HDFC Bank is the only credit card issuer which operates with the Diners Club franchise in India. They have been out with it for about a decade at least. However, from time to time, HDFC Bank readjusts its card portfolio. One of these moves has just been notified by the bank on the recently launched Diners Club Privilege Credit Card.

HDFC Diners Club Privilege Club credit card set for a massive overhaul

HDFC Bank has decided to overhaul its Diners Club Privilege product, which was launched very recently in 2019. The card will undergo many changes effective August 1, 2023. Let us enlist the change first:

• Discontinued:
  • 2X Reward Points on weekend dining (for now, Diners Club Black seems to have kept it)
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver at fuel stations
  • Two golf games per quarter have been removed
  • Milestone & Spend-based benefits
    • Spend INR 40,000 or more every calendar month and get two vouchers, each worth INR 500.
    • Spend INR 8 Lakhs or more every anniversary year and get complimentary memberships of Amazon Prime, Swiggy One, and MakeMyTrip Black.
• Introduced:
  • Earn 5X Reward points on spending on Swiggy and Zomato. Additional 4X RP is capped at 2500 reward points per calendar month.
  • Avail Buy one Get one on weekends on BookMyShow, twice a month.
  • Redeem Reward points for experiential dining vouchers at 1RP = INR 0.50
  • Avail a complimentary voucher of Marriott / Decathalon/ Barbeque Nation/ 02 Spa/ Lakme Salon worth INR 1500 on spends of over INR 1.5 Lakhs every calendar quarter.
• Lounge Access
  • 12 Complimentary lounge access across the globe will be discontinued on July 31, 2023, and 2 Complimentary lounge access worldwide per quarter will be instituted on August 1, 2023. However, the spending of INR 15,000 in the previous quarter will enable this lounge access.

My Thoughts

There is a huge trend here for those looking. The card is moving from offering a lot of free benefits to a lot of benefits against payment. The card will offer little to those who might be out not spending too much money on the card. So, the cardholders will have to spend real cash on the card to be able to use the benefits of the card. For instance, for the 40,0000 INR spending, which got you a monthly INR 1,000 voucher (2.5%), one will need to spend INR 1.5 lakhs in a quarter to get a similar INR 1,500 voucher (1%). Similarly, Golf is gone as well.

Bottomline

HDFC Bank has started to move along the lines of restructuring card products where they can get more spending on the card rather than give away the benefits for free. HDFC Bank’s Diners Club Privilege is the first card in the new round of restructuring, and if this is a sign, there will be more cards that might see a similar fate sooner the later. For now, the DCP will see the structure of privileges change as of August 1, 2023.

What do you make of the Diners Club Privilege card changes, and if you are a cardholder, what would you do about the card?

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