In-depth review
AU Traverse Credit Card
An NRI-only premium travel card built around a low 0.99% forex markup and global lounge access. For a Non-Resident Indian who spends across borders, the forex saving and international lounges are the real draw, and a ₹5,000 MakeMyTrip welcome voucher offsets part of the ₹4,999 fee. The catch is the first line of the pitch: resident Indians simply cannot hold it, and the base reward rate is modest.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹5,000 in vouchers, points or cashback in year one — usually conditional on a first spend within 30–90 days
1% on International
4 reward points per ₹100 on international spends (~1%), with a low 0.99% forex markup
0.5% on Other
2 reward points per ₹100 on domestic spends (~0.5%); fuel, EMI, cash, rent, education and government transactions are excluded
Airport Lounge Access
Complimentary: 8 domestic airport lounge visits a year (2 a quarter) and 8 international (2 a quarter)
Annual Fee Waiver
Fee of ₹4,999 + 18% GST (₹5,899 all-in)/yr fully waived when you spend ₹6,00,000/year
24x7 Concierge
4 complimentary airport Meet & Assist services per year (1 per quarter) — end-to-end VIP check-in, booked via the concierge line
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
1% waiver on fuel transactions, capped at ₹250/month
Milestone Bonus
~₹250 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
✈️ TRAVEL BENEFITS
Lounge access, miles, forex rates and travel perks at a glance.
AIRPORT LOUNGE ACCESS
8 visits/yr
Domestic lounges
✓
International lounges
₹12,000
Estimated annual value
0.99%
Forex markup
- Domestic + international airport lounge access (8 domestic visits/yr, worth ~₹12,000)
- Low forex markup: 1.0%
👑 PREMIUM LIFESTYLE BENEFITS
Concierge, golf, hotel membership and high-value perks for premium cardholders.
₹10,000
Milestone bonus value
- 24x7 lifestyle and travel concierge
- ₹10,000 Taj Hotels voucher on ₹10 lakh of spend in a card anniversary year (fuel and cash transactions are not counted towards this milestone)
For Non-Resident Indians who spend across borders and want low forex, global lounge access and travel perks on an AU relationship — not for resident applicants, who are not eligible.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 11 Oct 2026. Rates assume 1 pt = ₹0.25. How we value points →
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| International | reward points | 1%4 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Other | reward points | 0.5%2 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Utility Bills | reward points | 0.25%1 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
International: 4 reward points per ₹100 on international spends (~1%), with a low 0.99% forex markup
Other: 2 reward points per ₹100 on domestic spends (~0.5%); fuel, EMI, cash, rent, education and government transactions are excluded
Utility Bills: 1 reward point per ₹100 on insurance, utility and telecom payments (~0.25%), capped at 100 points per transaction
Earns nothing on: Fuel · EMI Conversions · Cash Advances · Rent · Education · Government & Tax · Transportation MCCs (per 10-Apr-2026 bank-wide notice; product page not yet updated)
These spends earn no rewards at all — not a reduced rate, and not the base rate. They are also normally left out of any milestone or fee-waiver calculation.
Fees & charges
The numbers that matter beyond rewards — verify on the issuer site before applying. Fees below are shown inclusive of 18% GST, as of 11 Oct 2026.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹5,899 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹5,899 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 0.99% |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1%, cap ₹250 |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹27,250/yr in total.
4 complimentary airport Meet & Assist services per year (1 per quarter) — end-to-end VIP check-in, booked via the concierge line
4 complimentary airport spa accesses per year (up to 1 a quarter)
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000, capped ₹250 per cycle
2 complimentary domestic and international airport lounge visits per quarter
Flat ₹500 cashback on duty-free shopping spends of ₹10,000 or more — a duty-free purchase benefit, not a general spend milestone
₹10,000 Taj Hotels voucher on ₹10 lakh of spend in a card anniversary year (fuel and cash transactions are not counted towards this milestone)
Milestone ladder
- ₹10,000 a year₹250 of value
- ₹10,00,000 a year₹10,000 of value
Should you get it?
- Best for: Non-Resident Indians who spend across borders, Globally mobile travellers wanting low forex and lounges
- Premium tier — a solid all-rounder for steady monthly spend.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on International (1% back).
- Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Low 0.99% forex markup for cross-border spending
- Domestic and international lounge access (2 per quarter each)
- ₹5,000 MakeMyTrip welcome voucher
- Airport Meet & Assist and spa access, 4 each a year
- Zero cash-withdrawal fee (interest still applies from the withdrawal date)
✕ Cons
- NRI-only — resident applicants are not eligible
- ₹4,999 fee unless you reach ₹6 lakh of annual spend
- Reward rate is modest; value is in forex and lounge access
- Priority Pass use within India is chargeable (about $35 + taxes a visit), as are visits beyond the complimentary quota
Eligibility & documents
Documents required
- 📄Passport and valid visa / NRI status proof
- 📄PAN card or Form 60
- 📄NRE banking account and NRE Fixed Deposit account with AU Small Finance Bank
- 📄Overseas / Indian address proof
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Online rewards catalogue (vouchers, merchandise)
- 🎁Flight & hotel bookings via the issuer rewards portal
- 🎁Statement credit / cashback adjustment
What your AU Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Standard redemption
Brand & e-gift vouchers
Eligibility is restricted to NRIs, so resident applicants cannot hold it; and the fee is meaningful unless you reach ₹6 lakh of annual spend.
Frequently asked questions
Who can get the AU Traverse Credit Card?
What makes it a good travel card?
What is the fee and how is it waived?
How has the AU Traverse Credit Card changed over time?
Has the AU Traverse Credit Card been devalued recently?
When did the AU Traverse Credit Card's fees last change?
How did the AU Traverse Credit Card change in 2026?
The bottom line
A focused NRI travel card. The 0.99% forex markup and international lounge access are the core value for a globally mobile NRI, and the MakeMyTrip welcome offsets part of the fee. Because it is NRI-only, it sits outside the mainstream resident lineup — worth it for the target user, irrelevant to everyone else.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 3 earn rules, the spends listed as earning nothing and 6 recorded perks. The renewal fee is conditional — it is waived on a published spend target, so the fee you pay depends on what you spend.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the AU Traverse Credit Card are taken from AU Small Finance Bank's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page. Last updated 11 Oct 2026. Reviewed by Devchandra Sah. Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for AU Small Finance Bank. All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
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Guides and reviews related to this card.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2025 · last change Jul 2026
2026
- ▼ FeeEffective 1 Jul 2026
Fuel fair-usage terms tightened — trigger halved, levy on the whole aggregate
1% fair-usage charge once monthly fuel spends exceeded 50% of the credit limit or ₹50,000→1% on the entire aggregate once a single fuel transaction exceeds ₹10,000 or monthly fuel spends exceed ₹25,000
From 1 July 2026 AU tightened its fuel fair-usage charge: the trigger dropped from ₹50,000 of aggregate fuel spend in a calendar month to ₹25,000 (or a single fuel transaction above ₹10,000), and the 1% charge is now levied on the entire aggregate fuel spend for the month rather than the portion above the threshold. Fair-usage charges do not apply to international transactions. The complimentary fuel-surcharge waiver bands are unchanged.
Verification: AU Small Finance Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ FeeEffective 14 Jun 2026
New 1% fair-usage charge on transportation spends
No transportation fair-usage charge→1% on the entire aggregate once monthly transportation spends exceed 50% of the credit limit or ₹25,000, whichever is lower
From 14 June 2026 AU levies a 1% fair-usage charge when aggregate transportation spends (MCC 4111, 4112 and 4784 — local commuter transport, passenger rail and tolls) in a calendar month exceed 50% of the credit limit or ₹25,000, whichever is lower. The charge applies to the entire aggregate transportation spend for the month, not just the excess. IRCTC and select marquee travel partners are excluded, international transactions are out of scope, and AU exempts the ixigo AU co-brand variants entirely. This charge is separate from (and adds to) the April 2026 removal of reward-point earning on transportation MCCs.
Verification: AU Small Finance Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ RewardEffective 10 Apr 2026
Transportation-category spends stop earning reward points
Rail, transit, toll and similar transportation MCCs earned reward points→11 transportation MCCs excluded from reward earning
As part of a bank-wide revision, AU excluded 11 transportation-category MCCs (rail, transit, tolls, parking and similar) from reward-point earning across its credit-card portfolio, including Traverse — those swipes stop earning AU reward points from this date. (Dating note, 2026-08-06: AU's own surfaces carry both 1 April and 10 April 2026 as the effective date of the transportation change, and the bank-wide revision PDF originally cited for it now serves a lounge-only notice at the same URL; both dates are disclosed rather than silently picking one.)
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
2025
- ◆ LaunchEffective Jul 2025
AU Traverse launches as an NRI-exclusive premium travel card
AU Small Finance Bank introduced Traverse, a Visa premium travel card built exclusively for Non-Resident Indians — a 0.99% forex markup, 2 complimentary domestic and 2 international airport lounge visits per quarter, a ₹5,000 MakeMyTrip welcome voucher, a ₹10,000 Taj Hotels voucher on ₹10 lakh anniversary-year spend, and a ₹4,999 (+GST) joining/annual fee waived on ₹6 lakh spend.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Source: <a href="https://cardadvisor.in/cards/au-traverse#value-timeline">AU Traverse Credit Card value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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