How to smartly use cash backs?
▪ Check if the offer is valid across all categories
▪ Check if it’s applicable for your card
▪ Read the conditions — they are quite different for various cards
▪ Register for cash backs. Some banks offer cash back as an optional facility
▪ See if there are any ceilings for cash backs to avoid surprises later
▪ Keep an eye on the validity of the offers
▪ All things remaining same, use credit card instead of debit card as the former gives free credit
For Indians, the fag end of the year is time for spending. There are clothes to be bought for the family, a snazzy mobile for dear sister, Faber chimneys to cool the hot tempered domestic help, a 5.1 channel DVD player for son and so on. The spending list is endless and often emotions rule during this time.
While it might be difficult to cut the shopping list, one could at least slash costs. This is all thanks to banks and credit card companies which are coming out with a myriad promotional offers including the ‘ubiquitous’ cash backs. Smart shuffling of your debit and credit card could actually save quite a sum.
What are cash backs?
Cash backs refer to the process of banks and credit card companies offering you cash back — based on the amount spent through the credit or debit card. For instance, there could be a 5% cash back, which means Rs 5 would be credited back to your card for every Rs 100 spent.
The catch, though, is that there are often ‘conditions’ to be met. For instance, there could be a ceiling on cash back amounts, limitations on its usage (like some specify it is applicable only where the card-issuing bank has installed terminals), time limitations, line of products where it is applicable and so on.
Take for instance the HDFC Bank’s recent advertisement, it says, “You can feel 5% less guilty.” It means, if you shop by swiping your HDFC Bank debit card, you can enjoy up to 5% cash back on your ‘highest’ transaction. The key word here is the highest. Further the cash back is different for every month.
For example, if you are transacting in all three months (October, November and December in this case), you will be eligible for 5% cash back. If you are transacting in any 2 months, the cash back is capped at 3% and 1% for any one month. The offer is valid till December, it mentions.
Similarly, the HSBC debit card offers 5% cash back on spends up to Rs 5,000. The minimum transaction amount should be Rs 2000 in the offer, which spans from October 6 to November 30. Standard Chartered Bank has worded it differently. They are offering 2 reward points for every Rs 75 spent on a priority debit card and Rs 125 for a smartfill debit card instead of the usual 1 reward point.
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