Why LTF Cards?

[Sreerag]

Hello all.
Many banks are offering us LTF credit cards. For some it's a beginner or co-branded card, for some it's some super premium card. However, I would like to know, from the experienced to know the uses for LTF cards other than;

1. Offers associated with bank (ICICI, Kotak etc.)
or card issuer (Visa, RuPay, MC etc.)

2. Having more credit limit in Credit Score as well as having a *credit* emergency fund.

And I would also like to know, if I get a particular card for LTF, should I cancel the lower variant of the cards? Considering both scenarios that the credit limit is shared and not shared.

E.g. If I get HDFC Regalia as LTF, should I close MoneyBack+ (LTF; limit shared) and Kotak 811#DreamDifferent
(LTF; has lower limit than Regalia)
Considering Regalia has more benefits in every category.

This is a general example, I don't own these cards.

I have seen Sumanta and many others owning a humungous card collection, often many cards from same bank *cough* ICICI *cough*, especially as LTF, considering the limit is shared for all ICICI Cards, doesn't it make sense to close the lower cards for better card management.

Sorry in advance if this question was addressed earlier, I wanted an detailed answer as this will be helpful for CC newbies like me.

 

[hardeep1singh]

These days most websites have card sepcific offers which you can only avail on certain cards. Carefully evaluate and only close cards that aren't relevant anymore or don't have too many offers. Rest you should keep.

 

[Sreerag]

These days most websites have card sepcific offers which you can only avail on certain cards. Carefully evaluate and only close cards that aren't relevant anymore or don't have too many offers. Rest you should keep.

Thanks but it already has been written (refer point 2)

 

[Kvv2311]

All you need is a credit card management application like cred or cheq to monitor payments and ofcourse self restraint in spending. What is the purpose of closing any card when it is LTF

 

[Sreerag]

All you need is a credit card management application like cred or cheq to monitor payments and ofcourse self restraint in spending. What is the purpose of closing any card when it is LTF

So, if you have many, I guess 5+ cards you keep all the cards, doesn't it hurt your credit score by having lots of active loans? Even considering several cards of a bank is still counted as one active loan?

Doesn't it make sense to close undervalued cards like Federal or Kotak?

Please write your opinion. Thanks

 

[nrb]

So, if you have many, I guess 5+ cards you keep all the cards, doesn't it hurt your credit score by having lots of active loans? Even considering several cards of a bank is still counted as one active loan?

Doesn't it make sense to close undervalued cards like Federal or Kotak?

Please write your opinion. Thanks

I think as long as there is some cooling period in applying the CC, the Cibil will be fine.
Regarding closing useless cards, it depends. If managing these cards is not an issue using cred/cheq, then it can be used for occasional offers

 

[anirban.choudhuryanirban.choudhury is verified member.]

So, if you have many, I guess 5+ cards you keep all the cards, doesn't it hurt your credit score by having lots of active loans? Even considering several cards of a bank is still counted as one active loan?

Doesn't it make sense to close undervalued cards like Federal or Kotak?

Please write your opinion. Thanks

First of all a credit card is not a loan , a credit card becomes a loan when you convert the outstanding amount as emi , or you dont pay the outstanding and ask for a payment restructuring plan only then it is considered a loan .

Please do not confuse credit limit with personal loan , as you don’t pay interest on the entire credit limit , neither you pay interest on the utilized amount too if you pay within stipulated time.

Regarding closing lower variants card , it’s completely a personal choice actually most of us here are credit card collectors so it’s a hobby of collecting all possible cards. Also keeping more than one card from a bank is quite usefull , as most of the non spending features are capped like lounge access , BMs access etc and if you have multiple cards from same bank this complementary access and BMS offers also increases , plus every e-commerce portal gives discount on several bank cards sometimes they too cap the usage , so if someone has 4 cards from icici , he can use the discount 4 times .
Plus you can’t anticipate which e-commerce/Swiggy /Zomato etc starts giving offers for which all banks so it’s good to collect card from each bank especially the LTF ones.

For credit card management there are multiple apps even TF has its own app , plus you got excel sheets , and I personally think the management of credit card is fun for cc enthusiast , so that credit card management should not be an issue.

 

[ak95]

Another thing I would like to add, if somebody has way too many cards. Consider this as a precautionary measure : just disable all domestic + international transactions of any card that you use very rarely.

I learnt this the hard way. Back in 2017 someone cloned (yes cloned) my SBI credit card and withdrew money from an ATM in some other city.They used a physical card as per the ATM log while the card was in my wallet the whole time.
(I was kinda lucky because at that time my total limit was 20k and cash withdrawal limit was only 2k... So the damage was limited)

Merchant transactions can be reversed because Visa/Mastercard/Diners/Amex dont settle the transactions immediately... But if somebody withdraws from ATM then that money is gone

 

[Rohith-2009]

Another thing I would like to add, if somebody has way too many cards. Consider this as a precautionary measure : just disable all domestic + international transactions of any card that you use very rarely.

I learnt this the hard way. Back in 2017 someone cloned (yes cloned) my SBI credit card and withdrew money from an ATM in some other city.They used a physical card as per the ATM log while the card was in my wallet the whole time.
(I was kinda lucky because at that time my total limit was 20k and cash withdrawal limit was only 2k... So the damage was limited)

Merchant transactions can be reversed because Visa/Mastercard/Diners/Amex dont settle the transactions immediately... But if somebody withdraws from ATM then that money is gone

Better turn off atm withdrawal option

 

[anirban.choudhuryanirban.choudhury is verified member.]

Mostly I mail bank and make my cash limit as 0
Most of my cards have a 0 cash limit

 

[RkrRkr is verified member.]

Mostly I mail bank and make my cash limit as 0
Most of my cards have a 0 cash limit

We can manually also set the transaction limit as per our desire within assigned limit.Most card issuers have given this option.

 

[Rahul Gupta]

Hello all.
Many banks are offering us LTF credit cards. For some it's a beginner or co-branded card, for some it's some super premium card. However, I would like to know, from the experienced to know the uses for LTF cards other than;

1. Offers associated with bank (ICICI, Kotak etc.)
or card issuer (Visa, RuPay, MC etc.)

2. Having more credit limit in Credit Score as well as having a *credit* emergency fund.

And I would also like to know, if I get a particular card for LTF, should I cancel the lower variant of the cards? Considering both scenarios that the credit limit is shared and not shared.

E.g. If I get HDFC Regalia as LTF, should I close MoneyBack+ (LTF; limit shared) and Kotak 811#DreamDifferent
(LTF; has lower limit than Regalia)
Considering Regalia has more benefits in every category.

This is a general example, I don't own these cards.

I have seen Sumanta and many others owning a humungous card collection, often many cards from same bank *cough* ICICI *cough*, especially as LTF, considering the limit is shared for all ICICI Cards, doesn't it make sense to close the lower cards for better card management.

Sorry in advance if this question was addressed earlier, I wanted an detailed answer as this will be helpful for CC newbies like me.

Icici creates only one bill for all gemstone cards. so doesnt matter how many cards you have you will get only one bill.
btw MMT and apay card also gets seperate bills.

 

[akshayhs]

So, if you have many, I guess 5+ cards you keep all the cards, doesn't it hurt your credit score by having lots of active loans? Even considering several cards of a bank is still counted as one active loan?

Doesn't it make sense to close undervalued cards like Federal or Kotak?

Please write your opinion. Thanks

I have 9 cards as of now along with PLs attached to my account. After carefully attempting to analyse my credit report to determine the score I currently have, I have decided to give it up and just leave it without worrying too much. My score is great with close to 100 instances reported against the many different accounts.

 

[Sreerag]

First of all a credit card is not a loan , a credit card becomes a loan when you convert the outstanding amount as emi , or you dont pay the outstanding and ask for a payment restructuring plan only then it is considered a loan .

Please do not confuse credit limit with personal loan , as you don’t pay interest on the entire credit limit , neither you pay interest on the utilized amount too if you pay within stipulated time.

I meant active credit accounts, in which many credit cards are shown

 

[Sreerag]

Icici creates only one bill for all gemstone cards. so doesnt matter how many cards you have you will get only one bill.
btw MMT and apay card also gets seperate bills.

That's a good point.

 

[saucy]

Gotta catch 'em all *credit cards!*

Sure you've got a Pikachu, but why stop at it?

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

Another thing I would like to add, if somebody has way too many cards. Consider this as a precautionary measure : just disable all domestic + international transactions of any card that you use very rarely.

I learnt this the hard way. Back in 2017 someone cloned (yes cloned) my SBI credit card and withdrew money from an ATM in some other city.They used a physical card as per the ATM log while the card was in my wallet the whole time.
(I was kinda lucky because at that time my total limit was 20k and cash withdrawal limit was only 2k... So the damage was limited)

Merchant transactions can be reversed because Visa/Mastercard/Diners/Amex dont settle the transactions immediately... But if somebody withdraws from ATM then that money is gone

The first thing I do when I receive my CC now is disable the atm transactions. Never will I use my CC at an atm. I learnt this the hard way 7 years ago. 🤣
But this is sound advice. I keep my international transactions disabled until I need it. Reduce the domestic limits to the bare minimum amount which I won't mind losing.

 

[suhasa010]

The first thing I do when I receive my CC now is disable the atm transactions. Never will I use my CC at an atm. I learnt this the hard way 7 years ago. 🤣
But this is sound advice. I keep my international transactions disabled until I need it. Reduce the domestic limits to the bare minimum amount which I won't mind losing.

Me too. I once withdrew cash from a credit card thinking it was debit card (I think I was lost in some world) and later had to pay a hefty ₹500 fee plus GST.
After that every one of my card has ATM withdrawal disabled.

 

[Rohith-2009]

Me too. I once withdrew cash from a credit card thinking it was debit card (I think I was lost in some world) and later had to pay a hefty ₹500 fee plus GST.
After that every one of my card has ATM withdrawal disabled.

Me too. Lol

 

[RkrRkr is verified member.]

Me too. Lol

Hahaha....kahe ka headache lena .carry hi nahi karta card ko..Fully dependent on Samsung pay for physical card payments.