Save on Rent payments using Credit Cards - Cred vs NoBroker vs RedGiraffe

Monthly Rental Payments for your home can be one of the significant expenses which most of us have on our books and can quickly dry up your Salary. But what if i told you, that there is “jugaad” available to even save on your rental payments every month. Combine the cashback offers by some of new-age digital startups with payments using Credit cards to push your actual payments one month backwards.

Why Credit Card Payments?

If you have yet not evaluated Credit Card payments, We strongly recommend you to talk to your landlord about accepting Credit card payment instead of Cash payment or Payment by cheques. You can explain to your landlord how the current economic scenario requires you to pay via Credit card to better manage your Cash Flow / working capital and We are sure most landlords will be completely fine with it.

Still not convinced about Credit card Payments and savings it brings to you? Well, Rental payments can vary from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 1,25,000 for individuals. Let's take an example of monthly Rental payment of Rs. 20,000 which is very common in bigger cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune etc…

Credit Period of 40-60 Days: If you pay your Monthly Rental by cash on 1st of every month, that's a straight deduction of hard cash from your account. On Contrary, if you pay your Monthly rental using credit cards on 1st of the month and Lets say your payments are due on 10th of every month, chances are very high that the payment you made via credit card will be due on 10th of next month as your bill for current month will already be generated. That gives you a Credit period of 45 Days already to manage your Cash-Flow better.

Credit Card Reward Points upto 3.33%: To add to the credit period you get, One also get Reward Points on your credit cards which can then be used to plan travel trips or even get Statements credits. Obviously you need to have a Good credit card which pays you well when it comes to reward points. You can check some best Credit card options here. We strongly recommend the following Cards: Diners Black (3.33% Rewards) , Infinia (3.33% Rewards) or American Express Gold.

Now when the due date is due for your Credit card payment, you need to make sure that you are very timely with your payment otherwise all your savings will be eroded by one of 2 late payment fees. Setting up WhatsApp reminders via Cred is a good option.

Rewards on Credit Card Payments: You can also earn Rewards, Coupons and even Cashback while making Credit card payments. Yes, you heard it right. You can pay via Cred App and earn reward points for every payment or you can pay via Mobikwik and get Rs. 100 SuperCash in your wallet

Helps your CIBIL Score - Do you know that using Credit cards and paying your credit cards regularly can help you improve your CIBIL score too. It can turn out to be very useful when you apply for Home Loan or Car loan in the future at better interest rates.

Now Let’s see some of the popular apps available for Rental Payments using Credit cards, Wallets etc…

RedGiraffe’s RentPay

RedGiraffe, a financial technology and real estate company, launched RentPay as early as 2017, which allows users to pay commercial and residential rentals to be paid via credit and debit cards through recurring payments.

Signing up on RedGiraffe is Simple. You simply need to add your details and Rental Details like Rental amount, Due Date, Rental Agreement Expiry date. You also need to upload your Rental contract if your rental amount is greater than Rs. 30,000. You then need to provide landlord details, his bank account details. Account is usually approved in 72 hours. The steps are clearly explained after registration

Currently, RedGirraffe supports Credit cards of most popular banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI, Indusind, Kotak Mahindra, Yes Bank, Standard Chartered, RBL, PayZapp and HSBC. The prominent Banks/Card it's not supporting right now are AMEX and SBI.

RegGiraffe charges around 0.39% + ST for each transaction above Rs. 10,000. The minimum fee is Rs. 45 (for transactions below Rs. 10k). For the Rs. 20,000 rent we considered, the charges came to around Rs. 92. If you use HDFC Regalia card, you already get minimum rewards of Rs. 266 in points/cash. So you get the maths!

DEAL ALERT - 12th September 2020

Cashback on rent payments using Citi cards, through RedGiraffe on Citi mobile and website:

• Cashback on 1st month rent payment – Rs 750 
• Cashback on 2nd month rent payment* – Rs 1000 
• Cashback on 3rd month rent payment* – Rs 1250
  The offer is valid for registrations done from 00.00 hours, 12th September 2020 to 23.59 hours, 11thDecember 2020 (“Offer Period”) and Rent Payments done till 11th February 2021.
• Minimum RedGirraffe bill payment – Rs 20,000 per month

Read more about the deal

Cred RentPay

CRED very recently in April 2020, launched RentPay Option for their members. The option is available within the Cred app and the process is very simple:

# Enter the Rental Amount that you wish to pay

# Select Credit Card or UPI. UPI is free but obviously that means you don’t get benefits of paying by Credit card

# Enter LandLord Full Name and Bank account Details. You can also Pay to Landlord UPI (obviously via your Credit card)

# Enter your Address and voila, you are all set!

CRED UPI option is interesting as it allows you to quickly pay your landlord and he/she need not share his account details etc. CRED however charges 1.5% for this service which we felt was way too high for Rental Payment. However, CRED does not require you to give Rental agreement etc as proof. PAN card is mandatory for Rent above Rs. 50,000

NoBroker

NoBroker also has been around for quite some time now and their process is also very simple. Simply enter Landlord details and your Landlord will get SMS to accept the payment. The payment is usually done in 2 working days while CRED upi payment might be instant.

NoBroker also provides you Digital receipts which can help you file your HRA with ease.

NoBroker charges only 1% so you can save significantly compared to CRED. But RedGiraffe is cheapest by a margin

And yes, NoBroker supports AMEX and SBI as well. NoBroker requires rent agreement above Rs. 49,999. 

If you pay via PayZapp, there is additional 5% cashback offer.

UPDATE 7/9/2020 - A lot of Negative comments have came for NoBroker. So kindly check that below before you use NoBroker.

One alternative suggested by Dimers has been Housing.com

RegGirraffe vs CRED vs NoBroker - Final Verdict

If you are looking to save, RedGirraffe is the CHEAPEST option. If you are looking for more payment options + HRA Receipts, NoBroker is 2nd Best option. We find CRED a little too expensive offering currently.

Conclusion

So to summarize again:

• Ask your Landlord to accept Credit card payments.
• Apply for a Good credit card which gives you best value in terms of rewards. 2% to 3.33% rewards are easily available.
• Earn Credit period of 40-60 days as your credit card payment will be due much later.
• Earn Interest during that credit period and/or pay your other loans faster. Manage your CashFlow better.
• Earn Cashback on Rental payments using apps like RedGirraffe, Cred or NoBroker.
• RedGirraffe is the cheapest option in terms of Fees charged (by a margin)
• Earn reward points on your credit card for a future good vacation. Accumulate points every month
• Make payments of Credit cards using Mobikwik or Cred app or PhonePe and earn rewards there too

As always, We look for more ideas from Dimers in comments below