A week to open your mail if you carry the Swiggy HDFC card, and a good one to catch up on if you hold an IDFC FIRST card. Here's what changed, who it touches and what to do about it.
The short version
- HDFC is replacing the Swiggy HDFC card. Holders choose between Swiggy BLCK (10% on Swiggy, ₹1,000 a year) and Swiggy Ornge (5%, free for moved holders), and Genie deliveries no longer earn the 10% on the old card.
- BOBCARD's Uni GoldX stops paying Uni Coins on tolls from 19 September and caps what public transport and insurance can earn.
- From 15 October shops pay a fee on UPI payments above ₹2,000. You don't, and RuPay credit cards on UPI aren't part of it.
- Catching up: IDFC FIRST cards have charged no forex markup since 9 September, but most of them stop earning points on international spends from 26 October.
What changed on your cards
Swiggy HDFC Bank card: Genie is out, and the card is being replaced. HDFC's revised terms of 18 September take Genie parcel deliveries out of the 10% cashback. Food orders, Instamart and Dineout still earn it, with the same caps and the same ₹249 minimum. The bigger news is that HDFC is phasing the card out for every holder, with notices going out in batches until March 2027. You'll be offered the Swiggy BLCK card, which keeps 10% on Swiggy for ₹1,000 a year (the first year is free if you pay a fee on the old card today), or the Swiggy Ornge card, which pays 5% on Swiggy and is free for life for anyone moved across. If you don't reply within the notice period of at least 30 days, you're moved to Ornge. If Swiggy is a big part of your month, weigh BLCK's fee against the extra 5% before you choose, and update saved cards and autopays when the new card arrives, since the number changes.
BOBCARD Uni GoldX: tolls stop earning. From 19 September BOBCARD's terms pay no Uni Coins on tolls and road fees, pay them on public transport only on the first ₹20,000 of spend a month, and on insurance premiums only on the first ₹50,000. Everyday spends still earn 1%. If your tolls or insurance premiums go on this card, check whether another card in your wallet now earns more on them.
The record for this week: dates, before and after, sources
Tolls stop earning Uni Coins; public transport and insurance earn only up to a monthly limit
Tolls, public transport and insurance earned Uni Coins like other eligible spends→Tolls earn nothing; public transport earns on up to ₹20,000 and insurance on up to ₹50,000 of spend a month
From 19 September 2026, BOBCARD's MITC stops Uni Coins on tolls and bridge and road fees (MCC 4784), and pays them on public transport (MCC 4111, 4112 and 4131) only for the first ₹20,000 of spend a month and on insurance premiums (MCC 6300 and 5960) only for the first ₹50,000. Everyday spends still earn 1%.
Verification: BOBCARD ↗ · Confidence: High
Genie drops out of the 10% Swiggy cashback
Food ordering, Instamart, Genie and Dineout→Food ordering, Instamart and Dineout
HDFC's revised card T&C, published 18 September 2026, lists the 10% as "Swiggy App (Food ordering, Instamart & Dineout)" in §2.2. The April 2026 version read "Food ordering, Instamart, Genie & Dineout", so Genie parcel deliveries no longer earn the 10%. Caps and the ₹249 minimum are unchanged.
Verification: HDFC Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Catching up: IDFC FIRST went zero-forex on 9 September. IDFC's letter to cardmembers made the markup on foreign-currency spends nil on all its credit cards from 9 September, a week earlier than the date we first recorded, so it now sits in the week before. Until then most IDFC cards charged 3.5%, about 4.1% with GST, and a few charged less: 1.99% on the FIRST Select, 1.5% on the FIRST Wealth, 1.49% on the IndiGo card and 1% on the Ashva. The same letter carries the catch. From 26 October international spends stop earning reward points on every IDFC FIRST card except the Ashva, Mayura, Gaj, FIRST Private, FIRST WOW!, FIRST WOW! Black and IndiGo. On the Classic, Millennia, Select and FIRST Wealth that ends the 10X rate abroad. So these cards stay a cheap way to pay in another currency, just not a rewarding one.
Rules and bank news
UPI: a merchant fee on bigger shop payments from 15 October, and nothing for you to pay. The government announced on 15 September that shops will pay a merchant discount rate of 0.4% on UPI payments above ₹2,000, capped at ₹300 on payments of ₹75,000 or more, and a flat ₹5 in railways, telecom, insurance, fuel and agricultural inputs. Payments up to ₹2,000, payments to small merchants and transfers between people stay free. Banks have been told to make sure merchants don't pass the fee on to you, and UPI apps can't add platform fees (PIB release). If you pay with a RuPay credit card on UPI, the Finance Ministry's FAQ says credit-linked UPI payments follow their own credit card rules, so this framework doesn't change them.
NPCI puts the rules for RuPay credit cards on UPI in one place. On 18 September NPCI published single rulebooks for RuPay and for UPI. They bring in nothing new, but they're the clearest statement yet of what a RuPay credit card on UPI can and can't do. You can pay merchants with it, but not people or small merchants who take payments into a personal account, and you can't withdraw cash. Refunds go back to the card. The rewards and benefits on UPI payments can't be lower than on the same card used directly, except on payments where your bank earns no interchange fee. And a convenience fee, if there is one, has to be shown before you choose how to pay (RuPay rulebook, paragraph 8).
The Vistara co-brand cards are winding down. IDFC FIRST's closure notice says the Club Vistara IDFC FIRST card stops working for transactions on 1 October, and Maharaja Points earned on spends up to 30 September move to your linked Air India Maharaja Club account (IDFC notice). Axis Bank's Vistara, Vistara Signature and Vistara Infinite cards are discontinued for spends after 31 October, following Vistara's merger with Air India, and Axis is offering selected holders another Axis card in their place (Axis). If one of these is your card, move any subscriptions or standing instructions to another card before the date.
Two changes from earlier weeks that reached our record after those write-ups. On 3 September Axis Bank became the third bank to issue the Scapia card, after Federal Bank and BOBCARD. Axis issues it on Mastercard with a RuPay edition for UPI, on the same headline terms: no joining or annual fee, zero forex markup, 10% back in Scapia Coins (5% on the RuPay edition), 20% on flights, hotels and buses booked in the Scapia app, and unlimited domestic lounge visits once you spend ₹20,000 in a billing cycle. Cards already issued by Federal Bank and BOBCARD don't change. And HSBC ended the three-month Swiggy One welcome on its Visa Platinum card on 31 August; the 12-month Times Prime welcome stays.
Coming up
- 30 September: American Express ends Reward Multiplier. Bonus points on Amex's brand links stop; ShopWise e-vouchers keep their bonus.
- 1 October: the Amex Platinum Travel's domestic lounge visits need ₹1 lakh of spend in the previous quarter (₹70,000 for the first quarter), and the Axis Select's ₹3 lakh milestone stops counting rent, fuel, utilities and six other categories.
- 26 October: most IDFC FIRST cards stop earning reward points on international spends.
- 1 November: movie offers on the Axis Select, Privilege, MyZone, Neo and IndiGo Axis Premium need ₹25,000 of spend in the previous three months.
Everything scheduled as this week ended, soonest first
Dates are the issuer’s effective dates; the calendar feed carries the same dates.
- Issuer noticeEffective 22 Sept 2026Axis Bank· 4 changes across 10 cards▲ Transfer
Accor ALL returns as a transfer partner, in Group A
Accor ALL unavailable since 2 April 2026→Accor ALL back, in Group A
Accor Live Limitless is back in the EDGE transfer table, almost six months after Axis removed it on 2 April 2026. It returns in Group A, so it shares the smaller annual cap, and on several cards at a less generous ratio than the card gives its airline partners; the Atlas, for instance, moves 2 EDGE Miles into 1 Accor point where most of its airlines get 1 into 2. Check the card's own transfer table before planning a large transfer.
Applies to 10 cards
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card · Axis Bank Burgundy Private Credit Card · Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card · Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card · Axis Bank Olympus Credit Card · Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card · Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card · Axis Bank Rewards Credit Card · Axis Bank Select Credit Card · IndianOil Axis Bank Premium Credit Card
▲ TransferCathay Asia Miles, Lufthansa Miles & More and Hilton Honors added
None of the three available→Asia Miles in Group A; Miles & More and Hilton Honors in Group B
Three new programmes joined the EDGE transfer table in the same overnight change. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles sits in Group A with the smaller annual cap; Lufthansa Miles & More and Hilton Honors sit in Group B with the larger one. Ratios vary by card.
Applies to 10 cards
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card · Axis Bank Burgundy Private Credit Card · Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card · Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card · Axis Bank Olympus Credit Card · Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card · Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card · Axis Bank Rewards Credit Card · Axis Bank Select Credit Card · IndianOil Axis Bank Premium Credit Card
▼ TransferClub ITC removed as a transfer partner
Club ITC available→Club ITC removed
Axis dropped Club ITC from its EDGE transfer table in the same overnight change. It had been one of the better-value hotel routes left after the April 2026 cut, since ITC points redeem against stays and dining at ITC hotels in India.
Applies to 10 cards
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card · Axis Bank Burgundy Private Credit Card · Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card · Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card · Axis Bank Olympus Credit Card · Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card · Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card · Axis Bank Rewards Credit Card · Axis Bank Select Credit Card · IndianOil Axis Bank Premium Credit Card
▼ TransferFlying Blue, Air India and Qantas moved into the smaller Group A transfer cap
Group B (the larger annual transfer allowance)→Group A (a quarter of the Group B allowance); ratios unchanged
Axis moved Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Air India Maharaja Club and Qantas Frequent Flyer from Group B to Group A of its EDGE transfer partners, overnight and without notice. The conversion ratios did not change, but Group A carries a quarter of the Group B annual allowance, so far fewer points can reach these three programmes each year. On the Atlas, for example, the most that can go to Air India in a calendar year falls from 1,20,000 EDGE Miles to 30,000.
Applies to 10 cards
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card · Axis Bank Burgundy Private Credit Card · Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card · Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card · Axis Bank Olympus Credit Card · Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card · Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card · Axis Bank Rewards Credit Card · Axis Bank Select Credit Card · IndianOil Axis Bank Premium Credit Card
Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- Issuer noticeEffective 23 Sept 2026SBI Card· 1 change across 3 cards▼ Transfer
Air France-KLM Flying Blue removed as a transfer partner
Flying Blue at 1:1; 17 airline partners + 8 hotel partners (25 total)→Flying Blue removed; 16 airline partners + 8 hotel partners (24 total)
SBI dropped Air France-KLM Flying Blue from the MILES-family transfer table with no customer notice we could find. The archived copy of 4 August 2026 lists it as airline row 4 at 1:1; the PDF SBI re-issued on 23 September 2026 does not mention Flying Blue, Air France or KLM anywhere and lists 16 airlines. The change therefore lands between 4 August and 23 September 2026, dated here to the day the new PDF was created. Hotel partners are untouched at 8 and no other ratio moved. Applies identically to MILES, MILES PRIME and Miles Elite, because SBI publishes one transfer table for all three. Aeroplan, British Airways, Cathay and Qantas remain at 1:1 for the same kind of long-haul redemption.
Applies to 3 cards
SBI Card MILES · SBI Card Miles Elite · SBI Card MILES PRIME
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: Reconstructed
- Issuer noticeEffective 30 Sept 2026American Express· 1 change across 5 cards▼ Reward
Reward Multiplier discontinued; ShopWise e-vouchers keep their bonus
Bonus points on Reward Multiplier brand links and on ShopWise e-vouchers→Bonus points on ShopWise e-vouchers only (capped at 25,000 bonus points a month)
American Express is ending its Reward Multiplier programme on 30 September 2026. Bonus points on purchases made through Amex's links to individual brands, such as Apple, Myntra, Nykaa and MakeMyTrip flights and hotels, end with it; purchases made up to 11:59 PM on 29 September still earn under the old terms. Bonus points on e-vouchers continue through ShopWise, which Amex now runs as a separate platform, at the card's existing ShopWise rate and capped at 25,000 bonus points a month. Base earn and the value of a Membership Rewards point do not change.
Verification: American Express ↗ · Confidence: High
Domestic lounge access gated behind ₹1L of spend in the previous quarter
2 complimentary domestic visits per calendar quarter, unconditional→2 per quarter only if ₹1,00,000 of eligible spend in the preceding calendar quarter
From 1 October 2026 the card's two complimentary domestic airport lounge visits per calendar quarter stop being unconditional: a member has to have spent ₹1 lakh or more in eligible transactions during the preceding calendar quarter to get them in the next one. Amex is easing the first quarter in — for October–December 2026 the bar is ₹70,000 of spend across July–September 2026 rather than ₹1 lakh. The allowance itself is unchanged at up to 8 visits a year; what changed is that lumpy spenders now lose whole quarters, since the ₹1 lakh has to land inside one quarter and does not carry over. A member pacing evenly toward the ₹4 lakh milestone clears the bar automatically; one who front-loads a year of spend does not.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
- Bank-wide changeEffective 1 Oct 2026AU Small Finance Bank· 1 change across 6 cards▼ Fee
Fuel surcharge waiver cap cut from ₹150 to ₹100 a month
1% waiver, capped at ₹100 per statement month
From 1 October 2026 the Altura Plus's 1% fuel surcharge waiver (on fills of ₹400 to ₹5,000) is capped at ₹100 per statement month, down from ₹150, so the most it can save in a year falls from ₹1,800 to ₹1,200. AU announced it on the card's own page ("Effective 1st October 2026, Fuel Surcharge Waiver will be up to ₹100 per statement cycle") and moved the card into the ₹100 row of its MITC dated 30 September 2026.
Verification: AU Small Finance Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- Bank-wide changeEffective 1 Oct 2026AU Small Finance Bank· 1 change across 2 cards▼ Fee
Forex markup raised from 1.99% to 3.49%
3.49% on international transactions
From 1 October 2026 AU raised the Zenith's cross-currency markup from 1.99% to 3.49%, so an international spend now costs about 4.1% on top once GST is added. AU announced it on the card's own page ("Effective 1st October 2026, Forex Markup will be revised from 1.99% to 3.49% for your international transactions") and moved the card into its 3.49% group in the Key Fact Statement v1.9 and the MITC dated 30 September 2026; the July 2026 editions still listed it at 1.99%.
Applies to 2 cards
Verification: AU Small Finance Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- Bank-wide changeEffective 1 Oct 2026AU Small Finance Bank· 1 change across 2 cards▼ Lounge
Domestic lounge visits now need ₹50,000 of spend in the quarter before
2 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits per quarter on a purchase-active card→2 visits per quarter, only after ₹50,000 of spend in the previous calendar quarter
From 1 October 2026 the AU CA card's two complimentary domestic airport lounge visits a quarter follow the spend gate AU has applied to its other cards since 10 April 2026: they need net retail spend of ₹50,000 or more on the card in the previous calendar quarter, so the October to December visits depend on July to September spend. Until then a purchase-active card was enough. AU's airport lounge terms, issued on 30 September 2026, revise the condition "(for CA & CS from 1st Oct 2026)". The card is open only to Chartered Accountants.
Applies to 2 cards
Verification: AU Small Finance Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Excluded categories stop counting toward the Rs 3 lakh milestone bar
All spend counted toward the Rs 3 lakh anniversary threshold→Nine excluded merchant categories no longer count toward it
The Select's Rs 3 lakh anniversary-year milestone — which unlocks 6 extra international lounge visits, 6 extra golf rounds and the following year's Priority Pass renewal — keeps its benefits and its threshold, but narrows what counts toward it. From 1 October 2026 spend in the categories that already earn no reward points stops contributing: insurance, rent, fuel, educational services, utilities and telecom, wallet loads, gold and jewellery, government services and gift cards. If a meaningful slice of your Rs 3 lakh came from rent or utilities, the bar is now materially harder than the headline number suggests.
Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Shopping 10% needs more than ₹15,000 of spend in the statement cycle
50 Jewels per ₹100 on every eligible purchase→5 Jewels per ₹100 instantly; 45 more only if cycle spend tops ₹15,000
From 5 October 2026 the 10% shopping rate (50 Jewels per ₹100) at Amazon, Flipkart and Jupiter's other named brands is paid in two parts. 5 Jewels per ₹100 are credited on every purchase; the other 45 are added at the end of the statement cycle only if total qualifying spend in that cycle is more than ₹15,000, and are cancelled if it is not. In a lighter cycle the named brands therefore earn 1%, the same as everyday spend. The caps of 1,000 Jewels a transaction, 3,000 a merchant and 10,000 a cycle, the 25 Jewels per ₹100 on Jupiter Flights and everyday earning are unchanged. The two issuer-side documents disagree on the start date: CSB Bank's card terms date the new table from 5 October 2026 ("Applicable 05th October, 2026 onwards"), while Jupiter's own terms page gives 10 October ("Applicable till 09th October, 2026" for the old table). This record follows CSB, the issuer; a statement from the first days of October may still show the old rate.
Verification: CSB Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Late payment charges raised
₹500 (₹1,001–5,000) · ₹1,000 (₹5,001–25,000) · ₹1,250 (over ₹25,000)→₹700 (₹1,001–5,000) · ₹1,000 / ₹1,100 / ₹1,200 (to ₹10,000 / ₹15,000 / ₹25,000) · ₹1,300 (over ₹25,000)
From 11 October 2026 BOBCARD raises the OneCard's late payment charges. When ₹1,001 to ₹5,000 is outstanding the charge goes from ₹500 to ₹700; the single ₹1,000 slab for ₹5,001 to ₹25,000 is split into ₹1,000 up to ₹10,000, ₹1,100 up to ₹15,000 and ₹1,200 up to ₹25,000; and above ₹25,000 it goes from ₹1,250 to ₹1,300. Balances up to ₹1,000 are unchanged, and the charge applies only when the minimum amount due is not paid by the due date.
Verification: BOBCARD ↗ · Confidence: High
- Issuer noticeUpcoming · effective 20 Oct 2026American Express· 1 change across 2 cards▼ Benefit
Complimentary Ace by Times Prime membership ends
Complimentary Ace by Times Prime membership→No longer offered; current memberships run to the end of their term
American Express stops offering the complimentary Ace by Times Prime membership on the Centurion and Platinum Card from 20 October 2026. A membership already enrolled stays active until the end of its current term, and a newly approved member still waiting for a code receives it by 20 October. Amex links the change to the new technology platform its Indian cards move to on 15 November.
Applies to 2 cards
American Express Centurion Card · American Express Platinum Card
Verification: American Express ↗ · Confidence: High
Early-closure fee window widens to two years
₹499 + GST if closed within one year of activation→₹499 + GST if closed within two years of activation
From 23 October 2026 SBM charges its ₹499 + GST cancellation fee on an SBM ZET card closed within two years of activation, up from one year. The fee itself is unchanged, and the card still has no joining or annual fee, so a reader who builds a score and closes the card should plan on keeping it for two years.
Verification: SBM Bank India ↗ · Confidence: High
Dates are the day a change takes effect. Spotted something we missed? The suggest form reaches us directly, and every change we've recorded is in the ledger.
Cite this
Every row referenced above is in the open change record (https://cardadvisor.in/changes), dated and sourced. The write-up is a dated document and is not edited after publication; later corrections go on the corrections page.
Source: <a href="https://cardadvisor.in/press/credit-card-changes-2026-w38">Indian credit card changes, 14 Sept – 20 Sept 2026</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
I have spent over a decade on Indian credit cards, mostly for the points and miles. I am a software engineer by profession, I hold and use the cards I write about, and I redeem through airline and hotel transfer partners: Avios, KrisFlyer, Flying Blue, Air India Maharaja Club, Accor ALL, Marriott Bonvoy and Taj. What I write about is what a card is actually worth after the fine print, the caps and exclusions that decide the real return, and the changes issuers make quietly. No paid placements.
Frequently asked questions
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