ICICI Bank Diamant Credit Card Review (Invite only)

By | April 19, 2018

ICICI Diamant Credit Card is the ICICI Bank’s top end invite only credit card usually issued to its Private Banking customers. But hey, I doubt whether ICICI bank has gone nuts while designing their super premium card features, more on that later.

  • Joining Fee: Rs.1,25,000 + Service Tax
  • Welcome Bonus: Apple MacBook Air (worth Rs.75,000)
  • Annual Fee: (Second year onwards): Rs. 10,000 + Service Tax (waived off when spends in the previous year cross Rs. 25,00,000)

At-least good to see a annual fee waiver on spend, though its pretty high.

ICICI Bank Diamant Credit Card Review

It appears that the person/team that deals with designing the entire ICICI Bank credit card portfolio and the card offers is not-in-line with the real world and should really learn from the competitors.

ICICI Diamant Credit Card Rewards:

  • 6 PAYBACK points per ₹100 on all international spends. (forget it, use these cards instead)
  • 3 PAYBACK points per ₹100 on all spends in India. (Seriously?!)
  • 1 Reward point = ₹0.25 (can be redeemed for cash)
  • Reward Rate: 0.75%

So that’s a 0.75% reward rate which is below HDFC Bank’s basic level Moneyback credit card that has 0.8% reward rate when spent online.

Fact: Fortunately Jet Sapphiro Amex card escaped this low rewarding gang of ICICI Bank credit cards, maybe because Jet Airways knows what to offer on a premium variant.

Their 0.75% reward rate on Diamant Credit card is too low like any other normal entry level credit cards and the features are nowhere nearer to the kind of joining fee they charge for it.

Complimentary Movie Tickets:

  • Complimentary movie ticket all through the week at bookmyshow when you book one ticket.
  • Upto 4 complimentary tickets per month.
  • No Price cap per ticket.
  • Watch the finest in world cinema with exclusive movie screenings.

This is what their website says, which may save a lot of money if you watch movies in PVR Gold class. If ticket costs Rs.1000, 4 tickets month for 1 year can save a nice Rs.48,000. Umm, not sure how far this is real.

Other Benefits on ICICI Diamant Credit Card:

  • Unlimited complimentary rounds at premier golf courses across the country.
  • Private ISLANDS/YACHTS/JETS/Super Cars booked via Concierge
  • Lounge Access: Unlimited Priority pass Access to both card holder & guests (yes, guests, that’s what the website says, but its mostly not true i believe)
  • ICICI Credit Card Offers: I receive over hundreds of emails every year and its important to say that i have not utilized even SINGLE offer yet and i still wonder how they’re doing business with such poor card offers.

Overall, the benefits and features displayed on the website seems to be very much outdated and the phone banking officers neither have any clue about the updated feature of the card.

ICICI Bank Diamant Credit Card Features:

  • Card Expert Rating: 2.5/5 [yasr_overall_rating]
  • Reward Rate: 0.75% as Payback Points
  • Complementary Airport lounge access: Yes, to Mastercard Lounge and Priority Pass Program
  • Special Features: Bookmyshow Tickets
  • Foreign Exchange Markup fee: 3.5% + Service Tax

As you can see, the joining fee does not compensate the kind of benefits you get out of it. I called up their concierge to figure out what they’re upto, but disappointed to experience a poor yet-another customer care executive touch and he has no idea what to say when i asked for the card’s special features. Even for a celebrity, this card will be of no use, unless given for free.

This is the information I have at the moment about the card and i’ll keep adding more as i hear more from other readers and the bank. Looking for other super premium credit cards? check out my list of  5 Best Super Premium Credit Cards in India

Update – April 2017: My RM said they discontinued this card since March 2017 and is no more open to new applications.

What do you think about ICICI Bank Diamant Credit Card? Does anyone got an invite or hold one? Do let me know in comments below.

30 thoughts on “ICICI Bank Diamant Credit Card Review (Invite only)

  1. Anoop E S

    Payback points for the super premium card? Who is designing these cards?

    Reply
      1. Arun

        One of the most worst bank with a team of Horrible customer support folks. ‘Am a salary account holder with ICICI since 2014,To be honest i never had any good experience with this bank .

        Especially in the name of credit card they will cheat you and loot your money like anything,Here’s an example that I would like to share ,usually I make my credit card payment every month before the due date without fail,at times I use to get a confirmation in another 24 hrs of time stating they received the payment.
        But recently they are following a new method ,i.e after I making the payment they use to auto debit an amount again from my account with lot of hidden charges (Auto debit charges+some shitty service charge ,tax etc).Interesting factor is that they are adding only the auto debited amount in to my credit card .I contacted there customer support team , a team of Donkey’s and raised my question they don’t have a proper explanation regarding the auto debit and what happened to the money that I payed manually before the auto debit .

        They just told me, Sir you activated the auto debit option and so the amount got deducted ,Are ..yar I already made the payment before the due date and again why this auto debit and what happened to the money that I credited before ,immediately there response was “Can’t hear the customer,Can’t hear the customer,Can’t hear the customer” and they hang up ,this happened to me thrice today with three different executives.

        Finally I spoke with one guy and I didn’t argued with him much on the auto debit part and all ,I requested him to deactivate it ,immediately he responded over the phone that it’s done .I requested him that I would need an email confirmation on this for which he said he can’t .I just ask him the reason and he said, see trust me if u can otherwise it’s Ur mistake.

        I really don’t want to argue with that idiot and waste my valuable time but i met my company accountant and requested him to change my salary account to some other banks for which he agreed. So guy’s my humble request to all ,please stay away from this bank ,they are like Jurassic park all set to eat human beings . Also anybody Please suggest how i can move legally on this!

        Reply
        1. Arghya

          This auto debit running even if you pay manually is common across banks. Unless you inform the bank at least a week in advance, be sure that auto debit will be run and you will end up with double payment. I feel that banks actually run auto debit in real “auto” mode and do not check it at all.

          Reply
    1. MANU KUMAR

      Seems They have taken Socialism to their heart.. Rich won’t be treated richly, they too would be poorly treated.

      May be they have learnt this from SBI, which treats everybody like JanDhan Account Holder.

      #NoOffenceIntended

      Reply
        1. MANU KUMAR

          Yesterday I had the luxury to visit one of their branch, and that was treatment even though I have good relationship value . most Private sector banks and foreign banks treat the customers much better way..

          Reply
          1. Siddharth Post author

            Its because they have LOTS of customers.

  2. Praveen Perumalla

    Even a 3.5 rating too much; deserves a 2 or 2.5.

    The rewards is a joke.
    Looks like the fees is set for people on Mars

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Just “devalued” to 3 from 3.5 on demand 😉
      Atleast the Bookmyshow offer seems to be nice.

      Yes indeed, seriously, it looks like they didn’t hire the right person to set the reward system,
      not just on this, on all their cards.

      Reply
      1. Hari

        I asked a Senior Person with ICICI why they are not competing with HDFC regards to Credit cards. He told that they have most of the Salary accounts and they seem to be content with that.

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          Yes, they seem to make money from corporates due to its vast # of branches. Also, they had bad past with Credit cards and hence they’re not aggressive now except selling the lifetime free platinum card 😀

          Reply
  3. siddhant

    ICICI is shitty bank, only card better in jet sapphiro, but it has a hidden cost which i discovered late, when you take the card for first year offer it is fine but the fine print says if you do not renew the card in second year you will still be charged fees for the same, yes i am as shocked as you to see this, pl. confirm

    Reply
  4. Madhur gurbani

    Hi Siddharth,
    How I can see / know the status of upgrdation of my HDFC credit card ?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Great things happen to those who wait 😉
      as nothing else can be done apart from checking netbanking a/c.

      Reply
  5. Mukesh

    ICICI sucks big tine, btw would any1 spending 125000 upfront really care about buy 1 get 1 on BMS?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Its fortunately not Buy1Get1, the offer is applicable on single booking 🙂
      Will be very useful for those in Metros like Delhi where PVR gold class costs hell a lot of Money, as explained in my other comment.

      Reply
  6. Vinod Kannan

    Sid, You know very well that that is a maximum cap of 75000 JP miles per year for Jet Saphiro Amex card right? According to me even the Saphiro card is not upto the mark.. Regarding this card… Seriously? 3 rating points for this card? PVR tickets cost only 150-200 mate… Even then you have to pay the convenience fee right? I wouldn’t rate this card more than 1.5/5… I think ICICI hired a Mentally Retarded Stone age candidate for designing their Credit Cards.. Not even a single card is worth getting from ICICI bank…

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Vinod,
      True about the JPmiles cap. It’s still a good one as we can put a nice 10L spend approx and added to that, double JPmiles offer makes it no brainer.

      I mean, PVR Gold Class tickets in Metro cities, say Bangalore costs about 1000 INR, Delhi rates are likes 1800 INR.
      Lol yes, seriously wrong with the person who leads the Credit cards wing.

      Reply
  7. Adi. H

    Hi Siddharth,

    Do you know anything about commercial cards?
    If one requires them because of the business needs/business nature. How can one have it and what will be the requirements?

    Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Its available as i came across it once in the branch.
      You might need to visit the branch to get an idea.

      Reply
      1. Adi. H.

        Which department handles it? I mean if I reach bank, for which desk I should look for?

        Reply
  8. Chandan

    @Siddharth, just curious, I live in the UAE and have noticed that they have World Elite credit cards here; why isn’t this introduced in India?

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Well, i’ve got a robotic response when i asked this to Mastercard directly, few months back 😀
      Maybe it needs some more time to show up in India.

      Reply
  9. sanjay

    Siddharth,

    Can you also review ICICIBANKs Saphirro VISA Signature Credit Card which is also Invite Only

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      It isn’t invite only. And the card doesn’t have any attractive benefit/joining fee. But the card itself does look gorgeous.

      Reply
  10. Manjunath

    Siddharth, now ICICI is offering dragon pass instead of priority pass. Which includes 2 international lounge visits and 2 spa access per calender year. How good is the dragon pass. Is it worth taking the ICICI saphire card

    Reply
    1. Ramprasad

      Hi Manjunath,

      I had taken ICICI Jet Airways Sapphiro Card with Amex & VISA variants (took both variants as it helped me get 2 BMS BOGO movie tickets on both the cards, totalling 4-on-4 per month) with Priority Pass.

      Recently I noticed that they were giving DragonPass instead of Priority Pass & I asked them for one. They sent me DragonPass too!

      I found it useful because their 2 international lounge visits can be used at one time – one for yourself & another for the accompanying guest. Similar is the case for spa.

      For benefits of the card, you can check out Siddharth’s article.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Adi. H Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *