House byline
Credit Cards correspondent
Nisha Kapoor is a house byline for InfoHandle’s Credit Cards desk.
Lenders passed the RBI’s 25-basis-point repo move into floating home and auto loans within a day, while credit-card APRs stay issuer-specific—leaving festive revolvers to read monthly statements for any repricing letters.
HDFC Bank, SBI Card and Axis Bank are raising cashback ceilings on appliances and two-wheelers as GST cuts shorten effective EMI tenors for festival shoppers.
Issuers are lining up marginal cost of funds-based lending rate resets ahead of Diwali EMI campaigns, as economists expect the RBI to lift the repo rate by 25 basis points at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Bank of Baroda’s World Mastercard portfolio will allow four complimentary airport lounge visits per quarter from November, down from six, as issuers recalibrate travel perks after rupee weakness.
Axis Bank Ltd. doubled complimentary airport lounge visits on select Atlas travel credit cards for the October billing cycle, escalating premium-card perks as issuers chase high-spending customers before Diwali travel bookings peak.
SBI Card’s published finance charges near 45 percent annualised mean minimum payments barely dent revolving balances as the MPC prepares to vote on rates.
NPCI-backed RuPay Select Platinum is testing a duty-free price-match benefit for cardholders shopping the arrivals concourse at Delhi’s Terminal 3.
HDFC Bank and State Bank of India extended Navratri EMI moratorium windows as credit-card spends hit pre-Dussehra peaks on travel and electronics.
OneCard cut foreign-currency markup on its Metal Titanium product to 1.99 percent for Dussehra travel bookings, targeting cardholders flying to Europe before the rupee's recent firming fades.
NPCI's October 15 framework keeps everyday UPI merchant payments free while RuPay credit on UPI stays outside the new 0.4 per cent account route fee.
One97 Communications told Paytm Postpaid users it will limit automated collection calls on balances under ₹2,000 after the RBI flagged aggressive digital lending recovery practices.
A 0.4 per cent merchant discount rate on Unified Payments Interface tickets above ₹2,000—with a ₹300 cap—takes effect on 15 October, leaving person-to-person transfers free but changing checkout math for large retail bills.
HSBC India's Live+ card page lists a Swiggy One pass after ₹30,000 in eligible charges. The real question is whether the pass is a perk or a nudge to spend money you would not have spent.
The rupee’s pre-open slide to 95.88 is not just a market story. For Indian cardholders, it feeds into foreign transaction markups, overseas ATM fees and the rupee cost of every dollar spent abroad.
IRDAI’s draft commission rules threaten credit-card bundled insurance riders that banks sold for festive spend, forcing issuers to reprice bancassurance attachments before October shopping peaks.
CRIF High Mark’s How India Lends data put retail credit at ₹178.6 lakh crore as of June 2026, up 19.2% year on year, while card delinquencies eased to about 1.4% even as RBI’s FSR flags stress in sub-₹50,000 fintech loans.
Yes Bank capped complimentary Marquee credit card lounge invites at four per quarter after a network audit found duplicate guest entries and mis-coded domestic terminal visits, keeping full allowances only when holders scan boarding passes matched to same-day flights.
Bank of Baroda linked its Premier RuPay contactless credit card to Ahmedabad BRTS smart gates, posting commute cashback when tokenised taps clear above daily thresholds while keeping separate limits for fuel and dining MCCs.
SBI Card tightened fuel-station cashback after the Reserve Bank of India flagged merchant category mis-coding that routed grocery and wallet loads through petroleum MCCs to harvest higher rewards.
HDFC Bank raised monthly reward-point caps on select RuPay UPI credit cards for October–December spends, targeting festive e-commerce and QR payments while NPCI pushes RuPay on the UPI rail.
Federal Bank has aligned gold-jewellery BNPL merchant caps with Paytm wallet top-up limits, throttling festival-season jewellery instalments funded through wallet reloads on partner store QR codes.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has reweighted meet-and-greet pass allotments on its co-branded IndiGo credit card, prioritising Tier-1 airports and capping complimentary escorts during the festive travel crush.
AU Small Finance Bank raised cashback ceilings on partner jewellers’ instant-EMI plans for Navratri, pairing merchant tenure offers with statement credits capped per card account.
ICICI Bank extended reward-point validity for Coral cardholders who tap Delhi and Bengaluru metro spends, clarifying how January 2026 transport caps interact with expiring balances.
IndusInd Bank capped fee-free Legend cash advances at two weekend ATM visits in Goa and other high-cash wedding corridors, ending a perk planners had used for vendor payouts.
Axis Bank enabled RuPay credit-on-UPI for select Atlas cardholders ahead of Navratri spending, letting premium travel customers scan QR codes within existing limits while EMI conversion stays in the mobile app.