HDFC Bank SmartBuy Voucher Rewards Capped From July 1 as Customers See Lower Benefits
HDFC Bank SmartBuy voucher rewards capped from July 1, a big change for credit card customers who used brand vouchers to maximise monthly reward points. The bank has set a separate monthly cap for accelerated reward points earned on the usage of SmartBuy brand vouchers, the overall SmartBuy monthly cap per card remains unchanged. Customers will continue to get accelerated rewards from hotels, flights, selected merchants and other eligible SmartBuy categories, but they won’t be able to rely on vouchers alone to reach the full monthly reward limit. Premium card users will be the worst affected, especially Infinia, Diners Black Metal, Diners Black, Regalia, Diners Privilege and BizPower card holders. Regular customers of vouchers of brands like Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, etc through Gyftr or Woohoo may now get reduced benefits unless they spread their spending across other SmartBuy categories.
What’s New in HDFC Bank SmartBuy Rewards?
HDFC Bank has capped the accelerated rewards earned on SmartBuy brand vouchers separately on a monthly basis. Historically, many customers have used voucher purchases to reach most or all of their card’s monthly SmartBuy accelerated reward limit. That strategy is no longer an option from July 1. Brand vouchers now have their own sub-limit which falls within the overall SmartBuy monthly cap. For example, an Infinia cardholder still has a total monthly SmartBuy limit of 15,000 reward points, but only 3,000 of those points can now be earned from brand vouchers. If the customer wants to use the full monthly limit, the remainder must be from other qualifying SmartBuy buckets.
Which HDFC Cards Are Impacted
The change will impact a number of popular HDFC Bank credit cards, especially the premium and mid-premium cards that are used a lot for SmartBuy rewards. Infinia and Infinia Metal users now face a voucher cap of 3,000 points, within an overall monthly SmartBuy cap of 15,000 points. Diners Black Metal and BizBlack Metal cardholders are limited to a maximum of 10,000 points in total and 3,000 points per voucher. Black Diners users can earn a maximum voucher of 3,000 points, and a maximum cap of 7,500 points. Regalia, Diners Privilege and BizPower users’ voucher cap is 3,000 points out of a total cap of 4,000 points. The caps linked with vouchers are lower for Tata Neu cards, other credit cards, debit cards and PayZapp wallet transactions.
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Customers are feeling less benefit as brand vouchers were one of the easiest ways to earn accelerated SmartBuy rewards on regular spend. A large number of users bought vouchers to spend on their daily needs like e-commerce, groceries, food delivery, fashion, electronics and travel related expenses. This enabled them to convert their monthly spend into reward points at a higher tier. The new cap may still allow the first portion of the voucher spend to earn accelerated rewards, but purchases above the cap may not earn additional accelerated points. This reduces the reward value for customers who used a lot of vouchers but not so many SmartBuy categories. The change is, in effect, a devaluation for voucher buyers who heavily use them.
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HDFC Bank customers need to re-look at their monthly SmartBuy strategy after the July 1 change. Instead, cardholders should first figure out how much voucher spending is required to reach the new cap before purchasing all regular-use vouchers at the start of the month. In addition, they can earn additional accelerated rewards in other eligible SmartBuy categories such as hotels, flights, select merchants and platform offers, up to the overall limit. Customers should also check voucher convenience fees, expiry dates, refund rules and brand restrictions before buying. If the effort or fee is more than the reward value, sometimes a direct card spend or another card makes more sense.
