LTF
Lifetime free
No joining fee and no annual fee. Banks can change a card's terms later, and people here write about when they did.
Stories about itWords50
Fees and charges10
FYF
First year free
No fee for the first year. The annual fee starts from the second.
Stories about itAF
Annual fee
What a card charges for every year you keep it. Many cards waive it if you spend a set amount in the year.
Stories about itJF
Joining fee
A one-time fee when the card is first issued.
Stories about itFee waiver
No annual fee this year
The annual fee cancelled for a year, because you spent above a set amount or because you asked and the bank agreed.
Stories about itDCC
Dynamic currency conversion
When a shop or site abroad offers to charge you in rupees instead of its own currency. It often costs more, and some cards add a fee on top.
Stories about itForex markup
The extra on foreign spends
What a card adds on top of the exchange rate when you pay in another currency. Often around 3.5 per cent, lower on some travel cards.
Stories about itGST
Goods and services tax
18 per cent, added on top of a card's fees, interest and markups. Not on what you buy with it.
Stories about itMITC
Most important terms and conditions
The bank's own document listing a card's fees, charges and rules.
Stories about itFinance charges
Interest on an unpaid bill
Charged when you don't pay the whole bill by the due date. It usually runs from the day of each purchase, not from the due date.
Stories about it
Rewards9
RP
Reward points
The points a card earns as you spend.
Stories about itCB
Cashback
Rewards paid back as money on your bill, instead of points.
Stories about itMR
Membership Rewards
American Express's points programme.
Stories about itMCC
Merchant category code
A four-digit code that tells the bank what kind of shop you paid. Rewards often depend on it, which is why a spend can earn nothing when it codes as something else.
Stories about itCapping
A ceiling on rewards
A limit on how much reward a card gives in a month or a statement cycle, however much you spend.
Stories about itDevaluation
A card getting worse
When a bank cuts a card's rewards or benefits after you've got it. People call it a deval.
Stories about itMilestone
A spend target with a reward
A bonus for spending a set amount in a month, a quarter or a year.
Stories about itGV
Gift voucher
A voucher for a shop or a brand. Some cards give them as rewards, and some people buy them to reach a milestone.
Stories about itSmartBuy
HDFC's rewards portal
Where some HDFC cards earn more on flights, hotels and vouchers than they do anywhere else.
Stories about it
Getting approved11
CIBIL
Your credit score, as people say it
India's best-known credit bureau, and the name most people use for their credit score, which runs from 300 to 900.
Stories about itNTC
New to credit
No history at the credit bureaus yet: no loan, no card. Some banks treat it as a reason to say no, some don't.
Stories about itThin file
Little or no credit history
A credit report with very little in it, usually because you're new to credit.
Stories about itFD
Fixed deposit
Money kept with a bank for a fixed time. A secured card is issued against one, with a limit that's usually a share of it.
Stories about itSecured card
A card against a deposit
The bank holds a fixed deposit of yours and gives you a limit against it. A common first card when a bank has nothing else to go on.
Stories about itPre-approved
An offer made before you apply
An offer a bank shows you based on what it already knows about you. It isn't a promise, and people here write about when it fell through.
Stories about itKYC
Know your customer
The identity check every bank does: PAN, Aadhaar, an address, sometimes a photo.
Stories about itVKYC
Video KYC
The identity check, done over a video call instead of in person.
Stories about itITR
Income tax return
Often what a bank asks for as proof of income when there's no payslip.
Stories about itHard enquiry
A credit check when you apply
It shows on your credit report. Several in a short time can pull a score down for a while.
Stories about itAdd-on card
A card on someone else's account
Often a parent's. It shares their limit, and the history it builds is theirs, not yours.
Stories about it
Limits and your score5
CLI
Credit limit increase
The bank raising your limit, either on its own or because you asked.
Stories about itLE
Limit enhancement
What some banks call a limit increase.
Stories about itUtilisation
How much of your limit you use
Spending ₹30,000 on a ₹1,00,000 limit is 30 per cent. The credit bureaus look at it.
Stories about itStatement date
The day your bill is made
The balance on that day is usually what reaches the credit bureau.
Stories about itMinimum due
The least you can pay
Paying it avoids a late fee. Whatever you leave unpaid starts collecting interest.
Stories about it
Travel2
PP
Priority Pass
A lounge membership some cards include, for airport lounges around the world.
Stories about itLounge access
Airport lounges, on the card
Free entry to airport lounges. Many cards now ask you to spend a set amount first.
Stories about it
Paying and disputes6
Chargeback
Reversing a charge
Asking the bank to reverse a charge you didn't make, or one for something you never got.
Stories about itNodal officer
The person above customer care
For when a complaint to customer care is going nowhere. Every bank has to name one.
Stories about itOmbudsman
The RBI's complaint service
Free, and for when a bank hasn't sorted out a complaint within 30 days.
Stories about itEMI
Equated monthly instalment
Paying a purchase off in fixed monthly parts, usually with interest or a fee.
Stories about itRuPay on UPI
UPI, from a credit card
Only RuPay credit cards can be linked to UPI. Then you can pay at any shop that takes UPI.
Stories about itMDR
Merchant discount rate
What a shop pays on every card payment. It's why some shops ask for more when you pay by card.
Stories about it
Card nicknames7
DCB
Diners Club Black
What people call HDFC's Diners Club Black card.
Stories about itInfi
Infinia
What people call HDFC's Infinia card.
Stories about itRG
Regalia Gold
What people call HDFC's Regalia Gold card.
Stories about itMRCC
Membership Rewards Credit Card
What people call the American Express Membership Rewards card.
Stories about itEPM
Emeralde Private Metal
What people call ICICI's Emeralde Private Metal card.
Stories about itAPICC
Amazon Pay ICICI
What people call the Amazon Pay ICICI card.
Stories about itTNI
Tata Neu Infinity
What people call the Tata Neu Infinity HDFC card. TNP is its sibling, the Tata Neu Plus.
Stories about it