Add On Card

An add-on card (also called a supplementary credit card or secondary card) is an additional credit card issued on the primary cardholder's existing credit card account — provided to a family member such as a spouse, parent, sibling, or child above 18 years — sharing the same credit limit as the primary card. The primary cardholder retains full financial responsibility for all transactions made on both the primary and add-on cards — outstanding balances, minimum payment obligations, and credit limit utilisation are consolidated under the primary account. Add-on cards are widely offered by Indian banks and card issuers including HDFC Bank, SBI Card, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank — typically at no additional annual fee or a nominal supplementary card fee. Benefits of add-on cards include: convenience of cashless spending for family members who may not qualify for their own credit card, shared reward points accumulation (all transactions on both cards earn points for the primary holder), consolidated spending visibility through a single account statement, and emergency credit access for family members while traveling. For financial planning purposes, add-on card spending directly affects the primary cardholder's credit utilisation ratio — a high combined utilisation from multiple add-on cards can adversely impact the primary holder's CIBIL score. Primary cardholders should monitor add-on card spending through the issuer's app to manage credit utilisation and ensure timely full payment of consolidated outstanding balances.