ICSI Diamond BOBCARD Credit Card
Membership in the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is a hard prerequisite for this card — there's no side door for a strong income or clean credit history if you're not ICSI. What members get in exchange, though, is a genuinely loaded no-fee product: joining and renewal cost nothing, the foreign transaction markup sits at 2% versus the 3.5% BOBCARD charges elsewhere in its lineup, twelve domestic lounge entries are thrown in each year, and professional indemnity protection up to ₹5 lakh comes bundled at no extra cost. Rewards themselves are unremarkable by comparison — a flat 1 point per ₹100 spent (roughly 0.25% back) across most categories, stepping up to 5 points per ₹100 (about 1.25%) on dining, online purchases and utility payments, though all three share one combined ceiling of 1,000 points per statement cycle. Where the card actually pays off is the ₹3,999 bonus dropped into your account every quarter you cross ₹1 lakh in spend — nearly ₹1,000 in real terms. It runs on a RuPay rail tied to UPI (BOBCARD hasn't disclosed any alternate network), and a fairly long exclusion list — fuel, groceries, rent, tuition, government dues, insurance premiums — earns zero reward points regardless of category.
Key features
A rundown of what actually sets this card apart.
Welcome Benefit
~₹125 in vouchers, points or cashback on card activation
1.25% on Dining
5 points per ₹100 (~1.25%) on dining, under a 1,000-point/statement cap SHARED with online and utilities; past it, spends drop to 1 point per ₹100. Fast-food outlets (MCC 5814) earn nothing
1.25% on Online Shopping
5 points per ₹100 (~1.25%) on online spends, under a 1,000-point/statement cap SHARED with dining and utilities; past it, spends drop to 1 point per ₹100. UPI spends earn core points only
️ Airport Lounge Access
3 complimentary visits per quarter at domestic and international airport lounges
Lifetime Free
No annual fee — ever. Keep this card long-term without any recurring cost.
Milestone Bonus
~₹3,999 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
UPI Linked
Link to PhonePe, GPay or Paytm and earn credit card rewards on UPI payments
️ Insurance Cover
Free professional indemnity cover up to ₹5 lakh, air accident death cover of ₹15 lakh and non-air accident death cover of ₹5 lakh — contingent covers, not an annual cash benefit; withdrawable by BOBCARD without notice, and lapses if the card is unused for 90 days before death
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | reward points | 1.25% | ₹250 |
| Online Shopping | reward points | 1.25% | ₹250 |
| Utility Bills | reward points | 1.25% | ₹250 |
| Other | reward points | 0.25% | — |
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 | 2% |
Perks & benefits
Non-reward value the card carries — roughly ₹12,999 a year altogether.
️ lounge access ~ ₹6,000 /yr
Twelve free domestic lounge entries a year, three per quarter, but only if you spent ₹40,000 or more in the quarter just before. International lounges aren't covered
milestone bonus ~ ₹3,999 /yr
A 3,999-point bonus lands each quarter your spend tops ₹1 lakh (or matches your credit limit, whichever figure is higher) — sustained across all four quarters, that's 15,996 points, worth close to ₹3,999, in a year
fuel waiver ~ ₹3,000 /yr
A 1% surcharge waiver applies at any fuel pump for transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000, capped at ₹250 per statement cycle. Fuel purchases themselves don't generate any reward points
️ insurance
Free professional indemnity cover up to ₹5 lakh, air accident death cover of ₹15 lakh and non-air accident death cover of ₹5 lakh — contingent covers, not an annual cash benefit; withdrawable by BOBCARD without notice, and lapses if the card is unused for 90 days before death
Should you get it?
Best for: Practising Company Secretaries, Members who spend on dining, online and utilities, Occasional international spenders wanting a low forex markup
A mid-tier pick that works reasonably well for consistent monthly spenders.
Value peaks on Dining spend, where you're getting 1.25% back.
Regular flyers get extra mileage out of the built-in lounge access.
✓ Pros
- Genuinely lifetime free — no joining fee, no annual fee
- A 2% forex markup, notably lower than the 3.5% most BOBCARDs charge
- 12 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year, split as 3 per quarter
- Free professional indemnity cover up to ₹5 lakh, directly relevant for a practising CS
- 3,999 bonus points each quarter for ₹1 lakh of spend — the card's biggest reward lever
- Up to 3 lifetime-free add-on cards for family members
✕ Cons
- Restricted entirely to active ICSI members — no one else can apply
- A weak 0.25% base earn rate, with the 5X categories capped at just ₹250 a month in value
- The 1,000-point 5X cap is shared across dining, online and utility spends rather than applying separately to each
- Fuel, groceries, rent, education, government payments and insurance all earn nothing
- Lounge access requires ₹40,000 of spend in the preceding quarter and is domestic-only
Eligibility & documents
Age
21 –75 years
Min. income
₹25,000 /mo
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed
Documents required
- ICSI membership number and proof of active membership
- PAN card
- Aadhaar / valid address proof
- Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
The routes available for turning earned points into usable value.
🎁 Cashback / statement credit at 1 reward point = ₹0.25
🎁 Online rewards catalogue (vouchers, merchandise)
What your BOB Reward Points are worth
How much a point actually delivers depending on how you redeem it — this gap is where most cardholders lose value.
Statement credit BEST Standard redemption
Gift voucher catalogue BEST Brand & e-gift vouchers
The concern This card's exclusion list runs unusually deep — fuel, groceries, rent, tuition, government payments, insurance and wallet top-ups all earn zero, and the accelerated 1,000-point cap is a single pool shared across dining, online spending and utilities rather than a separate allowance for each.
The bottom line
As a fee-free product it punches well above its weight — a 2% forex rate, a dozen lounge visits and free indemnity cover are the kind of perks you'd normally pay an annual fee for. Its reward engine is the weaker half: a 0.25% baseline is thin, and even the accelerated dining/online/utility tier caps out at ₹250 of value monthly. The real payoff comes from the quarterly milestone and the lower forex charge, meaning this suits a member who travels and spends consistently far better than someone using it lightly.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the ICSI Diamond BOBCARD Credit Card are taken from BOBCARD 's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page . Last verified 15 Aug 2026 . Reviewed by SarvCred Editorial Team . Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
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