This is not precisely a devaluation, so I won’t be referring to it as one. Still, Axis Bank Credit Cards is rolling out a 30-day notice to changes to  Axis Bank Vistara’s co-branded Credit Card products’ earnings and milestone spending as of June 1, 2023.

Rent Payments using Axis Bank Credit Cards will no longer earn points or count towards milestone spending.

The Axis Vistara co-branded credit cards have had a unique feature over the years. Vistara has generously offered award space on their flights, even in the Business Class cabin, for those who spend money on the cards. For instance, you can earn a business class ticket for every INR 2.5 Lakh spent within a year on the Axis Vistara Infinite Credit Card.

The co-brand card was previously unaffected by changes announced in February 2023. However, new moves from Axis Bank today have harmonised the card offerings with the other Axis Bank credit cards.

Effective June 1, 2023, spends threshold for milestone benefits and points earning will exclude rent transactions on the following cards:

• Axis Bank Vistara Infinite Credit Card
• Axis Bank Vistara Signature Credit Card
• Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card

That means if you were banking on getting a free business class ticket on Vistara after paying rent every three or four months, that opportunity would evaporate. You must make other substantial spends to earn CV points and those tickets.

I’ve maintained that two kinds of people would use the feature. One type needed liquidity for some additional time to pay their rent. The others would do it for the points or meet minimum spending criteria. Almost all banks want to close the latter since it is a cost to them, and if no one else is giving points for rent transactions, why should they?

Rent transactions are identified via Merchant code 6513, so please check if your favourite rent payment platform, such as Cred, NoBroker, RedGirraffe, Housing, and so on, counts as one or not.

Also, wallet loads, which anyways did not earn CV Points, are also excluded from milestone spending.

Wallet Transactions are to be excluded from Milestone Benefits.

Wallet transactions like loading uphonePe Wallet your Paytm or P will no longer count towards milestone benefits on the Vistara co-brand cards. They were anyways excluded from points earning long back.

Here is the new notice from Axis Bank summarising the details.

Bottomline

Many changes are coming to Axis Bank Vistara credit cards in June 2023. Rent Payments using Axis Bank Vistara Credit Cards will no longer count towards milestone spends or earn CV points. Ultimately, it is not a devaluation because there is a focus on fixing loopholes and focusing on the profitability of customers, and in the process, stamping out the abuse of the cards in the hands of a few.

What do you make of these changes being introduced in the Axis Bank credit card portfolio? 

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