The HDFC Bank 10X Reward Points for the Smartbuy programme were rumoured to be over in March 2019, and instead, a new 5X Rewards Points programme was implemented for a very brief moment. Then, the 10X Rewards programme was brought back for April 2019 and then kept renewing through September 2019.

The HDFC Smart Buy 10X Offer has changed over time. Unlike the last years where the rules were the same for all cards, and the value changed only for the points per credit card, the new Smartbuy 10X promotion has now made it a promotion which is different for different products. This is now shown with the new banner for the 10X Reward points promotion.

When you click through to the promotion, you would see, the HDFC 10X Smartbuy promotion has the date of December 2019 now. Unlike earlier, the 10X promotion is now only limited to Infinia, Diners Club cards and the Regalia card. Everyone else gets 5% cashback.

That means you could earn 10X points for the following activities with HDFC SmartBuy here on:

• Flight Booking
• Hotel Booking
• Shopping via Flipkart and Amazon
• Comparison shopping via the SmartBuy website

Different credit cards now, however, have a different ceiling on the number of points you can earn.

• Infinia has a ceiling of earning 25,000 HDFC Reward Points per month.
• Diners Club Black cards have a ceiling of earning 15,000 HDFC Reward Points per month.
• Other Diners Club/ Regalia cards have a ceiling of earning 5,000 HDFC Reward points per month.
• Other Credit/Debit cards will get a 5% cashback, capped at INR 1,000 per month.

Also, with respect to EMIs, the whole lookout has changed. Now, Smartbuy 10X is applicable only for EMI Transactions (on flights / Hotels / Flipkart store) on Infinia or Diners Club or Regalia only. Not applicable on EMI transactions on any other card.

So, primarily, the Smartbuy site can now be used in the following manner to maximise the promotion:

• Infinia: Maximum Spend of INR 83,333 at Smartbuy will get you 25,000 bonus Reward Points at the rate of 33% cashback (30% bonus and 3% regular, each point earned is INR 1)
• Diners Club Black: Maximum Spend of INR 50,000 at Smartbuy will get you 15,000 bonus Reward Points at the rate of 33% cashback (30% bonus and 3% regular, each point earned is INR 1)
• Diners Club Miles/Premium/Regalia: Maximum Spend of INR 20,835 at Smartbuy will get you 5,000 bonus Reward Points at the rate of 12% cashback (Each point earned is INR 0.5)
• Diners Club Rewardz: Maximum Spend of INR 27,779 at Smartbuy will get you 5,000 bonus Reward Points at the rate of 6% cashback (Each point earned is INR 0.3) 

Another promotion, specific to December 2019 offers you 10% of the value spent on Smartbuy portal as vouchers (minimum spend being INR 3000). The Maximum value per voucher is INR 1,500 and you can earn it on an unlimited number of transactions. These vouchers can be subsequently used to buy flight tickets or hotels.

These are over and above the reward points towards the usual 10X period every month with partner brands for Diners Club products only, which is recapped below.

HDFC Bank Diners Club 10X on Partner brands

For the 10X rewards via partner brands, while there was a list unveiled in August 2019, there have been changes to the list. For instance, PayZapp left the promotion just one month after at the end of August 2019. To compensate, there are some changes to the list.

• Myntra
• Swiggy
• Ola
• First Cry
• BookMyShow
• Zoomcar
• Godrej Nature’s Basket

This list is valid from August 1 to December 31, 2019. The incremental 9X Rewards will be posted within thirty days from the date of settlement of the transaction. Date of the settlement will be considered for calculating the maximum cap. The critical change is that a calendar month-wise cap is used, instead of the statement-wise caps earlier.

Ola and First Cry are partners from October 1, 2019. Transactions from October 1 on Ola and First Cry are only eligible for 10X. Ola bookings made with Diners card as a payment option are only eligible for 10X. Ola postpaid payment is not eligible for 10X. Purchases at both offline stores and online websites of First Cry and Godrej Natures basket are eligible for 10X.

10X on all Uber Premier Rides

You can earn 10X points on Uber Premier rides between September 1 and December 31, 2019. The promotion is only valid on domestic Uber Premier rides of a minimum of INR 150, ordered via the Uber app. To avail of this promotion, one needs to pay with an HDFC Bank Credit Card, not via a wallet. 9X points come in 90 days after the transaction.  No specific number of points that can be earned has been specified, unfortunately.