ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card
The ICICI Platinum Chip is a lifetime-free, no-frills starter whose real product is a CIBIL score, not rewards. It earns 2 ICICI Reward Points per ₹100 on retail spends (~0.5% at about ₹0.25/point) and 1 RP per ₹100 on utilities and insurance, with a 1% HPCL fuel surcharge waiver — the points are among the least valuable currencies in India and are effectively a rounding error. Since 15 Nov 2024 even that is capped — ₹40,000 a statement cycle of utility spend, ₹40,000 of insurance and ₹20,000 of grocery and departmental spend earn anything at all. Use it cleanly for a year to build history, then move up. As a stepping stone it is fine, but ICICI's own free Amazon Pay card out-earns it for most people, so consider that first.
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
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | reward points | 0.5% | — |
| Groceries | reward points | 0.5% | ₹100 |
| Utility Bills | reward points | 0.25% | ₹100 |
| Insurance | reward points | 0.25% | ₹100 |
Fees & charges
| 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.
fuel waiver ~ ₹600 /yr
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 Other ( 0.5% back).
✓ 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
Age
21 –65 years
Min. income
₹20,000 /mo
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed · Student
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.
Statement credit BEST 1 RP = ₹0.40 against the statement — ICICI's only published rate
Amazon / Flipkart vouchers BEST Voucher store; ICICI publishes only an 'up to ₹1' ceiling, never a realised rate
iShop flights & hotels BEST iShop travel; rate is set per card at checkout, so the ₹1 ceiling is not a value
Air India Maharaja transfer 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 ✈ Air India Maharaja Club ( 6:1 ) Value your balance: ICICI Reward Points ✈ Air India Maharaja Club ( 6:1 ) ₹ 1,700 vs. typical redemption ₹ 4,000 Direct transfers from this card only, ranked by what a point is worth in the destination programme . Full calculator, every currency → The concern 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.
The bottom line
This card does exactly one job well — giving a first-time applicant a fee-free way to start building credit, with a modest but predictable ICICI Reward Points earn and nothing complicated to trip over. The sensible plan is to take it, use it lightly, let your credit history grow, and then trade up once you qualify for something stronger. Worth remembering, though: ICICI's own Amazon Pay card is also free and earns considerably more for most people.
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 verified 13 Aug 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.
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 · 6 changes · last change Feb 2026
▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed
2026 2 changes — 2 cuts
▼ Reward Observed 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
▼ Fee Observed 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 2 changes — 2 cuts
▼ Reward Observed 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
▼ Reward Effective 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
2022 1 change — 1 neutral
◆ Redemption Effective 1 Apr 2022
Rewards move from PAYBACK to ICICI Bank Rewards
PAYBACK points → ICICI Bank Reward Points
ICICI Bank exited the shared PAYBACK programme portfolio-wide: from 1 Apr 2022 the Platinum Chip accrues new ICICI Bank Reward Points redeemable through ICICI's own catalogue, while legacy PAYBACK — now Zillion — points earned up to 31 Mar 2022 stay redeemable only on PAYBACK channels. New points carry a 36-month validity.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
2015 1 change — 1 neutral
◆ Launch Effective 2015
ICICI Platinum Chip Credit Card introduced
The Platinum Chip is ICICI Bank's bare-bones, lifetime-free entry card, built to start a credit history rather than to reward spending: 2 ICICI Reward Points per ₹100 on retail (1 RP per ₹100 on utilities and insurance) and a 1% HPCL fuel-surcharge waiver, with no lounge, milestone or co-brand perks. No surviving issuer page dates its launch, so the year is reconstructed (c. mid-2010s, when ICICI rolled EMV 'Chip' branding across its Visa cards).
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed
↓ Show all 6 changes 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: ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card value timeline — CardAdvisor
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Source: ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card value timeline , CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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Quick summary
Type Entry credit card
Reward rate 0.5%
Best for First ICICI credit card for fresh graduates
Joining fee Free
Annual fee Lifetime free
Reviewed by
Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade
Last verified 13 Aug 2026
How we research →
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280 cards analysed — August 2026
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