Question 1

What income is required?

Accepted Answer

The bank sets a minimum income requirement of ₹1,00,000 a month (₹12 lakh annually) to qualify for the IDFC FIRST Select. Meeting that figure gets your application considered, but it isn't a guarantee — your credit score, current debt load and existing relationship with IDFC FIRST also factor into the final decision.

Question 2

Is it lifetime free like Wealth?

Accepted Answer

It is. Like the Wealth card, the Select carries no annual fee at all for qualifying cardholders — it's free to hold indefinitely.

Question 3

What lounge access is provided?

Accepted Answer

The card covers domestic airport and railway lounges, but not international ones. Cardholders get one domestic airport lounge visit per quarter — unlocked only after ₹20,000 of spend in the preceding month, a rule that took effect in April 2026 — alongside four railway lounge visits per quarter with no spend condition attached. Across a full year, that domestic airport allowance tops out at four visits total.

Question 4

What is the forex markup?

Accepted Answer

Foreign transactions are charged a 1.99% markup plus 18% GST on that fee, which brings the real cost to roughly 2.35% of whatever you spend abroad — a competitive figure for a no-annual-fee card, even if it isn't zero. Spend ₹1,00,000 overseas and you'd pay approximately ₹2,348 in currency-conversion charges alone, before factoring in anything earned back in rewards.

Question 5

How does Select differ from Wealth?

Accepted Answer

Wealth is the higher tier of the two. They share the same lifetime-free status and identical 10-points-per-₹200 earning on dining, travel and international purchases, but Wealth pulls ahead with international lounge access, golf privileges and a cheaper 1.5% forex markup versus Select's 1.99%. What Select has going for it is accessibility — its income threshold is ₹1 lakh a month, well below Wealth's ₹3 lakh requirement.

Question 6

How has the IDFC FIRST Select Credit Card changed over time?

Accepted Answer

The Value Timeline tracked on this page logs 11 changes to the IDFC FIRST Select since 2021 — 9 devaluations, 1 improvement, and a handful of neutral events like launches or restructurings. Most recently, points began expiring after 24 months and a credit-limit-based earn cap was introduced, effective 18 June 2026. Every entry links back to its source, so each detail can be cross-checked against the issuer's own paperwork.

Question 7

Has the IDFC FIRST Select Credit Card been devalued recently?

Accepted Answer

It has — our tracking counts 5 devaluations over the past 24 months. The latest, effective 18 June 2026, introduced a 24-month points-expiry rule and a credit-limit-based earn cap, replacing a setup where points never expired, there was no per-cycle cap, the movie BOGO offer had no spend gate, and 10X rewards only kicked in on spend above ₹20,000 per cycle; now 10X applies from the first rupee on dining, travel and international categories instead. The complete dated history, with sources, is in the Value Timeline further down this page.

Question 8

When did the IDFC FIRST Select Credit Card's fees last change?

Accepted Answer

The last fee update landed in January 2026, when the bank started charging a 1% fee on rent payments (minimum ₹249), on fuel purchases beyond ₹30,000 in a billing cycle, and on education payments made through third-party apps (also minimum ₹249) — none of these carried a fee before. You'll find the current fee table elsewhere on this page, and the Value Timeline section covers every fee change on record prior to this one.

Question 9

How did the IDFC FIRST Select Credit Card change in 2026?

Accepted Answer

2026 brought 6 tracked changes to this card — 5 unfavorable, 1 favorable. New 1% fees on rent, high fuel spend and third-party education payments arrived in January 2026; the reward base was cut from ₹150 to ₹200 per point (roughly a 25% reduction) on 18 January 2026; and in-app travel accelerators (33% on hotels, 13% on flights) were added the same day, among three other updates. The most significant single shift was the 18 June 2026 change: points that previously never expired and had no per-cycle cap now expire after 24 months and are subject to a credit-limit-based cap, the movie BOGO offer picked up a ₹20,000 spend requirement, and 10X earning moved from an incremental-spend threshold to applying from the first rupee spent in dining, travel and international categories. Full details and sources for each change sit in the Value Timeline on this page.

Category	Type	Rate	Monthly cap
Dining	reward points	1.25%	—
Travel	reward points	1.25%	—
International	reward points	1.25%	—
Other	reward points	0.38%	—
Utility Bills	reward points	0.13%	—

Charge	Amount
Annual fee (incl. 18% GST)	Lifetime free
Joining fee (incl. 18% GST)	Free
Forex markup	1.99%
Reward redemption fee	₹99

IDFC FIRST Select Credit Card

Key features

Full reward structure

Fees & charges

Perks & benefits

Should you get it?

✓ Pros

✕ Cons

Eligibility & documents

How to redeem rewards

What your IDFC Reward Points are worth

The bottom line

Value timeline

2026 6 changes — 5 cuts, 1 improvement

2024 2 changes — 2 cuts

2023 2 changes — 2 cuts

2021 1 change — 1 neutral

Frequently asked questions

Check your eligibility for this card