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IDFC Bank Visa Signature Debit Card Review

I was recently hunting VISA signature debit cards for my friends who would be traveling with me for a trip. So, they can have access to airport lounge along with me.

India is going through the digital upgrade and there are many new age banks coming up with saving accounts to meet the needs of new age citizens. 

The welcome pack was looking good and the card is stunning black. I was impressed with the delivery speed and the package.


IDFC VISA Signature Debit Card

Why IDFC Bank Saving Account?

IDFC Bank Saving Account Benefits
  • Unlimited free fund transfer through Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT/ RTGS/ IMPS/ UPI) Inward & Outward and bill payments online
  • Free any bank any network ATM transaction
  • No fuel surcharge, no charge on IRCTC transactions
  • Free visa signature debit card for life
    • Usually, VISA signature card comes with 1,000 per year annual fee
    • No Annual Fee
  • No charges for banking transactions
    • Passbook Issuance & Printing
    • Alerts for transactions on your account
    • Cash Deposit / Withdrawal at our branches by the customer
    • Outstation Cheque Collection
    • Phone Banking
    • Interest/ TDS Certificate
    • Net Banking
    • DD – Duplicate Issuance
    • Balance Enquiry (Branch/ Channels)
    • Foreign Currency Draft Issuance and few others
  • No penalty for non-maintenance of Average Monthly Balance Requirement
    • Your free airport lounge access is not affected, just maintain 25 INR for the transaction to go through your card verification.
    • Though you will lose some benefits like Unlimited ATM withdrawal from any bank and free BooMyShow tickets
  • First-time purchase offer
    • First-time use of card on POS has a cash back of 10% up to 250 INR. 

Advantages of top of the line Visa Signature Debit

  • Insurance
    • Personal Insurance
      • 25,00,000 (usually costs 2,000  INR per year)
    • Lost card Insurance
      • If you lose the card and someone uses it, then you don’t need to worry up to 2,50,000 INR
    • Purchase Protection
      • If you purchase a costly gadget but lost within 90 days, then you can get it covered in insurance for free of cost up to 1,00,000 INR
IDFC VISA debit card insurance benefits
IDFC VISA debit card insurance benefits
IDFC VISA Card Withdraw and POS usage limits
IDFC VISA Card Withdraw and POS usage limits

What is missing?

  • Only VISA card is being given by IDFC, we do not have other options like MasterCard, RuPay which makes it a limited choice.
  • The interest rate is just 4% were in the other new players in the market are offering 6 – 7% interest. Some of the banks who offer high-interest-rate in India are DigiBank by DBS, 811 by Kotak & Equitas Small finance Bank.
  • One of the main reason to stay attached to a debit card is the loyalty reward points, but IDFC as of now does not have any loyalty reward points.
  • In the modern usage, Contactless payment is what is looked forward – PayWave by VISA is missing in the Signature debit card.

The catch

  • You need to deposit 25,000 INR as initial funding and can withdraw it as soon as you get your account activated.

Overall card rating: 3.5/5

How to get this card?

  • All individuals residing in India can open an IDFC Savings Account.
  • Sign-up here  to open a zero balance account instantly
  • Aadhaar number linked to your mobile number to receive OTP
  • Android or iOS mobile app
  • PIN generation was using mobile app is Instant, no need to visit the bank branch
  • Linking UPI and activating fund transfer with ATM was smooth
IDFC FIRST best savings bank and best debit card in India
IDFC First Savings Bank Account

Observations:

  • Aadhaar seeding is overridden to this account
  • Turn around time was one week
  • Delivery of the kit is super fast
  • Operations manager was so committed till the account got opened
  • Fingerprint login and auto detect OTP on mobile app was cool
  • Was unable to transfer fund to DBS using IMPS, but UPI worked well

Conclusion:

One can open IDFC bank account just to get the debit card because of the lifetime free VISA signature that offers domestic lounge access and insurance cover. We need to wait and see if they are adding any loyalty rewards and better interest rates.

IDFC Bank Saving Account Charges
IDFC Bank Saving Account Charges
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