Beat the fuel price hike with Co-branded Credit Cards

Worried about rising fuel prices? It's certainly a problem for most of us when the fuel price hike pinches in our pocket by disrupting our monthly budget slowly but steadily. (of course not if your employer pays your bills directly or owning a car is not a necessity but luxury) Well, you can't do much about the price hike as it is inevitable in a scenario where global crude oil prices are soaring and government is reluctant to reduce taxes on it. So why not to focus on the part of the problem where we can do something? The part where you either reduce your consumption or get some relief by using the smart way of paying for fuel.

Government is already offering 0.75% of discount on fuel when you transact cashless on fuel pumps and it may not seem a big amount for those whose monthly expense on fuel is in 3 digits, but for those who commute to office daily on their own vehicle or having long journey by cars would certainly feel the difference. But you can get more than that if you choose to pay smartly via Co-branded Credit Cards.

There are many co-branded credit cards in India having tie-ups with oil marketing companies that offer you rewards for fuel expenses. Opting for one or more of these cards might make your fuel bills lighter and would also reward you for making inevitable fuel expenses. For example, SBI Card and Bharat Petroleum offers BPCL SBI Card while ICICI Cards offers such Card in association with HPCL, Citibank provides co-branded card with IOCL and so on... Even in these cards you may find multiple variants and you can opt for it based on your CIBIL score and annual income.

• HOW to choose?

    There are many third-party websites available to compare and choose from these cards but I wouldn't recommend it as it would fetch you number of unsolicited emails and SMS as soon as you visit and provide your information. I would recommend to visit official site of the bank or card company to compare the available cards and choose what is best for you. Once you have opted the best from available cards, you can compare it with similar ones offered by other banks or card companies. While making such choice you should keep in mind the accessibility of the fuel station as well as the terms and conditions that needs to be adhered to, to get the rewards. For example, with Citi-IOCL card, you must swipe it exclusively on Citibank EDCs available at authorized pumps only, a list of which is available on the official website. ( UPDATE: In a customer friendly move, Citibank has now obviated the need to swipe the card exclusively on Citi EDCs, allowing customers to swipe/tap it on any machine at enlisted fuel stations.)

If you don't want to do much of analysis, you can choose IOCL-Citi co-branded card as I found it more attractive than other cards. (It may differ for you considering your needs).

You get 4 Turbo point for spending Rs. 150 on enlisted IOCL fuel stations (list available here).
You will earn 2 TP / 150 Rs. spent on groceries and supermarket and 1 TP for other purchase for every Rs.150 spent.

In addition to this, you get 0.75% cashback for cashless transaction.

So effectively if you are spending 3000 per month on fuel, you are likely to save 102.5 Rs.
Your shopping bills like online shopping, bill payments, mobile recharges, groceries and other credit card payments will also fetch you 1 Turbo point for every 150 Rs spent.
You can redeem such Turbo Points for fuel and Each Turbo Point is equivalent to 1 Rs.

You can apply for it by simply filling up the details on this page
 OR
Click here to apply for Citibank IOCL Card

Want to get some more benefits? Keep an eye on extra offers :

Sometimes these card companies come up with offers that can further cut your fuel bill. For example, Citi-IOCL card had offered 8X Turbo Points on fuel spends every weekend during campaign period from February 24th 2018 to April 22nd, 2018. Which leads to 8x4=32 Rs. of Free fuel for every 150 Rs. spent, amounting to a whooping 21.33% savings. (Which is more than average return of any bank deposit or debt instrument)

You can adjust your refueling to fall on weekends to get more reward points. Always go through T&C of the offer before you avail it so that you can ensure the benefit of the offer.