How-To Guides
Practical guides to EMIs, reward redemptions, lounge access, fee waivers and getting more from your cards.
2040 posts · Page 108 of 170
How-To GuidesSaved cards and autopay mandates when your card number changes
Credit cards are the invisible plumbing behind half your monthly finances — OTT subscriptions, SIPs, insurance premiums, wallet auto-loads. When the card number changes (loss, theft, damage, or an issuer-initiated reissu
How-To GuidesReplacing a lost, stolen or damaged credit card: the full process
Losing a card is stressful, but the recovery process in India is well-drilled and mostly digital. What matters is the order of operations: block first, sort out liability second, and get the replacement reissued without
How-To GuidesCard renewal fees: when to pay, when to negotiate, when to walk away
The renewal-fee notice lands a month or two before your card's annual anniversary, and it forces a decision many cardholders postpone: is this card still worth paying for? The answer is arithmetic plus honesty, and the f
How-To GuidesYour credit card is expiring: what actually happens next
The expiry month printed on your card is approaching, and a reasonable question follows: does the card just stop working, and what do I need to do? In India, the renewal process is largely automatic, but the details matt
How-To GuidesDocumenting a year of card spends: statements, Form 26AS and audit trails
By March, your credit cards have recorded twelve months of your financial life — every grocery run, flight, premium, fee and refund. That record is useful far beyond nostalgia: it supports your tax filing, substantiates
How-To GuidesInsurance premiums and year-end: timing renewals for 80C and rewards
Insurance premiums sit at the intersection of two March deadlines: the tax deduction window closing on March 31, and credit-card fee years, milestones and reward cycles resetting around the same time. A premium is often
How-To GuidesSplitting big spends across March and April: the statement-cycle trick
A large purchase landing on a single statement does two unhelpful things: it spikes your reported credit utilisation, and it concentrates rewards, fee-cycle progress and cash outflow into one billing period. When a big s
How-To GuidesCIBIL health check before the new financial year
April is when India shops for loans — home loans before the monsoon moving season, car loans around new launches, personal loans for the wedding season ahead. Every one of those applications runs into your credit report.
How-To GuidesClosing or downgrading cards at year-end: the portfolio cleanup ritual
Every credit card portfolio accumulates dead weight: the card you opened for a welcome bonus and never used again, the one whose benefits quietly changed, the premium card whose fee you keep paying out of inertia. The fi
How-To GuidesReward points expiring in March: the burn-down plan
Reward points feel permanent until they are not. Across Indian card programmes, points expire on different clocks — rolling 24- or 36-month windows, calendar-year sweeps, financial-year sweeps, or expiry tied to account
How-To GuidesPaying advance tax with a credit card: the surcharge maths
The final instalment of advance tax is due on March 15, and every year a question resurfaces in personal-finance circles: should you pay it with a credit card to earn rewards? The honest answer is that it is a maths prob
How-To GuidesMilestone benefits and renewal vouchers: claiming what's yours before expiry
Indian credit cards have quietly become coupon books: spend a milestone amount and unlock a voucher; renew the card and receive another; cross a quarterly threshold and get lounge passes or brand credits. The catch is th