Kotak Zen Signature Credit Card Review

By | July 21, 2022
Kotak Zen Credit Card

There are only few credit cards in India that would give you the “Love at first sight” moment and Kotak Zen Credit Card is one such card with a beautiful, meaningful & modern design.

Yes, people take cards for rewards & benefits and not for design but this one is not worth missing if you’re a lover of art. Here’s the complete review of the Kotak Bank Zen credit card.

Overview

TypePremium Credit Card
Reward Rate0.83% – 2.2%
Annual Fee1,500 INR+GST
Best forShopping & card design
USPMilestone benefits

The Zen Credit Card caters to a small segment of Kotak customers who needs a premium credit card at low fee point but don’t have premium banking relationship with Kotak, as that will anyway get them Kotak Privy League (or) Kotak White card as complimentary.

Fees

Joining Fee1,500 INR+GST
Welcome Benefit1,500 Zen points (worth 375 INR)
Renewal Fee1,500 INR+GST
Renewal BenefitNil
Renewal Fee waiverOn spending >1.5 lakhs

While the world is giving an equivalent welcome benefit for the joining fee paid, I wonder why Kotak is not willing to do it on their premium credit cards.

Design

Undoubtedly a beautiful design to express the Zen in you.

While I’m not really evolved enough to understand why the wealthy buy a piece of art for such a high premium (assuming from the promos on art I receive via Amex offers), I can very well convince myself to spend just for this design.

That’s because it not only refers to infinity but much more, known only to very few who reached the highest levels of spirituality and to those who got to know about them.

Rewards

Regular Rewards

SPEND TYPEREWARDS / Rs.150REWARD RATE
Regular Spends50.83%
Shopping Spends101.66%
  • 1 Reward Point = 0.25 INR
  • Shopping Categories: Apparels, Lifestyle goods, Departmental Stores & Jewellery.

Milestone Rewards

SpendBonus RewardsValueSavings
3 Lakhs7,500 RP1,875 INR0.62%
6 Lakhs15,000 RP3,750 INR0.62%
  • Only one of the Milestones will be eligible.
  • Bonus Zen points will be credited to your card account at the end of an anniversary period.

Relaxing the above rules could have made this card a super hit, but with 0.62% milestone reward rate it’s unfortunately only an above-average product.

Airport Lounge Access

ACCESS TYPEACCESS VIAACCESS LIMIT
DomesticVisa2/Qtr
InternationalPriority Pass3/Year

It’s quite interesting that Kotak Bank has mentioned Dreamfolks instead of Visa for domestic lounge access. Though, not to get confused here, as you can continue to use the credit card directly for domestic lounge access.

Other Benefits

All Kotak Credit Cards comes with few other benefits like:

  • Fuel Surcharge Waiver: Applicable on transactions between 500 INR and 3000 INR. Maximum fuel surcharge waiver is 3500 INR / calendar year.
  • Railway Surcharge Waiver: Maximum railway surcharge waiver allowed is 500 INR / calendar year.

Getting the Card

Kotak’s branch banking is poor in sourcing credit cards from my experience. I was checking for this card back in time when I was applying for the Privy league credit card, but no one had the proper info about its availability, so just skipped it.

The Premium support too is handled by newbie executives most of the time but they can give the information if you’ve patience to ask them the same query again and again.

I recently checked with the support and they said that they can indeed take an upgrade request for Zen card, if required.

Bottomline

  • Cardexpert Rating: 3.8/5

If you’re a shopaholic, Kotak Zen Credit Card might certainly serve your purpose with a decent reward rate of 2.2% on spending (shopping) upto 6 Lakhs in a year.

But the hassle of tracking the proper spend type and fulfilment of rewards after an year is not something worth the time just for 2.2% return. Still, that works for some but not for most.

So, if you’re looking for premium cards in this range that rewards for broader type of spends, the list of best premium credit cards may help you choose the right ones.

But if you wish to stick to Kotak, then Kotak White Card & Kotak League Platinum Credit Cards are some of the best.

Do you have Kotak Zen Credit Card? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Author: Siddharth

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

11 thoughts on “Kotak Zen Signature Credit Card Review

  1. Captain Bishuddha Bharatiya

    Will opening a high value savings ac. with Kotak increases chances of getting a higher limit credit card ? How long should we wait after opening savings ac. to apply for credit card in Kotak ?

    Reply
    1. Abhay

      Premium cards with high value savings ac will give higher limit. But you are having high limit on HDFC card as you said in comments. Why do you still need more credit line?

      Reply
      1. Captain Bishuddha Bharatiya

        Because it’s human nature. We always want to move forward.

        Reply
  2. Kamal

    Does it provide addon card for family member ? If yes, can family member request PP for international lounge access ?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Add-on – yes, just like most other cards but no PP for add-on’s. Regalia is good for that reason, in this segment.

      Reply
  3. Varun

    I have LTF Kotak Royal card with limit around 10 lacs which I barely use. Is this Zen card any worth to upgrade from Royal. Is Zen available as LTF in case of upgrade considering I have other premium cards like HDFC Infinia, Diners Black, Yes First Exclusive and IDFC Wealth.

    Reply
  4. PRAMTESH

    I have 2 kotak cards, Recently I upgraded zen to white. I also have royale signature, which is eligible for zen

    Did I made mistake after upgrading zen to white?

    Reply
  5. Mannat Juneja

    Hi Sid,

    I hold a League Platinum LTF, I have an offer to upgrade it to Zen Signature with fees. Do you think is it worth to upgrade?

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Abhay

      Go through both review articles Mannat. None of us can answer you with limited details. As Sid says, it depends on your spends, profile and needs. I can only say that most people don’t need Kotak cards.

      Reply
  6. Sanjay

    Kotak zen card is really fr*ud / sc*m. After issuing the card within 1 month they will send complimentary lounge access will be available only if you spend 60k in previous qtr. Do not go for this.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Abhay Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *