Read this first if applying for Axis Freecharge Card
Now that Axis Freecharge card has removed the monthly cashback limit it does seem better now so thought of installing freecharge app to see how is the application process in case I want to apply in future. However after installing freecharge app the first screen I saw was this which immediately made me change my mind.
This is something expected from those “pretending to be credit card” apps like slice/lazypay/snapay etc which focus on giving card to first time users/college students etc with no credit history but I didn’t expect a full fledged credit card to do the same. For those who don’t know the above screen basically say that freecharge will read all the financial transaction sms in your phone & save that info to their own servers where an AI will process this info to build your credit profile to decide whether to approve your card or not irrespective of your cibil score/income.
In other threads I saw many whose applications were rejected for this card despite having good cibil score/income & my guess is the reason was because of above. If a person has lots of financial transactions in their sms history with good amount of total debits as well as credits & no “payment overdue” etc sms then AI will likely judge the person to have good enough profile for card approval while if a person having good cibil score/income but doesn’t use same smartphone for receiving financial transaction sms or regularly delete unnecessary/no more required financial transaction sms then most likely AI will not approve card for such a person.
Since I have never given such info for any credit card before, I will not give this info for this card either.
@sri222 @Original @karthi4052752 @VimAl_Raj @vasanth_ece @VellaBoy @Ripalbaria @sifar
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Its better to apply directly from Axis bank site .Else they ask all details 
I have applied via 3rd party agents & they all ask for card statement along with pan & address proof. This asking for all “financial transaction sms” is something done only by “pretending to be credit card” apps like slice/lazypay/snapay etc because their target customer base has no cibil/credit score & this is the only way to build a full financial profile of such prospective customers. This is also why amazonpay or flipkart don’t ask access for financial transactions sms for “storage/processing” when applying for amazonpay or flipkart card because they are full fledged card relying on usual process of cibil report & bank’s internal guidelines for approving an application.
it is. such apps use this information for assessment through AI (Artificial intelligence) for credit or CC application. It helps them to create 360 degree profile of a user
Nice info VU.
Now this is prime example of Data is oil as quoted by motabhai
Point is, are you really comfortable sharing all this data with freecharge/slice/lazypay/snapay etc when you didn’t share this data with sbi/hdfc/axis/icici/amex to get credit cards. If HDFC was asking all this data for processing diners club black or infinia card approval then it might be worth it but for such cards/apps it is not worth it. Also don’t forget that freecharge will get hacked sometime in future(just like mobikwik,dominos,big basket etc as it is only a matter of time unless freecharge also opens a payment bank like paytm which has almost zero probability of happening). Also have you ever think about why banks never ask for such info, that is because banks don’t need/rely on such info to approve cards as they depend on hard financial data from cibil reports & other channels.
Yes Bro U R Right, Now A Days Many People Need Money But No Score To Get Loan, By Reading All The Financial Messages Based On Spend Behaviour They Will Give You Loans.
Recently In EENADU Paper ( Telugu Region ) They Have Mentioned This Type Of Data Collection For Providing Loans.
@guest_999 BTW, most of the permissions that most of the apps ask for, are optional; In this particular case, Phone permission is mandatory to give, else the app won’t start/run; BUT the sms permission can be denied and still the app will work as fine.
Previously (a year or two back) I used to grant all permission to any app; but now, I first try to decline the permission and see if the works fine else give it.
For example, in the case of financial apps, Phone permission is needed to validate number (for profile, UPI), and this is mandatory in most cases; SMS permission is asked to read OTP automatically or in some cases to send sms to validate number, and this can be denied in most cases; Camera access is needed for QR scanning and this can be denied too if you don’t plan to use it. Contacts permission is needed for payment to your contacts, and this too can be skipped. Storage/File&Media, Location and Microphone is not generally asked in financial apps; Anyways do note that permission like Camera, Mic, or any sensor based permission cannot be accessed by any app that’s running in the background (android 8+). Obviously we can’t fully protect our privacy but we should definitely try to protect it from misuse.
SMS permission is OPTIONAL (not mandatory)
1/3
Dimers, bear with my lengthy posts. If interested, then only read.
First I will explain about my Axis FreeCharge credit card approval procedure just to let you know the Reality because of some assumptions about the card approval.
I didn’t expect this much procedure especially for this card.
I have applied Axis FreeCharge credit card through FreeCharge app with all the details. Immediately email received from CIBIL…Your CIBIL Report has changed. It was hard enquiry.
Next day, Axis bank agent came for KYC, he opened some application in his phone and again entered all my personal and professional information. Then took a photo of mine and PAN, mAadhaar verification done. I asked him should I give Income proofs, he said NO.
After 2 days, I got a verification call. He asked me about personal, Job and salary details. I asked him..anymore verification, he said NO.
Surprisingly, next day another agent came to office address for verification.
Finally my card was approved.
Now I think, the application submitted through FreeCharge was just for reference purpose only.
Remaining procedure was same like Offline credit card application procedure.
Similar kind of verification happened with my friends (given app SMS permission).
One friend had call verification and office address verification (my city)
Other friend had call verification and Income proofs given (other city).
These happened in February and March 2021.
From 4 to 6 years, me and my friends already had other credit cards with decent and high limits.
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2/3,
Regarding the SMS Permission…
FreeCharge, a wholly owned subsidiary of Axis Bank (acquired in 2017).
FreeCharge using SMS permission for the assessment of our financial transactions for providing credit cards or loans, which is unacceptable for me as well.
If anybody gives SMS permission, definitely it helps FreeCharge to get more information. With my personal experience, I can say definitely its not the Only criteria to decide to approve or reject the card. I think, they will take all 3 into consideration…CIBIL/Income/Messages assessment (if SMS permission given). After applying through FreeCharge app, Axis bank agents are doing verification just like for any other credit card.
Also the SMS permission is OPTIONAL. So if the SMS permission is not given to FreeCharge app, they won’t get our financial details through Messages and can’t assess our credit card application based on Messages. They have to go through our CIBIL/Income (happened in my case).
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Mine was rejected even without kyc, one guy on call assured i will get it. Next day it got rejected. Hard enquiry everytime. I hold multiple cards with good limits with cibik score 779
3/3
I have applied for this card only to upgrade to Ace credit card in future. Because I have read some dimers mentioned, even with good credit history Ace credit card rejected. Then I thought, FreeCharge credit card was in less demand, so applied and it was approved.
FreeCharge app is just basic recharge/bill payments app, nothing special. Using FreeCharge credit card on FreeCharge app is like using Ace credit card on Google pay. Extra benifit is you can add recharge/bill payments promo codes (which are less these days, gives 10/30/50) and also 5% cashback on same transaction. FreeCharge card has annual fee 350+gst with less annual fee waiver of 50000. But the biggest benifit of Ace card is it gives 2% on other spends.
FreeCharge credit card T&C’s updated to unlimited cashback on all FreeCharge spends. Customer support executive already confirmed unlimited 5% cashback on bill payments (including Insurance). But still I doubt that and if there will be any restrictions then upgrade to Ace credit card.
P.S. I’m not promoting FreeCharge (credit card, Axis bank).
For me no verification no hard inquiry no document only kyc and i received card. But problem is its give only 15000 limit to while my other card limit 1+. 
Unlimited cashback from July 12th
https://axisbank.com/docs/default-source/defaul...
Raise a complaint through Axis bank support Twitter. You will get the remaining cashback before next statement.
https://mobile.twitter.com/AxisBankS...rt
Also you can send an email to nodal office [email protected]
Freecharge is 100% owned by axis bank. It is just like payzapp for hdfc bank.
Thanks for informing. I don’t know about this. VU