In-depth review
ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card
A lifetime-free, no-frills starter whose real product is a CIBIL score, not rewards. The ICICI Reward Points earn is among the least valuable currencies in India and effectively a rounding error. Use it cleanly for a year and move up. As a stepping stone it's fine — but ICICI's own free Amazon Pay card out-earns it for most people, so consider that first.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
0.5% on Other
2 ICICI Reward Points per ₹100 on retail (~0.5% at ~₹0.25/point)
0.5% on Groceries
2 ICICI Reward Points per ₹100 on grocery and departmental stores — the retail rate, but rewarded grocery spend is capped at ₹20,000 per statement cycle (400 RP) since 15 Nov 2024.
Lifetime Free
No annual fee — ever. Keep this card long-term without any recurring cost.
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
1% waiver on fuel transactions, capped at ₹500/month
For first-time ICICI applicants who want a zero-fee card to build a credit history. If you want actual rewards on a free card, the Amazon Pay ICICI is the better pick.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | reward points | 0.5%2 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Groceries | reward points | 0.5%2 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | ₹100 |
| Insurance | reward points | 0.25%1 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | ₹100 |
| Utility Bills | reward points | 0.25%1 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | ₹100 |
Other: 2 ICICI Reward Points per ₹100 on retail (~0.5% at ~₹0.25/point)
Groceries: 2 ICICI Reward Points per ₹100 on grocery and departmental stores — the retail rate, but rewarded grocery spend is capped at ₹20,000 per statement cycle (400 RP) since 15 Nov 2024.
Insurance: 1 ICICI Reward Point per ₹100 on insurance premiums (~0.25%) — half the retail rate; rewarded insurance spend is capped at ₹40,000 per statement cycle (400 RP) since 15 Nov 2024.
Utility Bills: 1 ICICI Reward Point per ₹100 on utility spends (~0.25%) — half the retail rate; government payments are billed as utilities and earn at this rate. Rewarded utility spend is capped at ₹40,000 per statement cycle (400 RP) since 15 Nov 2024.
Earns nothing on: Fuel · Rent · Cash Advances · Wallet Loads
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) | Lifetime free |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | Free |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1%, cap ₹500 |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹600/yr in total.
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions of ₹400–₹4,000 at HPCL pumps, on up to ₹50,000 of fuel spend per statement cycle
Should you get it?
- Best for: First ICICI credit card for fresh graduates, ICICI salary account holder with no prior credit card, Credit history building with a zero-fee card, Backup card alongside a primary rewards card
- Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on everyday spends (0.5% back).
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Lifetime free for ICICI account holders — zero lifetime cost
- ICICI Reward Points on all spends, redeemable for vouchers and products
- First credit card in the ICICI ecosystem — entry point before upgrading
- Easy approval for ICICI salary account holders
✕ Cons
- ICICI Reward Point value is low — about ₹0.25/point in most redemptions
- Utility, insurance and grocery spend stops earning past ₹40k/₹40k/₹20k a statement cycle
- No lounge access, no cashback, no co-brand benefits
- Inferior to ICICI Amazon Pay (also free, better rewards) for most applicants
- Best treated as a placeholder before upgrading to Coral or Amazon Pay
Eligibility & documents
This is the figure for salaried applicants. Where ICICI Bank sets a separate one for the self-employed, its own eligibility page gives it.
Documents required
- 📄PAN card
- 📄Aadhaar / valid address proof
- 📄Latest 3 months bank statement
- 📄Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- 📄Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Redeem ICICI Reward Points for gift vouchers and products via ICICI Bank Rewards
- 🎁Adjust points against eligible statement spends
What your ICICI Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
1 RP = ₹0.40 against the statement — ICICI's only published rate
Voucher store; ICICI publishes only an 'up to ₹1' ceiling, never a realised rate
iShop travel; rate is set per card at checkout, so the ₹1 ceiling is not a value
Air India is ICICI's only transfer partner, and the ratio splits 6x by card: Emeralde Private Metal and Times Black convert 1:1 (⇒ ₹1/pt), every other eligible card 6:1 (⇒ ₹0.17/pt — worse than the ₹0.40 voucher route, so on those cards transferring destroys value). Min 2,000 points; credited in up to 5 working days.
✈ Transfer partners
Direct transfers from this card only, ranked by what a point is worth in the destination programme. Full calculator, every currency →
ICICI Reward Points at ~₹0.25 are among the least valuable currencies in India — treat the rewards as a rounding error, not a reason to hold it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the annual fee for the ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card?
What is the foreign currency markup?
Is there a fuel surcharge waiver?
What is the minimum age and income to apply?
Is there a cap on reward points?
How has the ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card changed over time?
Has the ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card been devalued recently?
When did the ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card's fees last change?
How did the ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card change in 2026?
The bottom line
ICICI Platinum Chip exists to start credit histories, and it does that fine — zero fee, basic ICICI Reward Point earn, no surprises. Get it, use it lightly, build the score and move up. Just know the free Amazon Pay ICICI out-earns it for most people.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 4 earn rules, 3 of them capped, the spends listed as earning nothing and 1 recorded perk.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card are taken from ICICI 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 ICICI 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.
ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card
A lifetime-free, no-frills starter whose real product is a CIBIL score, not rewards. The ICICI Reward Points earn is among the least valuable currencies in India and effectively a rounding error. Use it cleanly for a year and move up. As a stepping stone it's fine — but ICICI's own free Amazon Pay card out-earns it for most people, so consider that first.
Kotak 811
An FD-secured starter with no annual fee — back it with a fixed deposit (from ₹10,000), skip the income proof and credit-history checks, and start building a CIBIL score while the deposit keeps earning interest. Its product isn't the rewards (2 points per ₹100 online — an estimated ~0.4%, since Kotak publishes no point value for this card) — it's credit access. For a credit-invisible first-timer who can fund a small FD, it's an easy, low-risk way into the formal system. (A separate unsecured Kotak 811 with a ₹500 fee exists for those who qualify without an FD.)
Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card
Still the most frictionless cashback card in the country and the top pick for beginners — lifetime-free, 5% on Amazon for Prime members, paid instantly as spendable Amazon Pay balance with nothing to manage. But the last two years dimmed the halo: an exclusion list that now reaches utility bills paid outside Amazon, plus a wave of new transaction fees, widened the gap between the "unlimited cashback" marketing and the fine print. Still excellent — just no longer untouchable.
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 2015 · last change Mar 2026
2026
- ▼ FeeObserved 19 Feb 2026 · Effective 1 Mar 2026
Minimum Amount Due rebuilt as a two-branch formula
5% of the outstanding amount, plus instalments, the over-limit amount, fee GST and any unpaid previous MAD→100% of GST, EMI principal and interest, fees, the over-limit amount and unpaid MAD, plus 5% of retail spends, cash advances and the finance charge — the finance charge taken in full whenever that 5% falls short of it
From the 1 March 2026 statement onwards ICICI stopped deriving the Minimum Amount Due from a single 5%-of-outstanding line and began building it component by component: GST, EMI principal and interest, fees and charges, the over-limit amount and any unpaid previous MAD are all taken at 100%, and 5% is applied to retail spends, cash advances and the finance charge. Where 5% of those three comes to less than the finance charge alone, the whole finance charge is added instead and only retail and cash are taken at 5%. ICICI illustrates both branches itself — a minimum of ₹11,210 on a ₹37,830 total due, and ₹21,620 on a ₹1,15,810 total due where finance charges dominate. Paying the statement in full is unaffected; the minimum rises only for people carrying a balance or taking cash.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ RewardObserved 17 Dec 2025 · Effective 1 Feb 2026
Transport-category earning capped
Transport spends earned uncapped→Transport rewards capped at ₹10,000 per statement cycle
From 1 February 2026 ICICI capped the reward points earned on transport-category spends — rail, bus, taxi, tolls and similar — at ₹10,000 of spend per statement cycle on its mid- and entry-tier cards, half the ₹20,000 the Gemstone tier keeps. Spend above the cap still posts to the card, it simply stops earning. On a card whose earn rate is already thin, this is a further trim rather than a headline cut.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ FeeObserved 17 Dec 2025 · Effective 15 Jan 2026
New transaction fees on gaming, wallet loads and DCC
No gaming/wallet-load surcharges→Gaming 2%; wallet loads 1% over ₹5k/mo; DCC 0.99–3.50%
From 15 Jan 2026 ICICI added portfolio-wide transaction fees that reach the Platinum Chip: a 2% fee on online-gaming spends, a 1% fee on third-party wallet loads above ₹5,000/month, a 1% fee on transport spends once monthly transport crosses ₹50,000, and a revised 0.99–3.50% Dynamic Currency Conversion fee on rupee-billed overseas transactions.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
2024
- ▼ RewardObserved 11 Oct 2024 · Effective 15 Nov 2024
Per-cycle earning caps on utility, insurance and grocery spend
Utility, insurance and grocery spend earned without limit→Utility ₹40,000 · insurance ₹40,000 · grocery & departmental ₹20,000 per cycle (400 RP each)
ICICI's system-wide 15 Nov 2024 restructure (announced 11 Oct 2024) reached even the entry Platinum Chip. The MITC caps the SPEND that accrues reward points, not the points: only ₹40,000 of utility spend, ₹40,000 of insurance and ₹20,000 of grocery and departmental-store spend earn in a statement cycle — 400 reward points in each bucket at this card's rates — after which the category earns nothing until the cycle turns over. The same round limited the fuel-surcharge waiver to ₹50,000 of fuel spend per cycle and excluded rent, government and education spends from fee-reversal and milestone maths.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ RewardEffective 5 Feb 2024
Rent and e-wallet loads stop earning points
Rent & e-wallet loads earned points→Rent & e-wallet loads excluded
From 5 Feb 2024 ICICI stopped awarding reward points on rent payments and e-wallet loading transactions across its cards, the Platinum Chip included — the first post-launch earning carve-out for the entry card (the Amazon Pay ICICI card was the sole exception).
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
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/icici-platinum#value-timeline">ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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