How credit card reward points work in India, with expiry and redemption

Updated 30 Oct 2026 · by SwipeWise editorial team · how we write

Reward points are the most common benefit on Indian credit cards, and the most misread. The earning rate on the advertisement tells you only how many points you get; what each point is worth, what it costs to redeem and what is excluded decide what you keep. The examples below use issuers’ own pages and documents as recorded on 29-30 October 2026. Terms change, so treat them as examples of how to read a card, not as current offers.

Step 1: points earned

Cards state earning in different units, so convert everything to points per ₹100:

Accelerated rates (“5X”, “10X”) multiply the base on named merchants or categories and usually carry a monthly or quarterly cap, after which you drop to the base rate.

Step 2: what a point is worth

Effective return per ₹100 = points per ₹100 × rupee value of a point.

The same earning rate can therefore give a return several times higher or lower: ₹1 a point against ₹0.25 is four times. ICICI does not publish a rupee value on the pages we read, so for ICICI cards we use an estimate of ₹0.25, and say so on each card page. A point’s value is set by the issuer and can be changed.

Step 3: what it costs to redeem

• AU Zenith+: ₹99 plus GST per redemption request (AU MITC, 12 October 2026). Redeeming 500 points (₹500) costs about ₹117 with 18% GST.
• ICICI Bank: ₹99 plus GST per redemption request under the main ICICI Rewards scheme (ICICI MITC, last updated 9 October 2026).
• Federal Bank: a minimum balance of 500 points is needed to redeem from 15 July 2026 (Federal Rewards site). We could not open Federal’s redemption fee document, so we state no fee.
• RBL ShopRite: ₹99 plus GST, charged once for all redemptions made in a single day (RBL product page).
• IDFC FIRST Bank: ₹99 per redemption transaction in the schedule of charges of its MITC (a file dated 2025; GST applies on top, as the MITC states for fees).
• Standard Chartered: ₹99 “towards handling and courier charges for redemption of reward points” in the tariff section of the Smart card MITC (March 2026 version).
• SBI Card: no per-request fee in the notices we read, but from 1 April 2026 statement-credit redemption is capped at 60,000 points a month and allowed only in multiples of 4,000 points (SBI customer notices, read 30 October 2026), with a few named co-brands exempt. At SBI’s 4 points = ₹1 that is blocks of ₹1,000 and a ₹15,000 monthly ceiling.

Fees hit small, frequent redemptions hardest, so a fee can favour redeeming less often. Against that, issuers can change redemption values, and some points expire, so a very large unredeemed balance carries its own risk.

Step 4: exclusions and caps

Not every rupee earns. Examples from the cards above: AU Zenith+ earns nothing on cash, EMI, fuel, transportation and BBPS payments, and caps utility, insurance, education, government and rent earnings together at 1,000 points; ICICI Coral caps grocery rewards at ₹20,000 of spend per statement cycle (400 points). If a third of your spend falls in excluded categories, the effective return falls by about a third.

Expiry and forfeiture

Expiry and what happens on closure vary by issuer and are set in the reward programme terms. ICICI’s MITC states that reward points expire 36 months from the date of issuance, and that on a single-card account all points lapse if the card is cancelled. We did not find an expiry rule on the AU, Amex, SBI, Federal, RBL or HDFC pages we read, so we make no claim about them; look for “validity” and “closure” in the reward programme terms before relying on a balance.

A worked comparison

₹30,000 a month of ordinary spend is ₹3,60,000 a year.

• AU Zenith+ at 1 point per ₹100 and ₹1 a point: 3,600 points = ₹3,600 (1%), before the ₹99 plus GST redemption fee.
• SBI SimplyClick at 1 point per ₹100 and ₹0.25 a point: 3,600 points = ₹900 (0.25%).
• Amex Membership Rewards at 1 point per ₹50 and about ₹0.33 a point (Amazon voucher route): 7,200 points = ₹2,400 (0.67%). None of these base rates reaches a 1.5% flat cashback; bonus categories are needed to compete with such a card; our calculator shows the net result with your own mix, caps and fees.

What to check before you apply

• Points per ₹100 on your biggest categories, and the rupee value of a point on the route you will use.
• Redemption fee and minimum balance.
• Exclusions and caps, with the cycle they apply to.
• Expiry and closure rules in the reward programme terms.
• Annual fee against the reward you realistically keep.

Rewards are only worth chasing if you pay the full bill on time. See also points vs cashback, how to protect yourself from devaluations, our rule-change tracker and the methodology. This is general information, not financial advice.

Sources

• American Express India, Membership Rewards Credit Card (accessed 30 Oct 2026).
• HDFC Bank, Regalia Gold product feature change (effective 15 May 2026).
• ICICI Bank, MITC (last updated 9 Oct 2026; redemption fee, 36-month expiry, grocery cap table) and Coral Credit Card page (2 points per ₹100) (accessed 30 Oct 2026).
• IDFC FIRST Bank, credit card MITC (₹99 reward redemption fee); Standard Chartered, Smart card MITC (₹99 handling charge); SBI Card, customer notices (statement-credit redemption rules from 1 Apr 2026); all read 30 Oct 2026.
• AU Small Finance Bank, Zenith+ credit card (earn rates, ₹1 point value, exclusions and 1,000-point cap) and MITC with schedule of charges (₹99 plus GST redemption fee; last updated 12 Oct 2026) (accessed 30 Oct 2026).
• SBI Card, SimplyClick page (4 points = ₹1; 5X and 10X online; accessed 30 Oct 2026).
• Federal Bank, Federal Rewards catalogue (point prices; 500-point minimum from 15 Jul 2026; accessed 30 Oct 2026).
• RBL Bank, ShopRite credit card page (₹99 plus GST redemption fee; 20 points per ₹100 on groceries; accessed 30 Oct 2026).

Keep reading

• Points vs cashback credit cards: which suits you?
• Lifetime free credit cards explained
• Credit card devaluations in India: how to protect your rewards