The Incredible Uni Pay 1/3rd Card, Oct 2021 Review

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Uni Card has launched uni Pay 1/3rd Card, a Lifetime Free card (for now) and offers a decent 1% cashback if all the dues are paid full. Apart from 1% cashback, you have an option to pay all outstanding bills in three months, even without any extra interest.

PayU India’s former chief executive (CEO) and co-founder of Uni Card “Nitin Gupta” Only 3 in 100 Indians have a credit card. It would help if you had a credit score to get a credit and a credit/credit card for getting a credit score. Without a credit/credit card, your credit score(CIBIL) started with NIL, and this loop was not coming to an end till the fintech company started to offer credit cards or credit in terms of prepaid cards.

There is an excellent opportunity in the Indian market for credit/credit card growth. To tap the excellent opportunity, Three Entrepreneur has embarked on a journey to simplify the credit card application and approval process. The Nitin Gupta PayU India’s former chief executive (CEO) is joined by Prateek Jindal, who built Ola Money, and  Laxmikant Vyas, the former head of Bajaj Finance.

Uni Pay 1/3rd Card has been launched in partnership with  RBL Bank and Mauritius-based SBM Bank. This card is not typically a credit card, but the offering and benefits are similar to a credit card. The first Uni was launched in June 2021, and the company has claimed that they have issued 20,000 cards to date.

The Uni Card has a target to issue one million credit cards by the end of June 2022. So, I have decided to review this card. Here is the detailed review of the Uni Pay 1/3rd Card.


What’s Ahead

  1. Key Highlights
  2. Pros & Cons of Uni Pay 1/3rd Card
  3. Rates & Fees
  4. Why might you go for RBL Uni-Pay 1/3rd Card?
  5. Why might you want to go for another credit card?
  6. What are the better alternatives of Uni Pay 1/3rd Card?
  7. Eligibility Criteria
  8. How to Apply for?
  9. Bottom-line : Uni Pay 1/3rd Card Is Good-for You?

Uni Pay 1/3rd Card
Uni Pay 1/3rd Card


Key Highlights of Uni Pay 1/3rd Card

  • Its not Credit Card, It is a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) product.
  • No Annual fees ( Till Now)
  • No Joining Fees
  • 1%  discount on bill payment.
  • Bill can be split into 3-EMI at no extra cost/Interest.
  • Good Customer Support.
  • Only Late Fees, No Interest on late bill payment*.
  • Easy application and approval Process.

Pros & Cons of Uni Pay 1/3rd Card

Pros 👍 Cons❌
No Annual Fees No rewards points if you spilled bill in 3 months of EMI
No Joining Fees The wallet transaction is restricted because it is not a credit Card
1% Discount on timely bill payment. No Foreign transaction is allowed as per RBI guidelines.
Only Late Fees, No Interest on late bill payment*. You can withdraw Cash from Uni Card.
Good Customer Support. No Lounge access benefits.
Zomato pro for three months as welcome benefits. Rewards are still low compared to Entry Level Credit Card.

Full Review

Here is the full review of the Uni Pay 1/3rd Card (Uni-RBL Co-branded Card). This Prepaid card is issued to you by RBL Bank Limited in partnership with Uniorbit Technologies Pvt Ltd, known as Uni, as Co-Brand Partner of the RBL Bank.

Rates & Fees

Types of Charges Charges Amount
Joining Fees None for the beta user.
Annual Fees None for the beta user.
Balance Transfer Fees N/A
Foreign Transaction Fees N/A

Why might you go for RBL Uni Pay 1/3rd Card?

Here are the TOP 7 Benefits of Uni card that may attract you for its applications.

  1. No Joining Fee
  2. 1% Cashback on Bill Payment.
  3. Interest Free EMI
  4. Excellent customer support.
  5. The excellent Credit Limit.
  6. Transparency in transaction.
  7. Easy transaction control through App.

Here are all the benefits in detail.

(1). No Joining Fee

There are no No Joining Fee fees for Beta customers. If you apply for this Prepaid card today, you will not be charged joining fees. This is a limited period offer. The other Entry-level still charges joining and annual fees. If this card offers a No Joining Fee offer for unlimited time, this may cause the best headache for its competitor 😍.

(2). 1% Cashback on Bill Payment.

If you pay all the credit card bills at once post 30 days free credit, you will get a 1% discount on payment. 1% rewards shall be credited to your credit card statement.

The 1% cashback is still better than many entry-level credit cards issued in the industry.

(3). Interest Free EMI

You love No Cost EMI. Uni Card presents you NO COST EMI for three months. For Example, you spend Rs.30,000 in billing cycles, and then you can convert Rs.30,000 into three-month EMI without any interest charges.

However, if you opt for more than three months of EMI, interest charges may be levied.

Uni 1/3rd card is still in the beta stage, and There are no options to convert more than three months of EMI. The UNI Card shall introduce the 6,9,12 month EMI in the future.

(4). Excellent customer support.

The most important factor to evaluated new credit issuers is customer support. The support team makes customers an enjoyable experience. The American is known for its customer support.

UNI cards have 24X7 customer support. You can reach customer support through via WhatsApp, e-mail, and phone calls.

(5). The excellent Credit Limit

Most Credit card issuers give a low limit for the first credit card issuer or have no prior relationship with the Bank. However, UNI Card promises to issue a credit limit between Rs.20,000 to Rs. 6,00,000 that may be best for first-time customers.

Apart from the good initial credit limit, you can also apply credit limit enhancement after six months of card issuance.

(6). Transparency in transaction.

Nothing is hidden, and the Uni card promises 100% transparency in transactions. In any case, a charge or fee is applied to your credit statement without your information, and then you will get a 100% moneyback guarantee.

(7). Easy transaction control through App.

You can easily control the transaction limit, credit card limit, card switch on/off etc., in any case, you lose the card, you block or switch the card. By doing this, you prevent fraud on your card.


Why might you want to go for another credit card?

(1). No rewards points if you spilt bill in 3 month EMI

Uni Pay 1/3rd Card offers a 1% discount on Credit bill payment if the full dues amount is paid post 30 days free credit. However, if you cannot pay the full dues amount within the given time, you can convert it into 3 ( Three) months of free EMI. As a result of EMI conversion, the 1% discount on bill payment shall not be offered.

The Uni Pay 1/3rd Card features are similar to another Entry-level credit card like Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Amazon credit card, which also offers NO COST EMI to 3,6,9,12 months if you do shopping in Amazon. However, they also do not offer 5% cashback on EMI transactions.

Even if you claim 1% cashback, that will be too low compared to another entry-level credit card. The Uni card is also coming with Uni coins which will be added to 1% cashback. But in my opinion, these coins are not worth it like CRED coins.

(2). No forex spends allowed.

This card is prohibited from using for foreign transactions. Uni card is a Prepaid Card, so allowed for the transaction. This is the second disadvantage of the card, and you can not carry this card for your overseas spending.

(3). Currently, No 6, 9, 12 months EMI available.

The Uni Pay 1/3rd Card is still in the beta stage. This option is not yet available. Currently, they offer only 3 months of NO cost EMI. However, they are in the process of offering a longer EMI period.

(4). The credit limit is blocked if not used for 12 (twelve) months.

The credit limit/Loan provided at the time of card approval will be blocked if you do not use the continuous period of 12 months. After 12 months, you have to re-apply for activation. However, you will get SMS/E-mail from RBL Bank or Uni Card for the de-activation of the card. Below is the exact word from RBL Bank.

“The Cardholder at this moment acknowledges and agrees that if there is no Transaction for a consecutive period of one (1) year on the card, subject to the validity of the card, the card shall be made inactive by the Bank by sending a notice to the Cardholder.

The card can only be reactivated by the Bank after validations and requisite due diligence of the Cardholder, as stipulated by the Bank, from time to time.”

(5). No Lounge access available

Nowadays, most cards offer complimentary airport lounge access to its customer. Even Entry-level credit cards like Flipkart Axis Bank credit offer four lounge access every year to its Cardholder.


What are the better alternatives of Uni Pay 1/3rd Card?

The Uni Pay 1/3rd Card is not a Credit card. It’s a Prepaid Card, So we can not compare it with a Credit card. So, I have analyzed variously Prepaid that can provide you with a better value for your money spent. These include the following:

  1. Slice Super Card

Slice Super Card is also not a Credit card, and it’s also a Prepaid Card (Prepaid Payment Instruments). Garagepreneurs Internet Private Limited issues this card under the brand name ‘Slice’ with a partnership with  SBM Bank (India) Limited.

This card is also issued without charges ( No Joining & Annual fees) and offers up to 2% cashback on all transactions. Let’s compare the two-card and check who wins.

Types Uni Pay 1/3rd Card Slice Super Card
Joining Fees None None
Annual Fees None None
Welcome Benefits Zomato pro for three months None
Cashback 1% 2%
3 Month EMI Interest-Free Interest-Free
Credit Limit Rs.20,000 to Rs.6,00,000 Rs.20,000 to Rs.10,00,000
Long Period EMI Not Available ( Still in beta Stage) Available
Loading in Bank and Wallets Not Available Yes, You can do that.
Acceptance 99.95% of merchants across India that accept VISA cards 99.95% of merchants across India that accept VISA cards
Foreign Transaction Not Available Not Available
App Yes, Available with the Best features. Yes, Available with the Best features.
Lounge Access benefits None None
Comparison Sheet

From the above comparison, it is evident that Slice Super Card has the upper hand in terms of Cashback. Slice super card pays 2% cashback compared to Uni Pay 1/3rd Card, which pays only 1% cashback. Another disadvantage of Uni Pay 1/3rd Card is, you need to clear the full dues amount within the due date to get 1% cashback. However, in Slice Super Card, Cashback is given on the transaction amount, not in payment.

Slice Super Card limits are between Rs.20,000 to Rs.10,00,000, However, Uni Pay 1/3rd Card max card limit is capped to Rs.6,00,000 only.


Eligibility Criteria

The Eligibility Criteria are not so strict. Check below.

  • You age should be at least 18 year or more at the time of application.
  • You should be resident of India.
  • Your cities /address should be serviceable area of RBL bank/Uni Card
  • You should hold Valid PAN Card, Aadhar Card and Aadhar Linked mobile number.
  • The prior holding if credit card or CIBIL score is not required however, if you have prior history of credit card, your application shall be instantly approved.

While evaluating your application, RBL bank will make a soft inquiry on your credit profile to determine eligibility. It should be noted that soft inquiry impacts credit history scores. Nowadays, almost all the fintech companies are going to this method.

How to Apply for Uni Pay 1/3rd Card ?

The application and approval process is straightforward. You need to downloads Uni App from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store and follow the process mentioned in-app.

Uni pay currently uses CRIF ( Similar to CIBIL) to verify and check eligibility. Uni Pay normally will make a soft inquiry. And however, in some cases, a hard inquiry is also made through its NBFC partner (Liqui Loans).

After the eligibility is complete, you need to verify the KYC through your Aadhaar card and OTP generated through the Aadhaar card.

After the successful verification, Your virtual card will be instantly generated and will be ready to use. You can use the Uni app to control the transaction types, online transactions, ATM transactions, etc.

The physical card will be sent to you via courier and will reach you within 10 days.


Bottom-line : Uni Pay 1/3rd Card Is Good For You?

Uni Pay 1/3rd Card Card

As already discussed, Uni Pay 1/3rd Card is a Prepaid card is not a replacement for a Credit card. Also, the Cashback/Discount is not attractive. They offer 1% cashback if full payment is made within the due date.

However, if you cannot get a Credit card due to Credit history or other technical problems, you can apply for this card. You will have a chance to build your credit history and further apply for a credit card.

What do you think about Uni Pay 1/3rd Card? , share your take on this in the comment section below.

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