Devaluation ICICI Bank Credit Cards Huge Devaluation Effective from 15th November 2024

[TechnoFinoTechnoFino is verified member.]

Now it's ICICI Bank's turn—they've joined the 2024 devaluation party. Here’s a simplified breakdown of the changes:

1. Utility & Insurance Capping:
   You will continue to earn reward points for utility and insurance spends up to Rs. 80,000 at the current earn rate on Rubyx and higher variant cards*.
   For Coral and lower variant cards**, the cap is Rs. 40,000 for both utility and insurance spends
2. Grocery Capping:
   Earn reward points for grocery and departmental store spends up to Rs. 40,000 per month on Rubyx or higher variant cards.
   The cap is Rs. 20,000 per month for Coral or lower variant cards.
3. No Reward Points on Government-Related Spends. (Fees on Emeralde private metal card - unclear)
4. Fuel Surcharge Waiver:
   Waiver applies to fuel spends up to Rs. 50,000 per month for all cards except ICICI Emeralde Private Metal.
   For the Emeralde Private Metal card, the waiver limit is Rs. 1,00,000 per month.
5. Spa Access Discontinued:
   Spa access through DreamFolks card is discontinued for all cards.
6. Exclusion of Rent, Government, and Education Payments:
   These payments are excluded from spend thresholds for annual fee reversal and milestone benefits on all cards.
7. Spend Threshold for Annual Fee Reversal Reduced to 10L:
   The threshold for annual fee reversal is reduced to Rs. 10 lakh per annum from Rs. 15 lakh for ICICI Emeralde and Emeralde Private Metal credit cards.
8. 1% Fee on Education Payments via Third Party:
   No fee for direct payments to schools or colleges, including international payments, but a 1% fee applies to education payments made through third-party apps. - applicable on all cards.
9. 1% Fee on Utility Transactions Over Rs. 50,000. - applicable on all cards.
10. 1% Fee on Fuel Transactions Over Rs. 10,000. - applicable on all cards.
11. Add-on Fee of Rs. 199:
    Supplementary cardholders will now have an annual fee of Rs. 199. - applicable on all cards.
12. INR 75K Quarterly Spend for Domestic Lounge Access:
    To enjoy complimentary airport lounge access, you need to spend Rs. 75,000 in the preceding quarter. - applicable for all cards except ICICI Emeralde and Emeralde Private Metal.

[*Coral or lower variant cards: ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank Platinum Credit Card, ICICI Bank Indiabulls Platinum Card, Instant Platinum Credit Card, ICICI Bank JPMC Platinum Visa Credit Card, ICICI Bank Indian Platinum Credit Card, ICICI Bank MasterCard Platinum chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank Unifare MasterCard Platinum Chip Transit Credit Card, ICICI Bank Instant Platinum Chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Platinum Credit Card, HPCL GOLD CARD ( SOLID GOLD ), ICICI Bank HPCL Airtel Master Gold, ICICI Bank HPCL Platinum Credit Card, HPCL GOLD ( SOLID GOLD ), ICICI Bank HPCL Titanium Credit Card, MASTER CARD HPCL SILVER ( STERLING SILVER ), ICICI Bank HPCL Platinum Chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Visa Contactless Credit Card, ICICI Bank HPCL Coral American Express Credit Card, ICICI HPCL CARD ( STERLING SILVER ), HPCL SMART GOLD ( SOLID GOLD ), ICICI Bank MasterCard Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured NRI Coral Credit Card,ICICI Bank NRI Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral RuPay Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank MasterCard Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank LeadtheNew Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral Contactless Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral American Express Credit Card, Coral Unsecured Credit Card, Coral Secured Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Coral MasterCard Credit Card, Manchester United Platinum Credit Card by ICICI Bank, Manchester United Signature Credit Card by ICICI Bank, Chennai Super Kings ICICI Bank Credit Card, ICICI Bank Parakram Credit Card, ICICI Bank Parakram Select Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Expressions Credit Card, ICICI Bank Expressions Secured Credit Card, ICICI Bank Expressions Credit Card, ICICI Bank Expressions Secured Credit Card]

[**Rubyx or higher variant cards: ICICI Bank Rubyx Visa Credit Card, ICICI Bank Rubyx RuPay Credit Card, ICICI Bank Rubyx Visa Credit Card, ICICI Rubyx Master PLT Chip Card, ICICI Rubyx PLT Credit Card (AMEX), ICICI Bank LeadtheNew Rubyx Credit Card, Rubyx Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Rubyx MasterCard Credit Card, Rubyx VISA expense card, ICICI Bank Sapphiro Visa Credit Card, ICICI Bank NRI Sapphiro Credit Card, ICICI Bank Sapphiro RuPay Credit Card, ICICI Bank Sapphiro VISA Credit Card, ICICI Sapphiro Master PLT Chip Card, ICICI Sapphiro Card (Amex), ICICI Bank LeadtheNew Sapphiro Credit Card, ICICI Bank NRI Sapphiro Credit Card, ICICI Bank Emeralde Visa Credit Card , ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card, ICICI Bank Emeralde Private]

Additionally, they've updated the late payment fees, interest rate (APR), and increased the markup fee to 2% for Emeralde and Emeralde Private Metal credit cards.


This devaluation is outrageous. ICICI Bank already offers one of the lowest reward rates across all their credit cards compared to other banks in the same category. Capping reward points for utility and government spends is understandable, but charging fees for add-on cards, even for super-premium cards like Emeralde private metal, is hard to justify. Now, customers need to spend Rs. 75K in a quarter to get complimentary lounge access, which is a very high requirement.

If you closely examine point 4 and point 10, ICICI Bank's hypocrisy becomes clear. They offer fuel surcharge waivers up to Rs. 50K for Coral and lower variant cards and Rs. 100K for Rubyx and higher variant cards, yet they charge an extra 1% fee for fuel spends over Rs. 10K. It’s absurd, and they haven't clarified whether this 1% fee applies to a single transaction over Rs. 10K or cumulative transactions exceeding that amount. Same with 1% extra fees on utility transactions, their t&c is not clear as usual.

Overall, this is a brutal devaluation. I hope people switch to other banks, as ICICI doesn't offer significant rewards on card spends anyway.

 

[thanix]

The day is not far away that only retail discretionary spends like fashion, restaurants only will earn reward points/fee waivers.

 

[hellobois]

The day is not far away that only retail discretionary spends like fashion, restaurants only will earn reward points/fee waivers.

That would be the peak of Kalyug for credit card holders....
That day India would become a capitalist economy....

 

[sunnykumar0013]

Bro… any idea if they devalued wealth world debit card and family debit card as well? No spend criteria was there for family debit card

 

[rogerthat]

Also, ICICI gave out Sapphiros left right and centre as LTF first under Alumni offers and then randomly for other cardholders. Corals and Rubyx were LTF for any random cardholder for a long time.

What did they (and us) expect would happen? That so many LTF cards would sustain their business model? This is only another example of the absolutely visionless, uneducated mediocrity that currently rules the top of Indian corporate. https://www.technofino.in/community...d-apex-full-details-review.32645/#post-812307

 

[LordSpymaster]

Yeah, true.

I had begun with the Coral via my MBA college, which went to RUBYX LTF when I just went and asked for it.

Then spent a lot on that to get a Sapphiro LTF which I only use for BMS BOGO and the occasional discount on a large appliance purchase (once every 18 months or so). Have kept my Netflix sub on the ICICI one to keep it active lol.

 

[shashankrt]

Now it's ICICI Bank's turn—they've joined the 2024 devaluation party. Here’s a simplified breakdown of the changes:

1. Utility & Insurance Capping:
   You will continue to earn reward points for utility and insurance spends up to Rs. 80,000 at the current earn rate on Rubyx and higher variant cards*.
   For Coral and lower variant cards**, the cap is Rs. 40,000 for both utility and insurance spends
2. Grocery Capping:
   Earn reward points for grocery and departmental store spends up to Rs. 40,000 per month on Rubyx or higher variant cards.
   The cap is Rs. 20,000 per month for Coral or lower variant cards.
3. No Reward Points on Government-Related Spends. (Fees on Emeralde private metal card - unclear)
4. Fuel Surcharge Waiver:
   Waiver applies to fuel spends up to Rs. 50,000 per month for all cards except ICICI Emeralde Private Metal.
   For the Emeralde Private Metal card, the waiver limit is Rs. 1,00,000 per month.
5. Spa Access Discontinued:
   Spa access through DreamFolks card is discontinued for all cards.
6. Exclusion of Rent, Government, and Education Payments:
   These payments are excluded from spend thresholds for annual fee reversal and milestone benefits on all cards.
7. Spend Threshold for Annual Fee Reversal Reduced to 10L:
   The threshold for annual fee reversal is reduced to Rs. 10 lakh per annum from Rs. 15 lakh for ICICI Emeralde and Emeralde Private Metal credit cards.
8. 1% Fee on Education Payments via Third Party:
   No fee for direct payments to schools or colleges, including international payments, but a 1% fee applies to education payments made through third-party apps. - applicable on all cards.
9. 1% Fee on Utility Transactions Over Rs. 50,000. - applicable on all cards.
10. 1% Fee on Fuel Transactions Over Rs. 10,000. - applicable on all cards.
11. Add-on Fee of Rs. 199:
    Supplementary cardholders will now have an annual fee of Rs. 199. - applicable on all cards.
12. INR 75K Quarterly Spend for Domestic Lounge Access:
    To enjoy complimentary airport lounge access, you need to spend Rs. 75,000 in the preceding quarter. - applicable for all cards except ICICI Emeralde and Emeralde Private Metal.

[*Coral or lower variant cards: ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank Platinum Credit Card, ICICI Bank Indiabulls Platinum Card, Instant Platinum Credit Card, ICICI Bank JPMC Platinum Visa Credit Card, ICICI Bank Indian Platinum Credit Card, ICICI Bank MasterCard Platinum chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank Unifare MasterCard Platinum Chip Transit Credit Card, ICICI Bank Instant Platinum Chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Platinum Credit Card, HPCL GOLD CARD ( SOLID GOLD ), ICICI Bank HPCL Airtel Master Gold, ICICI Bank HPCL Platinum Credit Card, HPCL GOLD ( SOLID GOLD ), ICICI Bank HPCL Titanium Credit Card, MASTER CARD HPCL SILVER ( STERLING SILVER ), ICICI Bank HPCL Platinum Chip Credit Card, ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Visa Contactless Credit Card, ICICI Bank HPCL Coral American Express Credit Card, ICICI HPCL CARD ( STERLING SILVER ), HPCL SMART GOLD ( SOLID GOLD ), ICICI Bank MasterCard Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured NRI Coral Credit Card,ICICI Bank NRI Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral RuPay Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank MasterCard Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank LeadtheNew Coral Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral Contactless Credit Card, ICICI Bank Coral American Express Credit Card, Coral Unsecured Credit Card, Coral Secured Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Coral MasterCard Credit Card, Manchester United Platinum Credit Card by ICICI Bank, Manchester United Signature Credit Card by ICICI Bank, Chennai Super Kings ICICI Bank Credit Card, ICICI Bank Parakram Credit Card, ICICI Bank Parakram Select Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Expressions Credit Card, ICICI Bank Expressions Secured Credit Card, ICICI Bank Expressions Credit Card, ICICI Bank Expressions Secured Credit Card]

[**Rubyx or higher variant cards: ICICI Bank Rubyx Visa Credit Card, ICICI Bank Rubyx RuPay Credit Card, ICICI Bank Rubyx Visa Credit Card, ICICI Rubyx Master PLT Chip Card, ICICI Rubyx PLT Credit Card (AMEX), ICICI Bank LeadtheNew Rubyx Credit Card, Rubyx Credit Card, ICICI Bank Secured Rubyx MasterCard Credit Card, Rubyx VISA expense card, ICICI Bank Sapphiro Visa Credit Card, ICICI Bank NRI Sapphiro Credit Card, ICICI Bank Sapphiro RuPay Credit Card, ICICI Bank Sapphiro VISA Credit Card, ICICI Sapphiro Master PLT Chip Card, ICICI Sapphiro Card (Amex), ICICI Bank LeadtheNew Sapphiro Credit Card, ICICI Bank NRI Sapphiro Credit Card, ICICI Bank Emeralde Visa Credit Card , ICICI Bank Emeralde Credit Card, ICICI Bank Emeralde Private]

Additionally, they've updated the late payment fees, interest rate (APR), and increased the markup fee to 2% for Emeralde and Emeralde Private Metal credit cards.


This devaluation is outrageous. ICICI Bank already offers one of the lowest reward rates across all their credit cards compared to other banks in the same category. Capping reward points for utility and government spends is understandable, but charging fees for add-on cards, even for super-premium cards like Emeralde private metal, is hard to justify. Now, customers need to spend Rs. 75K in a quarter to get complimentary lounge access, which is a very high requirement.

If you closely examine point 4 and point 10, ICICI Bank's hypocrisy becomes clear. They offer fuel surcharge waivers up to Rs. 50K for Coral and lower variant cards and Rs. 100K for Rubyx and higher variant cards, yet they charge an extra 1% fee for fuel spends over Rs. 10K. It’s absurd, and they haven't clarified whether this 1% fee applies to a single transaction over Rs. 10K or cumulative transactions exceeding that amount. Same with 1% extra fees on utility transactions, their t&c is not clear as usual.

Overall, this is a brutal devaluation. I hope people switch to other banks, as ICICI doesn't offer significant rewards on card spends anyway.

So basically the already useless cards are not even worth the plastic they are made of?

 

[desiviru]

while I'll mostly agree with the rest of your statement, everyone is not making money off the stock market, especially in FnO. Retail traders are losing money hand over fist in FnO. IIRC only 1% of traders made a profit above Rs. 1 Lakh in the last 3 years

Bro, that's what they make you believe to wipe out your privilege and rights as rich don't like others on the same table as them. Throughout my life I have exposed their hypocricy. If they are so concerned about people's money why their are betting apps of sports working, why Govt is licesing casinos? They should be stopped today itself. Why not close alchohol manufacturing, vending and distribution when it is dangerous for people. But these are run by corporates so won't be closed or rules amended while Stock markets don't have a single owner and there are thousands of brokers.

Jio is entering Financial sector and already RBI has started eating many Small banks to make way for their master and PayTM prime example of it as Shekhar Sharma didn't budge in front of Govt or Corporate terrorist like Ambani, Baja, Tata etc. Remember, a rich will never allow anyone to grow as it leads to compeitition. Ask Kishore Biyani who tried to fight cartels and they made him Zero and Future Retail lost every penny to greed of Ambani's Reliance Retail and Tata Retail. Yesterday people were going gaga over how clean a person Ratan was. Yes he was but Tata is not a clean group. Same Tata sells water for Rs.25. Many agri products had their prices shot up once Tata entered retail. They came to market to fight high price and then later they were managing pricing at their own will.

The only thing Govt, Corporates, Banks (Lgeal Terrorist) fear is rise of right people who talk about equality. In last 10 years in India, people first lost their voices and now power to protest and soon we will be living in stone age era where king asked to do and people followed command. It may not feel now but soon everyone will realize that how new techniques of slavery are being implemented where you will be needled but before that anesthesia will be given and you will say, nothing happening.

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

Meanwhile Hdfc Millenia in corner - I have 1L spends criteria but never got so much hate

on a side note - if your spends do cross 1L in quarter; spending on Millenia CC is 10x better than spending 75k on Icici cards🤣

Even though Millinea has 1L, it has got good reward structure. In ICICI case there are no decent reward structure and over the top they have devalued other things.

 

[drsel]

Even though Millinea has 1L, it has got good reward structure. In ICICI case there are no decent reward structure and over the top they have devalued other things.

But there are still lacs of suckers who still use ICICI cards without knowing anything about reward points

 

[talkwithfino]

Even though Millinea has 1L, it has got good reward structure. In ICICI case there are no decent reward structure and over the top they have devalued other things.

Yaa thts why I said spending 1L on Millenia is 10x better than Icici cards😆

 

[amit5ire]

Very true. Regulations kill a free economy. Bus sadly India acts like a capitalist country but really we are socialist to the core.

But, isnt it exact opposite in this (devaluation by ICICI) context? A bank following a pure capitalist approach of operating for profit!

 

[drsel]

But, isnt it exact opposite in this (devaluation by ICICI) context? A bank following a pure capitalist approach of operating for profit!

Operating for a profit is the job of the CEO of every Bank.
We need to take advantage of any benefits we can get otherwise dump the cards

 

[cardio_guy]

Woke up today morning and first thing to do was to call customer care and closed two Sapphiro add-on credit cards. Feeling relaxed and relieved.
Number of cards reduced by 2. Thanks ICICI

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

Woke up today morning and first thing to do was to call customer care and closed two Sapphiro add-on credit cards. Feeling relaxed and relieved.
Number of cards reduced by 2. Thanks ICICI

I am on my way to close couple of primary cards, will do it couple of days.

 

[amit5ire]

Already we are having on the quarterly 50000 with Axis and 20000 per month with IDFC, now ICICI has hit out of the park with 75K per quarter. Yes we will see less crowds at lounges because I use to see a lot of Rubyx, Coral, Sapphiro holders most of the times. But it’s tough for users.

My 2 cents on less crowds:
1. India is a very huge market of credit card users (Approx 11 crore, right now).
2. Even if a minuscule number of people (let us say 1%) end up being eligible for spend-based lounge access or for high-end credit cards, those number of credit card users will still be very high and even if a very tiny proportion of that end up before the lounge counters, that will still be enough to fill those lounges (which offers complimentary access) to the brink.
3. While there may not be crazy waiting lines / times, but expecting empty lounges may be unreal. At best, with these bank devaluations, one can expect to get admission at a complimentary lounge (provided, one is eligible, of course) with less waiting time but without any preferred seating options.

 

[SSV]

What ICICI essentially is saying :
Use ICICI cards only for "Instant Dicsounts" effectvie Nov15 2024 and forget about all other benefits.
For this, we dont need different costly and precious names like platinum, coral, rubyx, sapphiro, emeralde.. etc..

Any ICICI core LTF card is enough for this need..or a few..
End of ICICI cards... Actaully these are not good cards for spending anyway for a very long time..

The only USP of SPA access was also removed..

 

[SSV]

What ICICI is esseantially is saying :
Use ICICI cards only for "Instant Dicsounts" effectvie Nov15 2024 and forget about all other benefits.
For this, we dont need different costly and precious names like platinum, coral, rubyx, sapphiro, emeralde.. etc..

Any ICICI core LTF card (may be a few) is ( are) more than enough for the need..
End of ICICI cards... Actaully these are not good cards for spending anyway for a very long time..

The only USP of SPA access was also removed..

Actually a few months ago, they started removing SPA access from their product web pages and was discussed then by someone here..
it became true..

@BVC ..

Post in thread 'LTF ICICI Sapphiro Journey on Salary Criteria'

Aug 20, 2024

Did ICICI remove Airport SPA from all its cards ?

I don't see it on MMT Signature, Saphiro or Emerald page anymore

Yes, you are right .. it seems spa benefit is gone on emeralde pvc.. very sad to see this.
This is the only USP of emeralde.
I am on the road now.. I will find out once I come back to the city next week.
Thanks for pointing it out

• SSV

• 

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

Actaully a few months ago, they started removing SPA access from their producat web pages and was discussed then by someone here..
it became true..

@BVC ..

Post in thread 'LTF ICICI Sapphiro Journey on Salary Criteria'

Aug 20, 2024

Did ICICI remove Airport SPA from all its cards ?

I don't see it on MMT Signature, Saphiro or Emerald page anymore

Yes, you are right .. it seems spa benefit is gone on emeralde pvc.. very sad to see this.
This is the only USP of emeralde.
I am on the road now.. I will find out once I come back to the city next week.
Thanks for pointing it out

• SSV

• 

Even I was mentioning that Encalm didn't accept DF cards at Delhi Airport for Spa access. Till yesterday it was not official, now it became official that's it.

 

[BVCBVC is verified member.]

What ICICI is esseantially is saying :
Use ICICI cards only for "Instant Dicsounts" effectvie Nov15 2024 and forget about all other benefits.
For this, we dont need different costly and precious names like platinum, coral, rubyx, sapphiro, emeralde.. etc..

Any ICICI core LTF card (may be a few) is ( are) more than enough for this need..
End of ICICI cards... Actaully these are not good cards for spending anyway for a very long time..

The only USP of SPA access was also removed..

I guess even ICICI want the same from customers, use only for Instant discounts and basic credit card spending.

 

[cardio_guy]

Also ICICI, HDFC, Axis and SBI are servicing mass volume customer base. They will not afford to exclusive benefits for more time.
Only specialized banks those cater to premium customers will focus on luxury benefits of credit cards going forward.
Thinking from bank's side - because of mass adoption, providing free benefits to everyone is ideally impossible. They would had some calculations before rolling out offers and also when to stop them.
Now that a desired number or % of people have adopted credit cards, it's good time for them to withdraw additional benefits.

@BVC @SSV