HDFC Millennia Credit Card vs HDFC EasyEMI Credit Card- Which One Should You Pick?

HDFC Millennia Credit Card is one of the most popular shopping credit cards in the entry to mid-level segment. The card, as per its name, is best suited for young professionals, most of whom tend to be new to credit millennials. While the EasyEMI Credit Card is also targeted at young professionals, it is more suitable for individuals who fall in a lower income bracket and wish to convert all their purchases into EMIs (purchases above Rs. 10,000 are automatically converted into EMIs).

Both Millennia and EasyEMI credit cards are very similar in many aspects, for example, both the cards offer a cashback of 5% at select partner brands (the range of brands is wider in the case of Millennia Credit Card though) and 1% cashback on all offline transactions. The cards were even more similar earlier when Millennia Credit Card also used to earn a 2.5% cashback on all online transactions (except at partner brands). HDFC bank then revamped the Millennia Credit Card, and now Millennia Credit Card earns you a cashback of 5% at a wider range of partner merchants with an increased max cap on the cashback (increased from Rs. 750 to Rs. 1,000), while the reward rate on online spends at non-partner merchants was decreased to 1%. Anyway, the cards are still quite similar and therefore it makes sense to compare the benefits that the two cards offer along with the eligibility criteria and membership fee.

Before we give you a detailed point-wise comparison between the two cards, it is a good idea to first have a look at some of the salient features of Millennia and EasyEMI credit cards.

HDFC Millennia Credit Card

As mentioned earlier, HDFC Millennia Credit Card is one of the best-suited credit cards for new to credit millennials. It is a cashback-based credit card- i.e. you earn cashback on using the card for online/offline purchases.

The card comes with a membership fee of Rs. 1,000 (plus GST) per annum and apart from the cashback benefit, also offers a few add-on benefits like complimentary airport lounge access, discounted rates on dining, annual fee waiver, etc. Some of the key features of HDFC Millennia Credit Card are-

• The cashback earned on the HDFC Millennia Credit Card is earned in form of CashPoints which is credited to the credit card account at the end of each month. The CashPoints earned can be redeemed as cashback either against the card’s statement balance or for booking flights/hotels (via SmartBuy) or for buying products/shopping vouchers from HDFC’s catalog of products/vouchers. The CashPoints earned on the card can also be transferred to partner airlines’ frequent flyers programs. The monetary value of CashPoints on redemption against the different spends categories is as per the table below-

• You get 1,000 CashPoints as a welcome benefit on joining the card membership and realization of the joining fee (first year’s annual fee).
• You earn a cashback of 5% on shopping at select partner brands including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, BookMyShow, Cult.fit, Sony LIV and Tata CLiQ. A maximum of 1,000 CashPoints can be earned at 5% rate in a given statement cycle.
• Cashback of 1% is applicable on all other online and offline transactions (except fuel) including EMI and wallet transactions. A maximum of 1,000 CashPoints can be earned at 1% rate in a given statement cycle.
• The CashPoints earned on your Millennia Credit Card are valid for a period of 2 years. Unredeemed CashPoints expire 2 years after accumulation.
• You also get a discount of up to 20% on dining at select partner restaurants with complimentary Dineout Passport membership.
• You are entitled to a gift voucher worth Rs. 1,000 on a quarterly expenditure of Rs. 1 lac with your HDFC Millennia Credit Card.
• You also get 8 complimentary visits every year (max 2 per quarter) to airport lounges at domestic airports across the country.
• The annual membership fee of the card (Rs. 1,000) is waived off on an expenditure of a minimum of Rs. 1 lac in the preceding year.
• You may refer to this article for detailed information on HDFC Millennia Credit Card.

HDFC EasyEMI Credit Card

Just like Millennia, EasyEMI Card is also a cashback-based card. It is a basic entry-level credit card and comes with an annual membership fee of Rs. 500 (plus GST). A unique feature of this card, which also gives the card its name, is all the purchases of Rs. 10,000 and above are automatically converted into EMIs. Some of the salient features of the EasyEMI Credit Card which make it worth consideration for young professionals are-

• Just like the Millennia Credit Card, the cashback earned on the EasyEMI Credit Card is also processed as CashPoints which can be redeemed as cashback (against the card’s statement balance), for purchasing products/vouchers from the bank’s catalog or for flight bookings/hotel reservations.

• EasyEMI Card earns you a cashback of 5% on Amazon and Flipkart and on flight bookings and hotel reservations via SmartBuy. CashPoints are earned only on transactions of a minimum of Rs. 2,000. A maximum of 750 CashPoints can be earned at 5% rate in a given calendar month (the max cap on CashPoints at 5% rate for the first 6 months is 1,000 CashPoints per month).
• You get 500 CashPoints as a welcome benefit on joining the card membership. This welcome benefit of 500 CashPoints is subject to the realization of the joining fee.
• You earn a cashback of 2.5% on all other online spends (except wallet uploads) with the card at non-partner merchants. The max cap on cashback earned at 2.5% rate is also Rs. 750 per calendar month and the minimum transaction size requirement to avail of the cashback benefit at 2.5% rate is also the same- Rs. 2,000.
• Cashback of 1% is applicable on wallet reloads and all offline transactions. The max cap of Rs. 750 per month is applicable on this category of cashback as well. A minimum transaction value of Rs. 100 is required to avail of the cashback benefit in the 1% category.
• All transactions of Rs. 10,000 and above are auto-converted into EMIs for a period of 9 months. A processing fee of Rs. 99 and a rate of interest of 1.67% per month is levied on EMI transactions.
• As an introductory offer, you also get gift vouchers worth Rs. 1,000 on the quarterly expenditure of a minimum of Rs. 1 lac (applicable for the first year of card membership only).
• The joining fee of the card is waived off on an expenditure of a minimum of Rs. 20,000 within the first 90 days of card issuance. You however do not get the welcome benefit in this case.
• Second year’s annual membership fee of the card is waived off on an expenditure of a minimum of Rs. 50,000 in the first year of card membership.
• Salaried applicants must have a monthly income of a minimum of Rs. 10,000 and self-employed applicants must have a minimum annual income of Rs. 6 lacs (as per ITR) to be eligible for HDFC EasyEMI Credit Card.
• You may refer to this article for detailed information on HDFC EasyEMI Credit Card.

Quick Comparison

The following table gives you a quick point-wise comparison between HDFC Millennia and HDFC EasyEMI Credit Cards-

	HDFC Millennia Credit Card	HDFC EasyEMI Credit Card
Reward Rate	Cashback of 5% on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, BookMyShow, Cult.fit, Myntra, Sony LIV, Swiggy, Tata CLiQ, Uber and Zomato 1% cashback on all other online/offline spends with the card Cashback is credited as CashPoints. A maximum of 2,000 CashPoints (1,000 in 5% and 1% category each) can be earned in a given statement cycle.	Cashback of 5% on Amazon and Flipkart and on flight bookings and hotel reservations via SmartBuy. 2.5% cashback on all other online spends (except wallet reloads). 1% cashback on wallet reloads and offline transactions. The cashback earned is credited as CashPoints to the credit card account at the end of each month. A minimum transaction amount of Rs. 2,000 is required to earn cashback in the 5% and 2.5% categories, while a minimum transaction size of Rs. 100 is required to earn cashback in the 1% category. A maximum of 750 CashPoints per month can be earned as cashback in each of the three categories individually (the monthly max cap on cashback in the 5% category is 1,000 CashPoints for the first 6 months of card membership).
Reward Redemption	1 CashPoint = Re. 1 (cashback) 1 CashPoint = Rs. 0.30 (product catalog) 1 CashPoint = Rs. 0.30 (flight/hotel bookings via SmartBuy) 1 Cash Point = Rs.0.30 (AirMiles)	1 CashPoint = Re. 1 (cashback) 1 CashPoint = Rs. 0.30 (product catalog) 1 CashPoint = Rs. 0.30 (flight/hotel bookings via SmartBuy) Redemption against AirMiles not allowed.
Welcome/Renewal Benefits	1,000 CashPoints on payment of the joining fee.	500 CashPoints as a Welcome Benefit on realiztion of the joining fee.
Milestone Benefits	Gift voucher worth Rs. 1,000 on spends of Rs. 1,00,000 in a calendar quarter.	Gift voucher worth Rs. 1,000 on quarterly spends of Rs. 1,00,000 (for the first year only)
Additional Benefits	2 domestic airport lounge access per quarter. 20% discount at partner restaurants with Dineout Passport.	N/A
Special Feature	N/A	All transactions above Rs. 10,000 are automatically converted into EMIs for 9 months. A processing fee of Rs. 99 and ROI of 1.67% per month are levied on the EMI transactions.
Membership Fee	Rs. 1,000 per annum (plus GST), waived off on annual spends of Rs. 1 lakh.	Rs. 500 per annum (plus GST). Joining fee is waived off on spending a minimum of Rs. 20,000 in the first 90 days of card membership. Second year’s annual fee is waived off on a minimum expenditure of Rs. 50,000 in the first year.
Eligibility	Minimum monthly income of Rs. 35,000 (salaried applicants) or Rs. 6 lacs per annum (self-employed applicants) Age of salaried applicants must be between 21 and 60 years between 21 and 65 years for self-employed applicants.	Minimum monthly income of Rs. 10,000 (salaried applicants) or Rs. 6 lacs per annum (self-employed applicants) Age of salaried applicants must be between 21 and 60 years and between 21 and 65 years for self-employed applicants.

Conclusion

HDFC Millennia is an excellent credit card for young professionals and first-time cardholders as it not only offers a decent reward rate as cashback but also a few add-on benefits like complimentary airport lounge access and Dineout Passport membership, the EasyEMI Card on the other hand, although does not offer any add-on benefits, but it has a unique feature of automatic conversion of purchases into EMIs. Millennia Credit Card has a higher membership fee of Rs. 1,000 per annum compared to just Rs. 500 per annum for the EasyEMI Card. EasyEMI Credit Card also has lower eligibility criteria with a monthly income requirement of just Rs. 10,000 (compared with Rs. 35,000 for Millennia Credit Card).

If we closely compare the reward rates, additional benefits and other features of the two cards, what we can conclude is, if one is eligible for HDFC Millennia Credit Card, they should definitely choose Millennia over EasyEMI unless they always prefer to pay for their shopping spends in installments. If however, one is not eligible for the Millennia Credit Card, EasyEMI Credit Card is certainly worth consideration. It can be a great choice for individuals in the lower-income group as it allows them to make big purchases and repay the amount in installments. You might also consider other credit cards like HDFC Freedom Credit Card and HDFC MoneyBack+ Credit Card, which are also targeted towards the same category of applicants.

Also Check: IDFC First Millennia Credit Card Vs HDFC Bank Millennia Credit Card