Uni Card Review: Pay 1/3rd every month

For a long time, cards issued by banks like HDFC or SBI have dominated India’s credit card scene. Even today, credit cards don’t have that much share in the market compared to debit cards. This is partly due to the criteria used by the banks and also due to the mistrust from the consumers. We have also seen many NBFC’s offer ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ in collaboration with Flipkart/Amazon. Uni Card is one such product that works like a credit card but is a unique product in itself. Here is a hands-on review of the Uni Card – India’s first pay 1/3^rd card.

How is Uni Card different?

On the surface, a Uni card works like a credit card. Behind the scenes, it is like a ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ credit line with a ‘VISA’ layer on top. When we sign up for a Uni card:

1. LiquiLoans creates a loan account post credit inquiry.
2. Uniorbit Technologies is the service platform for the loan.
3. SBM Bank provides the ‘VISA’ integration to use the loan as a prepaid card.

These three together help using this as a prepaid card.

UNI Application Experience

One of the great things about the Uni Card is its Android/iOS app. The app makes the application experience a breeze. The entire process takes around 10-15 mins. If eligible, a credit card is issued immediately and visible in the app. The physical card arrives in 3-5 days.

The key steps in the application process are:

1. Eligibility check – In this case, my CRIF credit score was pulled as I got an alert on email. Later on, I saw an inquiry in my CIBIL report from NDXP which is for NDX P2P Private Limited/LiquiLoans.
2. KYC – Aadhaar OTP based KYC followed by capturing a selfie.
3. Card Delivery Address – Auto-selected to same as Aadhaar but updateable.

At this point, Uni Card shows the approved credit limit and then generates the credit card.

Joining/Annual Fee

Uni card is currently in Beta and does not charge any joining/annual fee for applications. The app does show that the normal joining fee is Rs 1999.

Joining/Annual Fee	Zero (Beta Stage)
Welcome Benefits	None

Pay 1/3rd Every Month: No Extra Charges

Uni is India’s first pay 1/3rd card. This means that we need to repay a third of what we spend every month. So, we get a free three-month no-cost EMI on each spend irrespective of the amount.

There are no charges if we choose to pay any spend by splitting it into three parts. Below is an example of how we can split and pay our dues every month. This is an option that can be utilized for selective transactions or the entire bill.

Spends in the first month	Rs 9000
Payment for 1st month’s bill	Rs 3000
Payment for 2nd month’s bill	Rs 3000
Payment for 3rd month’s bill	Rs 3000

In The Box

For a card operating in the entry-level segment, Uni Card comes with interesting packaging. The credit card is sent to a box very similar to what we get for mobile phones. It is a beautiful box and comes with:

• A personalized baggage tag with the cardholder’s printed on it
• An UNI branded mask. The mask is of good quality.
• An actual Toblerone chocolate. 🙂

The card has a minimal design with the card number printed on the back.

Rewards

For any spending which is not split into three parts, Uni Card gives a 1% cashback. This is immediately added to the statement once we choose to pay it in full. In my opinion, this is a bit less compared to other cards which give anywhere between 1% to 5% depending on purchase type.

It might seem that paying 1/3 every month on Uni is more rewarding than using other cards that give 1% to 2% for paying in full. But, that is not the case. Assuming, savings account interest to be 4% which is still higher than what we get, we still lose out a lot by opting to pay 1/3. Below is an illustration for a Rs 1000 spend on Uni card vs Axis Ace.

We lose approximately Rs 50 cashback for every Rs 3000 transaction in case we opt for Uni instead of Ace. 2% is a conservative figure for the cashback we get on a transaction. It can even be 5% or 10% in some cases!

Features on the way

Uni is still in the Beta stage. So, the offering will continue to improve along the way. Some features that are on the way are:

• Uni Coins – Uni Coins will be the new reward system in the future. The coins can be used on Uni Store where we will get better value than the 1% cashback we have now for paying in full.
• Longer EMI tenures – No charges 3 months EMI is already available with the Pay 1/3 feature. EMI plans for 6,9,12,18+ months are on the way.

Final Thoughts

It would not be prudent to compare Uni cards with other credit cards in the market. But at 1% cashback for full payments and free 3-month no-cost EMI, Uni is an interesting offering.

It can solve liquidity issues for some high spends. There are times when we know that we cannot make the payment in full but can easily do it in three parts. The trade-off is that we do not get rewards in these cases. Rewards for normal transactions when paid in full are upwards of 2%. The 2% cashback that we get for paying in full is more than what we will save as interest if we pay in three parts. So, it is always better to pay in full using other credit cards when we can.

This card can be considered as a backup for emergencies and select spends when needed. But, my suggestion would be to try this card for the app experience it offers. I would rate it above all other credit cards/banking apps I have used till now. 🙂