ICICI Bank Times Black Credit Card Launched - Full Details & Review

[Dobbiee]

Ha ha ha.

I know that I am not eligible for LTF super premium cards of ICICI. Have already been denied incase of EPM. (Eligible for Sapphiro LTF, but not taking that).
But still no harm in trying for this.
Will update.

@V360 @theXfactor

Took some time to come back.
Was trying to understand the possibility of LTF Times Black through RM.
Being a new launch and positioned as Super Premium card, they are not considering it to be LTF as of now.
The trick to apply and negotiate for LTF may not work at this point of time.
Even if someone is in a wealth relationship, the chances are low.
Cant say about people who already have Private Banking relationship with very high TRV.

 

[Venkata Ramesh C V]

Seems ICICI has started issuing plastic cards now. A known person got this in application approved email from ICICI.

 

[BhaiyaJi]

Seems ICICI has started issuing plastic cards now. A known person got this in application approved email from ICICI.

Printing press ka metal khatum ho gaya lag raha.

 

[theXfactor]

Seems ICICI has started issuing plastic cards now. A known person got this in application approved email from ICICI.

This is the last thing expected of a 20K+ card.

 

[clark_kent]

Seems ICICI has started issuing plastic cards now. A known person got this in application approved email from ICICI.

The message is not clear(maybe they are talking about the plastic wrap😀). I have the same approval email and got the metal card delivered today.

 

[clark_kent]

Full message here.

 

[theXfactor]

Full message here.

You may like to update here once you have received the card

 

[BeingIncog]

Full message here.

Generic template doesn't mean anything.

 

[kpdjk]

I have received my Times Black card. I've still not decided whether to activate it or cancel it. Lot has been spoken on its drawbacks. But, it seems to work for me due to the high capping on utility and government spends. I run a business and can benefit from this.

But again, a lot has been written about ICICI's behaviour of blocking Amazon Pay card cashback for business use. My fear is that l'll be screwed if they block the rewards after taking such a high fee due to business use (genuine BTW). What would you guys advise someone like me?

 

[Dr.Anand456]

I have received my Times Black card. I've still not decided whether to activate it or cancel it. Lot has been spoken on its drawbacks. But, it seems to work for me due to the high capping on utility and government spends. I run a business and can benefit from this.

But again, a lot has been written about ICICI's behaviour of blocking Amazon Pay card cashback for business use. My fear is that l'll be screwed if they block the rewards after taking such a high fee due to business use (genuine BTW). What would you guys advise someone like me?

You can try for a year.

 

[kpdjk]

Below is what the T&Cs say:

The Credit Card is issued for personal expenses and purposes only. The
Cardholder must not use the Credit Card to purchase anything for resale, for
commercial or business-related purposes in any manner whatsoever. The Credit
Card should be used only for lawful, bona fide personal purposes and must not
be used for any money laundering, anti-social or speculative activities or must not
be exploited commercially in business (example for working capital purposes).

Should I still give it a try for an year, at the risk of wasting 20k bucks? Are they expected to be strict on this? Especially given the high fees and high capping?

 

[Dr.Anand456]

Below is what the T&Cs say:

The Credit Card is issued for personal expenses and purposes only. The
Cardholder must not use the Credit Card to purchase anything for resale, for
commercial or business-related purposes in any manner whatsoever. The Credit
Card should be used only for lawful, bona fide personal purposes and must not
be used for any money laundering, anti-social or speculative activities or must not
be exploited commercially in business (example for working capital purposes).

Should I still give it a try for an year, at the risk of wasting 20k bucks? Are they expected to be strict on this? Especially given the high fees and high capping?

Please note that credit cards are primarily designed for personal use. Since this is a premium card, spending ₹25 lakhs purely for personal use is nearly impossible for 99% of people. Therefore, I hope the bank allows you to use the card for some of your business expenses, as long as the card is not excessively misused.

If you plan to use this card mainly for utility payments and government-related transactions, there should not be any issue, in my opinion. Additionally, the bank has already set limits on these categories to prevent misuse.

As for the ₹20,000 joining fee, you need to assess whether you are comfortable paying such a high fee.

 

[kpdjk]

Yeah... I can pay the high fee. In fact, I can reach the monthly capping in either categories individually, every month.

 

[Nishan11]

I have received my Times Black card. I've still not decided whether to activate it or cancel it. Lot has been spoken on its drawbacks. But, it seems to work for me due to the high capping on utility and government spends. I run a business and can benefit from this.

But again, a lot has been written about ICICI's behaviour of blocking Amazon Pay card cashback for business use. My fear is that l'll be screwed if they block the rewards after taking such a high fee due to business use (genuine BTW). What would you guys advise someone like me?

If you have genuine spend, then you can take it. You can achieve most of the milestone too with your business spends.

In my opinion, this card is marketed as super premium card by icici & I don't think they will block any rewards if spends are genuine, because they will also want to see high spends on this card, unless people use this to buy fuel/gadgets/appliances or similar items in bulk continuously for 3-4 months.

I don't know about your business but if you can use this card carefully with not going overboard for consecutive months, you can mint some cool rewards.

 

[BeingIncog]

they will block and replace lol.
i already request card closure request on last friday.
hopefully doesn't get activated in the process.
little scary situation. it think.
😭😭😭
just want to collect physical card, nothing else.

received physical card replacement yesterday, and mail regarding both are cancelled.

 

[kpdjk]

If you have genuine spend, then you can take it. You can achieve most of the milestone too with your business spends.

In my opinion, this card is marketed as super premium card by icici & I don't think they will block any rewards if spends are genuine, because they will also want to see high spends on this card, unless people use this to buy fuel/gadgets/appliances or similar items in bulk continuously for 3-4 months.

I don't know about your business but if you can use this card carefully with not going overboard for consecutive months, you can mint some cool rewards.

What do you mean by going overboard? I plan to pay TDS and utility bills amounting to 2.5L (because that's the ceiling) every month. My limit is 525k since September and I plan to ask for an LE.

 

[sidp]

Below is what the T&Cs say:

This is written in tnc of every personal cc. If you do business transactions, it's not genuine anymore. Technically this is "cheating". You can get fined or even jail term. They can report it to cic, which will make it impossible to take any personal credit in future.

But banks don't go to this extent. They dont want to waste so much resource and pr will be disastrous. At most They will reverse the rps and block the cc.

Anyone wants to use personal cc for business purpose should follow "sir humphrey appleby 's" advice:
"If you want to do this damn silly thing, don't do this in damn silly way."

1. Either use /transfer the rps as soon as they get ccredited.as Joining benefits mostly offset jf, even if they block your rp, your loss is limited.
2. Don't use the cc only for this. Put some genuine spends. Don't use it on same merchant a dozen time a month or 20-30 times in the same merchant category every month. This is why traders gets caught fast. As you are going to use on utility/govt, the frequency shouldn't be that high.

 

[Nishan11]

What do you mean by going overboard? I plan to pay TDS and utility bills amounting to 2.5L (because that's the ceiling) every month. My limit is 525k since September and I plan to ask for an LE.

If you pay utility bill of such amount every month, it may be issue in long run.

Because it will not be seen as personal expenses. It will be a risk.

 

[kpdjk]

This is written in tnc of every personal cc. If

Not in HDFC and Amex if I read it fully and correctly

 

[sidp]

Not in HDFC and Amex if I read it fully and correctly

It is in tnc of every personal cc. Check tnc or fair use policy. Rbi even wants to hdfc to stop issuing business cc under personal pan. But as the policy isn't clear, hdfc can.