Several Axis Bank customers who hold credit cards received an email from the bank on the morning of July 21. In the email, it was mentioned that the bank has put a hold on the redemption of their reward points. This has been a significant attraction for the customers. Some customers expressed their reactions on Twitter against this step taken by the bank. Moneycontrol has seen a copy of this email. It states that non-personal usage of your credit card has been observed. The bank has also mentioned the names of some merchants. According to the policies, the credit card can only be used for personal expenses, and all other types of usage, including business and commercial, are prohibited under the Axis Bank card member agreement.
The usage of the credit card is restricted to personal expenses only.
The email mentioned that the bank has found users utilizing the card for expenses that are not permissible under the usual norms. Tejas Ghonghadi, the co-founder of PointsCode, said that using personal credit for business expenses goes against the rules and terms. Axis Bank seems to have sent this email to users who have used a specific payment gateway. Such gateways are typically used for business payments.
Customers who comply with the rules will continue to enjoy the facility of reward points.
Ankur Mittal, the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Card Insider, said that Axis Bank’s decision to suspend the redemption of reward points for some users is a step in the right direction for the sustainability of the reward program. He mentioned that the bank attempted to ensure that only the rightful users continue to benefit from the rewards.
Bank’s focus on suspicious transactions
Credit card experts say that Axis Bank closely monitors suspicious transactions on credit cards. In March 2023, the bank had sent notifications to some high-net-worth individuals about suspicious commercial usage. Sumanth Mandal, founder of TechnoFino, said that Axis Bank had previously canceled credit cards like the Axis Ace Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card. They were canceled upon discovering their usage for business purposes.
Bank had sent similar emails to customers before
An email was received by an Axis Bank customer earlier this year. At that time, the bank had asked the user to provide evidence that all transactions made in December 2022 and January 2023were for personal use. The bank had threatened to block the card if evidence was not provided. Similarly, in June 2023, the bank had informed some customers that their cards had been blocked, and redemption had been temporarily suspended for some time.
