Credit Card: HDFC updates eligibility for Infinia and Diners Club Black cards. Details here

HDFC Bank has upgraded the eligibility criteria for its super premium credit cards such as ‘Infinia’ and ‘Diners Club Black’. Salaried individuals in the private sector should have a monthly income of ₹5 lakh to get the ‘Infinia’ card. Self-employed persons should have an ITR (Income Tax Return) of ₹60 lakh to get the card. Government employees must have a monthly income of ₹3.5 lakh to qualify for the card.

“It is important that these super/ultra-premium range of credit cards are issued to the right customer profile to have an optimal spends and cost ratio,” the bank said. “The guidelines are being rolled out to all sourcing teams for immediate adherence,” it said.

Similarly, the salary limit for those employed in the private sector has been set at ₹2.5 lakh per month for ‘Diners Club Black’ and ₹1.75 lakh per month for government employees. Self-employed persons should have an ITR of ₹30 lakh to qualify for ‘Diners Club Black’.

The eligibility for ‘Regalia Gold’ has been fixed at ₹1.5 lakh monthly salary for private sector employees and ₹1 lakh per month for government employees. Self-employed individuals should have an ITR of ₹18 lakh to get the card.The new income eligibility criteria have come into effect immediately for new applications. The move would however not impact renewals.

Though the eligibility criteria for these cards are not expressly disclosed by the bank, only individuals with a monthly income in excess of ₹3 lakh per month or above ₹36 lakh per year were usually considered for the ‘Infinia’ card. Super premium credit cards such as ‘Infinia’, which are given on an invitation basis, are typically offered to customers with good credit score, high annual income, prompt repayment record and long credit history with the bank.

For ‘Diners Club Black’, salaried individuals with a monthly income of ₹1.75 lakh per month, self-employed persons with an annual income of ₹21 lakh were considered earlier. Similarly, salaried individuals with a monthly income of ₹1 lakh per month, self-employed persons with an annual income of ₹12 lakh typically qualified for ‘Regalia Gold’.

Salary as a crucial factor

“An individual earning, say, ₹1,00,000 per month may be eligible for an HDFC Bank Regalia Gold Credit Card. On the other hand, an individual earning ₹25,000 per month can be eligible for an HDFC Bank MoneyBack+ Credit Card,” HDFC Bank had said in an earlier post on credit card eligibility on its portal in April this year.

“Salary is a crucial deciding factor for credit cards. Typically, you should either be a salaried or self-employed individual to apply for a credit card. When you use the card’s credit limit, you should have the means to repay it. Furthermore, the type of credit card you’re eligible for, will depend on your income,” it said. “You may be asked to submit your latest Income Tax Returns copy as income proof if you’re self-employed,” the bank said.

Super premium credit cards offer a host of benefits that include a higher credit limit, discounts on dining, free lounge access at airports and higher reward points on spending. Such cards also allow customers to book flight tickets by utilising the reward points.

Apart from this, super premium credit cards charge 1.99% per month (23.88% annually) as interest on outstanding dues, which is significantly lower than those levied by regular cards. Incidentally, regular credit cards charge an interest of 3.75% per month (45% annually).

Allirajan M is a journalist with over two decades of experience. He has worked with several leading media organisations in the country and has been writing on mutual funds for nearly 16 years.