This is a category of spends which all of us have to spend on. Credit card companies know this and there are a plethora of credit cards with offers for higher reward points or discounts.
This article compiles all such offers; lets you know how to use them as well as gives you details about the limitations of the respective offers.
1) HDFC
No list is complete without an appearance by HDFC. And in this list it appears thrice giving you ample reason to enter HDFC’s ecosystem. There three ways you can pay utility bills here to get savings.
Method 1
The Offer: Get 5% cashback on bill payments of utility as well as insurance by using Payzapp.
How to use: You can use Payzapp app and pay the bill, when you are selecting the payment Method you will see a “Got a promo code” where you need to add “BILLPAY” as promo code.
Cappings: The offer is only applicable for a minimum bill payment of Rs 200. Also the cashback is capped at Rs. 75 per month for all bills paid. This means you can pay bills upto Rs. 1500.
Method 2
The Offer: Get 5% cashback on recharges by using Payzapp
How to use: You can use Payzapp app and pay the bill, when you are selecting the payment Method you will see a “ Got a promo code” where you need to add “RECHARGE” as promo code.
Cappings: The offer is only applicable for a minimum bill payment of Rs 100. I think for mobiles this is quite a decent limit for those who are doing monthly recharges.
Also the cashback is capped at Rs. 50 per month for all bills paid. This means you can recharge upto Rs. 1000.
Note: the RECHARGE and BILLPAY each are separately capped and calculated.
An additional Cherry on top is if you use credit cards which give you reward points on wallet loads. Eg. Yes First preferred credit card will add another 1% making the offer effectively worth 6%.
Method 3: HDFC smart buy
The Offer: This is a roundabout method but do stay on. Each smartbuy member is eligible for purchasing an Amazon gift card via its “instant voucher” option upto Rs 5000. This cap is refreshed every 30 days.
Now, most HDFC credit cards are given a 5% cash back on this transaction within 3 months of the transaction date. Except if you hold Infinia or Diners Club Black Credit cards where you receive 10X points making the offer worth 33.3%
Now, you can pay all your bills using Amazon. I would suggest you to max out your quota of Rs. 5000 every month, its free Rs. 250 given to you each month. Amazon pay is popular online websites like makemytrip, uban company etc.
The Offer: 20 rp per Rs. 100 spent on all utility bills as well as insurance. This corresponds to 5%.
How to use: You need to set up a standing instruction from
Application SBI Card > Estore > Bill Pay & Recharge> +Add Biller> locate your biller and add your bill details.
You can also do the same via SBI credit card website.
Note: the standing instructions will only work from the next bill onwards (or the bill yet to come)
The bills are paid 3 days before the last due date and the points are credited within the monthly billing cycle.
Cappings: The Monthly Cap is 3000 reward points which corresponds to Rs. 750. That means you can pay bills upto Rs. 15000. This cap is quite high and can be used for insurance premiums comfortably.
The Offer: This is also based on amazon.in.
Each month in Amazon pay Bills sections you will see an offer for a 10% instant discount for bill payments upto Rs. 50.
How to Use: You just need to pay a bill when this offer is visible and while payment pay via HSBC platinum credit card and the instant discount will be included there itself. The added gem here is that the add-ons of this card are treated as separately. So if you have two add on cards you can effectively pay a bill of Rs 1500 buy paying just Rs 1350.
Cappings: The maximum bill you can pay is Rs. 500 per card per month.
This card has a default cashback of 2%. So you need not go through any hassle or specific website. You just need to pay your bills at their respective websites.
Note: do not pay via amazon or paytm like websites as then this transaction will be categorized as wallet transactions and you will not be eligible for any cashback.
Cappings: The card has no cashback limits!
5) Amazon pay ICICI credit Card
The Offer: You will get 2% cashback added to your amazon wallet for all your bill payments via Amazon pay.
Cappings: The card too has no cap.
6) Yes First Preferred / Yes Premia Credit card
The Offer: This is a one time offer where you will get 1000/750 reward points when you add each biller as a standing instruction for payment. So for Yes First Preferred you will get Points worth Rs 250 and for Yes Premia you will get points worth Rs 187.5 for each biller added.
You will receive regular reward points for the processed payments which is 1% or 0.75% respectively.
7) Citibank Cashback Card
The Offer: 5% cash back on utility and telephone bills
How to use: Pay through Citibank Online Bill Pay and get 5% cash back
Cappings: this card has miniscule limits of just Rs 100 separately for utilities and telephone bills. This translates to maximum Bill of just Rs 2000.
8) Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Credit Card
The Offer: 5% cash back on utility and telephone bills
How to use: Earn 5% cash back on utility bills, on a minimum transaction amount of Rs 750. Max cashback of Rs 100 per month.
Earn 5% cash back on telephone bills, on a minimum transaction amount of Rs 750. Max cashback of Rs 200 per month.
Cappings: considering the limits you can pay utility bills of Rs. 2000 per month, however do note, that the transaction value must be at least Rs 750.
9) Kindly let me know what more cards and offers you use which have been missed by me.
Conclusion
· The most common savings is worth 5% which you can get in multiple ways like HDFC credit cards, SBI Prime credit card, Citi Bank Cash Back credit card, Standard Chartered Super Value Credit card, Axis My Choice credit card etc
Most of these offers cap out for bill payments of Rs 1000 to Rs 2000.
If you want a higher cap, then SBI prime will allow for bill payments of Rs. 15000 with savings.
· HSBC Platinum credit card has a very small cap, however it will give savings of 10% which is the highest in this category.
· If you wish to pay humungous bills to get maximum savings, you need to go with Axis Ace Credit card or Amazon Pay ICICI credit card which will give a decent 2% savings for any bill amount.