Amazon in collaboration with ICICI Bank launched Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card in October 2018. This card makes your shopping on Amazon more rewarding by providing a reward rate of up to 5% if you are a Amazon Prime member.
Eligibility Criteria
At this point of time, this card is invite only. I’m not sure what algorithm Amazon uses for invites. However a healthy relationship with ICICI bank and an existing credit card from ICICI certainly increases the chance for invitation.
You can check the eligibility by visiting this page. If eligible, you can apply for the card by providing details of your existing ICICI Credit Card. If everything goes smooth, you would be issued a digital version of the card instantly. The physical card would be delivered to your mailing address within 7 working days. The credit limit of this card would be equal to your existing ICICI credit card.
Fees
There is no joining or renewal fee for this card and this card is issued life time free.
Rewards
The different reward rates for this card are outlined below:
- 5% for Amazon Prime customers at Amazon
- 3% for non-prime customers at Amazon
- 2% on digitally fulfilled categories and physical gift cards
- 2% on paying through Amazon Pay at Amazon Pay partner merchants
- 1% on all other spends
The best part about this card is absence of upper cap on rewards. The rewards are credited as Amazon Pay balance in Amazon account each month after statement generation.
Features
Given that it’s Amazon co-branded card, it’s features are pretty much limited to shopping on Amazon. Below are few of them:
- No cost EMI of 3 or 6 months on Amazon
- Surcharge waiver of 1% on fuel transactions
- 15% discount when dining at restaurants participating in Culinary Treats
Drawbacks
Given that this card has no joining and renewal fee, I don’t have great expectations from it. However I would still like to highlight some drawbacks as below:
- No way to redeem rewards for statement credit
- No rewards on fuel transactions
- No rewards for purchasing gold and EMI transactions at Amazon
- Amazon Prime membership (Rs. 999 annually) required for maximum benefit
- No clarity on eligibility/invitation criteria
Verdict
5% cash-back on Amazon and 1% elsewhere is really a good offer and no other card in this segment provides equivalent benefits. This is the sole reason that this card features in my list of best credit cards in India for 2019. The simple and seamless integration of rewards with Amazon Pay is another highlight. If you are invited for this card, don’t give a second thought and go for it.
I would say this is the only credit card worth having from ICICI Bank. Your thoughts?
