DCB Bank in a shocking move reduced the cashback on their Savings Accounts by up to 69%. Most of the savings account variants like DCB Elite, DCB Family, DCB Privilege, DCB Cashback etc. are impacted. The changes will take effect from 17 August 2020 i.e. exactly one month from now. Let’s dig deep into the details of this devaluation to know more.
Devaluation
Those who are not aware, DCB Bank used to provide cashback up to 1.6% on using their Visa debit card for spends, both online and offline. There was no restriction on the type of merchants for getting cashback. DCB Visa Cashback Debit Card used to give cashback for paying credit card bills, loading wallets and buying Mutual Funds too. This made this card really attractive as there was hardly any debit card in this segment which was this generous. Only caveat was that one has to maintain the average quarterly balance (AQB) in their savings account and there was a monthly and yearly cap on maximum cashback one can earn.
However starting 17 August 2020, the cashback rate has been reduced to 0.5% for all variants of DCB Savings Accounts. Below table summarizes the old and new cashback rate for various DCB Savings Accounts:
| Account Type | Old Cashback | New Cashback | Maximum Cashback |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCB Elite | 1.6% | 0.5% |
|
| DCB Family | 1.6% | 0.5% |
|
| DCB Privilege | 1.25% | 0.5% |
|
| DCB Cashback | 1.25% | 0.5% |
|
As evident from the table above, there has been a devaluation of 69% for DCB Elite & DCB Family Savings Accounts and 60% for DCB Privilege & DCB Cashback Savings Accounts.
Bottomline
Financial institutions are struggling with slowdown caused due to COVID19 and almost all banks have diminished offers and rewards on their credit and debit cards. DCB Bank seems to be in the same boat and sharp reduction in cashback on their savings accounts is really unfortunate.
I had a DCB Elite Savings Account and I used to settle my credit card bills using the DCB Cashback Debit Card on CRED to earn the cashback. However, when CRED stopped accepting Debit Cards for amounts less than Rs. 1 Lakh, I started utilizing DCB Cashback Debit Card for Mutual Funds purchase to enjoy 1.6% cashback. However the reduction in reward rate to 0.5% has really made me rethink this strategy. Maybe I will close my relationship with them as 0.5% cashback is really not worth the hassle of maintaining the account.
What are your views on this devaluation on DCB Bank Savings Accounts? What are you planning to do with your savings account with DCB Bank? What’s going to be your new strategy? Let me know in the comments below.
