AU Small Finance Bank is one of the newest players in the credit card space and the first SFB to launch its own credit cards. As of today, we have entry-level to premium cards with decent rewards and benefits. In this post, we review the entry-level AU Bank LIT credit card. The LIT is the first unconditional LTF credit card from AU Bank. It also comes with an interesting feature that allows the user to customize the features. Somewhat like the ICICI Bank Mine credit card but better.
Fees and Charges
| Joining Fee | NIL (LTF) |
| Annual Fee | NIL (LTF) |
LIT is an LTF credit card. But, there is a catch. Any package we add to get extra reward rates has a fee. So, if you need those then you end up paying a fee. More on this is below.
Rewards
- All Spends: 1 RP/Rs 100 ~0.25% Return
- Excluded spends for rewards: Fuel and EMI transactions
This is the base reward rate we get for the LTF pricing. The more interesting part of this card is the add-on features to boost the reward rate.
Opt-in Features for Extra Rewards
AU Bank LIT comes with as many as 6 opt-in features. Each of these is valid for 90 days (from the date of enrollment). If not opting out by the end of these 90 days, the features are auto-renewed.
The calculation of spends and cashback is also done on the 90 days basis from the date of enrollment. It is not on a calendar month basis. We cover each of these features below in detail.
2%/5% Cashback Feature
We can opt into either the 2% or 5% cashback feature. Fuel, rent, and insurance transactions are not eligible for this extra cashback.
| OPTION 1 | OPTION 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cashback | 2% | 5% |
| Charges | Rs 199 | Rs 299 |
| Minimum Spends | Rs 10000 | Rs 7500 |
| Maximum Cashback (30 days) | Rs 1500 | Rs 500 |
| Maximum Cashback (90 days) | Rs 4500 | Rs 1500 |
| Minimum Transaction | Rs 100 | Rs 100 |
- For 2% cashback, we need to spend Rs 9950 for recovering the charges. Then on, we can spend up to Rs 2.15 Lakhs over 90 days before hitting the cashback cap.
- For 5% cashback, we need to spend Rs 5980 for recovering the charges. Then on, we can spend Rs 24020 over 90 days before hitting the cashback cap.
For higher spends, 2% cashback is the one that makes sense. For lower spends, 5% is the suitable one. Option 1 for 2% cashback does not look interesting. We can get a similar benefit with other cashback credit cards like Axis Ace, Millennia, and Flipkart Axis cards.
Option 2 for 5% cashback looks interesting. For someone with low spending, this can actually be a good addition. It is easy to recover the charges and get some extra cashback with this one. Yes, we have a good contender in SBI Cashback now but it is only for online transactions. This can be used offline as well.
5X/10X Accelerated Reward Points Feature
| 5X RP | 10X RP | |
|---|---|---|
| Return | 1.25% | 2.5% |
| Charges | Rs 199 each for offline and online | Rs 299 each for offline and online |
- There is no cap for both 5X and 10X features cap.
- The catch is we need to buy the 5X/10X cap once each for online and offline transactions. So, after reviewing your spending you can also get a mix of both – 5X for offline and 10X for online transactions.
- Fuel, rent, and insurance transactions are not eligible for accelerated rewards.
5% Category Cashback – Grocery, Dining, Travel, Apparel, Electronics
| CHARGES | MAXIMUM CASHBACK @5% | |
|---|---|---|
| Grocery | Rs 299 | Rs 1000 per 30 days |
| Dining | Rs 299 | Rs 1000 per 30 days |
| Travel and Airlines | Rs 299 | Rs 1000 per 30 days |
| Apparel | Rs 299 | Rs 1000 per 30 days |
| Electronics | Rs 299 | Rs 1000 per 30 days |
If the cashback and 5X/10X offers do not fit your requirements, there is another possibility of customization. We can add a 5% category cashback feature for spending on Grocery, Dining, Travel, Apparel, or Electronics. Each of them is a separate feature that needs to be added individually.
Fuel Surcharge Waiver Feature
This has got to be one of the least useful features of the AU Bank LIT credit card. There is no default surcharge waiver. It needs to be paid for. We are better off using one of our other credit cards for this purpose instead of opting for this pack.
- Charges: Rs 49 for 90 days
- Valid for all transactions between Rs 400 and Rs 5000
Airport Lounge Access Feature
AU Bank LIT credit card does not get any complimentary airport lounge access. We need to buy an option based on our requirements. The access is valid only for domestic airport lounges.
| OPTION 1 | OPTION 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Visits | 1 | 2 |
| Validity | 90 days | 90 days |
| Max Visits | 4 per quarter | 4 per quarter |
| Charges | Rs 199 | Rs 299 |
Rs 299 for 2 airport lounge visits sounds good. But with every other credit card offering complimentary airport lounge access, this will have few takers. The plus is we get access to 52 airport lounges, much more than many other credit cards offer.
This is one way to get a cheaper Amazon Prime. It will cost us only Rs 796 every year for an Amazon Prime subscription.
Rewards Redemption
The reward points can be redeemed on the AU Rewardz portal. Each RP is worth 25 paise.
- Vouchers: Many options including Amazon
- Merchandise: Not recommended as we get a better value in other options
- Mobile/DTH Recharge
- Flight/Hotel/Bus booking
- Movies
High rewards potential but with high charges as well
The best use case for this card is when we spend in one of the 5% cashback categories. As a simple example, consider that you are spending online in Grocery.
- Features Activated: 5% cashback on Grocery category, 10X on online spends, 5% cashback on all spends
- Total Charges: Rs 897 for 90 days or Rs 3588 per year
- Total Return: ~12.5%
A little too much if you think about it. But, still worth it if you can max out the cashback and rewards for each of these categories.
Alternatives to AU Bank LIT credit card
While being an LTF credit card, AU Bank LIT has got several good features up its sleeves. But, we can get most of these add-on features on other credit cards rather than buying them one by one.
A simple example right now is SBI Cashback card. We can buy GVs from Amazon/Gyftr to get 5% cashback plus the brand discounts on the GVs. We are also keeping it simple with a Rs 999 annual fee that gets waived on Rs 2 Lakhs spend.
But if you do not have any other premium credit cards which give a high reward rate, AU LIT may be a good choice. The features can add up to a high reward rate on a LIT credit card provided you are able to target the right expenses. But, you need to do your homework on which features to add based on your spending. Also since most packs are quarterly, it can run up to a high amount every year in the range of Rs 3000 to Rs 9000 if you activate more than 1 pack. Without taking the charges into account, we can get a potential return between 7.5% to 12.5% on all spends except rent, fuel and insurance.
The other reason to get this card is its LTF. If you just want a LTF AU Bank credit card for the bank offers then this is the one to get.
