🕒 Last updated on: October 12, 2025
Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card
The Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card has long been celebrated as one of India’s most popular co-branded credit cards, with over 5 million customers. Its appeal lies in a simple, transparent rewards system and the promise of a lifetime free card with unlimited cashback.
However, a recent renewal of the partnership between Amazon Pay and ICICI Bank has brought significant changes that every cardholder should be aware of. While the bank and Amazon position these changes as an “enhancement,” the reality is more nuanced.
Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card: Benefits
The Amazon Pay ICICI card was a popular choice for both online and offline spending.
No Annual or Joining Fees: The card is lifetime free, meaning there are no joining or annual fees.
Welcome Benefits: Many Welcome Benefits worth 2,000 on signup. (Shopping/Utility Rewards)
High Cashback on Amazon: It provides unlimited 5% cashback on all Amazon India purchases for Prime members and 3% for non-Prime members.
Other Cashback Rates: Cardholders could earn unlimited 2% cashback on all utility payments and transactions with Amazon Pay merchant partners and 1% cashback on all other online/offline spends outside of Amazon.
Fuel Surcharge Waiver: It offered a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between ₹400 and ₹4,000.
Recent Changes: A Breakdown
The email received from them focuses on the positive changes, but a deeper look reveals some significant devaluations for a large number of users. Effective October 11, 2025, the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card will have these changes:
What Became Better:
Reduced Forex Markup: For those who travel or make international purchases, this is a clear win. The forex markup on international transactions has been reduced from 3.5% to just 1.99%.
Travel Cashback: Prime members can now enjoy 5% unlimited cashback on flights and hotels booked via Amazon Pay, while non-Prime members get 3%.
What Became Worse (Devaluations):
Loss of Universal 1% Cashback: The most significant negative change is the expansion of the exclusion list for cashback. Previously, the card’s universal 1% cashback on other spends outside of Amazon made it a great general-purpose card. Now, a wide range of categories, including rent, tax, education, and utilities, are explicitly excluded from earning any cashback. This is a major devaluation for many users who relied on the card for these specific types of payments.
Similar Credit Card Alternatives
If the Amazon Pay ICICI card no longer meets your needs, especially for general spending, here are some alternatives worth considering.
SBI Cashback Card: A strong contender for online shoppers.
Offers a flat 5% cashback on all online spends, without any merchant restrictions.
1% cashback on offline transactions.
The Card offers maximum 5,000 cashback/month. The cashback is auto-credited to your account, so there is no hassle of point conversion.
Annual fee of Rs. 999, which is waived if you spend Rs. 2 lakh in the previous year.
- Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card: A direct alternative for those who prefer Flipkart.
It comes with welcome benefits worth Rs 1,250.
Offers 5% and 7.5% cashback on Flipkart and Myntra, and 4% cashback on partner merchants like Swiggy, Uber, and PVR.
Flat 1% unlimited cashback on all other spends.
The cashback is directly credited to the credit card account and offers a maximum cashback of up to Rs 4,000/month.
Enjoy all these benefits for just Rs 500 as a joining fee and Rs 500 annually (which can be waived off on annual spends over Rs 3.5 lakh).
- Swiggy HDFC Credit Card: This is an all-rounder credit card.
10% cashback on Swiggy Food, Instamart, Dineout and Genie up to Rs 1,500/month.
- Flat 5% Cashback on 1000s online platforms: Fashion, cabs, electronics, movies and more (Note: It offers 1% cashback on competitor segment apps like Zepto, Zomato, etc. excluding Amazon & Flipkart on any shopping including grocery.)
- 1% Cashback on other spends at offline stores and other food, grocery and dining apps
- Welcome Benefit: Swiggy One Membership
- All these benefits for No Joining Fees and Annual Fees of Rs 500/month and the cashback is directly credited into the account.
Credit Card Conclusion
While the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card remains a great option for its core purpose—shopping on Amazon and now for international travel—it has lost its standing as a solid, all-purpose cashback card. The new exclusions on categories like rent, taxes and utilities are a significant drawback for many users. The card’s value is now more specialized, and for those seeking a more versatile cashback card, competitors like the SBI Cashback Card, Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card and HDFC Swiggy Credit Card offer a great value proposition.
We hope you liked this detailed blog post on the recent changes in the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card. Also, read our latest blog know more about the Swiggy HDFC Bank Credit Card, its benefits and a detailed review on it.
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