Despite several attempts, I could not get the infinia credit card due to their required eligibility of 5 lakhs per month salary. I decided to go with the ICICI Emeralde Private Metal over the Axis Atlas card, as my annual spending is around 5 -6 lakhs max, and with the launch of the iShop portal, it turned out to be a great decision.
A friend of mine, who has an HDFC salary account and meets the 5 LPM salary requirement, was denied despite this because his spending over the last six months didn’t exceed the required 8 lakhs limit. It’s great that ICICI has stepped up in the credit card space to launch their ishop rewards360 portal, bringing more competition, which will only benefit cardholders and reduce HDFC’s dominance.
It’s always a good option for the consumers when competition exists. Since the devaluation of Axis Magnus, Infinia and DCB Metal were in a league of their own. This meant that HDFC had free reign over the super premium category, and devaluations never really made anyone say, “time to close this card”.
But now that EPM can take Infinia head on, HDFC would think twice before making any major devaluations as customers can simply jump ship to ICICI. Also, not to mention that Infinia now has an incredibly high eligibility criteria while Emeralde Private Metal card’s is unknown.
Good move by ICICI. Let’s hope they don’t fuck it up like Axis did after that devaluation of their points and rewards last year.
Just checked the reward details on ICICI iShop portal.
18% Reward Pointss on flights/e-vouchers, compared to 16.5% (with some processing fee) on Infinia.
100% RP redemption on flight bookings on ICICI Emeralde, compared to 70% on Infinia.
This will make HDFC think twice before devaluing the card. However, I feel this is too good to be true and ICICI will soon come back with some devaluation. This is just the initial hoax and we should make use of the portal and our purchases as much as possible.
What are the requirements for getting the card if you don’t already hold an ICICI credit card?
What is the eligibility criteria to get ICICI EPM Card? Is it necessary to have an ICICI salary or savings account to get the emeralds private? I have Sapphiro with 12 Lakhs limit and my spends over the last 1 year would be in the ballpark of 5 lakhs on this card.
People are suggesting to approach the RM if the existing limit is more than 10L. Since I don’t have a savings account with ICICI, whom should I approach?
Honestly, if you have EPM you really don’t need Infinia now.
Infinia Reserve is being held back for some reason, which in theory is superior to EPM.
I would rate Infinia slightly lower than EPM but leave out exceptions, EPM theoretically harder to get than Infinia even thought the eligibility criteria is not known yet.
With the latest update of unbanning of Kotak from issuing new credit cards, I really think there could be some interesting updates there.
While I don’t expect Kotak to join in the super premium category but now that they’re unbanned, I expect them to somewhat compete with mid tier cashback cards like Axis Airtel, HDFC Swiggy or maybe even SBI Cashback.
I really think Kotak is one of the best banks in India but they have been a disappointment in the credit card category except their PVR card, which also seems ancient now. One of the Kotak Banks official recently said that bank is making changes to their card terms will need some more time till they can resume on-boarding but they did seem to have a decent comeback planned.
Let’s hope for the best. Really wish Kotak presents some competition to the mid or top tier offerings to the credit card users
I also have my hopes on Kotak as they have been out of the foray for so long now.
However, Axis can easily try to reenter the foray by simply providing better or more conversions for edge miles or some preferential treatment to the users of some cards like magnus or atlas. Maybe add some more airlines, a hotel chain or two or go the Amex route and have a bonus/promotional period every year.
SBI won’t care, and the other banks simply can’t afford it. IDFC could be an interesting bet but I guess they are first trying to figure out their core banking verticle. Kotak, like you said, should try to come up with more cards like the Myntra one, but this time as a core offering.
Since the ICICI Bank Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card and the HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card are both premium offerings in the Indian credit card market, each with its own set of advantages.
Comparison:
ICICI Emeralde Private Metal card Offers a 3% reward rate on general spending.
On the other hand, HDFC Infinia provides a 3.3% reward rate on general spending.
ICICI Emeralde Private Metal has annual fee of ₹12,000.
HDFC Infinia has Annual fee of ₹12,500.
ICICI Emeralde Private Metal includes unique perks like a cancellation benefit, offering refunds up to ₹12,000 for flight or hotel cancellations (maximum twice a year).
And HDFC Infinia has features like partnerships with luxury hotel chains and offers a 48-hour room guarantee.
Therefore, it depends upon the individual preferences and spending habits.