ICICI bank is one of the major players in the credit card industry. It offers many types of CCs. One of the categories of CCs it issues is “Rupay”. Why use this CC and not Visa or Mastercard? Let’s see the benefits of ICICI bank Rupay card to get the answer:
Lounge access: Customers can get free access to the airport or railway lounges every quarter. A lounge is a place where you can relax, connect your mobile device or laptop to WiFi for free, enjoy refreshments, etc. You will have to find out whether the lounge you’re planning to visit is eligible for the offer or not.
Discount on movie tickets: You can get 25% discount on booking two or more movie tickets every month on Inox and BookMyShow websites. If you watch a movie every month with friends or relatives, you will save a lot of money by the end of the year if you complete the transaction with the ICICI bank Rupay Credit card.
Points: For each 100 Rs spent on shopping and paying with the CC, you will get 2 reward points. Users will earn 1 point for every 100 Rs spent for paying utility bills, insurance premium, etc with the CC.
Fast growing: Many countries support the Rupay CCs. The Indian government is in talks with their counterparts of other countries that aren’t supporting it yet.
UPI charges: Suppose you buy something from a nearby shop and you’re not carrying cash. The only thing you’re carrying is your wallet and a few CCs. You want to use the CC to complete the transaction but the store owner doesn’t have a POS machine. If you transfer money from the CC to the mobile wallet created by Paytm, Mobikwik, you will have to pay a fee to the wallet service provider. For 5000 Rs transfer, you may have to pay up to 250 Rs. Rupay allows users to link their credit card with their UPI handle. You won’t be charged a single Rupee if you pay the merchant with the UPI + CC.
As you can see above, the Indian payment system service offers everything you get with a VISA Mastercard. So, why not use it instead of its counterparts.
How to apply for the ICICI Rupay credit card? If you’ve an ICICI bank CC, open the iMobile app or log in to the bank’s website to know whether you’re pre-approved for the Rupay CC or not. Pre-approved users can generate their CC with just one click of a button.
What if you’re not pre-approved? You can apply for the card by filling out and submitting its form on the official website of the bank. You will be asked to enter details such as phone number, email address, PAN, etc. You will also be prompted to choose a CC type. The bank offers various types of Rupay CCs to the users. The most commonly issued one is “Coral”. Once you submit the form, wait for a call from the ICICI bank staff.
Charges: The CC issued by the bank can be grouped into two categories – lifetime free and one with annual charges. The names of the cards belonging to the first category may contain these three letters “LTF”. The ones belonging to the latter category will carry an annual fee of Rs 500 (excluding GST). The charges for the 1st year may be waived by the bank.
How to link the Rupay credit card with UPI apps? It is easy to link the CC with UPI application. Let’s consider the example of Paytm. Sign in to the application and click on your profile icon/picture displayed at the top left corner. Scroll down until you find the option “UPI”. Paytm will now open a new interface. Scroll down and click the option “link rupay credit card”. Choose your bank name from the list. Paytm will now find the card automatically and will display its few digits. To make UPI payments with your Rupay CC, you must create a PIN. To do so, you must enter the last eight digits of the card and random four digits you can remember.
Image source: NPCI YouTube Video
