The festive season is on the rise, and the promotions are beginning to roll out to get your wallet share. HDFC Bank was the first off the bat, with 5X on many categories earlier this year around Diwali. Now, they’ve launched a new promotion, which they are not advertising much so far, offering 5X points for spends on Education, Healthcare, Aut0mobiles and Foreign Exchange spend.

HDFC 5X Rewards Through March 2020

HDFC Bank has launched a new promotion where they are offering 5X reward points on four different categories, each with a cap of 5,000 reward points per month, making it a total of 20,000 reward points bonus every month if you use the promotion to its full potential. The promotion is valid from December 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020:

• Education: 5X Rewards Points up to 5000 per calendar month. The minimum transaction value needs to be worth INR 7,500, and only the first qualifying transaction every month qualifies.
• Health Care: 5X Rewards Points up to 5000 per calendar month. The minimum transaction value needs to be worth INR 7,500, and all transactions over INR 5,000 would count.
• Automobile: 5X Rewards Points up to 5,000 per calendar month. The minimum transaction value needs to be worth INR 7,500, and only the first qualifying transaction every month qualifies.
• Forex Cards: 5X Rewards Points up to 5,000 per calendar month. The minimum load value needs to be worth USD 1,000, and only the first qualifying transaction every month qualifies.

This offer is valid for HDFC Bank Credit Cards only, and only for customers who have received an SMS or email from the Bank. The additional 4X reward points will be posted within 90 working days from the end of the transaction month-end date. For example, all transactions done in December 2019 will get additional Reward Points posted by March 31, 2020. Offer valid for all HDFC Bank Credit cards apart from Corporate and Commercial Cards issued by the Bank. Any credit card which does not have reward point feature this program is not applicable for those cards. The bonus Reward Points will be awarded only on Domestic transactions. Check out this promotion here.

But how do you find out which spend goes under which category? HDFC Bank will depend on the categorisation from Visa/MasterCard/Diners Club towards classifying the spend. Some typical classifications would be as follows, as per the VISA MCC code list:

1. Healthcare
   1. Doctors and Physicians (Not Elsewhere Classified)
   2. Dentists and Orthodontists
   3. Osteopaths
   4. Chiropractors
   5. Optometrists and Ophthalmologists
   6. Opticians, Opticians Goods and Eyeglasses
   7. Podiatrists and Chiropodists
   8. Nursing and Personal Care Facilities
   9. Hospitals
   10. Medical and Dental Laboratories
   11. Medical Services and Health Practitioners (Not Elsewhere Classified)
2. Education
   1. Elementary and Secondary Schools
   2. Colleges, Junior Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
   3. Correspondence Schools
   4. Business and Secretarial Schools
   5. Vocational Schools and Trade Schools
   6. Schools and Educational Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
3. Automobiles
   1. Car and Truck Dealers (New and Used) Sales, Service, Repairs, Parts, and Leasing
   2. Automobile and Truck Dealers (Used Only)
   3. Automobile Supply Stores
   4. Automotive Tire Stores
   5. Automotive Parts, Accessories Stores
   6. Service Stations ( with or without ancillary services)
   7. Automated Fuel Dispensers
   8. Boat Dealers
   9. Recreational and Utility Trailers, Camp Dealers
   10. Motorcycle Dealers
   11. Motor Home Dealers
   12. Snowmobile Dealers

MasterCard and DinersClub should roughly match this list. Although this is a suggested list, and the best people to ask would be HDFC Bank themselves. HDFC Diners & Infinia Cardholders should be able to milk this for a 16% rebate.

Bottomline

I like this promotion. It is simple and hits on a simple point. This is on the lines of the categories which were stimulated last year as well. And it is consistent and known early on rather than discovering this in March 2020 last week.

What do you think of the new HDFC Bank Credit Cards promotion for HDFC 5X Rewards?