Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card update: Key changes you must know before June 20
The Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card is one of the most popular credit cards in the cashback category. Some other credit cards in this category include the Cashback SBI Card, Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card, HSBC Live+ Credit Card, Swiggy HDFC Bank Credit Card, etc. The USP of these cards is that they are simple to understand. They give a certain percentage of the transaction value as cashback. Axis Bank has announced changes to the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card. The changes are effective from 20th June. What are these changes, and how will they affect the cardholders? Let us understand.
Axis Bank has announced the following changes to the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card.
Let us first start with the good news. Earlier, the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card gave 1% cashback on Myntra. From 20th June, the cashback rate will increase from 1% to 7.5%. So, Myntra shoppers will rejoice as they will earn an additional 6.5% cashback than before.
The maximum cashback that can be earned on Myntra purchases is capped at Rs. 4,000 per statement quarter. The statement quarter is defined based on your statement date. For example, if the cardholder’s statement date is the 15th of every month, the statement quarters will be as follows:
The cardholder will continue to earn 5% cashback on Flipkart and Cleartrip. Earlier, there was no capping on the cashback amount. However, from 20th June, there will be a cap on the cashback amount. The cardholder can earn a maximum cashback of Rs. 4,000 in a statement quarter. There is a separate limit of Rs. 4,000 cashback per statement quarter on Flipkart and Cleartrip.
The below example by Axis Bank clarifies how the cashback capping works on a statement quarter basis.
The cashback will be credited to the cardholder’s credit card account. The cashback earned in a statement month will be credited within 3 days prior to the next statement generation date. For example, let us assume the cardholder’s statement date is 20th May. The cashback earned for transactions made between 21st April to 20th May will be credited on 17th June.
The complimentary domestic airport lounge access benefit will be discontinued from 20th June. Earlier, the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card allowed four complimentary domestic airport lounge access in a calendar year. The complimentary domestic airport lounge access was a big benefit with an entry-level credit card like the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card, although it was based on spend criteria.
Now that the complimentary domestic airport lounge access has been discontinued, many Flipkart Axis Bank credit cardholders will be disappointed.
Earlier, the categories excluded from earning reward points or cashback were identified using the assigned 4-digit Merchant Category Code (MCC). Axis Bank has now simplified this process. The excluded transactions will now be identified based on the spend category instead of the earlier MCC code.
Transactions in the following categories are excluded from earning cashback:
The Rs. 500 annual fees on the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card are waived on spending Rs. 3,50,000 or more in a year. Spends towards rental transactions and wallet loading will not be counted towards spend-based annual fee waiver.
Here is a quick summary of changes happening on the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card from 20th June:
The Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card offers the following features and benefits:
The joining fee is Rs. 500 + Taxes (welcome benefits of Rs. 600). The annual fee is Rs. 500 + Taxes. It is waived on annual spends of Rs. 3,50,000 (rent and wallet loading transactions are not counted).
The increase in the Myntra cashback rate from 1% to 7.5% is a welcome move. For Flipkart and Cleartrip, the 5% cashback will come with a separate capping of Rs. 4,000 per statement quarter for each merchant. So, if your quarterly spends on Flipkart are more than Rs. 80,000, the cashback capping will impact you. The same applies to Cleartrip. If your quarterly spends on both these merchants are below Rs. 80,000, then you need not worry. The discontinuation of the complimentary domestic airport lounge access is a dampener.
Overall, the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card continues to be a good credit card provided your quarterly spends on Flipkart and Cleartrip are less than Rs. 80,000. So, you may continue holding the card and enjoy its benefits even post the 20th June changes.
Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.
