Devaluation ICICI Bank Reduces iShop Limits, Majorly Impacting Emeralde Private Metal & Times Black Cards

[SubhankarSubhankar is verified member.]

We all know that when something seems "too good to be true," it usually doesn’t last long. We’ve seen this happen multiple times with other credit card-issuing banks, and now ICICI Bank has joined the list.


ICICI initially thrilled credit card enthusiasts by launching the iShop portal, offering accelerated reward points - similar to GiftEdge, TravelEdge, SmartBuy, and Rewards Multiplier from its competitors.


The key attractions?
​

• 6X reward points on flight bookings​
• 12X reward points on hotel bookings​
• 6X reward points on gift vouchers—including the highly sought-after Amazon Pay vouchers​

With a ₹1,00,000 monthly purchase limit and an impressive 15-18% return, this was a no-brainer for many. Other banks had already imposed strict limits and convenience fees on such benefits, making ICICI’s offer a dream come true for users.


This was particularly rewarding for cards like Emeralde Private Metal and Times Black. While the Emeralde Private Metal is an exclusive offering, the Times Black card was widely issued, making it accessible to many.

​

The Silent Devaluation​

However, in under two months, ICICI silently devalued the benefit, slashing the maximum purchase limit for Amazon Pay and Flipkart vouchers to just ₹12,000. This is a major letdown, especially for those who recently got the Times Black card, which comes with a hefty ₹20,000 joining and renewal fee.


While it’s understandable that the bank wanted to prevent potential catastrophic losses - something we’ve seen happen to its peers - this abrupt change has shaken customer trust in ICICI.

​

Planned Strategy or Poor Judgment?​

This move raises two possibilities:

​

1. A strategic bait-and-switch: ICICI may have planned this from the start, waiting to hit its internal targets (especially considering the poor initial response to the Times Black card). If so, it was a well-played marketing move.​
2. A miscalculated risk: If ICICI failed to anticipate the cost-to-opportunity ratio, it reflects poorly on the management’s competency—something we have questioned before with other banks.​

What do you think? Was this an intentional strategy or a miscalculation? Let us know in the comments.​

 

[Credit_Cards]

How will you recover 23600 joining fee and renewal fee every year?

Not every card should be boiled down to receiving recovering fee but Times will not have great renewal cycle for iShop focused users.

 

[drsel]

Not every card should be boiled down to receiving recovering fee but Times will not have great renewal cycle for iShop focused users.

Even with the joining benefits, recovering the joining fee of 23600 is almost impossible.

 

[Credit_Cards]

There are no renewal benefits at all, so why would anyone renew the card by paying a renewal fee of 23600?

Even with the joining benefits, recovering the joining fee of 23600 is almost impossible.

that is your view point, its not fact

 

[drsel]

that is your view point, its not fact

Alright how will you recover 23600 renewal fee?
So far no one has been able to answer that

 

[avijith7]

The ICICI Bank Times Black Credit Card may have good milestone benefits, but I agree with @drsel that since the fees of the card itself are so high, it becomes almost impossible to recover the fees if there is no renewal benefit. The only way one can try to recover the annual fees is through reaching the spending milestones, but to do that, one may be forced to manufacture artificial spends. Much better would be to just provide a renewal benefit to recover the fees, which is not there in this card.

 

[P3T3R_GOA]

In India, no bank operates ethically, and ICICI Bank is a prime example.

Totally agree with you. Two of the most unethical companies in India are ICICI and Reliance (thankfully they are not into banking).
In fact I always say the full form of ICICI is "I Cheat Indian Customers Indefinitely".
HDFC is "Highly Disfunctional Funny Clowns" (those of you who feel that Funny and Clowns are not the right words, are free to replace them with something better 😉 ).

usually, if the add-on card# and mobile# are different than that of primary then it's 10k each in case of Infinia. Not sure how EPM works.

I have an Infinia with an Ad on with the same number. In my case is the limit 10K total? Last month I purchased 2 Amazon Pay Vouchers of 5K each. Now I'm not getting the vouchers on GYFTR. Only Amazon Shopping Vouchers are showing up.

 

[Credit_Cards]

Alright how will you recover 23600 renewal fee?
So far no one has been able to answer that

It's not for you then, you should get EPM

 

[drsel]

It's not for you then, you should get EPM

Yes! EPM is the one to get for everyone

 

[pythonlover]

There are no renewal benefits at all, so why would anyone renew the card by paying a renewal fee of 23600?

Even with the joining benefits, recovering the joining fee of 23600 is almost impossible.

There are renewal benefits, same as joining benefits. 10k EMT voucher, 10k visa service, rest 4K vouchers of some brands and Zomato Gold. Then 10k Klook voucher on 2L milestone, airport transfer on 5L milestone and 10k Tata Cliq voucher on 10L milestone.



If one is travel oriented and spends 10L, they can easily recover the renewal fees.

 

[pythonlover]

Does the ICICI Times Black Credit Card have renewal/annual benefits for a card with such high renewal fees? What are the renewal benefits, since it is not mentioned anywhere?

Yes there are renewal benefits. They are same as joining benefits. See the above post.

 

[Credit_Cards]

There are renewal benefits, same as joining benefits. 10k EMT voucher, 10k visa service, rest 4K vouchers of some brands and Zomato Gold. Then 10k Klook voucher on 2L milestone, airport transfer on 5L milestone and 10k Tata Cliq voucher on 10L milestone.

View attachment 86542

If one is travel oriented and spends 10L, they can easily recover the renewal fees.

Thanks his comment even confused me, lesson learnt not to believe without verifying even from TF senior members

 

[drsel]

The ICICI Bank Times Black Credit Card may have good milestone benefits, but I agree with @drsel that since the fees of the card itself are so high, it becomes almost impossible to recover the fees if there is no renewal benefit. The only way one can try to recover the annual fees is through reaching the spending milestones, but to do that, one may be forced to manufacture artificial spends. Much better would be to just provide a renewal benefit to recover the fees, which is not there in this card.

There are renewal benefits--
10k luxury stay voucher is the main benefit ( but it's worth much less, like 10k Taj voucher market price is 6500)

So the joining / renewal benefits are worth less than 10000, certainly not 23600.

 

[amitagl27]

How will you recover 23600 joining fee and renewal fee every year?

Did not think of that yet 🙂
I still have to devise a strategy.

 

[drsel]

Did not think of that yet 🙂
I still have to devise a strategy.

The best bet for Times black holders is to push for an upgrade to Emerald private metal which is really worth it.

 

[theflash]

The best bet for Times black holders is to push for an upgrade to Emerald private metal which is really worth it.

But they won't give an upgrade that easily 🤔

 

[Adith]

There are no renewal benefits at all, so why would anyone renew the card by paying a renewal fee of 23600?

Even with the joining benefits, recovering the joining fee of 23600 is almost impossible.

First you mentioned there are no renewal benefits

There are renewal benefits, but somewhat different from the joining benefits.
10k stay voucher (worth 6500) instead of 10k EMT (worth 9000)

However the joining benefits are worth max 10000 and not 23600.
The renewal benefits are worth even less

Now you mention there are renewal benefits but they are different.

Can you quote an official info from where you found that the renewal benefits are different from joining benefits?


This is from the TnC doc that i downloaded directly from Times Black site



They themselves call the EMT voucher as a "Luxury Stay gift voucher" So where did the difference come from that you quoted 6000 value?

This is from ICICI website itself :


I agree that the benefits are only worth 9-10k out of the 23k fees but why the constant flipflopping and wrong info?

Here is a comment from @BVC mentioning renewal benefits

Post in thread 'ICICI Bank Times Black Credit Card Launched - Full Details & Review'

Feb 17, 2025

Hi Sumanta,
I wanted to know that 10k easemytrip voucher will be given on every card renewal year after paying fees?

I have answered this same question couples of time on the same thread, Please go through the thread again or look at screenshot below

Times Black ICICI Bank Credit Card | Perks & Rewards

Unlock exclusive rewards with the premium Times Black ICICI Bank Credit Card. Enjoy perks, travel benefits and rewards on every spend. Apply now to elevate your lifestyle.

www.icicibank.com

• BVC

• 

 

[vinrey287]

Alright how will you recover 23600 renewal fee?
So far no one has been able to answer that

This is my plan of using TB: Here I have discounted the RP by 5% considering that I can get ~5% disc using SBI CB or Amex cards.

Use	Monthly	Annual Usage	Reward P	(-5%)
Apay	12,000.00	144,000.00	17,280.00	10,080.00
Flipkart	5,000.00	60,000.00	7,200.00	4,200.00
Other	12,000.00	144,000.00	10,080.00	2,880.00
Total	29,000.00	348,000.00	34,560.00	17,160.00

For Other vouchers considering 7% on avg as they are available at discntd rates on other portals.
Considering 1:1 redemption i'm fine with paying the 23k fee and getting 10k renewal benefits if 12k monthly iShop limit stays intact.

 

[drsel]

This is my plan of using TB: Here I have discounted the RP by 5% considering that I can get ~5% disc using SBI CB or Amex cards.

Use	Monthly	Annual Usage	Reward P	(-5%)
Apay	12,000.00	144,000.00	17,280.00	10,080.00
Flipkart	5,000.00	60,000.00	7,200.00	4,200.00
Other	12,000.00	144,000.00	10,080.00	2,880.00
Total	29,000.00	348,000.00	34,560.00	17,160.00

Considering 1:1 redemption i'm fine with paying the 23k fee and getting 10k renewal benefits if 12k monthly iShop limit stays intact.

This is the answer I was looking for! Great strategy!!

 

[drsel]

First you mentioned there are no renewal benefits

Now you mention there are renewal benefits but they are different.

Can you quote an official info from where you found that the renewal benefits are different from joining benefits?


This is from the TnC doc that i downloaded directly from Times Black site
View attachment 86581

View attachment 86582
They themselves call the EMT voucher as a "Luxury Stay gift voucher" So where did the difference come from that you quoted 6000 value?

This is from ICICI website itself :
View attachment 86583

I agree that the benefits are only worth 9-10k out of the 23k fees but why the constant flipflopping and wrong info?

Here is a comment from @BVC mentioning renewal benefits

Post in thread 'ICICI Bank Times Black Credit Card Launched - Full Details & Review'

Feb 17, 2025

Hi Sumanta,
I wanted to know that 10k easemytrip voucher will be given on every card renewal year after paying fees?

I have answered this same question couples of time on the same thread, Please go through the thread again or look at screenshot below

Times Black ICICI Bank Credit Card | Perks & Rewards

Unlock exclusive rewards with the premium Times Black ICICI Bank Credit Card. Enjoy perks, travel benefits and rewards on every spend. Apply now to elevate your lifestyle.

www.icicibank.com

• BVC

• 

You are correct, thanks for bringing it to my notice.
I made the necessary corrections

 

[theXfactor]

This is my plan of using TB: Here I have discounted the RP by 5% considering that I can get ~5% disc using SBI CB or Amex cards.

Use	Monthly	Annual Usage	Reward P	(-5%)
Apay	12,000.00	144,000.00	17,280.00	10,080.00
Flipkart	5,000.00	60,000.00	7,200.00	4,200.00
Other	12,000.00	144,000.00	10,080.00	2,880.00
Total	29,000.00	348,000.00	34,560.00	17,160.00

For Other vouchers considering 7% on avg as they are available at discntd rates on other portals.
Considering 1:1 redemption i'm fine with paying the 23k fee and getting 10k renewal benefits if 12k monthly iShop limit stays intact.

It's good. I wonder why to slog it out just to get to the break-even or make marginal benefits over the fees. Not discouraging you or anyone but I'm thinking to myself why break our head just to figure how to recover the fees when we have other good cards available in the market for much lower fees that offer better benefits such as Axis Atlas, Amex Plat. Travel etc. Not even talking about Infinia, EPM or Amex Plat.