Credit card reward points expiry — what is the validity period?
Ram Rao
Asked 5 May 2026
Do reward points on Indian credit cards expire? If yes, after how many months of inactivity? Which banks have the longest validity?
6 Answers
Tip from someone who made this mistake: never max out the credit limit in the first 6 months. Banks track utilisation, and high utilisation right after approval often triggers a credit limit decrease or even an account review.
Two cards from the same bank usually share credit limit, not stack it. So if bank gives you ₹2 lakh total, splitting between two cards doesn't increase your available credit. That's a common misconception people carry when applying for their second card.
The 'minimum due' trap is real. Banks love it because they charge ~36-42% interest on the carried-forward amount. If you can't pay the full bill this month, pay at least 50% — anything below that and the interest eats the rewards of the next 6 months.
Dispute process that worked for me: I called customer care within 24 hours, raised a dispute via the netbanking portal (uploading the receipt showing I never visited the merchant), and got a provisional credit in 5 working days. Permanent credit came after the bank's investigation in about 30 days.
I had the same dilemma. The way I decided was: list down my top 3 monthly spend categories, calculate the rewards on each card, and pick whichever gives the highest cashback on MY pattern. Generic 'best card' lists are useless for personal decisions.
For the fee waiver condition: most banks count only retail purchases, not EMI, wallet loads, or fuel (in some cases). Read the TnC PDF linked at the bottom of the fee-waiver email — it's usually 2-3 paragraphs of fine print that change everything.
Your Answer
Sign in to post your answer and help the community.
Sign in to postWhy sign in? We moderate Q&A to keep it spam-free.