Hands on experience with BOB Eterna Credit Card

Bank of Baroda recently launched couple of new credit cards with Eterna being the premium variant given to the general public. I recently got the card and here’s my detailed experience about the same.

This article covers only my onboarding experience, if you’re looking for the features & benefits, check out: BOB Eterna Credit Card review

Application Process

As soon as I decided to get the card, I shared my details online, which basically captures your data and shares it with the closest region handling online applications, need not be the nearest branch though.

After about ~2 weeks of sharing details online, I got the call for applying without opening bank a/c.

I shared all required documents and the physical verification was done a week later. Its odd to see the verification guy taking a snapshot of the home (exterior).

Verification went through but the card was “not approved due to internal policies”. It actually got stuck in an issue that caused this.

The issue was some policy change, which now asks for BOB savings ac for new applications.

I started escalating and got it sorted. So they re-checked CIBIL for 2nd time and then the card got delivered within a week of approval.

Note: Some users are getting fully digital application process too via Video KYC.

Credit Limit

It came with a decent credit limit in the usual range given for any Premium credit card.

While the credit limit is lot lesser than my other super premium cards, it is sufficient to begin the journey with.

Unboxing

The Blue dart guy called me saying “Sir, you’ve got a new card from Mastercard”. Basically Mastercard branding is heavily done on the outer package.

The card comes in a box (that’s not so intact) with a wallet holder. Here are some snaps of the package and the card:

Its all good, except that I wish the wallet was in black colour. It’s actually more of a passport holder to use while travelling, than a wallet to store multiple cards.

I feel it’s bit bigger to hold and wander in airport. May keep your passport & ticket safe though. Good attempt anyway!

The Card

The Eterna Credit card has some shiny elements in blue colour, which I scratched by mistake while I was trying to get rid of the glue on it. You may not notice it much on image though.

The card has a clean design with numbers at the back. It looks decent in reality but lacks the WOW feeling.They should have picked a better colour here as this greenish look isn’t that great.

Add-On card

I applied Add-on card on netbanking but it doesn’t work as expected. So I had to send the docs again to email support to get it processed.

It takes about a week for them to process. Expect the card in hand in under 2 weeks of applying.

Add-on card comes with an elegant & beautiful hard cover box, unlike the one I got for the primary card, which were meant only for those with wallet, anyway.

Here are some snaps:

Net Banking

You can manage your credit card via Bobcards online portal. It’s not feature rich, but you can get basic things done like:

• View statements
• Unbilled txns
• View reward points and
• Redeem points for cash credit in a click (not realtime credit though)

You don’t have a mobile app. But you may use the net-banking on mobile interface and it works pretty well. 

The requests made on portal takes long time to get a response. That brings me to the next most important aspect of the product.

Service and support

Customer care is almost non-existent. Here is what I experienced:

1. Phone Support: The dedicated toll free 24/7 Eterna support line (1800 103 1002) connects directly to executive and is better than regular support.
2. Email Support: The dedicated Eterna email support is far better than the regular support with less robotic response. Response time is about 2-3 days.
3. Social media support: They just take your details and “share with the team” but nothing actually happens. Hope this improves in future.

Generally, if there is an issue with reward points or others, expect it to get auto resolved in a month.

Things to note

1. Milestone Rewards: 10K Points as milestone rewards (on spending 50K INR in 60 days) gets added on first statement itslef. Good work on that.
2. Joining Fee Waiver: The joining fee reversal gets reflected on the next stmt. as long as the required criteria is met.
3. Bonus rewards: Accelerated rewards like 5X gets added in real-time and will reflect on next stmt. for redemption. Expect stmt. to be generated within 3 business days of the next month.
4. Add-on card: Its better to apply via eterna email support.
5. Points Redemption: It takes a week for the team to process your redemption request once you place request on portal.

So you’ll have to wait a month to check if the bonus rewards gets credited properly. I wish it syncs on the portal real-time as well, just like how HDFC shows reward points on unbilled txns as well.

Paying the Bills

BOBCards billing is done for calendar month and the bill is generated by 1st of every month.

Once the stmt is generated you’ll get the stmt email with the ability to pay the bill through various payment modes: this also includes debit cards.

And yes, you may grab the points on debit cards for paying the bill. I checked using IndusInd debit card and works well.

How to Apply?

You may apply Bank of Baroda Eterna Credit card offline through branch (or) through the online portal using the referral link below:

Bottomline

Overall it’s a good product with the kind of value it offers. I’m surprised to see BOB trying new things to make customers happy, by sending a wallet along with the card (only for first few customers though).

But there is no point in adding glamour without meeting the basic needs of the customer, like no clear timeline for fulfilment of offers and when coupled with non so instant customer support it makes things worse.

I wish the dedicated email/phone support gets faster & better in future. Else, there is no point in selling a premium product. 

Feel free to follow us on Facebook, so you will know instantly once I post updates on the pending queries raised.

Do you have BOB ETERNA or other Bob cards? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.