Indusind Bank has recently launched a new banking product to cater the Ultra rich High Networth Individuals of the country and it is named as Pioneer Banking. The product is designed to be in the range of HDFC Imperia / Axis Burgundy and it comes with host of features including 0% forex markup fee on their debit card, similar to Indusind Exclusive Signature debit card. Lets have a look at it below,
Indusind Bank – Pioneer Banking
Table of Contents
Pioneer Banking
Eligibility
- AQB Requirement: 10 Lakhs (savings+current)
- NRV Requirement: 30 Lakhs (all investments combined) with 1L+ on Savings Ac
Benefits
- Free Pioneer Debit card with 0% markup fees
- Free PIONEER Foreign Currency Card with 0% markup fees
- No Charges on Non-Maintenance of Minimum Balance
- Group up to 10 accounts (savings or current)
- Free Doorstep Banking
Along with the launch of HNI banking, they’ve also come up with 2 new credit cards specially designed for the Pioneer Banking customers. Personally i don’t feel its a great move by Indusind to name cards with Pioneer in-front as this “might” limit the # of customers wanting benefits of those cards.
Rather, they could have named differently and still link them to the product, like HDFC does. Well, that’s why HDFC is ruling the industry – they know customer needs better than anyone.
That being said, this could still be nice idea only if Indusind gives Pioneer banking benefit if a customer takes paid variant of Pioneer credit cards. They were following this for Exclusive Banking with Pinnacle credit card but no sign of such reciprocal benefit mentioned anywhere so far with Pioneer Banking.
Lets have a quick overview of these newly launched Pioneer Credit Cards.
Pioneer Heritage Credit Card
Fees
- Joining Fee: 90,000 INR+GST = 1,06,200 INR
- Welcome Bonus: 1 Lakh worth Vouchers (Genesis/Oberoi)
Pioneer Heritage Credit Card
Noteworthy Benefits
- Reward Rate: 1% (domestic) ; 2.5% (international)
- Issued on Mastercard World Elite platform
- No Late Payment Fee, No Over Limit Fee
- No Cash Advancement / Withdrawal Charges
- Low Foreign Currency Mark-up: 1.8% (Playing safe ?!)
It has other usual benefits like priority pass, golf, etc but overall i would say it is NOT worth the price at its current state. At-least they could have added a 0% foreign markup free to become the industry first and stand out from the crowd, but they didn’t.
Part of the blame goes to Mastercard World Elite platform which might probably be one of the reason for high joining fee. They got to do a lot more to brag about its exclusivity in India.
Pioneer Legacy Credit Card
Fees
- Joining Fee: 45,000 INR+GST = 53,100 INR (or) Free with Pioneer Banking
- Welcome Bonus: 50,000 INR worth Vouchers (Genesis/Oberoi) on paid variant
Pioneer Legacy Credit Card
Noteworthy Benefits
- Reward Rate: 1% (weekday) ; 2% (weekend)
- Bonus Rewards: 6k Points on 6L spend
- Low Foreign Currency Mark-up: 1.8% (Only on paid variant)
Looking at the reward rate alone, its a great credit card as you could get 3% on 6L spend, only on weekend spends. As you could convert the points to cash, i would say its in par with most super premium cards.
Not to forget that most of the benefits like priority pass, low markup, etc are limited to paid variant only but that’s fine. Also you cannot have Indusind cards as primary card as their systems are down quite often.
Bottomline
Its good to see Indusind bank coming up with new banking products for the Ultra rich but just wish that they also cater to segment one step below, by adding welcome vouchers from other luxury brands like Taj vouchers instead of just limiting to Oberoi & Genesis.
So looking at the overall value proposition, Pioneer Legacy credit card is a noteworthy addition to Indusind Credit card portfolio but the eligibility criteria to get it as complimentary makes it far from reach.
But for those HNI’s who could meet the said eligibility criteria, its certainly one of the best banking product as this not only gives access to a premium banking, but also to great debit/forex cards in the market at present.
What’s your views on Indusind Bank Pioneer Banking product? Feel free to share your thoughts in comments below.
Hi Sid
Seems so much like YES BANK PRIVATE CARD. Completely useless cards considering the joining fees.
Prefer better options like YFE.
Yes, Looks like Indusind got trapped by Mastercard elite. Two cards now (crest/heritage) and both are not attractive.
No charges for non maintenance of AQB makes requirement of 10 Lac only initial deposit amount. Am I correct?
Maybe they’ll wait for sometime once the AQB falls short and downgrade the ac instead of adding non-maintenance charges to it.
I don’t think so that this works for Indusind, better options are still available….
It primarily makes sense only for the existing customers with such eligibility criteria. Maynot be worth the effort for others!
@Siddharth,
if a customer is eligible for pioneer banking then will he get the credit card free? if not then it is really not worth it to have that amount of business and as well as to pay for a card which is moderate at best in terms of benefits
Yes, the Legacy variant can be availed for free with Pioneer banking. That’s the only reason why i thought of writing about this 🙂
Hello sid sir,
I am going to start paying my business expenses and even making payments from credit card and I’ll pay my card bills from current account.
Is it safe doing this ?
Yes, everyone does it.
Thanks.
How can i pay directly to my creditors from credit card?
Have to deposit to their a/cs.
Need suggestions!
Ask if they accept Paytm or PayPal or HDFC PAYZZAPP or similar app for payment.
Amann,
No. Only a/c transfer is the option. Using paydeck for now but prob is they take 2.5% of txn amt.
Even heard snappay charges 2.5% fee.
The pioneer proposition is currently available only in Delhi and Mumbai.
Update January 2019 – The PIONEER proposition is currently available only in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Chandigarh.
Dear Sid
With this Pioneer banking Indusind bank will give Legacy credit card for nil fee. But afterwards if nrv or balance criteria not met, they will downgrade from Pioneer banking to some low value programme. Also renewal of Legacy cc may not happen or else they will levy the joining fee.
Otherwise its a no brainer to open Pioneer bamkibg ac with 10 lacs cheque, apply for Legacy cc. Once approved, transfer the balance to wherever you want. I don’t think Indusind would want to act so foolish.
I believe they are offering 0% forex markup fees on the heritage card although it’s available only till 31st December 2018 as mentioned on the Indusind website. Do you have any photos of the cards? Can’t seem to find them anywhere.
Hmm, can’t really differentiate between Exclusive account and Pioneer account benefits except for the credit card line!
Siddharth – they have changed the nrv requirement. Now you need to have nrv of 30 lakhs AS WELL AS 1 lakh in savings account OR 10 lakhs in savings account.
Thanks for the update. That’s a very mild change anyway.
Horrible premium banking services! I wouldn’t advise anybody to even think of opening a high NRV banking with IndusInd. Half of the times their customer care phone banking is down and another half the Internet servers are not working. OTP of IVR, with a validity of 5 minutes, reaches after 15 minutes. The branch manager is never available in any branch and the RM is just clueless to any questions you have.
The only good thing, though not a saving grace, is their social media team. They get the job done if you tweet them or mail them but not enough to cover the shortcomings of general banking experience. Even a rural bank would give you better service I believe!
Stick to the mainstream Banks!
BIG PROBLEM with PIONEER world debit card with online shopping in international sites. I tried to buy stuff off bestbuy thrice now and each time the payment fails. Tried two other sites and newegg but failed for all transactions.
Very sad I upgraded from EXCLUSIVE to PIONEER for the extra value in reward points. This one is suppose to give Rs200 = 1RP/Rs1 and EXCLUSIVE one gave Rs200 = 1RP/Rs0.35 but it does not matter if it does not work.
Hey Ajai. I am thinking of upgrading to Pioneer but your comment made me question the decision. Are you still not able to purchase from bestbuy ? I will be very glad if you can comment how it’s going now.
Any link where they say Legacy is free with Pioneer account? they are saying NRV 30L to issue free Legacy.
also if someone knows Indusind Pioneer shall credit points for wallet loading?
If anyone could confirm wallet load and link for Free Legacy CC to Pioneer a/c holders?
Pioneer Prog. has been revamped. New, White, Metal credit card (Heritage) is being offered with it now @ 90k/180k fees along with loads of goodies (on paper at least).
Legacy credit card withdrawn.
Experience with Indusind Pioneer Banking.
Indusind Pioneer Heritage Metal Credit Card
Upgraded to Indusind Pioneer Heritage Metal Credit Card – MasterCard variant with no annual fee in June 2021 (also available as Visa Infinite variant now) through Pioneer Banking RM. Paid INR 90000 + tax as joining fee against which received INR 100000 welcome vouchers – 2 nights Oberoi voucher (INR 50000) and gyftr vouchagram balance (INR 50000).
Received complimentary ITC Club Culinaire membership with a discount voucher booklet including two 50% off dinning for 2 persons, two 25% off dinning for 4 persons, and other discount vouchers.
Received Easydinner premium membership and flat INR 3000 discount coupon every 6 months for dinning at selected restaurants when payment is made through Easydinner app. Also get 15% to 30% discounts at a lot of resturants when payment is made via Easydinner app with this card.
Tip: Dinning at eligible ITC resturants in India on Friday (for maximum benefit) – Use physical ITC discount vouchers and make payment via Eazydinner app applying flat INR 3000 off coupon or 15-30% off coupon. Make payment via Eazydinner app in multiple transactions based on max discount available per coupon. Accumulate maximum green points of ITC Club Culinaire membership by utilising as many ITC physical discount vouchers to redeem points for 1-2 night stays at any of the eligible ITC properties or to convert to air miles or Mariot Bonvoy points.
Receive 4 complimentary bookmyshow movie tickets (INR 1000 each) every 3 months.
Unlimited international and domestic lounge access.
No late payment fees and ATM cash withdrawal fees.
Indusind Pioneer Savings Bank Account
Zero balance account basis Pioneer Heritage Metal Credit Card relationship.
Zero forex markup
Dedicated RM
Visa Infinite Debit Card with domestic lounge access and 0.5% reward rate without any capping which can be redeemed for cash credit.
For more benefits can refer Pioneer Banking website.
Thank you