RCBC Visa Infinite: A Review
The RCBC Visa Infinite credit card is the bank’s entry in catering to the more affluent market.
What’s the RCBC Visa Infinite credit card?
Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 50.00 per mile to PHP 180.00 per mile
Annual Fee: PHP 6,000.00
Lounge Access: Unlimited free access to Marhaba/Skyview Airport Lounge for the Principal cardholder plus one travel companion, complimentary Priority Pass membership (paid access at US$27.00, waivable with at least US$1,500 spend)
Airlines Partner: Mabuhay Miles, Asia Miles, and Air Asia
Note: Since I prioritize earning miles, I reviewed the card using its potential to earn miles. However, the card’s basic rewards system is earning rewards points.
Why did I get it?
I’ll be honest. The only reason why I applied for the card was to find out how much of a metal card it really is, whether it’s similar to Citi’s Prestige credit card or to BDO’s World Elite Mastercard and the metal credit cards abroad.
Aside from that, no matter how much I look into the card, there’s really nothing that makes it stand out. All of the benefits that are under the Visa Infinite tier are likewise accessible through other banks’ credit cards of the same tier.
How did I apply for it?
Note: RCBC revamped their Visa Infinite credit card and released the metal core version on December 20, 2022.
October 29, 2022: I applied for the card online, accomplishing and submitting all the requirements. After realizing that the metal core version won’t be released anytime soon, I sent an email to RCBC’s customer service department and requested to cancel my application. I received a reply around a week after confirming the cancellation.
May 31, 2023, 9:26 a.m.: Received an SMS from RCBCBANKARD that they approved a credit card application. Since I don’t remember making any applications aside from the one last year, I immediately called customer service to ask about the source of my application. On the phone, the CSR informed me that I had 2 applications. Both were done online, one was rejected, and the other was approved. When I inquired about the date of application, she told me that she didn’t have access to it. Since I don’t think she could help me any further, I ended the call.
May 31, 2023, 10:46 a.m.: Still unconvinced, I sent an email to their customer care department detailing the same concerns.
June 6, 2023: Unfortunately, I got the same response that they’re unable to provide more information regarding my application “due to security reasons.” How could my case not be a security issue? Nevertheless, the CSR told me the approved card type. As for the matter of my application, I guess that’s a dead end. Nevertheless, I resorted to asking for a supervisor/manager to handle my concern. Does RCBC actually re-open/re-process previous applications?
June 11, 2023: It’s almost the 12 calendar days delivery deadline that they mentioned. I think I’ll call the bank to check on the status.
June 13, 2023: CSR confirmed via email that the approved application was the one from last year. Whew. Also called RCBC to ask about the delivery status. Card isn’t out for delivery yet, if it was, I would be receiving an SMS or something. Dami nang red flags ni RCBC simula palang!
June 18, 2023: Called the bank to inquire about delivery status. Card still not out for delivery.
June 26, 2023, 1:15 pm: Called the bank again. CSR mentioned that the card hasn’t been created. Asked for a supervisor. Supervisors weren’t available and were on a break. Requested for a callback by today.
June 26, 2023, 4:50 pm: Initiated another call since the bank hasn’t responded to my callback request. CSR I talked to this time mentioned that the card is now out for delivery and that it would take 5 banking days. Let’s see…
June 27, 2023: Received an SMS that the card is out for delivery but would take 12 – 16 calendar days.
July 4, 2023: Still no card in sight. Called CSR to tell them to no longer deliver the card if it’s not within the week.
July 6, 2023: Was finally able to talk to a supervisor. Same concerns, no resolution.
July 7, 2023: As expected, I received an SMS from RCBC. Of their card delivery failure. Okay, ayoko na. I’ve decided to cancel the card. But only after asking a supervisor or a higher-up to write me an incident report.
July 10, 2023: I received a call from their complaints officer and finally received my card after.
She called to explain why my card delivery was delayed. According to her, card creation took longer because the materials used to create the card ran out of stock. As for the delivery, she mentioned that their courier attempted to deliver on 3 different dates; except I received no SMS or call from their courier. After that, she asked if I wanted to re-activate my card so that they could deliver it tomorrow. Okay, one last chance since they gave me a better estimate than their 12 – 16 calendar days. Since I’ll be out on errands tomorrow, I told her to have it delivered by Wednesday instead.
15 minutes after our call ended, an LBC courier delivered the card to my office address, which is actually a few steps away from my home address or the delivery address on their records. See? Hindi address ko ung may problema since kilala talaga kami ng courier companies within the area.
Anyway, I hope someone from RCBC reads this post. I mean how hard can it be for a bank to inform the applicant beforehand that card delivery will be delayed because of card creation problems? It’s basically a less-than-3-minute thing to do!
Why I won’t be using it.
For one, RCBC’s Visa Infinite credit card is terrible for earning miles. Heck, even the rewards system for earning and redeeming airline miles can and will get messed up. In addition to that, the Welcome Rewards, annual Bonus Rewards, and international lounge access all have a caveat to them. Let me break them down one by one.
Earning Airline Miles (or even rewards points)
At first, those multipliers look tempting; but they’re really not as good as they look.
For example, at 1 Point for every PHP 30.00 spend, you would need to spend PHP 198,000.00 to get PHP 1,000.00 cash credits. This is more or less valued at 0.5% cashback. With BDO’s American Express Cashback credit card, you can get 1% cashback for all transactions, 2% cashback for foreign currency transactions. Sure, the RCBC Visa Infinite credit card can get you 1.5% to 2.5% cashback, but that’s assuming your transactions will always (or at least a majority to) fall under the multipliers.
Next, 1 Point is equivalent to 1 (RCBC) AIRMILE. However, it takes 5 (RCBC) AIRMILES to get 1 Mabuhay Mile, Asia Mile, or Air Asia rewards. This means you’ll be spending PHP 150.00 just to get 1 actual, airline mile. PHP 30.00 to PHP 50.00 per mile if you can get the x5 and x3 multiplier respectively. Even with the multipliers, this spend-to-miles ratio is basically the minimum of other cards such as BDO’s Diners Club (PHP 30.00/Asia Mile, PHP 15.00/Asia Mile for dining transactions), BPI’s Visa Signature (PHP 50.00/mile or lower during promos), Citi Prestige (PHP 17.00/mile on multiplier transactions), and even PNB’s PAL Mabuhay Miles credit cards.
And that’s not even the end of it! To redeem airline miles, you will have to enroll your RCBC Visa Infinite credit card into the AIRMILES program. However, unlike BDO’s American Express Platinum credit card (PHP 45.00 per mile), the earning system of your credit card will change.
Based on the table above, this means that moving forward, it will cost you PHP 180.00 just to earn 1 Mabuhay Mile, Asia Mile, or Air Asia Rewards. And that’s with retail transactions! It’s going to be a lot worse with other transaction types.
Participating in the Welcome Offer
The welcome offer comes with very tricky terms and conditions. If you read through it, clauses number 10 and 11 basically state that you cannot cancel or waive the annual fee of your Visa Infinite credit card for 2 years should you decide to redeem the welcome offer. Although you technically can, you will be asked to pay the equivalent of welcome offer received. Simply put, the welcome offer just amounts to PHP 9,000.00 instead of PHP 15,000.00 since you have to pay PHP 6,000.00 worth of annual fees for the 2nd year (since there’s free annual fee for the 1st year).
Note: Someone from a Facebook credit card group argued with me that spending 1M on the card can get you an annual fee waiver on top of the bonuses and that she supposedly saw it on the terms and conditions. Who knows? She hasn’t presented any screenshots herself. Great if she’s correct then! Though I doubt it.
Getting the Annual Bonus Rewards
Another tricky “benefit”. The 20,000 bonus rewards points is more or less worth PHP 3,000.00 cash credits. Aside from the whopping PHP 1,000,000.00 spend to get it, you would still need to pay PHP 6,000.00 annual fee. May as well just forget about this and try to go for annual fee reversal, no?
The Verdict? RCBC Visa Infinite isn’t that worth it
Overall, the card is downright disappointing. From the card benefits to the rewards system, there’s really nothing here that’s worth the PHP 6,000.00 annual fee. Even the bonuses aren’t real bonuses. Unless RCBC decides to make some changes on their Visa Infinite credit card with a metal core(!), I’d keep the card at the end of my list.
