 1000/- . So a net benefit of 1000/- on spends of 7000/- which is effectively 14.28%. Plus the benefit of 200-500 discount while booking through Smartbuy, lesser convenience fees(sometime charged just once per itinerary and not for every passenger) and also no convenience fees for flight bookings with points redemption

      1. Now if a person would have directly booked a domestic flight ticket on MakeMyTrip/Goibibp/Yatra, he would on an average saved around 18-20% if the flight ticket would have between 5000-7000 as per most of the running offers. As you book for higher value domestic fares, your savings would drop as there would be a discount capping here from 1000-1500. However, if a person is MMTBlack Member, he can achieve milestone spends and get additional benefits which will enhance the reward rate. Having said that, HDFC5X will still be at par or better in most of the possible scenarios. Once can be discretionary in their use as to when to use Smartbuy and when to use other website offers.

      2. When looking at international flight tickets, most of the offers are of 10% discount on other websites and all platforms charge a very high convenience fee per passenger. HDFC5X without doubt will give at least 5% extra benefit and should be preferred for all international flight bookings.

      3. HDFC5X should definitely be the preferred offer for everyone when making a purchase on Flipkart/Amazon. While burning points, we just lose 20% * (14.28%) = 2.85% and not 10% and also pay the convenience fees. Also, consider an average of 5% cashback from other affiliate marketing websites, which results in a total of 7.85%. One would still save around 7% more with HDFC5X along with the benefit of no convenience fees on points redemption.

      N I am not sure how can HDFC not make huge losses by giving 33% reward points. It is affiliate marketing, not some other business with huge margins.

      1. rahul

        the rewards rate with MMT black is 5% flat. so if you used HDFC5X along with MMT black membership you will save 16.5+5 % =21.5% , even if you consider convenience fee than also it would be better reward rate than just smartbuy purchase of plane ticket directly. So better to purchase ticket from MMt than from smartbuy, at least for DBC holders.

      2. Mudit

        Very well written answer. Couldnt agree more!

  16. Ritu

    Hi Sid, thanks for tht quick update.. who is the Pankaj you have thanked?

  17. Chintan

    I hope Diners 10x will continue for sometime. At least BMS, UBER and TataCliq

  18. Chintan

    If you have Amazon Business account and you can get 10x on Amazon with HDFC Bank Business Regalia, and the offer will stay till 30th April.

  19. Raj

    Dear Sid,

    I see that you inferring to 5X Reward Point as 15% Value whereas per my calculation it comes to 16.67%. You are not the one to easily make a mistake, am I missing something?

    Eagerly waiting for the Diners update.

    Thanks

    1. Siddharth Post author

      Took it as 3% and made 5X to average on no points with <150 spends. Anyway, updated the numbers now.

  20. Eddie

    I took family of 3 to HK on Cathay Pacific on DCB points. Next time it will have to be Dubai/Thailand:)

    1. A2Z

      Same is the case with me…after lot of follow lips hdfc finally approved DCB
      it’s like winning lottery on don’s day

      1. A2Z

        Some typo in earlier comments

        Same is the case with me…after lot of follow ups HDFC finally approved DCB for me
        It’s like winning lottery on doom’s day

        @Sid can you please confirm is there any renewal benefit for Diners Black card on paying fees?

  21. Chintan

    Check out 10x offer on BMS app, the offer is already extended 30th June 19

  22. Saurabh

    I had been already expecting a major devaluation on 1st April, largely because of the rampant issuing of DCB Cards, even at less than 50% of the eligibility criterion. At least 50 DCB cards were issued in my office over the last 6 months conditionally, on opening HDFC Salary accounts, that too on LTF basis. Nevertheless, 5x is still not bad as compared to any of the other cards. And as such at half the reward rate, we need twice the spends to hit the max cap, therefore, a reduced cap is also justified as of now.

  23. OP

    Even Payzapp 10% cashback up to 250 on bill payment is reduced to 5% cashback up to 250.

  24. Gkcards

    They have differentiated now between infinia and dcb. On dcb, only 15k pts can be earned on smartbuy whereas it’s still 25k for infinia. However 10x changed to 5x for both.

  25. Prashant Tewari

    I believe Flipkart is still very much on 10X, at least the smartbuy page say so.

    1. Rajnish

      Link, please. Unable to find this info in smartbuy page.

  26. Vinay C

    Hi Sid,

    I am following your blog for quite sometime. Thansk for sharing all updates.

    One quick question – i am new to diners black community. I didn’t understood

    “While this is the update on Smartbuy 10X, we still await an update on the Diners 10X promo, which i guess will stay, except that the max.”

    also have you stopped your premium section.

    Thanks Vinay.

  27. yss

    Many of us eagerly awaiting the hdfc diners page update . They are usually very slow in updating stuff considering 10x on international spend is still on the page even though the offer ended 31st dec !!

  28. Nikhil Goyal

    Smart buy page updated again, seems its back to 10x, nothing clear right now

    1. Siddharth Post author

      But its clear that HDFC has mood swings 😀

      1. Chintan

        May be they were performing market survey

  29. Dhiru

    10x on diners not going away. Bookmyshow extended the 10x offer until jun 30 2019

  30. Ankit

    Just checked HDFC smart buy page…..looks like 10x offer on smartbuy is still active valid till 30.03.2020.

  31. Chintan

    Guys checkout smartbuy, 10x is back for all cards, and will now expire on 30-3-2020 😀

    1. Siddharth Post author

      On the same page you can see “The offer is valid till 31st March 2019.” 😀

      1. GTMAX

        Haha.. Exactly!! The devil is in the details 😀

  32. GTMAX

    Can be one of the best April Fool pranks for credit card freaks like us! Just kidding! 😛

  33. Vinit

    Currently, on Smartbiy webpage, the 5x banner has been removed which has been replaced back by 10x thing.
    However, it still says about the validity till Mar 31st,2019.
    However, a small info towards the left of this page says- “SmartBuy Offer
    Delight with 10X Reward points on Credit Card or 10% cashback on your Debit card.
    Expires On:2020-03-30”.
    No idea. What it would say tomorrow!!!! :P:P

    1. Siddharth Post author

      Updated. Looks like you’re the fastest to refresh pages 😀

      P.S. Let’s wait for Diners page to update, so we can take that as final.

  34. Mohit Arora

    UPDATED till 30th APRIL 2019

    1. Get 10 times Rewards points on HDFC Bank Credit Card or 10% cashback on HDFC Bank Debit Card on transaction through Smartbuy.
    2. Maximum Reward points that could be earned is 25000 per calendar month on your credit card or Maximum of Rs.1000 cashback on your Debit Card.
    3. The offer is valid till 30th April 2019.
    4. Reward points or Cashback will be posted within 90 working days from the last date of transaction month.

  35. S&S

    Let’s all vote for the guy handling this shift in HDFC .

    S&S

  36. Eddie

    I had checked Amazon link on smartbuy page early morning today where it asks for card validation, it was showing 5x or 5% but checked just now again (9pm) now it shows 10x/10%

    Hoping for the best. If 10x continues, this year I will go to Greece on DCB points:))

  37. AshishR

    looks like even the bank takes april fool day too seriously

  38. Ankit

    Diners 10X Rewards and SmartBUY 10X Rewards programs are getting revamped from 1 April 2019. The details will be updated in coming days.

  39. A2Z

    First they give shock
    then provide shock absorber
    🙂
    HDFC has done smartest thing by giving trailer of what’s going to happen
    For a moment it looked like live film but good it was first bump

    Thanks Gala & GTMax for different perspectives you have posted with regards to reward points and smartbuy usage
    We definitely need such comparisons

    from April Fool to Being so Cool that’s called a smartbuy

  40. Anurag Goyal

    10x is back for all cards. For a month!

  41. Ashish Agrawal

    Checked with the bank this morning. The 10x offer has been extended for 1 month till 30th April 2019 for smart buy – flights, hotels, amazon and Flipkart with a max cap of 25000. However the other partner category is still unclear as the team hasn’t received any communication on that. They are asking to wait for the partner offer confirmation.

  42. Chintan

    Check 10x smartbuy offer period on Amazon site. It says it is valid till 31st Dec 2019. So I think we have one more year of 10x.

  43. Soumalya

    It has been changed to 10X till 30th April 2019.

    1. Chintan

      something better than nothing, literally 🙂

  44. Shivi

    10x continuing. The offer is valid till 30th April 2019 as per HDFC site.

  45. Mahendra

    i spoke with DCB customer service they told 10x rewards programme using Smartbuy portal extended til 30th April,2019….yaay!!

    1. Srikanth V V

      So DCB 10X rewards on Flipkart is active till the April month end?

  46. Shivi

    These are the 2 different offers on SmartBuy which contradict each other ~ checked @ 23:30, April 2:

    1. Get 10 times Rewards points on HDFC Bank Credit Card or 10% cashback on HDFC Bank Debit Card on transaction through Smartbuy.
    2. Maximum Reward points that could be earned is 25000 per calendar month on your credit card or Maximum of Rs.1000 cashback on your Debit Card.
    3. The offer is valid till 30th April 2019.
    4. Reward points or Cashback will be posted within 90 working days from the last date of transaction month.

    AND

    1. Get 5 times Reward points on HDFC Bank Infinia or Diners Black Credit Card
    or 5% cashback on other HDFC Bank Credit cards
    or 5% cashback on HDFC Bank Debit Card on transaction through Smartbuy.

    2. Maximum Reward points that could be earned on Infinia Credit card is 25000 per calendar month on your credit card
    or Maximum Reward points that could be earned on Diners Black Credit card is 15000 per calendar month on your credit card
    or Maximum of Rs.2000 cashback on using other HDFC bank Credit card or Debit card

    3. The offer is valid from 1st Apr’19 – 30th Apr’19

    4. Reward points or Cashback will be posted within 90 working days from the last date of transaction month.

    5. Cashback will be posted on the customer’s PayZapp account. The mobile number registered on the respective card used would be considered for PayZapp account number.

  47. Amit

    10x on Forex also extended till 30 April 2019. But it also mentions

    “Customer if communicated by HDFC Bank Ltd. shall be eligible for 10X Reward points on loading/reloading ForexPlus Card online with HDFC Bank Credit card.”

    1. Mohit

      Can you give link for the forex offer that you are talking about?

    2. Khushboo

      yeah, not sure what this means. Anyone communicated by HDFC Bank on this?

  48. Mohan

    Any update on the 10X partner offers? I don’t see any update in site … Does any has any insider information or from customer care?

  49. Rohit Roy

    I find no reason for hdfc to remove 10x. Bank has made the highest profits ever. They can give back to their elite customers. By the way I have an upgrade to dcb paid from regalia ltf. If regalia gets maximum of 2k cash back then at any day I guess diners black is better. Only would know after April 30th until then I would wait and watch.

    1. Dr Patil

      Hi bro. How did u get the update?
      I was upgraded to Ragalia in Nov 2018. My current CTC is 12 lac/annum. My montly spends on CC is around 40k per month. I requested my Relationship manager for an upgrade but she said i am not yet eleigible.

  50. Ankit Saraf

    From payzapp, there’s still 10X reward points on few things: compare and buy, transaction through smartbuy: flight and hotel, compare and shop.

    Terms and Conditions Apply
    Valid until 30th April 2019

    No Promocode Required
    Just transact through SmartBuy Flipkart Store within PayZapp
    Offer Details:

    Get 10 times Rewards points on HDFC Bank Credit Card or 10% cashback on HDFC Bank Debit Card or PayZapp Prepaid card on transaction through Smartbuy.
    Maximum Reward points that could be earned is 25000 per calendar month on your credit card or Maximum of Rs.1000 cashback on your Debit Card or PayZapp Prepaid Card
    The offer is valid till 30th April 2019.
    Reward points or Cashback will be posted within 90 working days from the last date of transaction month.

    How to Avail:

    A. Flight & Hotel Categories
    Login to PayZapp wallet
    Click on SmartBuy ‘Travel’ or Click on SmartBuy ‘Compare & Book’
    You will be taken to the HDFC Bank SmartBuy “Compare & Fly” & “SmartBuy Hotels” section
    Select your Flight/ Hotels. Compare Prices and select across merchant. Enter details and proceed to payment.
    Offer is not applicable for EMI transactions and other Bank cards.
    Offer is applicable only on HDFC Bank Credit Card/ Debit Card

    B. Compare and Shop
    Login to PayZapp wallet
    Click on SmartBuy ‘Compare & Shop’ section
    You will be taken to the HDFC Bank SmartBuy “Shopping” section
    Search for your product. Compare Prices and select across merchant. Enter details and proceed to payment.
    Offer is not applicable for EMI transactions and other Bank cards.
    Offer is applicable only on HDFC Bank Credit Card/ Debit Card or PayZapp Prepaid Card

  51. himanshu aggarwal

    Zomato, SOTC and Treebo will be replaced by Dominos, Lifestyle and swiggy.

    1. Nikhil Goyal

      i can’t find the update link. Do you have any inside information?

    2. ND

      Would be very interesting… any idea by when is this getting updated? I spoke to CC, they said 10x on DCB is not getting scrapped anytime soon..

  52. Vikash

    Is someone a NRI and hold a Diners black card here? I am and hold one but customer care says diners card is not available for NRIs and with central kyc I think its quite easy to know that a customer is a NRI. Just frightened as I don’t want to loose my diners black. :–) Anyone here has experience with how HDFC handles this for credit card?

  53. Sharad

    I think 10x on forex reload is back as well.

  54. Jas

    If i plan to close my current card in how many days can i apply for a card again with HDFC. My upgrade request from REgalia first to DIners clubmiles was rejected.

  55. Sharad

    New partner list is out on diners page…..valid will June 30, 2019.
    Tata CLiQ Swiggy BigBasket Uber BookMyShow SOTC Furlenco Treebo Hotel

  56. ravi

    10X partners are same with Furlenco being added. Valid upto 30th June 2019. Maximum points that can be earned on DCB is 25k

    Smartbuy is only upto 30th April 2019. with a cap of 25K points on DCB

  57. Prashant Gupta

    Normal offer extended til 30 April.

  58. Prashant Gupta

    Extended till june 30. Thats a good thing.

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