Rumour: Axis Bank to close new applications for the Atlas Credit Card

Axis Bank has recently introduced the Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card for new applications, replacing the erstwhile Citi PremierMiles Credit Card. It now appears that Axis Bank may be closing Atlas for new applications. I will still post this in the rumour section, but it also means that if you are considering applying for the card, you should not wait.

Axis Bank Atlas is closing for new applications soon.

While I am trying to validate this, a rumour has emerged this evening suggesting that Axis Bank will close the Atlas product to new applicants as of September 2025. That means you have until August 31, 2025, to apply for the card.

Axis Bank’s Atlas Credit Card is designed for individuals who frequently travel or wish to accumulate travel rewards. The card does not offer lifestyle benefits but is laser-focused on travel perks. Atlas is also Axis Bank’s first gamified credit card, where the bank has enhanced its usual benefits package for customers who conduct a significant amount of business with the bank using this card. The card enhances its benefits by clearing certain spending milestones each membership year, in addition to granting bonus points. This allows the card to become a generic travel credit card for some, while it becomes a super-premium card for those who spend a significant amount on it.

The Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card can be applied for online/offline. Eligibility for the card is based on an annual income level of INR 9 Lakh for salaried individuals and INR 12 Lakh for self-employed individuals. The card is available to customers already holding a Banking Relationship with Axis Bank and those new to the Bank. To get started on your application, you can apply here.

Atlas has a modest joining fee of INR 5,000 + GST (net INR 5,900). In exchange, the Bank will provide 2,500 EDGE Miles to your Rewards Account upon completion of one transaction within 37 days of card setup.

Atlas has a different reward currency than the other Axis Bank offerings, EDGE Miles. Each EDGE Mile has an INR 1 value (unlike the INR 0.2 value of the EDGE Rewards), and it can also be transferred to all the airline and hotel transfer partners of the EDGE Rewards programme.

Atlas provides 2 EDGE Miles for every INR 100 spent on the card for all online/offline transactions. For instance, if you spend INR 1330 at an eatery, you should expect to earn 26 EDGE Miles in your account.

However, being a travel credit card, Atlas rewards more points when you spend at Airlines and Hotels. If you pay directly with an airline or at a hotel, you earn 5 EDGE Miles for every INR 100 spent. Direct airline spending refers to purchases made on the airline’s websites, counters, and helplines. Direct hotel spending relates to purchases made at hotel websites and counters (for instance, at check-out or the restaurant). You also get 5 EDGE Miles/INR 100 spent when booking hotels and air tickets via TravelEDGE, Axis Bank’s travel bookings portal.

Axis Bank provides three “milestones” to achieve every year on the Atlas Credit Card, which changes the rewards paradigm for you, depending on how much money you spend within a calendar year on the card. These milestones also determine the perks you earn on the card, and once you qualify for a tier, you hold it during the following membership year (unless you get further upgraded)

• Silver: This is the first tier on the Axis Bank ATLAS journey, and everyone, once enrolled for the card, starts at the Base and achieves Silver by spending INR 3,00,000 within the membership year.
• Gold: This is the middle tier on the Axis Bank ATLAS journey, and you achieve the Gold Tier by spending INR 7,50,000 within the membership year. You are credited 2,500 bonus EDGE Miles.
• Platinum: This is the highest tier on the Axis Bank ATLAS journey, and you achieve the Platinum Tier by spending INR 15,00,000 within the membership year. When you enter the Platinum Tier, you are credited 5,000 bonus EDGE Miles.

So, if you just spent on your daily spending every year and surpassed the INR 15 Lakh annual milestone, you would get 30,000 EDGE Miles, plus a 7,500 EDGE Miles bonus (2,500 + 5,000 for clearing the three tiers). That makes it 37,500 EDGE Miles or 75,000 airmiles/hotel points within 12 months.

Why do we want the card, especially with Horizon around now?

Atlas offers points on direct hotel spends, which Horizon does not. That accounts for all sorts of travels which does not get rewarded in an accelerated fashion by any other card in the country. Additionally, Atlas features a gamified system that rewards higher spenders with 7,500 bonus points (equivalent to 15,000 miles/hotel points).

If you have been considering the ATLAS card but haven’t signed up for it yet, you should do so now before they close the applications.

Bottomline

Overall, the Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card, with its very lucrative rewards structure, is an excellent card for those who routinely spend on travel, or even if they don’t. Not only is it not marketed as an HNI credit card, but it has also been very stable compared to some of the other changes in the Axis Bank Credit Cards universe over 2023.

You get 2 EDGE Miles/INR 100 spent, apart from the potential of earning 17,500 Bonus points or more just by paying INR 15 Lakhs on the card in a year. Add that to the impressive list of transfer partners, and you have a card that is capturing all the proper attention.

What do you think of the ATLAS, and will you be signing up for it before it closes for new applications?

Apply for the AXIS BANK ATLAS CREDIT CARD

(PS, and if you think I did not cross-verify said rumour, people did not deny it when I reached out.)

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