So, I have to do a lot of international transactions because I am a DIY guy & & love fixing electronics devices myself instead of paying other people.
And there are no shortage of info online on how to fix a thing. I fix my laptop, my phones, my Shavers everything myself, by buying parts from eBay & few other sites which sell parts & accessories at cheap rates.
So, since this card has ZERO Forex Markup, I had done a 25k FD & got the card about 5-6 months back & was using it for my purchases from some international sites.
Few days back, I got an email & SMS from IDFC saying,
_______________
We have observed from your recent Credit Card usage that you are violating the terms of use of the Cardmember Agreement. You have used the aforementioned Credit Card in excess of the prescribed Credit Limit, thereby accumulating undue Reward Points.
Please note that we have withheld the Reward Points accumulated on your Credit Card account, through the transactions done in the current statement cycle.
The aforementioned Credit Card has been issued to you for the purpose of personal/retail purchases within the prescribed usage limit which is nothing but the Credit Limit assigned to you. If we notice any frequent use of your Credit Card for commercial purpose and/or in excess of the prescribed credit limit, we will be constrained to take strict action on your Credit Card account. Repeated violation may even lead to terminating your Credit Card Membership with us.
We request you to use the Credit Card as per the terms & conditions of the Cardmember Agreement given on our website.
___________________________
I was like WTF?? I have never exceeded my credit card limit & neither I have ever used the card for any commercial purpose.
I called them & naturally they don't have a clue & they told me to ignore the email & it was a technical issue lol.
But today I got the same email again. No when I have called them, they are telling me that I can't do purchases from same sites frequently as it's violating the card member agreement.
I asked them, so if for example, I need to buy something from Amazon frequently, that is violating the Cardmember Agreement??
So, they said exactly this on the call "ha yeh commercial purpose hota hain, aap Amazon se purchase karke bahar bech nhi rahe iska kya guarantee hain? Aap yeh nhi kar sakte, this is against our cardmember agreement."
I do this all the time, because I have to buy groceries & other items for home from Amazon & sometimes I forget to add something, so I buy that item on the next day as I have Prime, so no shipping cost for most products & fast delivery etc & ICICI never sent me any such email that I am using the card for commercial purpose.
So, according to IDFC guys, this is commercial usage & I can't buy from the same sites frequently.
Anyone of you faced this issue here?? Buying for personal purpose & getting accused that you are using the card for commercial purpose??
I told them, I have 15 other Credit cards from most top banks in India & I have used those cards several times before on the same sites, but no bank ever accused me of this, but they remained adamant,
So, I am now closing the card & after it gets closed, I will close the FD too.. I have a Wealth account with them, maybe will close that one too later this year, if what they are saying is false..
Both the Branch Manager & the Deputy Branch Manager don't even bother to reply to their emails & calls... Even after having a Wealth account & 2 credit cards, I was not even assigned an RM & neither IDFC has any option to change the branch online. They want me to go to the new branch & ask them to shift my account there from the current branch.
I have OneCard also which has 1%+GST on international transactions...Will have to use that one from now for my international purchases & hope they won't have any issue with frequent purchases from the same sites.
Was using Fi card before, but they started charging 2.5%+GST & now made it mandatory to keep 10k, but even though we keep 10k or 50k, they will still charge 2.5%+GST at the time of purchases & will reverse the charges later...
Niyo Debit cards no longer work. I have one with IDFC (that Zero balance Niyo global savings account) & as usual they don't even know that Niyo debit cards no longer work for International transactions because RBI has put some restrictions on them...
So, I just wanted to know if what IDFC guys are saying are valid or no?? I can't make frequent purchases from the same sites & this comes under commercial purpose??
If I start using OneCard, will they start accusing me for the same too?? Then I think I will have no other way except keeping 10-50k in Fi & wait for the forex charges to get reversed later. I don't have a Passport currently & all the Niyo apps made passport mandatory to get their cards..
If you genuinely use the purchased spares/parts to fix your own devices, the volume woud never be too high to get flagged. Volumes and number of purchases are tracked by the bank to determine whether the purchases are of retail or commercial nature.
If I would have to make high volume purchases. I would not have done a FD of only 25k, right?? 25k was the minimum FD amount required to get this card, so I had to make an FD of 25K.
I have to make several small value purchases here & there & that's all. I have not even redeemed any of my cards rewards points ever, except SimplyClick once & they are saying I am doing commercial purchases to earn reward points...
I have to buy Wifi chips, phone & laptop spare parts & other small items & I never even used this card to make a single transaction of more than 3000/-
Also when they said, I can't buy frequently from Amazon even if the items are different & even if it's a single item, it still comes under commercial purpose & I can't make frequent purchases from the same site. How legit is that??
Just called them again & another support person told me " There is no such issue or complaint against you on this card. you can use the card normally"... Lol. Who is correct?? One executive saying something & another is saying something else...
Previous support person also told me that I can't use more than 25k in a month as the card has a 25k credit limit on it.
I asked her, so if for example, I purchase 10k worth of items out of this 25k limit & then I pay the bill & my limit will again become 25k, I won't be able to buy 25k worth of products??
She said no, you can't do it... That 25k is a monthly limit & even if you pay all the bills, you still can't buy items more than 25k in a month. I have never heard credit cards having a MONTHLY LIMIT lol & we can't use the card even if we pay the previous dues in full..
READ first before you post random comments which don't make any sense.
First of, That is a lot of info to read through!
I think issue maybe since Merchant you pay at, mayhave flagged your account for volume of purchases, and different order frequency...
It can suggest like a Business Transaction!!
Try using other cards too...Since all Cards have automated systems to look out for sus activity..
Eg-
Debit: INDIE Card, Fi, etc
Credit: Scapia,
OneCard has lower charges
As for how they track excess volume of transaction, they look at GST of Merchant you pay and see the pattern of transaction...and yes your card can be canceled for violating terms.
That's why there are Business Credit Cards separate.
Plus IDFC staff too much bot like while interacting, They just keep stating policy and stuff rather than listen to your side of issue..(personal experience)
"GST of merchant" is not valid here, as I clearly told that the sites I am making purchases on, are all international sites based outside of India. And sites like eBay & others have millions of daily transactions & they would never flag any customer for buying many items, as they would love to get more money being spent on their platform/site.
And like I mentioned above that, since I have the OneCard & a Fi card account, I am not eligible to apply for Scapia.
Sorry for my long main post. I have this issue of not being able to keep things too short & it always becomes a lengthy paragraph if I try to explain everything in detail. 
Just called them twice to check the procedure of changing my branch, as the branch heads & the support people are totally useless, they don't respond to emails & calls even after asking me to email them, no RM was assigned even after having a Wealth account & all,
And first support person told me to visit the "New" branch to shift my account there & the second guy told me that I can only do it from my "Current" branch. So, they don't even know how can a customer change their branch.
Few years back, they did not even honor my chargeback request on the First Select card when I had bought something, but the seller didn't ship me anything. I also had created a thread about that like 2 years ago.
It's a Visa Signature CC & they had told me that, credit cards don't have any chargeback protection & they couldn't recover my funds from the seller's bank. Later the seller refunded me after lots of requests, threats & begging. That was a $995 purchase.
And their tagline is : "Always You First"... 😄
why don't you split your spending and open more cc accounts as its fd based
they are right because you are misusing by spending on the same merchant in their eyes you are doing the wrong thing even if I was a bank I would do the same It is a 0% Forex card and you are straight away abusing it
the simple solution is to get 2 - 3 more cards on your family member's name not an add-on card get an individual card
this way if you buy 4 times in a month you could split it on each card try to do no more then 2 transactions with the same merchant
if you think this is wrong you are missing the whole point of this card it is a entry-level card and banks have a limit they offer it free but they can't let you overspend
the main issue is you are costing them more than a normal customer who uses it once or twice
for idfc wow you can get the card for 2k fd lol what is this 25k fd thing and you can only spend 25k or whatever is your limit in a day max regardless if you pay it off in the app from the time you perchased you will have to wait 24h or the end of the day
You are talking like a representative of IDFC.
So buying stuffs for own personal purpose is equal to MISUSING their card?? Where it is written in their card terms & conditions that, you can't purchase frequently from the same merchants?? Show me the terms page link Please.
What do you mean by overspend, when I buy like 10-15k things in total in the entire month & I have never exceeded my CC limit?? y per transaction limit is very low, sometimes even like $2-$3 when I have to buy ICs, Diodes, SMD LEDs & like mobile screen protectors for me & my family members.
Sorry but I don't agree with your points as I have several others cards from most banks & before getting this card, I have used many other cards from other banks & they never accused me of this.
Your point is totally invalid. Banks want you to spend more & more as they earn from each purchases. I had my own payment gateways through RazorPay & PayU, so I know that, payment gateways have to pay banks for EVERY transactions made on them...
Use SBI CB CC.
1. That card has normal 3.5%+GST Foreign Currency Markup which every other basic cards have.
2. And if you are talking about getting 5% CB for international purchases also, then no it'll not offer any cashback on international purchases.
3. People already have an existing CC with SBI, will get/are getting ultra low limits on this card.
In-short : Not suitable for me...
Source of the above info : CardExpert.in review for the card.
@woodfield753, And since you are a customer of them also, then you know how crappy their previous app was... Even their desktop site used to go down quite frequently.,
Most of the time, it used to show unable to connect & was extremely slow to load, UPI transactions used to go in maintenance mode every other day. The new app version is relatively better & smooth, for now...
i never had any issues actually i dont know about android but ios was butter smoth from the start actually the upi transaction for me was the fastest the only time they were down were at early morning that too they use to put up the banner for the whole day in red at the top while you put your pin so you are aware
1am or 1:30am to 3 am something like that
evem the bharatQr was working to pay directly from cc
in my experiance they actually have a very snappy app in ios and i like it more then icici or hdfc or axis
maybe an android issue but i have somewhat use it on a android o samsung device once it did lag as it has a lot of animations
other then that i did not face any issue sometimes at 1pm to 2pm upi transactions use to fail but 90% of the time never gave any issue and the best thing was if the transaction failed and the money got dedudcet it use to instently credit back while other apps use to take 6 to 12 min but this problem is no more seen in other apps even they refund quickly 3 - 5 min sometimes
also idfc lets me transfer more then 25k at a time if its not a new person to whome im sending right now icici does not let you transfer more then 25k so that is something i like to
they also have a fraudulent detection system once i transacted by putting in a upi id of a company manualy like a scammer would do not through scanning qr they called me in 2 min conferming that is it you who is doing this transaction or should we revert it
My friend went recently abroad and also shops on a lot of international sites, he is using niyo global dcb debit card, no forex, no markup.
Can you please confirm if this is not working for you?
Back to topic, So just yesterday, they told me that I am using the card for commercial purpose & today the same lady emailing me:
______
" We have checked with the team and wish to inform you that the assigned credit limit on your credit card, XXXX, is INR 25,000.00, but we noticed that excess utilization has been done. Due to this fact, email alerts were sent. "
______
I have done purchases frequently from the same sites like I said before, but I never exceeded 25k in a month, as even though I have to buy frequently, but the values are very small each time.
Looks like they are confused or trying to confuse me. Doing commercial purchases & Exceeding the credit limit are not same.
Anyways, as I have a Wealth Account, if I keep only the minimum 25k AMB & remove the remaining amount to other banks, will I be downgraded from Wealth to normal account??
Anyone tried this?? I have read few people wrote on the TechnoFino forum, that they had kept like 5L first to get them upgraded to Wealth & then they kept another 5L for some time & applied for Wealth CC & after they got it, they stopped maintaining the high account balance in Wealth account without caring if the account will get downgraded or not.
I think if it's downgraded, the customer won't be provided any Wealth DC, but CC they will have to provide, as they can't downgrade the CC even if the customer stops maintaining anything in their accounts.
This Wealth account has nothing extra in it if we don't get the Wealth CC.
I have a Select Card & my utilization on this card is very low due to no offers on this card, so not sure if I will get the Wealth CC or not in future. Currently if I try to apply for the same, it's showing no offers available.
if u are a wealth customer then u are eligible for wealth card automatically.maybe u have select that's why app is not showing wealth card. once u get card u can remove balance they wont close card but this bank has become the biggest C, they might do the same thing with wealth card, check here https://www.desidime.com/discussions/idfc-wealt...
if u do so many international transaction then open an account in an international bank
how many transactions per month were u doing with idfc cc?
If you don't mind maintaining balance, open IndusInd Exclusive savings account and use their 0-forex debit cards. But unless the account has a special waiver like last year's offer when they were giving 0-balance Exclusive account free, you will need to maintain balance/make it your main bank where you maintain balance. But you get 0 forex Visa or Mastercard debit card. Of course, once you are done buying, turn off int. txns on a debit card at once.
Yet another option is the RBL World Safari credit card but it's paid (only given LTF to former RBL Zomato CC holders)
Received IDFC Wow E card LTF
Physical Card dispatched now
Rip Niyo Global Cc (ATM Withdrawal fees 750+ Gst)
![[wow deal] Apple Airpods Pro with MagSafe Charging Case Bluetooth Headset](https://cdn0.desidime.com/topics/photos/1785665/medium/Screenshot2023-10-08155555.png?1714833760)
If you genuinely use the purchased spares/parts to fix your own devices, the volume woud never be too high to get flagged. Volumes and number of purchases are tracked by the bank to determine whether the purchases are of retail or commercial nature.
my solution was to get card on your family name if you spend less on them like below 2k then 2 to 3 of these cards are not bad at all as you would not have to worry about your card getting blocked by the bank also you can pay the bill of these cards with upi cardnumber.cc@idfcfirst
if you need to open more wow cc then i can send you a referal link dm me if you need one
make sure before the bill date you pay off 25 to 30% utlization of that card for eg if your limit is 50k and you use it all up then pay off 43 to 42k before the bill date (2 - 3 days ago) so your score grows
Even after having so many cards from so many years, I have never missed a single due date, ever, so my CIBIL has never gone below 800.
I actually pay all my bills all the time after like max 7 days of buying & sometimes even before that. I don't like to keep things in pending mode for long...
Currently not interested in any more WOW cards.. Fed-up with their bad services & incompetent support.
If they block this one, even after spending on other sites, I would just start using OneCard or Fi card (by maintaining 10k in their Plus account).