ICICI did not cut a single headline reward rate in 2026. The earn tables on its cards read much as they did a year ago. What changed sits underneath them: the iShop redemption route that turned points into real value was gutted, and a layer of fees now rides on the spends cardholders used to push through for free. A card can look untouched on the brochure and still pay noticeably less in practice, and that is the shape of ICICI's year.
The iShop cut
iShop is ICICI's in-house portal for turning reward points into vouchers, and on the premium tier it was where the genuine value lived. The Emeralde Private Metal card once returned close to 18% on certain iShop vouchers; ICICI pulled that back to roughly 3%. The Times Black card fell from about 12% to about 2% on the same route. The points still earn at the old rate. They are simply worth far less when redeemed the way most premium holders actually used them, for discounted Amazon and Flipkart vouchers. Put a number on it: a holder funnelling ₹1,00,000 of value through iShop vouchers on the Emeralde once pulled out around ₹18,000; the same run now returns closer to ₹3,000. That gap is what justified the five-figure fee, and it has mostly closed.
The new fee menu
Rather than touch the earn rates, ICICI built a fee layer around spends that carry little margin for the bank. Effective 15 January 2026:
- 2% on skill-gaming spends (Dream11, Rummy Culture, MPL and similar)
- 1% on wallet loads above ₹5,000 a month
- 1% on commercial transport spends above ₹50,000
- a dynamic currency conversion markup from 1.99% on Amazon Pay variants up to 3.5% across the standard portfolio
None of these is a reward cut on paper. The targets are not random: gaming, wallet top-ups and bulk transport were the high-frequency, low-margin flows reward-optimisers used to manufacture spend, and each now carries a toll. Together they reprice exactly those routes, and they make running wallet top-ups or small-business volume through a personal ICICI card cost real money for the first time.
The lounge gate from July
The change frequent flyers feel most lands on 1 July 2026. The MakeMyTrip ICICI cards, long sold on the promise of easy airport lounge access, will need ₹75,000 of spend in the previous quarter, about ₹25,000 a month, to qualify for domestic lounge access. A card bought for its lounges now has to carry a daily-driver level of spend to keep them, which for an occasional traveller quietly removes the benefit. The threshold resets every quarter, so a slow three months removes the access for the next three, exactly when a summer trip might need it.
What to do if you hold an ICICI card
Price each card on its base earn rate now, not the iShop number it used to reach. If the annual fee only ever made sense because of an 18% voucher return, the cut has probably flipped the answer. On its base earn rate alone, an ICICI premium card now competes with no-fee cards that ask nothing in return, and that is a hard comparison to win. Keep monthly wallet loads under ₹5,000 and keep gaming spends off the card unless the convenience is worth the new charge. And if a MakeMyTrip ICICI card sits in the wallet purely for lounges, mark 1 July: check whether spend in the previous quarter clears ₹75,000, and if it does not, plan for the access to disappear.
ICICI is one issuer in a much wider repricing. Every major bank cut something in 2026, and the reasons they moved together are set out in our 2026 credit card devaluations guide.
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Frequently asked
What new fees did ICICI add to its credit cards in 2026?
From 15 January 2026 ICICI charges 2% on skill-gaming spends, 1% on monthly wallet loads above ₹5,000, and 1% on commercial transport spends above ₹50,000. Dynamic currency conversion markups also run from 1.99% on Amazon Pay variants up to 3.5% across the standard portfolio.
Why did ICICI cut the iShop reward rate in 2026?
iShop vouchers let premium cardholders convert points into retail value far above the cards' base rates, a gap the bank was funding. ICICI pulled the Emeralde Private Metal return from about 18% to roughly 3%, and the Times Black from about 12% to about 2%, to bring redemption back toward base value.
Do MakeMyTrip ICICI cards still get free airport lounge access?
Only with spend. From 1 July 2026 the MakeMyTrip ICICI cards need ₹75,000 of spend in the previous quarter, about ₹25,000 a month, to qualify for domestic lounge access. Cardholders who miss that threshold lose the lounge benefit the card was largely bought for.
Is the ICICI Emeralde Private Metal still worth holding after the iShop cut?
It depends on why you hold it. If the five-figure fee was justified mainly by harvesting 18% iShop vouchers, the cut to roughly 3% likely flips the answer. If you value it for lounge access, concierge and insurance rather than voucher arbitrage, the case is weaker than before but not gone.