We consider rent payment as expense. It’s not something similar to a purchase. So, we don’t think too much about making any savings while paying rent. There is actually no way to save where the payment mode is cash. But because of digitalization and internet banking becoming popular, now many tenants are paying their rents through these digital channels. And most recently, because of pandemic the landlords are also preferring digital mode for accepting the rent payments.
What people normally do
Historically, we have considered online payment means transaction via net-banking (IMPS, NEFT, RTGS). UPI made digital payment very east. It replaced both online and card payments to some extent. With the apps like Google Pay or Phone Pay, one can make both online payment as well as paying to local merchants by just a tap on phone.
But all these are debit payments. Most people use any one of these when it comes to rent payment. As usual, there is no savings that one can make or even think of making out of these.
What can be done to save money
I always prefer to make any payment in credit. It has lot of benefits. Moreover, if making payments via credit card helps me save money then I must do that. Right?
But how?
There are several services/apps which you can use. They charge a very nominal fees, but that’s fine as long as your card gives you returns more than or equals to the service charge.
Following are just a few:
| Service/App | Charges |
| RedGirraffe | 0.39% + GST |
| NoBroker | 1% – 2% |
| Housing | 1.3% |
| CRED | ~1.5% |
There are plenty of cards where you can get a return rate more than these charges.
For example – I can get 3.25% return on my online spends with SimplyCLICK credit card.
How much you can save
Let’s say, you pay a rent of Rs. 15,000 per month. If you make this payment via RedGirraffe then they will charge you Rs. 69 as service charge.
But, you also get Rs. 487.50 (3.25% of 15,000) return on your card like this. So, your net savings becomes Rs. (487.50 – 69) = Rs. 418.50 per month.
If you calculate your annual savings, it’s more than Rs. 5,000. This is just based on a calculation of Rs. 15,000 rent payment. Higher your rent is, bigger is your savings. Isn’t that cool? Then, go for it.
Further maximize your savings
Apart from this, there are lot of exciting offers that are going on which can further boost your savings. For example – let’s see this ongoing RedGirraffe offer:
You can read the offer’s T&C which says you need to spend Rs. 20,000 for the 3 months to be eligible for Rs. 3,000 cashback. This is awesome!
So, you can get a Citibank credit card, if you don’t have it already, and start earning cashback from your next rent payments onwards.
Did you find this article helpful? Do you know any other tricks which can help save on rent payments? Please leave your comments below.
