Axis Bank’s Magnus for Burgundy, known as one of India’s most rewarding credit cards, has announced significant revisions to its rewards structure, effective June 20, 2025. The updates aim to align benefits closely with spending patterns while maintaining their allure for high spenders.

Axis Bank Magnus for Burgundy changes are coming

The Axis Bank Magnus for Burgundy credit card, primarily targeting high net-worth individuals who are members of the bank’s BURGUNDY wealth management programme, has become popular due to its superior reward-earning capacity, particularly its ability to accumulate EDGE Rewards rapidly, converting spends into luxurious travel and lifestyle experiences.

From June 20, 2025, Axis Bank Magnus for Burgundy credit cardholders will experience a modified reward rate designed to reward substantial monthly expenditures even more generously.

The revised earning structure is as follows:

• Cardholders will continue earning 12 EDGE Reward Points per INR 200 spent for expenditures up to INR 1.5 lakhs per calendar month.
• A significantly higher rate of 35 EDGE Reward Points per INR 200 will be applicable for spends exceeding INR 1.5 lakhs, up to the sum of the cardholder’s credit limit plus an additional INR 1.5 lakhs per calendar month.
• Once this higher threshold is crossed, the rate reverts to the standard 12 EDGE REWARD Points per INR 200 spent.

To be honest, this is a good implementation of fair use policies, rather than rewarding turnover on the card, just cap AEPs to the credit limit on your card.

To clarify these changes, Axis Bank provided an illustrative example:

For a cardholder with a credit limit of INR 5 lakhs who spends INR 8 lakhs in a month:

• For the initial INR 1.5 lakhs spent, the cardholder earns 12 EDGE REWARD Points per INR 200, totalling 9,000 points.
• For spends between INR 1.5 lakhs and INR 6.5 lakhs (INR 5 lakhs credit limit + INR 1.5 lakhs additional), the cardholder earns at the enhanced rate of 35 points per INR 200, totalling 87,500 points.
• Finally, for the remaining INR 1.5 lakhs spent (from INR 6.5 lakhs to INR 8 lakhs), the earnings revert to 12 points per INR 200, accumulating another 9,000 points.

Thus, this cardholder would earn a substantial total of 105,500 EDGE REWARD Points for INR 8 lakh spends, underscoring the lucrative nature of these rewards for higher spenders.

Similarly, on foreign exchange spends, Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card used to offer 2X EDGE Rewards (30 points / INR 200). This feature will similarly be limited to the spending per cycle on the credit limit only. Other tweaks have been made to some cards as well, but are largely inconsequential.

Simplification of Spend Category Identification

Axis Bank has made another crucial enhancement by simplifying how transactions excluded from rewards and spend-based fee waiver calculations are identified. Transactions will now be categorised based on spend type—such as Utility & Telecom, Rent, Wallet spends—rather than the previously used four-digit Merchant Category Codes (MCC). This also sort of creates an ambiguous middle space where the MCC hunters won’t know if they get points or not for certain transactions. Ideally, that should not be the case.

Effective October 2025: EDGE Miles and Rewards Forfeiture

Alongside these reward revisions, Axis Bank is introducing another notable change effective from October 1, 2025. The bank will reserve the right to forfeit unredeemed EDGE Reward Points or EDGE Miles in two specific scenarios:

• If points or miles remain unredeemed beyond 30 days following card closure.
• If the minimum outstanding amount on the card remains unpaid for more than 90 days.

To avoid unnecessary forfeiture, Axis Bank advises cardholders to redeem accrued EDGE REWARD Points or EDGE Miles within 30 days of card closure.

What This Means for Cardholders

If you were not paying attention, there have been a bunch of people still using the card for all sorts of spending, going against the spirit of the Magnus for Burgundy and the Accelerated EDGE Points (AEP) feature. This new policy, with a valid notice period, now limits the points to be earned in a pretty straightforward fashion, which does not take away from the customers and also from the bank.

Bottomline

Axis Bank’s Magnus for Burgundy updates will not affect the normal day-to-day use case of the card, but they will affect those who use the card for high-value purchases in a regular fashion. The card rewards programme is being optimised to move from rewarding turnover to rewarding high spends, both on Reserve as well as Magnus for Burgundy, by capping some limits.

What do you think of the changes coming to Magnus for Burgundy and Reserve? 

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