With ₹45k salary and HDFC salary account, you'll most likely get approved for an unsecured card. Try HDFC Millennia first. If you get rejected, then go the secured route. No point locking money unnecessarily.

Secured cards are a guaranteed path to building credit history, but they're not necessary if you qualify for unsecured. Think of secured cards as training wheels - useful if you need them, but skip them if you can ride without.

I started with ICICI secured card with ₹30k FD. After 6 months of perfect payment history, they offered to convert to unsecured and released my FD. Now I have ₹1.5L limit on regular card. Best decision I made - guaranteed approval and smooth upgrade path.

Don't waste your savings on secured card FD if you have decent income. That ₹50k in FD earning 5-6% could be invested in mutual funds earning 12%+. That's ₹3k vs ₹6k per year. Apply for unsecured, worst case you get rejected and THEN go for secured.

Secured vs unsecured affects credit score exactly the same way. CIBIL doesn't differentiate. So if you get a secured card and use it well, it builds your score just as effectively as unsecured card.

The HDFC salary account is your golden ticket. Banks LOVE giving cards to their own salary account holders. Walk into your branch, talk to the credit card sales person. High chance of instant approval for Millennia or MoneyBack.

Best secured card programs in India:

• HDFC: ₹25k-1L FD, 90% limit, converts after 12 months, FD earns 7%
• ICICI: ₹20k-1L FD, 100% limit, converts after 6-12 months
• Axis: ₹25k+ FD, 80% limit, converts after 12-18 months
• SBI: ₹25k+ FD, 90% limit, bit slower in conversion

All work well, choose based on your existing banking relationship.

The conversion from secured to unsecured is usually NOT automatic. Bank will send you an offer after 12-18 months if your usage is good. You can also call and request earlier. They check your payment history and if it's clean, they'll convert.

Just got HDFC Millennia last month with zero credit history, ₹40k salary. Applied online, video KYC, approved in 3 days with ₹1L limit. You don't need secured card with your salary.

Here's a middle path: Apply for an unsecured card. If approved - great! If rejected - get a secured card immediately and start building history. Don't worry too much about the inquiry from rejection, it's minor compared to the benefit of building credit.

Opportunity cost is real. That ₹50k in FD for secured card:
• FD interest: ₹3,500/year at 7%
• Same money in Nifty 50 index fund: ₹6,000-7,000/year on average

You're losing ₹3k annually by going secured. Only worth it if unsecured is genuinely not possible.

Pro tip: If you go the secured route, put the FD in a bank you DON'T have primary relationship with. Why? Because later you can use your primary bank for unsecured cards. More banks = more cards = higher total credit limit = lower utilization = better score.

SBI doesn't offer great secured cards tbh. Their process is slow and conversion takes forever. Stick to HDFC/ICICI/Axis for secured cards.

With -1 score, you're a clean slate. Some might say that's risky for banks, but honestly, banks are more scared of low scores (600-650) than no score. No history = no bad history. You have a decent shot at unsecured.

Check the pre-approved offers section in your HDFC banking app. If you see any card there, apply for that. Pre-approved = soft inquiry = no score impact even if rejected (which is rare for pre-approved offers).

Don't make this complicated. You have income, you have savings, you have salary account. Apply for a basic unsecured card. If you get it - problem solved. If you don't - secured card is always there as backup. But try unsecured first.

The interest on FD for secured cards is usually lower than regular FD rates. HDFC gives around 6% vs 7%+ for regular FD. Just something to keep in mind.