IDFC FIRST Diamond Reserve Credit Card

Quick verdict: A ₹3,000 zero-forex Visa Infinite that sits a rung below IDFC's metal cards — a genuine 0% forex, 8 domestic plus 8 international lounge visits a year, monthly golf and a buy-one-get-one movie perk, with the fee waived on ₹6 lakh of annual spend. It's a perks-led travel card; thin base rewards and zero international earn keep it out of workhorse territory.

The Diamond Reserve is IDFC FIRST Bank's mid-premium travel card — positioned below the metal Ashva and Mayura, with a genuine 0% forex markup. It launched explicitly as a zero-forex card, when that set it apart inside IDFC's range. Since September 2026 every IDFC card charges no markup, the lifetime-free ones included, so the ₹3,000 fee (waived entirely on ₹6 lakh of spend) now buys the lounges, golf and movies rather than the forex saving.

What it offers

The Diamond Reserve is a perks card, and the perks are fair for the price: 2 domestic and 2 international lounge visits each quarter (8 + 8 a year, spend-activated on ₹20,000 in the previous month), up to two golf rounds or lessons a month, unlocked by ₹20,000 of spend in the previous statement cycle, and a genuinely useful buy-one-get-one-free movie ticket (up to ₹250 off) twice a month. The welcome benefit is a claim-based bundle headlined at ₹5,000+ — brand vouchers and memberships spanning ET Prime, Lenskart, MakeMyTrip and Mokobara, unlocked on joining-fee payment — plus 5% cashback up to ₹1,000 on your first EMI transaction and discounts across 300+ partner brands. Because the vouchers need claiming and skew brand-specific, treat the headline as a ceiling rather than cash in hand.

The rewards, by contrast, are modest. You earn 3 reward points per ₹150 up to ₹20,000 of monthly spend (~0.5%) and 10 per ₹150 on incremental spend above that and on your birthday (~1.67%), redeemed at ₹0.25. The travel accelerator lives in the app, not on your daily card: a 20% reward-point bonus on hotel bookings and 10% on flights made through the IDFC FIRST app, worth up to ~27% back on travel booked there.

The Diamond Reserve saves you the forex and hands you lounges, golf and movies — but it does not pay you much to spend. Buy it for the perks and the zero forex, not the earn rate.

The catch: thin earn, no international rewards

Two honest caveats. First, the base earn of 3 RP per ₹150 (~0.5%) up to ₹20,000 a month is weak — most rivals in this bracket pay more on everyday spend. Second, and less obvious: international spends earn no reward points at all, despite the zero forex. You save the markup, which is real money, but you don't earn on the transaction — so think of the card abroad as a forex-saver rather than a points-earner.

How it fits the IDFC range

Forex is 0% across the table because IDFC removed the markup on all its cards in September 2026 (Key Fact Statement dated 15 Sep 2026). The Diamond Reserve's edge over the similarly priced Ashva is now the ₹6 lakh fee waiver the Ashva doesn't offer; the Ashva answers with a metal body, a heavier 16-visit domestic lounge quota and a joining benefit. And, as ever in this lineup, the lifetime-free FIRST Wealth covers a lot of the same spec sheet for ₹0 if you qualify — though not the earn rate: the Wealth pays 0.375% on general spend against the Diamond Reserve's 0.5% below the ₹20,000 gate and 1.67% above it, so the fee is a volume question rather than a straight loss. Someone who wants a rounder mid-tier IDFC earner without the travel focus might also weigh the FIRST Select.

Who should hold it

The Diamond Reserve suits the occasional international traveller and regular movie-goer who wants zero forex, some lounge access and the BOGO cinema benefit without paying metal-card money — especially if ₹6 lakh of annual spend will waive the fee outright. For that person it is a tidy, sensible travel card.

It's the wrong card for anyone chasing everyday rewards (the base rate is thin), for heavy international earners (you get nothing on overseas spend; since 26 October 2026 the same is true of most IDFC cards, the free Millennia, Classic and Select included, so look to the Mayura or the FD-backed WOW! cards, which still earn abroad; the Ashva does too, at a reduced 2X from the same day), and for customers who qualify for the free FIRST Wealth and won't miss the movie perk.

Should you get it?

The IDFC FIRST Diamond Reserve is an accessible zero-forex travel card with a likeable perk sheet — lounges, golf, BOGO movies — at a fee that heavy spenders erase entirely. Its weaknesses are the earn rate and the lack of international rewards, which is why it reads as a perks-and-forex card rather than a rewards engine. If those perks map to how you actually spend, it's easy to recommend; if you want the card to pay you back on every swipe, look elsewhere in the range.