Huge Update: HDFC Infinia – This Is Not Just a Devaluation – It's a Warning Sign

[TechnoFinoTechnoFino is verified member.]

For a long time, the TechnoFino Community expected that HDFC Infinia would eventually face some level of devaluation, most likely around 2026. That assumption was based on history, lifecycle patterns of premium cards, and how banks usually behave.

But what has surfaced now is far more serious than a routine devaluation.

An official HDFC Bank document, marked as internal yet publicly accessible on their website, reveals a major change in how Infinia credit cards will be retained going forward.

And yes - this is about card continuation, not just fee waiver.

What Has Changed?​

As per the document:

Effective from 1st Jan, 2026, To keep your HDFC Infinia credit card active, you must either:

• Spend ₹18,00,000 in a calendar year
Or
• Maintain a ₹1 crore+ relationship value with HDFC Bank

Failing this, the card can be reviewed / discontinued.

This is a fundamental shift.



Till now, premium card conversations revolved around:
• Joining fee
• Renewal fee
• Fee waivers

Now, the discussion has moved to:
"Do you even deserve to hold this card?"

Is This a New Concept?​

No. Not at all.

Banks in India - have been following this model quietly for years.

Almost every top-tier / invite-only credit card is not judged purely on:
• Your credit score
• Or your past loyalty

Instead, it is judged on how much total business you bring to the bank.

Ultra-premium cards are not highly profitable products on their own.
So banks compensate by demanding value elsewhere:

• High CASA balances
• Investments & relationship value
• Large annual spends (MDR income)

More spend = more MDR = more revenue.

This new Infinia rule simply makes that logic official and transparent.

Where It Really Starts Hurting​

Here is the biggest contradiction:

• Infinia annual fee waiver requires ~₹10L spends
• Infinia survival now requires ~₹18L spends

Which means:
Even if your fee is waived, your card is still not safe.

This puts many cardholders in an awkward position, especially those who:

• Got Lifetime Free Infinia
• Or use Infinia selectively, not as a primary card

A Small Reality Check (With a Smile)​

For years, TechnoFino members have been asking:

“How to get HDFC Infinia Lifetime Free?”

Looks like HDFC Bank finally answered:

Spend ₹18L every year or park ₹1 Cr with us.

Jokes aside, this is a very serious signal from the bank.

Will HDFC Really Enforce ₹18L Strictly?​

My honest assessment:

• Yes, HDFC will enforce this
• Maybe not aggressively from Day 1
• But ₹10–12L unofficial minimum spends will become standard practice

₹18L will remain the official benchmark, even if flexibility exists initially.

And once HDFC normalises this behavior, other banks will follow, silently first, officially later.

The Bigger Picture: This Is Not Just About Infinia​

This move hints at a larger shift in the Indian credit card ecosystem:

• Premium cards will slowly become relationship-locked products
• Holding multiple top-end cards across banks will get extremely difficult
• Banks will push customers to choose one primary ecosystem
• "Card collectors" will feel the heat first

In short:
Top-end credit cards will no longer be lifestyle products —
They will become loyalty contracts.

Final Thoughts​

This is not panic news.
But it is early warning news.

If you hold Infinia, plan your spends wisely.
If you aspire for Infinia, understand what you’re signing up for.
And if you hold multiple premium cards across banks - the coming years will demand hard choices.

We’ll keep tracking developments closely.
More updates soon - only on TechnoFino Community.

Original thread credit: @kumarvishwas

 

[nari]

Again I logged in with same mail-id, it started showing deleted member.

New power unlocked!

 

[theXfactor]

New power unlocked!

Bhoot . . .👻

 

[hender]

Again I logged in with same mail-id, it started showing deleted member.

Are you able to edit user name, if not the previous one, could be a new 🆕 one !

 

[iamdhamo]

Will they see jan to Dec spending instead of card calendar year?

I got my card around june

 

[indraneal89]

The internal document seems like it was deliberately left there for people to find and I suspect that the reality of how this is enforced will be far more nuanced than the hard limits that were quoted. HDFC is using psychology and marketing tactics to try and get more spending out of Infinia holders. They set a high enough anchor that it would catch attention and trigger loss aversion to wake people up.

Their customer segmentation will probably consider the fact that a regular spender spending say even 10-12l a year has the potential to grow in value over time and isn't worth alienating their relationship over it so a lot of discretion will go into who gets to keep the card.

I also think that it will be far, far harder to get a new Infinia or upgrade to it going forward. It's easier to prevent new issuance than tell a customer they can't have it anymore and risk losing their entire banking relationship.

 

[theXfactor]

The internal document seems like it was deliberately left there for people to find and I suspect that the reality of how this is enforced will be far more nuanced than the hard limits that were quoted. HDFC is using psychology and marketing tactics to try and get more spending out of Infinia holders. They set a high enough anchor that it would catch attention and trigger loss aversion to wake people up.

Their customer segmentation will probably consider the fact that a regular spender spending say even 10-12l a year has the potential to grow in value over time and isn't worth alienating their relationship over it so a lot of discretion will go into who gets to keep the card.

I also think that it will be far, far harder to get a new Infinia or upgrade to it going forward. It's easier to prevent new issuance than tell a customer they can't have it anymore and risk losing their entire banking relationship.

I kind of agree. They may not implement it for existing customers but may be for new issuances there could be a clause. Anyway, you never know.
Usually HDFC doesn’t touch their existing customers case in point Infinia/DCB plastic card holders. It’s far easier to move them to paid variant stating plastic is closed, renewals will be on Metal which is a paid variant. The point is HDFC is not known to do this sort of things.

 

[manojsahay]

This will set a very bad unprecedented example which other banks would follow. While I do understand that some reasonable spend should be made so that bank can sustain card and to avoid misuse for just lounge etc. but 18L is totally insane. If fee waiver criterion is 10L than 10L is fairly ok limit , 18L means someone would just spend 1.5L per month using a single card while it has restrictions on travel booking max accelerated points etc. I think if bank starts to implement we should bombard RBI with this ill practice of HDFC to blackmail customers .

 

[Aniket Sharma]

This will set a very bad unprecedented example which other banks would follow. While I do understand that some reasonable spend should be made so that bank can sustain card and to avoid misuse for just lounge etc. but 18L is totally insane. If fee waiver criterion is 10L than 10L is fairly ok limit , 18L means someone would just spend 1.5L per month using a single card while it has restrictions on travel booking max accelerated points etc. I think if bank starts to implement we should bombard RBI with this ill practice of HDFC to blackmail customers .

Bro, there so called internal policy will come into picture and will simply check your income docs as a part of re-verification as they do re-kyc and will cancel/downgrade your card for not being eligible for holding infinia, then what will you do?

 

[magnusfan]

Guys, we should stop all bearish discussions on the forum - be it realistic guesses!

I world like to think us as bulls here and as the great Dee Hock would say “until someone explicitly and repeatedly refuses a proposal, they are actually in the process of saying yes but may not realise it”

 

[theXfactor]

Bro, there so called internal policy will come into picture and will simply check your income docs as a part of re-verification as they do re-kyc and will cancel/downgrade your card for not being eligible for holding infinia, then what will you do?

I don't think this is really something banks will do in the name of internal policy etc. It would make the bank and their products unreliable and unviable. There's no limit to anything then. EVery month or fortnight they can check on the eligibility etc. It not how products like credit cards are sold. Bank relationship levels can be upgraded and downgraded because it's in their T&C and that's what we sign up for.
Anyways, there's probably a million permutations we can think of what banks can and can not do. Simply go back and see what was promised and what we signed up for....not aligned? then fight it out or just align.

 

[iamdhamo]

18L can be ok if no capping for smart buy or insurance payments

 

[Sobirvs]

18L can be ok if no capping for smart buy or insurance payments

I agree. I don't think they will agree on no capping for sure but If they increase the monthly accelerated points capping to 30k and they increase insurance spends pts to 25k/mo then it might be doable.

 

[x.xyz35]

Waiting for Forex offer,,,3 months ke 3.3L ka jugad ho jayega

 

[CCgeek]

As the wordings used are "spend promo", I only wish this means some the additional benefits/perk which Infinia wishes to offer on spends reaching 18L and not what is being discussed here😉

 

[Aniket Sharma]

As the wordings used are "spend promo", I only wish this means some the additional benefits/perk which Infinia wishes to offer on spends reaching 18L and not what is being discussed here😉

You very chalak bro

 

[theXfactor]

Don't confuse with spend promo it could be whatever...even that doc could just be an intentional drop to get ppl worked up and spend more.

Any material change to the card relationship can certainly be challenged. Banks can't upgrade (or even downgrade in that sense) your card without your consent because that's a material change. As per the Master Directions on Credit Card and Debit Card – Issuance and Conduct (effective 1 July 2022) RBI explicitly prohibits issuing credit cards or upgrading existing cards without the cardholder’s explicit consent. A downgrade is a material change in the product you hold, just as an upgrade is. Regulators treat product identity as part of the contract between the bank and the customer, not as something the bank can alter unilaterally without notice and consent.

 

[theXfactor]

Here is confirmation from bank. Hope that helps.

 

[harshitharlalka]

Here is confirmation from bank. Hope that helps.

Toh baat ye hui sahi ki zabardasti ka hi rona chal raha hai tf pe ek hafte se 😂

 

[gunik1123]

Don't confuse with spend promo it could be whatever...even that doc could just be an intentional drop to get ppl worked up and spend more.

Any material change to the card relationship can certainly be challenged. Banks can't upgrade (or even downgrade in that sense) your card without your consent because that's a material change. As per the Master Directions on Credit Card and Debit Card – Issuance and Conduct (effective 1 July 2022) RBI explicitly prohibits issuing credit cards or upgrading existing cards without the cardholder’s explicit consent. A downgrade is a material change in the product you hold, just as an upgrade is. Regulators treat product identity as part of the contract between the bank and the customer, not as something the bank can alter unilaterally without notice and consent.

this Master directions you had referred to multiple times is already been withdrawn from 27 Nov 2025. Now from 28 November 2025 new regulation comes into existence : As per Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Cards and Debit Cards:Issuance and Conduct) Directions, 2025 dated 28 November 2025 under clause 34 : Card-issuers shall not unilaterally upgrade credit cards and enhance credit limits. Explicit consent of the cardholder shall invariably be taken whenever there is / are any change/sin terms and conditions"

 

[theXfactor]

this Master directions you had referred to multiple times is already been withdrawn from 27 Nov 2025. Now from 28 November 2025 new regulation comes into existence : As per Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Cards and Debit Cards:Issuance and Conduct) Directions, 2025 dated 28 November 2025 under clause 34 : Card-issuers shall not unilaterally upgrade credit cards and enhance credit limits. Explicit consent of the cardholder shall invariably be taken whenever there is / are any change/sin terms and conditions"

That’s right, thanks for pointing to the latest. I could get that and also the direction issued in 2006. Basically explicit content of the card holder is required in case T&C changes. No unilateral upgrades and the same would apply to downgrades too.