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ICICI Bank will revise credit card fees, rewards and benefits from January 2026, impacting Emeralde, Sapphiro, Rubyx, Coral, Platinum, Manchester United, CSK and more.
9. ICICI Bank Credit Card Revamp: Higher Fees, Lower Rewards on Select Spends
ICICI Bank has announced a fresh set of changes to credit card charges, rewards and benefits, which will impact retail cardholders from January 2026, according to details shared by the bank.
As reported by Moneycontrol, the revisions include tighter conditions on popular offers, new transaction fees across select categories, and revised reward caps on transportation and premium card spends. The changes will be implemented in phases between January and February 2026 and will apply to all retail credit card customers.
Higher charges on large transportation spends
From January 2026, ICICI Bank will levy a 1 percent fee on transportation-related transactions exceeding Rs 50,000 under select merchant category codes. As reported by Moneycontrol, this move mainly impacts high-value travel spends such as premium bookings and bulk travel payments.
Reward points capped on travel bookings
The bank has also introduced monthly caps on reward points earned from transportation spends, particularly rail and bus bookings.
Super-premium cards such as Emeralde, Emeralde Private, Sapphiro and Rubyx will earn rewards only up to Rs 20,000 per month
Mid-tier cards including Coral, Platinum, Manchester United, CSK, Expressions and others will have a lower cap of Rs 10,000 per month
Beyond these limits, no reward points will be credited.
BookMyShow offer gets stricter
As reported by Moneycontrol, ICICI Bank is tightening access to its popular BookMyShow Buy-One-Get-One movie offer.
Cardholders must spend at least Rs 25,000 in the previous calendar quarter to unlock the benefit in the current quarter
From February 2026, Instant Platinum credit cards will no longer be eligible for the offer
Other eligible cards will continue to offer the benefit, subject to meeting the quarterly spend threshold
Key changes for Emeralde cardholders
Several revisions have been announced for super-premium Emeralde cards:
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) fee has been increased to 2 percent on Emeralde Metal, Emeralde Private and Emeralde PVC cards
Emeralde Metal cardholders will no longer earn reward points on spends related to government services, fuel, rent and property management, tax payments and third-party wallet transactions
New add-on cards issued on Emeralde Metal will attract a one-time fee of Rs 3,500
Revised foreign currency and DCC charges
DCC fees have been reworked based on card category, as reported by Moneycontrol:
0.99 percent on MakeMyTrip Travel cards
1.49 percent on Times Black
1.99 percent on Amazon Pay ICICI credit cards
Up to 3.5 percent on select cards such as MMT Signature and Platinum
Online gaming transactions to attract fee
ICICI Bank will introduce a 2 percent charge on transactions made on online gaming platforms. This includes deposits and similar payments on platforms such as Dream11, Rummy Culture, Junglee Games and MPL, along with any future gaming-related merchant codes.
Wallet loading to become costlier
A 1 percent fee will be charged on third-party wallet loading transactions of Rs 5,000 or more. This applies to wallets such as Amazon Pay, Paytm, MobiKwik, Freecharge and OlaMoney.
Other changes to note
As reported by Moneycontrol, the bank has also increased branch cash payment charges and introduced foreclosure charges on cancelled Instant EMI transactions. Meanwhile, HPCL Super Saver Credit Card holders will continue earning reward points on insurance payments only up to Rs 40,000 per month at existing rates.
Most of the changes will take effect from January 15, 2026, while certain reward caps and benefit withdrawals will apply from February 1, 2026.
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December 22, 2025, 13:33 IST
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