Getting the right credit card used to mean comparing annual fees, reward rates and perhaps lounge access. For a growing number of cardholders, it now involves something closer to portfolio management.
Which cards should you hold? Which one should pay for groceries, insurance, utilities or a large purchase? Should reward points be converted into airline miles or hotel points, or simply pay the credit card bill? When a card gets devalued, what should replace it? And when it is finally time to travel, which redemption gives the highest value?
A growing number of platforms and independent consultants now provide advice on these questions for a fee. Services vary considerably in scope and price. The Points Code, CardExpert, Ajay Awtaney, a credit card expert and founder of LiveFromALounge and 1A, among others, offer personalized advice on building and managing credit-card portfolios and maximizing rewards. Online platform SaveSage combines an app-based product with access to human experts, while FLIP app primarily uses technology to tell users which card from their existing portfolio is best for a particular transaction.
What are you paying for?
At the entry level, most platforms offer a one-time credit-card portfolio review or advice on which cards to use or add based on a customer’s spending pattern. Some also provide basic redemption guidance.
1A’s entry-level plan costs ₹999 and includes a one-time portfolio review over email. SaveSage charges ₹399 annually for its basic tech-led advisory plan, while access to human advisors costs ₹1,699 for one year. FLIP and Qubera offer basic advice for free through AI chat tools, with disclaimers that AI-generated recommendations may not always be accurate and should be cross-checked.
Personalized consultations can cost substantially more, typically ₹10,000-20,000, and are generally aimed at cardholders spending upwards of ₹20 lakh annually. The Points Code and 1A, for instance, charge about ₹10,000 for a portfolio-building and rewards-maximization strategy. The Points Code also offers a one-time redemption service for about ₹7,000, where customers are advised on how to best redeem their points.
Rohan Varshnei, co-founder of The Points Code, said one-time advice is typically more suitable for cardholders spending ₹20-40 lakh a year than an ongoing advisory programme.
“For cardholders spending around ₹20-25 lakh annually, rewards may be worth roughly ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh, depending on the cards and spending pattern. At this level, paying about ₹7,000-10,000 for one-time assistance will make sense, instead of paying a higher fee for ongoing card portfolio management," said Varshnei.
Premium advice
All programmes beyond these basic plans resemble wealth-management advisory, with periodic portfolio reviews, redemption planning and access to an advisor when the cardholder has a large purchase or travel plan. These services are mainly aimed at high net-worth individuals (HNIs) spending over ₹40 lakh annually through credit cards on discretionary spends.
The Points Code’s ongoing portfolio-management service costs 1% of annual card spends, capped at ₹1.5 lakh. 1A’s comparable plan costs ₹29,999 a year and includes six portfolio or redemption review calls, while CardExpert’s advanced advisory service for high spenders costs about ₹50,000. SaveSage’s highest-tier package costs about ₹15,000 for similar ongoing support.
Gajender Yadav, founder of 1A, said higher eligible spending generally creates more opportunities to earn points, but the value ultimately realised depends on the right strategy and redemption. “The net reward rate one can earn ranges from 5%-50% depending on how the rewards are redeemed. Extracting maximum value requires time and effort in researching cards, comparing reward structures, tracking programme changes and planning redemption,” said Yadav.
Who needs advice?
Whether you need an advisor mainly depends on your discretionary spending, the complexity of your card portfolio and the time you are willing to devote to managing it.
Someone spending ₹5-10 lakh annually, using one or two cards and primarily looking for cashback may have little need for paid advice. There may not be enough incremental reward available to recover a large advisory fee.
As spending increases, managing multiple cards becomes more complex. Cardholders need to track milestone benefits, monthly reward caps, conditions for annual-fee waivers, reward-transfer partners and airline and hotel loyalty programmes.
Varshnei said even here, paying an advisor isn't essential if you are willing to do the work yourself. “It’s not like we have access to any exclusive information. Younger users who use AI and are willing to spend the time can find 60-70% of this information themselves. Our main clientele are working professionals who want to optimise their rewards but don’t have the time to do all this research themselves.”
Do the math
The key question is not how much an advisor helps you earn in rewards, but how much additional value the advisor creates.
Say you have annual credit-card spends of ₹20 lakh-30 lakh and enjoy researching cards, tracking programme changes and finding award availability. With your own strategy, you earn rewards worth ₹70,000. You then pay ₹10,000 for advisory and earn rewards worth ₹1 lakh.
This may look like a good deal, but the advisor has actually added ₹30,000 of value, not ₹1 lakh. It is this incremental ₹30,000 that should be compared with the ₹10,000 fee.
“The relevant comparison is the additional value card users can realistically get over their existing approach, after card fees, transaction charges and the fee, alongside the convenience of ongoing support,” said Yadav. “A higher-priced membership will not be worthwhile for everyone.”
Ashish Lath, founder and chief executive of SaveSage, puts users into similar buckets. “Some are willing to take the cognitive load of consuming content, devising their own strategy and constantly tracking it, while others want the same value but don't find the time spent doing so worthwhile.”
Watch the incentives
Credit-card advisory is not regulated by any regulatory body, like Sebi's regulatory oversight for investment advisors. It is hence important that consumers understand what an advisor promises, how points are valued and how their financial information will be handled.
Potential conflicts of interest are another consideration. Some platforms earn referral commissions when users apply for recommended cards through their platform. Lath and Yadav said their platforms earn commissions on select cards, but maintained that these do not influence recommendations.
“It makes up less than 1% of our revenue. Our philosophy is to not give you a card where I make money. The idea is to give you the card which is best for you, and if I can make some money out of it, why not," said Lath.
CardExpert also contains affiliate links.
All the platforms Mint spoke to also confirmed that they don’t ask clients for their card or loyalty programme credentials, nor execute transactions on their behalf.
Credit-card users should not mistake these advisory services for a way to secure hard-to-get cards, exploit reward programmes through manufactured spending or maximise rewards regardless of the rules.
“We cannot guarantee approval or bypass a bank’s eligibility requirements for any card. We help customers identify cards appropriate for their profile and understand the application process, but approval, credit limits and underwriting remain entirely with the issuer,” said Yadav. Varshnei and Lath said the same applies to their respective services.
Experts say cardholders spending upwards of ₹15 lakh annually can typically extract 6-10% in travel rewards from premium credit cards. If you are unable to maximize the rewards on your own, some initial handholding from an advisor may help you build the right card portfolio and optimise how you earn and redeem rewards.