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IDFC First Bank Debit Card Rewards Mess – Customers Harassed for Bank’s Mistake?

5 saal tak IDFC First Bank ne mujhe free stress management training di with their internal policies & social media drama ab IndusInd Pioneer shift kar diya IDFC ka chapter officially khatam stress free banking chindi chor cards
 
2025 said:
Yes.
I think a better business decision for idfc would have been continue that reward from zero rupees with reward rate 0.5% for classic, 1% for Select, 1.5% for wealth, and 2.0% for Private in all mcc excluding debt re-payment upto Rs. 500, 1000, 3000, 5000 monthly cap.

They would have earned that much by CASA interest savings.
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Yeah they would have done that. Capping or Reducing the benefit would be wise.
They are not even giving everything for free, people are maintaining lakhs in savings account to keep their wealth status.
Account blocking, rewards blocking are the cheap tactics, people loose trust in idfc ,why would anyone keep balance in their accs anymore if there is no safety.
 
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One of our members reported that his account was frozen and he was asked to visit the branch. When he went today, the branch manager questioned him about transactions made since January 2025. In the end, they asked him to close the account. He had around 40,000 reward points, which are now gone. It seems the ultimate motive of this bank is to somehow prevent customers from redeeming their reward points.
 
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Copycat said:
While I understand your angst, Sumanta, on certain points you are flat out wrong. A bank has every right to block transactions at a certain merchant if its internal risk assessment mechanisms indicate something suspicious. I did check the Zavo reviews on PlayStore, and while I can see 4.7 stars a very simple scan through the reviews will reveal something. I don't work for a bank, but I work in an industry that banks use a lot. And I'm more than 90% certain, the risk modelling team at the bank, with their automated systems, will have picked up what took me less than 5 minutes in a manual scan. Go and check it yourself.

Your next point is a bit silly. Did someone force you to keep your money in IDFC? If you don't like the fact that they are blocking Zavo, take your money elsewhere and use Zavo all you want. We're still a free country the last time I checked. No one is forcing you to use IDFC First bank. As a customer, you cannot dictate terms to the bank, particularly when it has the fullest backing of the RBI as far as risk mechanisms are concerned

And if you really believe that the bank is wrong on this point, why haven't you filed a complaint with the ombudsman yet? If you have already, do post it, please, and keep us updated about the progress



Another silly argument. Customers use these apps, after knowing that the MCC is wrong, and that the bank can take back rewards. So isn't the customer at fault here when the customer made the decision to play with fire? Are if you're about to argue that customers don't know the MCC is wrong, then I think you really don't know what's going on in the forum run by you
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TechnoFino said:
One of our members reported that his account was frozen and he was asked to visit the branch. When he went today, the branch manager questioned him about transactions made since January 2025. In the end, they asked him to close the account. He had around 40,000 reward points, which are now gone. It seems the ultimate motive of this bank is to somehow prevent customers from redeeming their reward points.
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A small question. Did that member shared how much reward points did he/she redeemed since January 2025? Offcourse if that member agrees and comfortable sharing truthfully.
 
TechnoFino said:
One of our members reported that his account was frozen and he was asked to visit the branch. When he went today, the branch manager questioned him about transactions made since January 2025. In the end, they asked him to close the account. He had around 40,000 reward points, which are now gone. It seems the ultimate motive of this bank is to somehow prevent customers from redeeming their reward points.
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That person wasted so much time and energy to end up all points down the drain. What a waste.
It's a reminder to utilise the points and maintain negligible or min balance only, before banks screw you royally.
 
TechnoFino said:
Recently, the IDFC First Bank debit card became a hot topic in the rewards community. The reason? It had one of the most lucrative reward systems in force. Customers quickly discovered new ways to maximize these rewards across different types of payments.
In particular, many in the credit card community began paying lakhs of credit card bills using the IDFC First Bank debit card — earning about 2.5% value back. Crazy, right? Even the bank thought so. Soon, they imposed multiple MCC (merchant category code) restrictions to block rewards for credit card bill payments.
But as the saying goes: if there’s a will, there’s a way. People always find loopholes. That’s where fintech apps entered the scene.

​

Wrong MCC Tagging – A Known Scam​

If you remember, I had previously posted about how wrong MCC tagging is a common scam in India.
  • A grocery shop runs a POS machine categorized as a fuel station.
  • An online gift voucher platform shows up as a hotel merchant.
These mismatches aren’t “mistakes.” Payment gateway providers verify documents before assigning MCCs, so when this happens, they are 100% responsible. Yet, it’s the customers who suffer the consequences later.

​

The Current Problem​

After IDFC First Bank restricted several MCCs, some fintech apps began offering credit card bill payment via debit cards, using MCCs that weren’t blocked.
  • Customers paid lakhs of rupees in credit card bills.
  • In return, they earned lakhs worth of reward points.
And now comes the million-dollar question:
Whose fault is this? Customers? Absolutely not.

​

How IDFC Responded​

Instead of admitting the loophole, IDFC First Bank began calling customers and interrogating them:
  • “What is the source of your funds?”
  • “Are these business transactions?”
At first, these questions sound fine — a bank must ensure savings accounts aren’t misused for business purposes.
But then they went further. They started asking:
  • “Why did you use VI, Goodscore, etc. to pay your credit card bills? Why not CRED?”
Really? Now the bank will decide which app I should use to pay my own bills?
It didn’t stop there. They accused customers of exploiting rewards, pointed to their redemption history, and in some cases, froze accounts citing ‘suspicious activity.’ And if you’ve ever dealt with IDFC freezes, you know how tough it is — local branches barely help, and accounts remain frozen for weeks or months.

And they didn’t stop there. They went a step further and even blocked a few merchants. For example, when customers tried paying their credit card bills on Zavo, the transactions failed right after entering the OTP on the payment page. Imagine this — I have my own money in my bank account, but I can’t use it to pay my bill through Zavo. This feels like dictatorship, and I’m honestly surprised that no concerned authority has taken any action till now.

Serious Concerns That Arise​

  1. Why is IDFC First Bank forcing customers to use CRED while questioning them for using other legitimate apps like VI or Goodscore?
  2. A debit card is linked to our own money. Unless the government has restricted something, we should have full freedom to decide where we spend it. Where does IDFC First Bank get the authority to dictate which apps we can use?
  3. How can a bank block certain merchants when they are not illegal? Just because they have to give rewards, they can’t simply block a merchant.
This approach makes no sense. If IDFC doesn’t want rewards to be earned on certain apps, they should:
  • Impose more MCC restrictions, or
  • Shut down the debit card rewards program altogether.
But what they cannot do is harass customers who are simply using legal apps in India.

​

The Real Issue​

It looks like IDFC First Bank’s debit card product manager made a blunder by offering rewards at an unsustainably high rate. And now, instead of taking accountability, the bank is shifting the blame onto customers.

​

What You Can Do (Solution)​

If you have received such calls or had your account frozen by IDFC First Bank:
  • Write to IDFC’s Principal Nodal Officer (PNO) department.
  • Ask the same questions raised above.
  • Share this thread if needed as reference.
  • Demand a clear resolution.
If the bank still doesn’t resolve your issue, escalate further by filing a complaint with the RBI Banking Ombudsman portal.
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After reading this thread where can i mail about my rewards redemption is blocked by IDFC Bank. Didnt received any calls @TechnoFino
 
TechnoFino said:
One of our members reported that his account was frozen and he was asked to visit the branch. When he went today, the branch manager questioned him about transactions made since January 2025. In the end, they asked him to close the account. He had around 40,000 reward points, which are now gone. It seems the ultimate motive of this bank is to somehow prevent customers from redeeming their reward points.
Click to expand...
Cat bhai ami are 2-4 jon ke nie kalyani durga pujo pandel ka6e aschi ..colour water ready rakho idfc kono mal ke pele nie jacchi bawal hobe boss
 
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