How-To Guides
Practical guides to EMIs, reward redemptions, lounge access, fee waivers and getting more from your cards.
1957 posts · Page 91 of 164
How-To GuidesReplacing your card: which saved payments break and the order to fix them
A replacement card is on its way — whether because the old one expired, was lost, or was compromised. Now comes the less obvious job: figuring out which of your saved payments will keep working, which will break, and in
How-To GuidesHow tokenisation limits card-on-file fraud: the blast-radius argument
Before tokenisation, every merchant that stored your card held the same thing: your actual card number, expiry, and often enough else to transact. One breached database meant your card could be used anywhere in the world
How-To GuidesNetwork tokens vs merchant tokens: the two layers of card-on-file security
"Tokenisation" is often described as a single thing — your card number gets replaced by a token. In reality there are two distinct layers doing different jobs: network tokens, issued and managed by the card networks, and
How-To GuidesToken requestors: the companies sitting between you and your card number
When you save a card on a shopping app, your card number doesn't go to the app — it goes through a choreographed handoff involving a "token requestor", a "token service provider", and your bank. These are the companies s
How-To GuidesWhy a subscription survives a card replacement: token lifecycles explained
Your card is reissued — new expiry, new CVV, maybe a new number — and yet your OTT subscription renews without a hitch while your electricity autopay fails. Why does one saved payment survive a replacement and another br
How-To GuidesGuest checkout vs saved card: the real trade-offs
Nearly every checkout page in India offers the same fork in the road: tick "save this card for faster checkout" or don't. Guest checkout — paying without creating an account or storing anything — is the other path. Both
How-To GuidesHow to delete a saved card properly: tokens, merchant vaults, and confirmation
Removing a saved card sounds like a one-tap job, and on the surface it is. But under RBI's tokenisation norms, what sits on the merchant's side isn't your card number — it's a token, a stand-in credential issued with you
How-To GuidesAuditing your saved cards: finding everywhere your card is stored
Your card number has a travel history you never booked. Every one-click checkout, every "save this card for faster payment" tick box, every cab app and food delivery account has left a copy of your card behind. In India,
How-To GuidesContactless abroad: what changes when you tap outside India
Tapping your Indian card at a terminal abroad feels exactly like tapping at home — until it doesn't. International contactless runs on the same NFC technology, but the rules around PIN thresholds, currency conversion, an
How-To GuidesWearables and rings: paying without your card or phone
Smartwatches that pay at terminals are now common in India; payment rings and bands exist too, though they're a smaller niche. All of them work on the same principle as phone tap-to-pay — tokenised NFC — packaged into so
How-To GuidesContactless for first-time users: what changes on a basic card
If your first credit card has just arrived — perhaps a basic, entry-level card — it almost certainly supports contactless payments. Nothing about a "basic" card makes its tap function weaker or less safe than a premium c
How-To GuidesTurning contactless on and off: managing the toggle in your bank app
Most Indian banking apps let you switch your card's contactless capability on and off without calling anyone. It's a small control with outsized usefulness — for travel, for misplaced cards, and for anyone who simply pre