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ICICI Bank Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card Launched | TechnoFino Review

ICICI Bank has launched the Emerald Private Metal Credit Card, which offers all the benefits of the ICICI Emerald Credit Card along with a few additional benefits.

Welcome Benefits:
  1. Taj Epicure membership for the first year. [You'll get one stay voucher with this]
  2. Receive 12,500 bonus reward points after annual fee payment each year.
  3. EazyDiner Prime membership (renewed annually).
Main Benefits:
  1. Unlimited golf games/lessons for the primary cardholder.
  2. Unlimited domestic airport lounge access using the Emerald Private Metal Credit Card for both the primary and add-on cardholders.
  3. Unlimited international airport lounge access using Priority Pass for both the primary and add-on cardholders.
  4. Buy one, get one free movie/event ticket from BookMyShow twice per month. Maximum Discount: Rs. 750 per ticket.
  5. Up to Rs. 12,000 refund for a maximum of 2 transactions per year on tickets booked exclusively with the Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card.
  6. Discounted markup fees: 2%.
  7. 1% fuel surcharge waiver for all transactions up to Rs. 4000. Maximum surcharges waiver - Rs. 1000 per statement cycle.
  8. No Extra Charges/Penalty For: Cash Withdrawal, Over limit, Late payment.
  9. You can get 3 complimentary add-on cards
Reward System:
Earn 6 reward points for every Rs. 200 spent.
No reward points on Tax Payment, Rent payments, EMI and Fuel purchases.

iShop Portal:
ICICI Bank has launched its accelerated rewards portal, iShop. You can book flights, hotels, or purchase gift vouchers on the iShop portal and get up to 36% value back.
Read more about the iShop Portal here: https://www.technofino.in/community...ts-portal-launched-upto-36-reward-rate.37913/

Flights: Earn 6X Reward Points – that’s 18 Reward Points for every ₹100 spent on flight bookings. (Reward Rate: 18%)
Gift Vouchers: Earn 6X Reward Points – that’s 18 Reward Points for every ₹100 spent on gift voucher purchases. (Reward Rate: 18%)
Hotels: Earn 12X Reward Points – that’s 36 Reward Points for every ₹100 spent on hotel bookings. (Reward Rate: 36%)

Reward Points Value:
Flight/Hotel Booking: 1 reward point = Rs. 1
iShop Portal Redemption: 1 reward point = Rs. 1
Gift Vouchers*: 1 reward point = Rs. 1
Rewards Catalogue [other products]: 1 reward point = Rs. 0.60
Statement Credit: 1 reward point = Rs. 0.40

*Brands' Gift Vouchers available under the 1:1 redemption ratio include:
  • Travel Category: MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, Yatra, ClearTrip, Hyaat, Marriott International, ITC Hotels, Taj Hotels.

    Screenshot 2023-11-29 at 9.01.14 PM-2.webp
  • Electronics: Apple
  • Luxury Brands: Tanishq, Mothercare [Luxe], G-Star Raw [Luxe], Giorgio Armani [Luxe], Emporio Armani [Luxe], Canali [Luxe], Coach [Luxe], Tumi [Luxe], Scotch & Soda [Luxe], Jimmy Choo [Luxe]
  • iShop Portal Redemption: You can redeem your reward points for flight booking, hotel booking and gift voucher purchase on iShop Portal.
There are many other brand vouchers available, but for those, you'll get a value of 1 reward point = ₹0.60. I think there are decent options available under the 1:1 redemption category. ITC, Hyatt, Marriott, Taj, and other travel-related vouchers are worth considering.
So, in terms of redemption options, I must say this is a decent card. If you want to book a flight or hotel, you should use the ICICI iShop portal—it’s similar to the HDFC Bank SmartBuy portal. However, I think iShop is better than HDFC SmartBuy for flight and hotel booking redemptions.
The main downside of the SmartBuy portal for flight or hotel bookings is that you can't use 100% reward points. However, with the ICICI Emeralde Private Metal Card on iShop, you can use 100% reward points for flight bookings and 90% reward points for hotel bookings.

Reward Rate:
iShop Portal: 3%
Gift Vouchers: 3%
Rewards Catalogue: 1.8%
Statement Credit: 1.2%

Reward Redemption:
You can redeem your ICICI Bank Reward Points on the iShop portal for booking flights, hotels, and gift vouchers. For flight bookings, you can use 100% reward points of the order value. For hotel bookings, you can use 90% reward points of the order, and for gift vouchers, you can use 50% reward points.

You can also redeem points across various categories, including movie and travel vouchers, lifestyle products, mobiles, appliances, statement credit, and more.

Redemption of reward points against the statement balance (cashback redemption) is capped at 50,000 reward points per statement cycle.

Reward Capping:
  • Reward Points earned on Insurance transaction will be capped at 5,000 Reward Points per statement cycle. [Spends required to reach maximum reward- Rs. 1,66,800]
  • Reward Points earned on grocery transaction will be capped at 1,000 Reward Points per statement cycle. [Spends required to reach maximum reward- Rs. 33,400]
  • Reward Points earned on Utilities transaction will be capped at 1,000 Reward Points per statement cycle. [Spends required to reach maximum reward- Rs. 33,400]
  • Reward Points earned on Education transaction will be capped at 1,000 Reward Points per statement cycle. [Spends required to reach maximum reward- Rs. 33,400]
  • Reward Points earned on iShop Portal transaction will be capped at 18,000 Bonus Reward Points per statement cycle.

Milestone Benefits:
Spend Rs. 8 lakhs per year and receive 2 air travel vouchers worth Rs. 3000 each (total Rs. 6000) from EaseMyTrip. Reward Rate: 0.75%.
Spends 4 Lakhs and get first EaseMyTrip voucher worth Rs. 3000/-
Spends 8 Lakhs and get your second EaseMyTrip voucher worth Rs. 3000/-

Charges:
Joining Fee: Rs. 12,499 + GST.
Annual Fee: Rs. 12,499 + GST.
Annual Fee Reversal Criteria: Spend Rs. 10 lakhs in the next card membership year to have your annual fee reversed.

Card Replacement Fees: Rs. 3500/-

Opinion:
The ICICI Bank Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card is the flagship credit card of ICICI Bank. When considering the reward rate, I must say this card offers decent value back on spending. Especially after they launched their accelerated reward portal, iShop, this card has become amazingly valuable.
You can earn a minimum of 18% from iShop and up to 36% in cash value. This is no doubt one of the best accelerated reward portals of recent times, I must say.
The main drawback is that ICICI Bank does not offer a reward points transfer feature like HDFC Bank or Axis Bank.
Typically, credit cards of this nature provide the option to transfer points. However, in this case, we can only redeem our reward points for travel bookings or brand gift vouchers.
They have recently added Air India Maharaja Club as a transfer partner, but their transfer rate is horribly low—you'll get 1 point = 0.166667 Maharaja Club Points. Everyone should avoid this option for now.
I hope ICICI Bank will address this issue and introduce better transfer partners soon.
You'll receive 12,500 reward points worth ₹12,500 on joining, so mathematically, you'll only need to pay the GST (Approx. ₹2,250/-) each year, similar to the SC Ultimate credit card.
Additionally, you'll receive Taj Epicure membership for the first year with this card, allowing you to enjoy a complimentary stay at a Taj hotel. This benefit can help offset your card's joining fees effectively.

Overall, this is a very good credit card. If you are seeking a premium credit card but don't plan to redeem your reward points for airline miles and instead prefer gift vouchers or flight/hotel bookings using reward points, then this credit card is for you.
 
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ICICI Bank has launched the Emerald Private Metal Credit Card, which offers all the benefits of the ICICI Emerald Credit Card along with a few additional benefits.

Welcome Benefits:
  1. Taj Epicure membership for the first year.
  2. Receive 25,000 bonus reward points after annual fee payment each year.
  3. EazyDiner Prime membership (renewed annually).
Main Benefits:
  1. Unlimited golf games/lessons for the primary cardholder.
  2. Unlimited domestic airport lounge access using the Emerald Private Metal Credit Card for both the primary and add-on cardholders.
  3. Unlimited international airport lounge access using Priority Pass for both the primary and add-on cardholders.
  4. Buy one, get one free movie/event ticket from BookMyShow twice per month. Maximum Discount: Rs. 750 per ticket.
  5. Up to Rs. 12,000 refund for a maximum of 2 transactions per year on tickets booked exclusively with the Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card.
  6. Discounted markup fees: 1.99%.
  7. 1% unlimited fuel surcharge waiver for all transactions up to Rs. 4000.
Reward System:
Earn 25 reward points for every Rs. 200 spent. No reward points on rent payments and fuel purchases. 1 reward point = Rs. 0.25. Reward Rate: 3.13%. Reward Redemption Fees: Rs. 99 + GST per redemption.

Milestone Benefits:
Spend Rs. 8 lakhs per year and receive 2 air travel vouchers worth Rs. 3000 each (total Rs. 6000) from EaseMyTrip. Reward Rate: 0.75%.

Charges:
Joining Fee: Rs. 12,499 + GST. Annual Fee: Rs. 12,499 + GST. Annual Fee Reversal Criteria: Spend Rs. 10 lakhs in the next card membership year to have your annual fee reversed.

Opinion:
The ICICI Bank Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card is the flagship credit card of ICICI Bank. When considering the reward rate, I must say this card offers decent value back on spending. The main drawback is that ICICI Bank does not offer a reward points transfer feature like HDFC Bank or Axis Bank.
Typically, credit cards of this nature provide the option to transfer points. However, in this case, we can only redeem our reward points for brand gift vouchers. I hope ICICI Bank will address this issue and introduce some transfer partners soon.
Additionally, ICICI Bank is planning to launch a co-branded credit card with Marriott, indicating their potential entry into the world of airline miles and hotel loyalty points.
Overall, this is a good credit card, unlike other gemstone cards, as it offers a better reward rate. If you are seeking a premium credit card but don't plan to redeem your reward points for airline miles and instead prefer gift vouchers, then this credit card is for you.
Hi Sumanta, is the Taj Epicure Membership only for the first year or the validity of the membership for 1 year?
 
And seems BMS devaluation happening soon on many cards. First all BMS vouchers are being removed from all Gift Edge portals. Now if this card being launched with only 2 BMS tickets up to 750 per month, old Emeralde is having 4 tickets up to 750 per month.
 
Its an old card. Available for private customers for quite some time now. Was given in Lieu of renewal of diamant card.
No
This is a new card , haven’t been issued to anyone as of now.
I have checked that .

It’s not yet launched , I tried applying last month , but the final page kept on saying logo not generated ( it was an offline application )
 
No
This is a new card , haven’t been issued to anyone as of now.
I have checked that .

It’s not yet launched , I tried applying last month , but the final page kept on saying logo not generated ( it was an offline application )
yup, this one is not launched. I think he is talking about plastic Emerald with 12k fees. This one is Metal Emeralde with 12.5k fees and both the cards have some different offerings.
 
icici doesnt have transfer partners on its cards unlike hdfc
which is the only differentiator
Mostly they are going to add few transfer partners
One being Emirates for sure , also icici is planning to introduce few Marriot cobranded cards may be they would add them as transfer partner too.
 
We will just wait and see,@TechnoFino Sumanta da will definitely make a video on this and we will get lot of insights.

For transfer partners, yes Emirates and Marriott (Cobranded also) transfer partners are also in the pipeline. As I already mentioned in forum somewhere MB is going to promoted in India soon with multiple partnerships.

Coming to future of Emirates co branded cards that's upto ICICI strategic decision. Hope they are coming to CC party pretty well, but little late. Not a problem we as a community will utilize and maximize the rewards in a legitimate way.
 
are they going to add emirates on plain emralde
because the value of the co branded cards will go down then
Yeah
This card would have multiple transfer partners , starting with vistara , Emirates and other FFP and some hotel loyality program as well.
ICICI would soon do a complete revamp of their reward structures .
 

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