A credit card with the top of both worlds?
A new co-branded credit card spells good news for those with LIC life policies.
The last time when you got rewarded for good behaviour was probably back in your school days! If you think good behaviour no longer pays, well, think again! Axis Bank and LIC of India, the country’s largest life insurance provider, have come together to launch a credit card that award you brownie points if you pay up your LIC premiums on time, through the card. Of course, there are perks of swiping the card for your binge shopping too!
Who can apply?
Policyholders, agents and employees of LIC of India, its subsidiaries and group companies are eligible to apply for this card. Apart from that, the standard eligibility criteria for credit card issuance will also be applicable here. However, the card will be issued free of cost and will attract no membership fee either for the primary card or add-ons.
The LIC credit card comes in four variants – Visa Gold, MasterCard Titanium, Visa Platinum, and Visa Signature Credit Card. The eligibility for the product variants would be based on the net annual income of the applicant. For instance, to apply for LIC Visa Gold card, a minimum net income of Rs 1.8 lakh is a must, whereas for LIC MasterCard Titanium the income criterion is Rs 3 lakh and above. The others – LIC Visa Platinum and LIC Visa Signature require higher net income slabs of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 15 lakh respectively.
What’s different?
On most counts, the credit card’s offerings aren’t a lot different from the other credit cards available in the market.
Its rewards programme is however tweaked somewhat to favour LIC policy holders, as it offers new-age payment solution exclusively to them. LIC Card holders will get bonus reward points for paying LIC policy premiums through the card. In addition to regular credit card benefits such as global acceptance, interest free credit period and cash withdrawal, the LIC-Card holder will also get fuel surcharge waiver across all fuel pumps (not applicable to Gold Credit Card) and lost card liability insurance cover .
Reward points
The card obviously rewards LIC premium payments more generously. For instance, when payments relating to LIC policy premiums are made using the card, you get 2 reward points for every Rs 100 spent, whereas for the other spends, you get only half the reward point for every Rs 100 that’s spent. The latter doesn’t include cash withdrawal, fuel payments or EMIs transacted through the card.
A minimum of 1000 reward points, when accumulated, can be redeemed against specified gifts and vouchers.
Holders of Titanium MasterCard, Visa Platinum and Visa Signature card will be entitled to fuel surcharge refund on fuel purchases (with transaction value between Rs 400 to Rs 4,000) across all fuel stations in India. Titanium MasterCard and Visa Signature credit card holders can also enjoy complimentary access to select airport lounges across domestic and international airports terminals.
The card (across its variants) comes with a lost card liability of up to Rs 5 lakh. The cover varies depending on the card type.
Other features
The late payment fee, applicable on total amount due on the card, would be a finance charge of 3.25 per cent per month. These cards will be accepted in over 23 million establishments worldwide and over 2.5 lakh establishments in India.
Our take
Even if you are eligible to apply for the card , it becomes a must-have only if you don’t have a single credit card . The card also makes a good addition if individual life policies of all your family members are from LIC.
Even so, this isn’t the only card available to choose from. LIC of India has a similar co-branded credit card with Corporation Bank too.
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