The CardBuzz blog
Card-by-card write-ups from our team, features, fees, lounge access and who each card actually suits. For the numbers after every cap and exclusion, head to the card pages.
5279 posts · Page 191 of 440 · View the full archive
How-To GuidesHotel status from credit cards: the upgrade ladder explained
Hotel elite status used to be earned the hard way: dozens of paid nights a year, tracked across a single chain, until the programme deigned to call you Gold or Platinum. Premium credit cards changed the arithmetic. Many
How-To GuidesAirport meet-and-greet services: how card perks get you fast-tracked
Most travellers know the airport ritual: long immigration queues, the slow shuffle through security, the hunt for a baggage carousel, and the negotiation with transport outside. Premium credit cards promise to smooth all
How-To GuidesCard concierge decoded: what it can (and cannot) do for you
Buried in the feature list of many premium credit cards is a benefit most cardholders never use: the concierge. Mentioned alongside lounge access and travel insurance, it reads like a vague promise of help — "a dedicated
Deals & OffersEmployer and affinity referral programmes: the quietest way banks acquire customers
The most effective referral programme in Indian banking is one most customers have never heard of. It does not advertise on television, it has no influencer campaign, and its "referrers" are not individuals at all — they
Deals & OffersReferrer responsibilities: KYC, account health, and what is on you
Earning a referral bonus feels like free money — the bank pays you for a favour you did a friend. But the referral relationship creates real responsibilities, most of them invisible until something goes wrong. When you r
Deals & OffersWhen referrals beat affiliate and cashback deals — and when they do not
A new card application can be routed through three different value channels: a referral link from a friend, an affiliate link from a deals site or influencer, or a direct application stacked with a cashback portal or car
Deals & OffersTracking referral payouts: making sure every bonus lands
Referral bonuses fail silently. Unlike a missing cashback on a purchase — which you notice on your statement — a missing referral bonus is the absence of something you were only half-expecting, on a timeline you never wr
Deals & OffersReferral scams and fake links: how to spot fraud before you click
Referral programmes are built on links, codes, and trust — which makes them near-perfect camouflage for fraud. A scammer's fake "referral link" looks exactly like a real one: a bank logo, a promise of bonus points, a for
Deals & OffersTax treatment of referral earnings in India: what you should know
Nobody thinks about tax when a referral bonus lands. It arrives as points or a small cashback credit, it feels like a perk rather than income, and the amounts per referral are usually modest. But the general principle in
Deals & OffersReferral bonus vs welcome bonus: the maths that matters
Two bonuses chase every new card application in India: the welcome bonus the bank offers the applicant, and the referral bonus it offers the person who brought them. They look similar on a marketing page — both are acqui
Deals & OffersStacking referral bonuses across banks: the honest playbook
There is a particular kind of Indian cardholder who treats bank referral programmes like a second income: a link for every card they hold, a code for every account, and a mental spreadsheet of which friend owes which app
Deals & OffersCard invite codes and referral links: the mechanics that decide whether you get paid
Every referral programme boils down to one technical question: can the bank prove this application came from you? The answer lives in two mechanisms — invite codes and referral links — and the difference between them, pl