On this page Show
A credit card is a brilliant tool for availing exclusive rewards and benefits while you go about making your regular expenditure. Whether be it rent payments, online shopping, travel bookings, or your grocery expenses, shifting everything onto credit cards that give value is always a good decision. We have discussed why a credit card is a good alternative to a debit card here and also talked about ways to prevent falling into a debt trap while using credit cards here.
That said, in this article, we want to touch upon how a combination of multiple credit cards can give you ultimate rewards without having to shell out a single penny! Yes, you read that right. You can have a basic strategy in place and make thousands of rupees in return for expenses you would make anyway. Let’s get into the details. Here you can also check credit score rankings & How to build credit score.
Card Picks
Axis Flipkart, Amazon Pay ICICI, RBL Edition
USP
- Before we offer you the illustration, let us describe some of the exclusive benefits that each of these credit cards offers.
- Axis Flipkart: 5% cashback on Flipkart, Myntra, and 2GUD.com. 4% cashback on CureFit, Swiggy, PVR, and Uber.
- Amazon Pay ICICI: 5% cashback on Amazon.in (for Prime members). 2% cashback on 100+ partner brands.
- RBL Edition: 10% cashback on Zomato food ordering and dining.
Reward Maximisation
Now that we are aware of the benefits of these three cards, let’s jump into real-world benefit derivation.
Suppose you spend approximately Rs 5,000 per month on Amazon on regular purchases, and then probably a one-time large purchase (large appliances, mobiles, laptops) of ~Rs 50,000. Your Amazon expenditure for the year comes out to Rs 5,000*12 + Rs 50,000 = Rs 1,10,000. Use the Amazon Pay ICICI card to avail a 5% cashback, Rs 5,500, as an Amazon Pay cashback balance that can be used at 100s of partner sites.
Next, suppose you spend Rs 5,000 per month on Flipkart and Myntra as well. Again, for regular purchases like groceries, home appliances, books, kitchen accessories, and more. Just this comes out to Rs 5,000*12 = Rs 60,000 expenditure in a year. On this, you get a flat 5% cashback, Rs 3,000, as cashback in your credit card account itself.
And, considering you spend ~Rs 6,000 a month on ordering food and dining out from Zomato. The RBL Edition card gives you 10%, Rs 7,200 worth of reward points (called Edition Cash), back in the entire year. This Edition Cash can be redeemed fully against future Zomato orders.
Over and above online shopping and dining expenses, you might have several other expenses at offline locations, for rent, and on holiday bookings. For these expenses, we consider the Axis Flipkart credit card because it offers a superior 1.5% cashback on any other expenses apart from the ones mentioned in the USP section.
Suppose you are spending about Rs 60,000 on holiday bookings every year (not entirely impractical), another Rs 1,50,000 on rent, and about Rs 60,000 on offline spending. This comes out to be a total of Rs 2,70,000, on which the card gives you Rs 4,050 back as cashback.
Quickly add all of this up, Rs 5,500 from Amazon + Rs 3,000 from Flipkart + Rs 7,200 from dining + Rs 4,050 from other expenses, come out to a total of Rs 19,720! So, you are making almost Rs 20,000 for free on expenses you would normally make! Plus, there are e-commerce sale seasons where these cards can help you get Rs 2,000 off on large purchases every time. So, you can easily add Rs 8,000 more to your savings.
And, the RBL Edition card gives you to lounge and movie booking benefits as well. Those alone can easily give you more than Rs 10,000 worth of value.
Welcome Benefits and Total Cost
While the Amazon Pay ICICI card is lifetime free, the Axis Flipkart card has a fee of Rs 500 + GST, waived off almost completely through a Rs 500 Flipkart gift voucher. And, the RBL Edition card has a fee of Rs 1,499 + GST. It also comes with a free Zomato Pro subscription, which costs around Rs 800. So, availing of these 3 cards will cost you around Rs 700 in all.
Conclusion
And these are just very conservative estimates. Regular salaried folk usually make higher amounts of purchases, including those on lifestyle, gadgets, and more. This drives home the point that credit cards if used wisely, can reap benefits from thin air. You just have to shift your expenditure to these three cards and you are sorted. The cherry on top is that these are extremely easy to get approved as well. To find out about eligibility and the application process, click on the card you wish to apply for. Happy savings!
