How-To Guides
Practical guides to EMIs, reward redemptions, lounge access, fee waivers and getting more from your cards.
2005 posts · Page 101 of 168
How-To GuidesCash advances: the withdrawal fee, and why the interest-free period dies on them
Your credit card can give you cash at an ATM. That sentence is technically true and financially catastrophic advice. A cash advance is the single most expensive thing you can do with a credit card — not because of one fe
How-To GuidesInternational spends: regular cards versus zero-forex-markup cards — the real cost comparison
Every international card transaction carries a hidden tax: the foreign-currency markup. Most Indian credit cards add a markup of a few per cent on top of the network's exchange rate; a newer breed of cards advertises "ze
How-To GuidesRent payments on a credit card: platform fees versus the rewards you earn
Paying rent with a credit card is a uniquely Indian optimisation game. Landlords don't take cards, so intermediary platforms — apps that accept your card and transfer the money to your landlord's bank account — stepped i
How-To GuidesEMI processing fees decoded: what the fee covers and when you pay it
"No-cost EMI" is one of the most seductive phrases in Indian retail — and one of the most misleading. Even when the interest is genuinely zero, converting a purchase into instalments often carries a processing fee. It is
How-To GuidesIRCTC and aggregator convenience fees: the real cost of booking travel on your card
A train ticket booked at the station counter costs the fare, the reservation charge, and any superfast surcharge. The identical ticket booked online costs all of that plus a convenience fee — and if you book through a tr
How-To GuidesFuel surcharge decoded: what it is and how waiver caps really work
Fill fuel worth two thousand rupees with a credit card and your statement may show a little extra — a line item called fuel surcharge. Pay with a card that advertises a "fuel surcharge waiver" and that line item is rever
How-To GuidesClosing a secured card: getting your FD back without hurting your score
The unsecured card is approved, the file is healthy, and the secured card has done its job. Time to close it and free the fixed deposit. This should be a five-minute administrative task — but done in the wrong order, it'
How-To GuidesSecured card mistakes: breaking the FD, breaching the limit, and other traps
The secured card is the most forgiving credit product to *get* and one of the least forgiving to *misuse* — because its entire purpose is building the file, every mistake is recorded on the very file you're constructing.
How-To GuidesChoosing the fixed deposit for your secured card: amount, tenure, and laddering
The deposit is the single decision that shapes your secured card — it sets your limit, determines how much money is locked, and influences how comfortably you can manage utilization. Get the sizing right and the next 18
How-To GuidesGraduating from a secured card to an unsecured one: how issuers upgrade you
The secured card was always a bridge, and bridges are for crossing. After 12–24 months of clean history, the question becomes how to graduate: does the bank automatically convert your card, do you apply fresh for an unse
How-To GuidesThe lien on your fixed deposit: what happens to the money while the card is active
The word "lien" appears in every secured card's terms, and most cardholders nod past it. It deserves a proper explanation, because it governs what you can and cannot do with your own money for as long as the card is acti
How-To GuidesNo CIBIL, no salary slip: who secured credit cards are really for
Every year, lakhs of Indians hit the same wall: no credit card without a credit history, no credit history without a credit card. The secured card is the engineered door through that wall — a product designed for exactly