Shopping online? ICICI Bank’s iShop portal offers big rewards—Here’s what you get

Some banks have separate platforms that reward their credit holders when they transact through that platform. These platforms offer accelerated reward points when a credit cardholder shops, and also offer various options for redeeming reward points.

For example, HDFC Bank has the SmartBuy platform that provides credit cardholders with opportunities to earn accelerated reward points and redemption options. Similarly, American Express has the Reward Multiplier platform that provides credit cardholders with opportunities to earn accelerated reward points.

In February, ICICI Bank introduced the iShop portal to reward its credit cardholders. In this article, we will understand what is the iShop portal, its accelerated reward points program, redemption options, etc.

What is the iShop portal?

The iShop portal from ICICI Bank allows its credit cardholders to book flights, bus tickets, hotel accommodation, purchase gift vouchers, etc., and earn accelerated reward points of up to 12X. The accelerated reward points multiple depends on the credit card variant held and the type of transaction done.

Similarly, the iShop portal allows credit cardholders to redeem their reward points against booking flights, bus tickets, hotel accommodation, purchasing gift vouchers, etc.

Accelerated reward points

The iShop portal provides 12X reward points for booking hotel accommodation, and 6X reward points for booking flights, bus tickets, and purchasing gift vouchers. The reward rate or the value back can be up to 36%, depending on the credit card variant held. The table below shows the reward rate in the form of accelerated reward points on various credit cards for various transactions done on the iShop portal.

The above table shows how the Emeralde Private Metal and Times Black credit cards provide great value to cardholders for transactions on the iShop portal. Please note that there are monthly limits on the accelerated reward points that can be earned for every credit card. 

For example, for Emeralde Private Metal Credit Card, the accelerated reward points are capped at 18,000 per month. Similarly, for the Times Black Credit Card, the monthly capping is 15,000 reward points.

A cardholder can purchase Amazon Pay and Flipkart gift vouchers for a maximum of Rs. 12,000 monthly.

Redemption of reward points

The reward points can be redeemed on the iShop portal against transactions in various categories. Some of these include booking flights, hotel accommodation, purchasing gift vouchers, etc. The value of each reward point for redemption against booking flights, hotels, and purchasing gift vouchers is Rs. 1. It means 1 reward point = Rs. 1 for redemption against the transactions mentioned above.

There are limits on the percentage of the transaction value that can be paid through reward points, as follows.

So, for flight booking, the entire transaction value can be paid with reward points. For hotel bookings, 90% of the transaction value can be paid with reward points. The remaining 10% must be paid with the ICICI Bank credit card. Similarly, for gift voucher purchases, 60% of the transaction value can be paid with reward points. The remaining 40% must be paid with the ICICI Bank credit card.

A minimum of 500 reward points must be redeemed in a single transaction. A redemption fee of Rs. 99 + GST will be charged per transaction, except for Emeralde Private Metal and Times Black cards.

The reward points can also be transferred to Air India’s loyalty program (Maharaja Club). ICICI Bank’s competing banks, like HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, American Express, HSBC Bank India, etc., have multiple airline and hotel loyalty transfer partners. In future, ICICI Bank is also expected to introduce new airline and hotel loyalty partners, on the lines of its competitors.

How to multiply your reward points with gift vouchers

A customer can buy gift vouchers of several online and offline brands through the iShop portal. So, whether you want to purchase gift vouchers and earn accelerated reward points or purchase gift vouchers by redeeming reward points, you can do it through the iShop portal.

When you use your credit card directly online or at a POS machine at an offline merchant outlet, you earn base reward points. However, if you buy a gift voucher of the same online/offline merchant through the iShop portal and then pay the merchant through the gift voucher, you multiply your reward points.

iShop portal enhances the value proposition of ICICI Bank credit cards

With the HDFC SmartBuy platform and American Express Reward Multiplier platform, the cardholders of these banks can earn accelerated reward points and transfer them to airline and hotel loyalty partners. However, so far, the ICICI Bank credit cardholders did not have these benefits.

With the introduction of the iShop portal, ICICI Bank credit cards can now earn accelerated reward points of up to 12X reward points. It is a significant additional benefit that the cardholders can get. So, the iShop portal definitely enhances the value proposition of ICICI Bank credit cards.

Currently, banks like HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, HSBC Bank India, American Express, etc., have various hotel loyalty transfer partners. Some of these include Marriott Bonvoy, Club ITC, Accor Live Limitless (ALL), IHG One Rewards, Wyndham Rewards, etc. Similarly, they have various airline loyalty partners. Some of these include Maharaja Club, KrisFlyer, Japan Airlines, Etihad Guest, Air Canada Aeroplan, United MileagePlus, Miles & Smiles, etc.

Currently, ICICI Bank has one reward points transfer partner i.e., Maharaja Club, the Air India loyalty program. In the future, if ICICI Bank adds other airline and hotel loyalty partners for transferring reward points, it will provide more redemption options to cardholders.

With the introduction of the iShop portal, ICICI Bank has matched its competing banks in providing its credit cardholders an opportunity to earn accelerated reward points. As and when ICICI Bank brings more transfer partners on board, it will further match its competing banks in providing its credit cardholders with more reward points redemption options. The move will further enhance the value proposition of ICICI Bank credit cards.

Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.