Axis Bank and Samsung a few months back launched 2 co-branded credit cards, the Axis Samsung Infinite credit card and the Axis Samsung Signature credit card. Are these credit cards good and should you apply? Read on to find out.
Axis Samsung Credit Card
Axis Samsung Infinite Credit Card
Fees and Eligibility:
- Joining fees and annual fees are INR5000 + GST. Fee waived at annual spends of 7lakhs
Rewards and Benefits:
- Joining Benefit:
- 30k Edge Reward points, worth INR 6k or 24K airmiles (assumption). You need to do 3 transactions of any value within 30 days of card issuance.
- 1-year EazyDiner Prime membership.
- Recurring Benefits:
- 10% cashback on all Samsung purchases done through physical stores thru Pinelab terminal and Benow Soft terminal, Samsung website/app, Flipkart and Samsung service centre.
- Cashback is capped at 5000 per month (calendar month) and 20000 in a year (card anniversary)
- Reward Points:
- Standard Reward Rate: 5 reward points for every INR100 spent. 1 Reward point = 0.20 paisa (1% reward rate).
- Accelerated Reward Rate: 15 reward points on every INR100 spent on BigBasket, Tata1mg, Urban Company, Myntra and Zomato. (3% reward rate)
- International Spends 15 reward points on every INR100 spent on all international transactions.
- However, no reward points for spends on fuel, EMI on non-Samsung purchases, wallet load, jewellery and rent.
- Lounge Access:
- Domestic: 8 complimentary domestic lounge access in a year to the primary cardholder.
- International: 6 complimentary lounge access to the primary cardholder through Priority Pass membership.
Axis Samsung Signature Credit Card
Fees and Eligibility:
- Joining fees and annual fees are INR500 + GST. Fee waived at annual spends of 2lakhs
Rewards and Benefits:
- Joining Benefit:
- 2.5k Edge Reward points, worth INR 500 or 2K airmiles (assumption). You need to do 3 transactions of any value within 30 days of card issuance.
- Recurring Benefits:
- 10% cashback on all Samsung purchases done through physical stores thru Pinelab terminal and Benow Soft terminal, Samsung website/app, Flipkart and Samsung service centre.
- Cashback is capped at 2500 per month (calendar month) and 10000 in a year (card anniversary)
- Reward Points:
- Standard Reward Rate: 5 reward points for every INR100 spent on all domestic and international spends. 1 Reward point = 0.20 paisa (1% reward rate).
- Accelerated Reward Rate: 10 reward points for every INR100 spent on BigBasket, Tata1mg, Urban Company, Myntra and Zomato. (2% reward rate)
- However, no reward points for spends on fuel, EMI on non-Samsung purchases, wallet load, jewellery and rent
- Lounge Access:
- Domestic: 4 complimentary domestic lounge access in a year to the primary cardholder.
Thoughts on these credit cards
The below thoughts are primarily based on Axis Samsung Infinite credit card. However, they hold true for Axis Samsung Signature credit cards too. Just that the reward rate will be lower.
Positives:
Reward rate is based on multiples of 100
Unlike other Axis cards such as Magnus and Reserve, the reward rate for Samsung credit cards is based on multiples of 100. Thus, you lose reward points only on a small fraction of spending.
10% cashback on Samsung products
This is a decent cashback for many Samsung products. However, I think the monthly cap of 5k on the Axis Samsung Infinite credit card is a bit too low. This should have been at 10k per month and maybe Samsung could have kept the annual limit the same at 20k.
The reason is, if someone wants to buy a Samsung flagship phone, it will easily cost upwards of 80k or even 1lk. Thus 5k cap would mean just ~5% cashback. I may as well swipe SBI Cashback (5000 cashback) (Apply Now), Axis Magnus (25k Reward points) (Apply Now) etc to get as much value.
15 reward points on select merchants
Axis Samsung Infinite credit cards give 15 Edge reward points for every 100 spent on select merchants (BigBasket, Tata1mg, Urban Company, Myntra and Zomato). This translates into a 3% reward rate (1 Edge reward point = 20p). This is even better than what Magnus and Reserve offer. Thus if you are someone who tends to order frequently from these brands you may consider taking this credit card.
15 reward points on international spending
The reward rate (30 RPs on 200 spent) on Samsung Infinite credit card for international spending is better than that of Axis Magnus(12 RPs on 200 spent). Here, even if I consider the 3.5% currency conversion charges, the reward rate is at par with the Axis Magnus (Apply Now).
The above calculation is based on assuming 1RP =20p. However, if you are someone who values 1 Edge RP at a much higher rate (for example 40-80p), then you should move your international spending on the Axis Samsung Infinite credit card.
Obviously, I am not comparing Axis Reserve (Apply Now) here. On Reserve, you get 30RPs for 200 spent, however, the forex markup is much lower at 1.5%, thus Reserve remains better, but the annual fee is also 10x better. 😀
30k Edge reward points as welcome benefits
Axis Samsung Infinite credit card gives 30k Edge reward points as a welcome bonus on completing 3 transactions of any value within 30 days of card issuance. These 30k Edge reward points are valued at 6k INR. Further, my assumption, looking at the annual fee of the Infinite variant is that it will be classified as an HNI card within the Axis Bank ecosystem. Thus, you would get 24k airmiles on conversion.
Personal use only
The credit card’s T&Cs clearly mention that this credit card should not be used for commercial purposes. This is in a way very good for Samsung aficionados as they can enjoy the 10% cashback for a longer period.
Negatives:
Base reward rate of only 1%
The base reward rate for both variants is at 1% (5 RPs for every 100 spent. 1RP=20p). I believe this is very low. At least on the Infinite variant, considering the annual fee, the reward should have at 1.5-2%.
No renewal benefit
From the second year, you don’t get any renewal benefit. On the Axis Samsung Infinite credit card, where the annual fee is 5900 (including taxes), getting no renewal benefit is just absurd. The bank should give say 15k edge reward points or 1-year EazyDiner membership as a renewal benefit.
High fee waiver target
The Axis Samsung Infinite credit card has an annual fee waiver target of 7lk spent in a year. That’s obnoxiously high. Considering that Samsung credit cards won’t be the primary credit card for most of us, spending 7lk on a secondary credit card is just not possible.
Conclusion
Axis Samsung credit cards are honestly very mediocre credit cards. No compelling reason to apply for the card beforehand. I will probably apply for Axis Samsung Infinite credit card when I am sure that I will be buying a phone/mobile or any other Samsung product in the next few months. This way, I can take the benefit of 30k Edge reward points, buy that Samsung product at a discount, and then won’t renew the card in the next year. 😀
Disclaimer
In the interest of full disclosure, Credit Cardz may earn a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the links in this post. However, opinions and views expressed here are of the author's alone and not those of the bank, credit card issuer, or anyone else and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
nice
15 RP on Zomato, bb, 1mg are better then magnus if you do not consider gift edge option. If you buy giftcard of anyone via giftedge from magnus benefits are much higher. Samsung card work on giftedge or not?
Agreed.
Samsung card works on gift edge. The point is whether it gives 5x/10x is ambiguous. Nothing is mentioned clearly on the websites.