Review: HDFC Bank Millennia Credit Card

HDFC Bank today launched Millennia credit card targeting millennials of the country, however, the card is available to every Indian above the age of 21 max up to 60years. 😆

Millennia card launch is an attempt to kill two birds with one stone 

1. Take on ICICI Amazon and Axis Flipkart cards which were launched recently also targeting millennials who prefer to spend online. While ICICI and Axis cards offer higher rewards points on one of the two major portals, HDFC is giving 5%  reward points on both of them.
2. This card fits well into the HDFC's aspiration of doubling its credit card base to 25mn users from currently ~12.5mn

Overview of Millennia Credit Card:

• Fees: INR 1000/year + GST (waived if one spends INR30K within the first 90 days)
• Renewal Fees: Waived if one spends INR100k or more in the first year
• Launch Offer: INR1000 worth gift vouchers on spends of INR100k and above in each calendar quarter for first year only.
• 8 complementary domestic airport lounge access annually ( Limit of 2/quarter)

Reward Points:

• 5% Cashback on Amazon, Flipkart and on all spends/shopping via Payzapp and SmartBuy. Minimum transaction of INR2000 and max cashback of INR750. 
• 2.5% Cashback on all other online spends. Minimum transaction of INR2000 and max cashback of INR750.
• 1% cashback on offline transactions and wallet loads. Minimum transaction of INR100 and max cashback of INR750.

So how to look at this card?

While the reward points offered are lucrative, max limit on every category seems to be a dampener. However, the benefits of the card appears decent given that it is targeted towards someone who is young and new to credit cards.

A hypothetical scenario where one  uses this card exclusively on Payzapp/SmartBuy and online transactions to maximize the reward points, the expense and reward points earned would be like

Thus reward points earned would be INR18k on a spend of INR540k, which is a cool 3.3%. Provided one takes this as statement credit and does not redeem at SmartBuy Rewards Portal.

Final Views

This seems to be a decent card that can likely give up to  3.3% reward points. 

Have a few questions though what happens if one pays utility bill online via the company's respective website i.e. electricity bill on Adani Power's website, will one get 2.5% reward points or only 1% reward points. Also what about insurance premium payments made online?

Update (26-8-19): While the card is decent at entry level, reward points are valid only for a year from the date of accrual. This, in my view is biggest drawback as nearly every other card (even HDFC Bank's other cards) give something like 3 years validity for reward points.