Latest Offers on Rent Payment via Credit Cards: January 2023

If you live in rented accommodation, house rent accounts for a substantial portion of your total expenditure. Most tenants prefer to pay their house rent in cash or through net banking or cheque. However, many third-party apps/websites like RedGirrafffe, CRED, housing.com, Magicbricks, etc now allow you to pay your house rent via credit cards. Paying the rent with your credit card is not only convenient but can also be rewarding, thanks to the offers and deals by these payment platforms and card issuers.

There are no major changes in the rent payment offers, however, several card issuers have terms their terms and conditions related to rent payment via credit cards. A convenience fee of 1% would be chargeable on rent payments via ICICI Bank Credit Cards from October 20, 2022. Moreover, there is now a maximum cap on reward points that can be earned on rent payments via HDFC Bank Credit Cards. For further information regarding rent payment via credit cards, keep reading:

Table of Contents

Offers on Rent Payment Platforms Offers Summary About Rent Payment PLatforms Why pay rent with credit cards? How to pay rent through credit cards? Bottom Line FAQs

Offers on Rent Payment Platforms

You get discounts and/or cashback on paying the rent with your credit card on most rent payment platforms. Here is a bankwise list of credit card offers on some of the most popular rent payment platforms-

January 2023 Update: There are no major changes in the rent payment offers. However, the maximum discount on convenience fees via HDFC, IDFC, and AU Bank Credit Cards has been reduced to Rs. 150 (the maximum cap was Rs. 250 earlier). Moreover, the minimum transaction amount for the HDFC PayZapp offer has been reduced to Rs. 15,000, which was Rs. 25,000 earlier. You can get further details in the article below!

Magicbricks Common Offer (No more applicable): You can earn 40% cashback (up to Rs. 2,000) on rent payments via credit cards in Magicbricks. The minimum transaction amount under this offer is Rs. 5,000.

HDFC Bank Offer

Rs. 75 Cashback per month for rent paid through Magicbricks.com via PayZapp wallet

Offer Details	Cashback of Rs. 75 while paying rent through Magicbricks via PayZapp wallet
Offer Validity	1st January 2023 to 31st January 2023
Offer Conditions(s)	Minimum Rent payment of Rs. 15,000

• A cashback of Rs. 75 is credited to your account if rent is paid via Magicbricks and payment is done through PayZappp Wallet.
• You need to make a minimum rent payment of Rs. 15,000 to avail of this offer.
• The offer is valid from 1st Jan 2023 to 31st Jan 2023.
• The cashback will be paid to all payments made via PayZapp wallet and will be auto-credited to PayZapp wallet within 90 days of rent payment.

Rs. 75 per month for rent paid through NoBroker via PayZapp wallet

Offer Details	Cashback of Rs. 75 while paying rent through Magicbricks via PayZapp wallet
Offer Validity	1st Jan 2023 to 31st Jan 2023
Offer Conditions(s)	Minimum Rent payment of Rs. 15,000

• You get Rs. 75 per month per device per phone number registered on PayZapp with minimum or full KYC .
• It is applicable on No.Broker.com website and application upon payment done via PayZapp wallet.
• You need to make a minimum rent payment of Rs. 15,000 to avail of this offer.
• The offer is valid from 1st Jan 2023 to 31st Jan 2023.
• The cashback will be paid to all payments made via PayZapp wallet and will be auto-credited to PayZapp wallet within 90 days of rent payment.

100% discount on processing fee while paying rent through Magicbricks.com

Offer Details	100% discount on processing fees up to Rs. 150 on all HDFC Bank Credit Cards
Offer Validity	1st Jan 2023 to 31st Jan 2023
Offer Conditions(s)	Minimum Rent payment of Rs. 8,334

• The cardholder will get a discount of 100%, up to Rs. 150, on the processing fee while paying rent through Magicbricks using HDFC Bank Credit Cards.
• A minimum payment of Rs. 8,334 per month has to be made towards house rent to avail this offer.
• This offer is applicable twice only for the transactions conducted by the tenant during the month.
• The validity of the offer period is starting from 1st January 2023 to 31st January 2023.
• This offer is applicable on payments made towards House Rent, Society Maintenance, Shop Rent, and Security Deposit.
• The discount will be upfront if the tenant uploads the rent agreement while paying the rent. If the rent agreement is uploaded later, (within 72 hours), the discount will be credited to your account in the form of cashback within 14 days from the date of upload.

Earn 10% Bonus Miles up to 1,000 Miles while paying rent through Magicbricks.com

• You can earn 10% bonus miles up to 1,000 Miles while paying rent via Magicbricks.
• This offer is valid from 1st August 2022 to 30th April 2023.
• There is no minimum rent payment amount to avail this offer.
• Visit the Magic Bricks Rent Pay page
• Register yourself as a member at Magicbricks and enter the transfer Info ( Landlord account details )
• Enter your Name, Mobile Number (The mobile number entered should be the same that is registered with InterMiles Credit Card), E-mail ID &
• Provide consent for Experian
• Enter the OTP received on your Mobile Number
• Select the month for which you need to pay the rent
• Choose the mode of payment as HDFC Bank InterMiles Co-Brand Credit Card.
• Bonus InterMiles would be posted within 90 days after the last date of the month in which the customer makes the rent transaction on Magicbricks.

Axis Bank Offer

Earn 10x EDGE REWARD points on paying house rent through Axis Bank Credit Cards via Magicbricks

• 10x EDGE REWARD Points can be earned for paying house rent via Magicbricks using Axis Bank Credit Card.
• The offer is valid only once per user during the offer period.
• A minimum rent of Rs. 20,000 is to be paid to avail this offer.
• The offer is valid from 7th April 2022 to 30th September 2022.
• Users need to pay rent for 2 continuous months to avail the benefits of this offer.
• This offer is applicable only to those Axis Bank Credit Card customers who are eligible for EDGE REWARDS.

ICICI Bank Offer

Earn 10% Bonus Miles up to 1,000 Miles while paying rent through Magicbricks.com

• You can earn 10% bonus miles up to 1,000 Miles while paying rent via Magicbricks.
• This offer is valid from 1st August 2022 to 30th April 2023.
• There is no minimum rent payment amount to avail this offer.
• Visit the Magic Bricks Rent Pay page
• Register yourself as a member at Magicbricks and enter the transfer Info ( Landlord account details )
• Enter your Name, Mobile Number (The mobile number entered should be the same that is registered with InterMiles Credit Card), E-mail ID &
• Provide consent for Experian
• Enter the OTP received on your Mobile Number
• Select the month for which you need to pay the rent
• Choose the mode of payment as ICICI Bank InterMiles Co-Brand Credit Card.
• Bonus InterMiles would be posted within 90 days after the last date of the month in which the customer makes the rent transaction on Magicbricks.

Citi Bank Offer

100% discount on processing fee while paying rent through Magicbricks.com

• 100% discount up to Rs. 250 on processing fee while paying rent through Magicbricks using Citi Bank Credit Cards.
• The offer is valid for a period from 1st September to 31st December 2022.
• A minimum transaction of Rs. 8,334 has to be done towards rent to avail this offer.
• Applicable only for House Rent , Society Maintenance , Shop rent and Security Deposit.
• Users need to upload a valid rent agreement within 72 hours for an upload later option.
• This offer is not valid on UPI Payments.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Offer

100% discount on processing fee while paying rent through Magicbricks.com

• The cardholder will get a discount of 100%, up to Rs. 250, on processing fee while paying rent through Magicbricks using Kotak Mahindra Bank Credit Cards.
• A minimum payment of Rs. 8,334 per month has to be made towards house rent to avail this offer.
• This offer is applicable twice only for the transactions conducted by the tenant during the month.
• The validity of the offer period is starting from 1st Sept 2022 to 31st Dec 2022.
• This offer is applicable on payments made towards House Rent, Society Maintenance, Shop Rent, and Security Deposit.
• The discount will be upfront if the tenant uploads the rent agreement while paying the rent. If the rent agreement is uploaded later, (within 72 hours), the discount will be credited to your account in the form of cashback within 14 days from the date of upload.

IndusInd Bank Offer

Earn 10% Bonus Miles up to 1,000 Miles while paying rent through Magicbricks.com

• You can earn 10% bonus miles up to 1,000 Miles while paying rent via Magicbricks.
• This offer is valid from 1st August 2022 to 30th April 2023.
• There is no minimum rent payment amount to avail this offer.
• Visit the Magic Bricks Rent Pay page
• Register yourself as a member at Magicbricks and enter the transfer Info ( Landlord account details )
• Enter your Name, Mobile Number (The mobile number entered should be the same that is registered with InterMiles Credit Card), E-mail ID &
• Provide consent for Experian
• Enter the OTP received on your Mobile Number
• Select the month for which you need to pay the rent
• Choose the mode of payment as IndusInd Bank InterMiles Co-Brand Credit Card.
• Bonus InterMiles would be posted within 90 days after the last date of the month in which the customer makes the rent transaction on Magicbricks.

IDFC First Bank Offer

No convenience fee and accelerated Reward Points on rent payments via Magicbricks

The IDFC First Bank charges a convenience fee of Rs. 250 on rent payments via IDFC First Bank Credit Cards, but no such fees will be chargeable on rent payments via Magicbricks during the month of January 2023. The IDFC First Bank Credit Cardholders will get a 100% discount on processing fees (up to Rs. 150) on rent payments via Magicbricks. Along with this, you can earn 3x Reward Points on rent payments using IDFC Credit Cards during the offer period, i.e. between January 1, 2023, to January 31, 2023. 

• You need to a make a transaction worth Rs. 8,334 or more to avail of this offer.
• The cardholders need to submit valid rent agreements in order to avail of this offer.
• Only selected payments like House Rent, Shop rent, Society Maintenance, and Security Deposit payments are eligible for this offer.

AU Bank Credit Cards

The AU Bank Credit Cardholders can also make rent payments with a zero convenience fee via Magicbricks. The offer is only applicable for rental transactions worth Rs. 8,334 or more. Moreover, the offer is valid for transactions made between January 1, 2023, to January 31, 2023.

Rupay Credit Cards

No transaction fee on paying rent using Rupay Credit Cards via Magicbricks

• No transaction fee will be charged if the cardholders pay rent using Rupay Credit Cards.
• This offer is applicable for transactions made towards rent payment once in 20 days.
• The offer is valid only on Rupay Credit Cards.
• You have to pay a minimum rent of Rs. 8,334 per month to avail this offer.
• Applicable only for House Rent, Society Maintenance, Shop rent, and Security Deposit.

Offers Summary

The following chart summarises all the credit card offers on some of the popular rent payment platforms-

About Rent Payment Platforms

As mentioned earlier, many real estate and bill payment apps and websites allow you to pay your house rent via credit cards. These apps usually charge a specific percentage of the rent amount as the transaction processing fee. Here are some of the most popular apps/websites that you can use to pay your house rent via credit cards-

CRED RentPay

Credit card bill payment app CRED introduced the RentPay house rent payment feature last year that allows you to transfer the rent amount directly from your credit card to your landlord’s bank account via net banking or UPI. Although you are charged a service charge of up to 1.5% of the rent amount, the app does make your rent payment experience seamless and hassle-free. You can also enable the auto-payment feature so that your rent is paid automatically every month. CRED supports Visa, MasterCard, and Diners Club credit cards for rent payments. You need to download the CRED app to pay house rent on CRED.

RedGirraffe

RedGirraffe is one of the first rent payment platforms that allows you to pay your house rent via your credit card. You’re charged a processing fee of 0.39% of the rent amount (GST not included) when you pay your house rent on RedGirraffe. RedGirraffe supports credit cards by HDFC Bank, SBI Cards, Citibank, HSBC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of Baroda for rent payment.

Magicbricks

Times group-backed real estate brokerage platform Magicbricks also came up with its own house rent payment service last year. The payment procedure on Magicbricks is fairly simple and doesn’t require you to upload a rent agreement of any sort. All you need to do is provide some basic details about you and your landlord, and you’re good to go. Magicbricks supports Visa and MasterCard credit cards and charges you a processing fee of 1% of the rent amount.

NoBroker

NoBroker is another real estate brokerage platform where you can buy/sell the property and also find houses/apartments for rent. Like other real-estate platforms, NoBroker also allows you to pay your house rent through your credit card. NoBroker charges a processing fee of 1% of the paid amount and accepts Visa and MasterCard only.

Paytm

Mobile e-wallet Paytm also launched its house rent payment service this year. Now you can pay your house rent via credit card on the Paytm app. Paytm supports Visa and MasterCard credit cards and charges you a processing fee of 1.5% of the rental amount.

Housing.com

Housing.com is another popular real estate platform that allows you to pay house rent to your landlord through credit cards. The rent payment procedure on housing.com is very straightforward and does not require uploading a rent agreement or any other document. All you need to do is proceed to the payment portal and enter some basic details about yourself and your landlord (like bank a/c number, IFSC code, etc.) to move forward with the payment. Housing.com supports Visa and MasterCard credit cards and charges 1% of the transaction amount as a processing fee.

Quick Comparison

For a quick reference, the following table summarises the processing fee charged and the card networks supported by the various house rent payment platforms-

Why pay rent with credit cards?

Apart from discounts and cashback, there are many other reasons to pay the rent with your credit card-

• Annual Fee Waiver: Since house rent is one of the big-ticket spends on your card’s balance, paying rent via credit card will definitely help you achieve the spends milestone required to get an annual fee waiver on your card. This is the most important reason to pay the house rent using your credit card.

• Reward Points / Cashback: As you know, whenever you use your credit card to make payments, you earn reward points or cashback (at least in most cases you do), for this reason, using your credit card for large transactions like rent payments can be very rewarding depending upon the type of credit card you have.

• Interest-Free Credit: Credit cards usually give you an interest-free credit period of 45 to 50 days, during which you do not incur any interest on your monthly spends. Let’s say you pay a house rent of Rs. 30,000 via your credit card. This effectively means that you get an interest-free loan worth Rs. 30,000 for 45-50 days. However, you must make sure that you pay your dues on time. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a revolving credit that will attract a very high-interest rate.

• Improves Credit Score: If you’re financially punctual and clear all your dues on time, paying rent via credit card can also potentially improve your credit score. However, to reflect good financial behaviour, ideally, you shouldn’t cross 30% of your credit limit as it’d give an impression that you’re credit hungry, which is certainly not something that’ll go down well on your credit report.

To know more about the advantages and disadvantages of paying house rent through credit card, you may go through this post on Card Insider.

How to pay house rent through credit card

Whenever you use your credit card to make a payment, you either swipe your card at a POS terminal or enter the card details on an online payment gateway (like PayU, Razorpay, etc).

The payment gateway (whether online or a physical POS terminal) and the card network act as an intermediary and play a crucial role in processing the transaction. Your landlord, most probably, neither has a POS terminal nor a website with an online payment gateway. So, how will the transaction work out?

This is where third-party rent payment platforms like CRED, RedGirraffe, NoBroker, etc come into the picture.

When you make your house rent payment via credit card on a third-party payment platform, what happens behind the scenes is you actually pay to the payment platform by entering your card details on their payment gateway, the platform, which acts as the payment facilitator, then transfers the amount received to your landlord’s bank account via net banking or UPI.

The procedure to pay house rent is more or less the same for almost all the rent payment apps-

• First, you need to register yourself with the payment portal by entering some basic details about yourself.
• After this, you are asked to enter the details of your landlord, like their bank account number or UPI id, depending upon the type of payment method you choose.
• Some payment websites/apps might also ask you to upload a copy of your rental agreement.
• Now that you’ve successfully added your landlord as a payee, you can initiate the transaction whenever you like. You may also enable the auto-payment option (available with most payment portals) so that the rent amount is automatically debited from your credit card account and transferred to your landlord’s bank account every month with minimal or no interference from your side.

Bottom Line

As you can see, while plenty of offers were available on rent payment until a few months ago, card issuers seem to be withdrawing offers on rent payments. Recently, IndusInd Bank reduced the reward rate on rent payments with its credit cards. We can expect other card issuers to also follow the trend and reduce the Reward Points/cashback benefit on rent payments in the coming months.

Also, If you clear your dues on time, your credit score can potentially improve. However, it is essential to keep in mind that if you are unable to pay your card bills on time, your credit score might take a toll.

There are both advantages and disadvantages of paying house rent with credit cards. We already have an article on our website clearing the myths around rent payments with credit cards. As rent payment is a big-ticket transaction, you must carefully evaluate all the pros and cons.