February 2022 has brought some bad news for Infinia and Diners Club Black credit cards. HDFC Bank has made some significant changes(devaluations) on the popular Smartbuy program. The changes are effective 1st February 2022. Here is what has changed:
Smartbuy Changes for Infinia
- Rewards on flight bookings reduced from 10X to 5X
- Rewards on IRCTC train bookings reduced from 5X to 3X
- Rewards on Redbus bookings reduces from 10X to 5X
Smartbuy Changes for Diners Club Black
The changes are worse for Diners Club Black. With these changes, Infinia is two notches higher than DCB.
- Rewards on flight bookings reduced from 10X to 5X
- Rewards on instant vouchers reduced from 5X to 3X
- Rewards on IRCTC train bookings reduced from 5X to 3X
- Rewards on Redbus bookings reduced from 10X to 5X
- Rewards on Apple Tresor reduced from 5X to 3X.
- Rewards on Flipkart reduced from 3X to 2X
Smartbuy Changes for Regalia/Diners Privilege
The small surprise in all this is Regalia and Diners Privilege moving from a cashback to accelerated rewards just like Infinia/DCB. Here is what we get now:
| Shopping Category | Smartbuy Cashback (Before) | Smartbuy Rewards (Now) |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 5% | 5X |
| Flights (Cleartrip/Yatra) | 5% | 5X |
| Hotels (Cleartrip/MakeMyTrip) | 5%/10% | 10X |
| IRCTC | 5% | 3X |
| Redbus | 5% | 5X |
| Instant Vouchers | 5% | 5X |
| Apple Tresor | 5% | 5X |
| Flipkart | 1% | 3X |
Introduction of Per Day Rewards Cap
| Card Type | Max Cap/Calendar Month | Max Cap/Day |
|---|---|---|
| Infinia | 15000 RP | 7500 RP |
| Diners Club Black | 7500 RP | 2500 RP |
| Regalia and Diners Club Privilege | 4000 RP | 2000 RP |
Our View
HDFC Bank has been running Smartbuy for a long time now. Over time, we have seen many devaluations with the last one being instant vouchers rewards reduced from 10X to 5X. This is no different but it hits at a larger group of spends particularly flight bookings. But the bigger devaluation of the DCB was not something I expected. Infinia/DCB have long been similar in rewards till now.
The other big change is the addition of daily cap on rewards. HDFC Bank has made it impossible to put larger spends on Smartbuy now. Those iPhone purchases on Amazon will now not get the maximum possible rewards.
I expect this move will result in HDFC Bank losing out on some of the bigger spends. This is something they might have already taken into account before the change. But, this gives cardholders a chance to evaluate the best card for each transaction that would have gone to Smartbuy. Those 10% instant cashbacks might be a better option now in some cases.
Source – Smartbuy Deal
