IDFC First Wealth Credit Card Review

By | April 1, 2023
IDFC First Wealth Credit Card Review

It’s been more than a year since IDFC First Bank has launched their range of Credit Cards into Indian market and we’ve seen quite a bit of updates to the product since then. Here we’ll see the detailed review of the IDFC First Bank Wealth Credit Card in its current form.

Overview

TypePremium Credit Card
Reward Rate0.75% – 2.5%
Annual FeeLifetime Free Credit Card
Best forHigh value transactions
USPSpa benefits & eVoucher redemptions

While the card is portrayed as a super premium card by the Bank, I wouldn’t call it so. Though, it’s a good premium credit card with lifestyle benefits.

apply now

Fees

Joining / Renewal FeeLifetime Free
Welcome Benefit500 INR voucher
  • Welcome voucher worth 500 INR on spending >=15,000 INR within 90 days of card generation.

The advantage of this card is obviously the “Lifetime Free” benefit which comes with all the privileges. But don’t forget the truth about lifetime free credit cards.

I personally feel that they shouldn’t have issued this card as LTF as it’s a well-known fact that it will eventually kill the product.

While the devaluation has already started, I just wish that IDFC don’t follow the YesBank route and make all their premium cards useless in 2-3 Yrs of issuance.

Design

IDFC First Wealth Credit Card Design

It’s a neat & simple design with black backdrop that banks generally use to indicate a “super premium” product.

While the design is good, I don’t feel the premium’ness in its design. This is partly because the front face doesn’t have any creative elements in it. But well, we shouldn’t expect too much from a LTF card.

Rewards

SPEND TYPEREWARDSREWARD RATE
Offline Spends3 RP / 100 INR (3X)0.75%
Online Spends6 RP / 100 INR (6X)1.5%
Spends >30K (per stmt)10 RP / 100 INR (10X)2.5%
Spends on Birthday10 RP / 100 INR (10X)2.5%
  • 1 Reward Point = 0.25 INR
  • Redemption Charges: 99 INR+GST (from 1st Oct 2022)
  • Rewards don’t expire

IDFC has added quite a lot of restrictions lately to the rewards program. Looking at the trend, they would probably add more to it in the coming months.

Terms & Conditions:

  1. Rewards not applicable on Fuel, Insurance & EMI transactions
  2. Rental txns will accrue 3X rewards (0.75%) only and will not be used for 10X calculations.

Meanwhile, they don’t like high value transactions on the card and have already started to cut the rewards for many cardholders whose spends went beyond the credit limit.

Airport Lounge Access & Spa

IDFC Dreamfolks Card
ACCESS TYPEACCESS VIALIMITS
Domestic Airport LoungesVisa4/Qtr
Domestic Railway LoungesVisa4/Qtr
Domestic Airport LoungesDreamfolks4/Qtr (shared)
International Airport LoungesDreamfolks4/Qtr (shared)
Domestic Spa AccessDreamfolks4/Qtr (shared)

The welcome letter and the website clearly states that we can use the Dreamfolks card issued by IDFC for accessing domestic & international lounges along with airport spas.

The quarterly limit for above is shared across the above services and I’m sure its good enough. You may consider using Dreamfolks Card only for Spa benefit, as you can anyway access the lounges with many other cards.

Update: Starting 1st May 2023, a minimum spend of Rs.5,000 during the current calendar month is required for you to be eligible for the airport lounge access benefit for the next month.

Golf Benefit

  • Complimentary rounds: Upto 2/month (games & lessons)
  • This benefit is linked to spend requirement.

Spends of 20,000 INR (or) 40,000 INR are required to unlock 1 (or) 2 rounds respectively. Spends done in a billing cycle are tracked for this domestic golf benefit.

All the complimentary rounds earned in a billing cycle will be eligible for redemption from 1st of next month and will be available for redemption upto 2 months (60 days).

ICICI Bank too follows a similar system and it’s undoubtedly a poor system. They should have instead gone for quarterly limits based on spends.

Forex Markup

  • Forex Markup Fee: 1.5%+GST = 1.77%
  • Reward rate: ~2.5% (assuming ~2L spends)
  • Net gain: ~0.50%

If you’re doing high value foreign currency transactions on IDFC First Wealth credit card, it will benefit you a little bit. But if you intend to spend only 10K or 20K a month, this card will give you only net loss.

Other Benefits

  • Complimentary Road Side Assistance(RSA) worth ₹1,399
  • Revolving Interest Rate: Relatively lower interest rate compared to other banks, usually 20% – 24% p.a. (I got 22% p.a. ROI)
  • Buy 1 Get 1 Movie Benefit: Upto Rs.500 per ticket via Paytm Movies.

Complimentary roadside assistance is one of the unique feature on this credit card. It maybe useful at times, for ex, to jump start your car on breakdown.

Revolving interest rate is one of the key benefit of the issuer but I hardly see anyone taking advantage of it, maybe the reason is that those who need a low interest rate are not getting it.

Getting the Card

idfc wealth credit card unboxing experience
  • Eligibility: IDFC Wealth Ac (or) Other bank credit card with >5L limit
  • Apply online (Instant approval)

Fresh Card: If you’ve >5L credit limit on other bank credit cards, you can apply for the IDFC credit card online and you may likely be eligible for the wealth variant. If eligible, you can get the virtual card ready for use in matter of minutes.

If you’ve lower limits on other credit cards, you might need to get the Select credit card initially and then upgrade it later, likely after a year.

apply now

Upgrade: If you’ve IDFC Select Card with <=4L limit, you’ll first need to increase your credit limit to >=5L and then request for an upgrade.

You may email/call IDFC customer care for upgrade. Here’s my hands-on experience with the IDFC Wealth Credit Card.

Bottomline

  • Cardexpert Rating: 4.2/5

It’s a lifetime free credit card and so there is no reason for you to not take the card if you’re eligible for the same. You get complimentary access to airport lounge/spa with decent reward rate, so they’re totally worth it.

But if you intend to spend on the card, do remember that you get good rewards only on online spends and high value spends.

It’s ideally suitable for those with monthly spends in the range of 1 Lakh or above, assuming that you don’t want to pay for other premium credit cards.

Don’t have IDFC Credit Card? Apply here

Do you hold IDFC First Wealth Credit Card? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Author: Siddharth

Helping Indians to choose right credit cards, pick right offers and enjoy luxury vacations for less. Day & night exploring the spiritual reality of our human existence.

78 thoughts on “IDFC First Wealth Credit Card Review

  1. Abhi

    Ideally any offline spends on this card should be only once you have crossed 30K online spends in that cycle. Wallet loads are rewarded.

    One must beware that IDFC cards are not suitable for RedGirraffe transactions as that’s tracked under insurance and IDFC excludes it for rewards. For RedGirraffe its better to use cards which run campaigns on insurance spends like DCB or Yesfirst sometimes do.

    Reply
  2. manojsingh

    It was good card initially but now no more good card. They devalued the same.

    Reply
    1. Nitin

      It’s good for Spa and also 10X spends as I redeem for Amazon vouchers.

      Reply
      1. Manoj Singh

        You need not to buy voucher. You can pay with reward points on your any future transaction.

        Reply
      2. Ankit

        Got the card today but doesn’t have dreamfolks card inside. Does it come separately?

        Reply
  3. Swapnil Agarwal

    Tried to apply, However got an error on second page saying your Pin Code is not serviceable!

    Reply
  4. Piyush

    APR for me is 9% P.A.
    Got it LTF based on my HDFC limit of 4.8

    Reply
  5. Mahesh S. Panicker

    Holding IDFC First Select card. CC informed me that an upgrade to Wealth is not possible at the moment, but they are working on providing preapproved upgrade options online and it should be live in a few months.

    Besides their cards being LTF, the other thing going for IDFC First in my view is a brilliant onboarding process. I could only experience this level of professionalism in the onboarding process in only Amex.

    ***

    Reply
  6. Rahul

    They devalued too soon for a new card. Even the spa benefits reduced to just 4 spas. Mumbai one is on arrivals 😂😂

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Spa at Arrivals is actually good as you’re not limited to 2-3 hrs like at departures.

      Reply
      1. Rahul

        Yeah but am based in Mumbai and when i land I want to reach home asap 🙂

        Reply
      2. Dr.Avijit

        Sid, except Mumbai is any other Airport having this Spa on arrival facility?

        Reply
    2. Nitin

      It says International arrivals. But Mumbai T2 arrival area is shared with domestic right?

      Reply
  7. Pragyan

    Any idea of how to access guest access for lounge? do the Dreamfolks pass needs to be swiped twice?

    Reply
  8. vivek

    do we get welcome benefits of 500 voucher on spending Rs 15000 on add on card too ?

    Reply
  9. MrNightStar

    Got Wealth Card with sub 2L limit, the same I had on OneCard (IDFC Issued, no LE on that for 1.5 Years). I had got SMS for applying. Earlier I was getting many many SMS and calls for applying for Select (based on MAB greater than 5L). Limit is surprisingly low.

    Reply
    1. Deepak kumar

      On the basis of previous KYC with one card, you got Idfc Wealth card or they processed kyc once again? I also got email that if you do not upgrade one card then IDFC wealth card will be given as replacement by 3rd September. I did not get any link to apply.

      Reply
  10. Arvind

    I have same experience with upgrade or even enhancing the credit limit. CC told that they don’t have any option to increase the credit limit as of now and they told it will be communicated when applicable. The same goes with upgrade. They don’t have any idea or information about it. If anyone was able to do it just by talking to CC pls let me know.

    But otherwise it’s a pretty decent bank and good offers. Redemption is also very good.

    Reply
  11. Aka

    Got wealth of with 7 l limit on card basis with dcb of 8 lac limit !
    Want to know how dreamfolks work ? Is it possible to swipe it twice in one visit? Do we need a pin or what? Tried to look it up on the net but didn’t find

    Reply
    1. MrNightStar

      Side question, How much time did it take for you to receive dreamfolk card? Delivered by bluedart?

      Reply
    2. Captain Bishuddha Bharatiya

      Congratulations. Physical verification was done ?

      Reply
  12. Manish Dash

    I was told today that a net take home salary of minimum 3 Lakhs is required for the Wealth Credit Card. Although I have a max cc limit of 9.25 lakhs on the HDFC ClubMiles CC, I was only given the option of Select Credit Card online.

    Reply
  13. Manoj singh

    I tried to use dreamfolk card in USA airport they said not working and they even don’t know about it. This i used diners black there it work very well.
    Next day i presented dreamfolk card in Dubai and it work well without any pin requirement.
    I don’t think we can swipe twice in one day. It will be chargeable for second swipe. But still want to know others views on the same.

    Dreamfolk have limited lounge access then priority pass but Yes it’s starting to gain more presence in world in Asian countries. Still people don’t know in America and Europian continent

    Reply
  14. Jinxd

    I am an IDFC customer and kept on getting only a pre approved Select variant on the basis of my savings account and no option to apply for a Card on card basis. I changed my mobile number on the card application and applied card on card giving my DCB Limit and it gave me the option of wealth. Let me see if they actually finish verification and still offer me a wealth or not. Opening up an IDFC savings turned out to be negative for me as it blocked my chances of getting a card on card for wealth, hoping my trick works

    Reply
  15. Prakash Baid

    Hey Sid I was just going through your card Review & seen the Link “apply for the IDFC credit card online if u r having 5+Limit in other credit card” So I applied got approved in 5Min & in another 5min I got virtual card with 10+Limit but nowhere I am seeing information about Railway lounge why ?

    Reply
  16. Devesh Sharma

    I just applied for it using my Diners Privilege card with limit 5.14L limit and got approved for a 5.15L limit Wealth Card. Did the Video KYC but still the virtual card is not generated yet. In the application tracking page the current state is Waiting Credit Review.

    Reply
  17. madhavan

    If I have credit limit of rs 2 lakhs on idfc credit card, and I spend rs 5 lakhs( by repaying dues again and again) in the same month from the card, will I receive reward points uptill credit limit i.e. rs 2 lakhs or on the basis of amount spent, which is more than the credit limit i.e. rs 5 lakhs

    Reply
  18. Vasanth

    I have been approved IDFC wealth card. The fastest ever approval and issuance of credit card by in my lifetime. All of it happened in a minute. So so happy about the whole process. Whereas the junk HDFC bank is rejecting my application for no reason.

    Application submitted 12:58 PM on 27 Aug 22 -> Document verified (if applicable) -> Application verified 12:59 PM on 27 Aug 22 -> Credit review12:59 PM on 27 Aug 22 -> Application decisioning 12:59 PM on 27 Aug 22 -> Card generated (Congratulations! Your IDFC FIRST Wealth card ending with XXXX is approved.).

    Physical card will be delivered in 5 days. Virtual card is right away usable.

    Reply
  19. Amit Sharma

    Applied for IDFC card using my Diners. DCB wasn’t shown as option so selected Diners premium. Got approved for Wealth variant with same credit limit as Diners but 42% p.a interest while my friend was approved for 9% p.a only.
    Some minor tech hiccups aside, got the virtual card 30 minutes after Video KYC.

    Reply
  20. Mudit

    I guess several people have already asked this. I dont see any details around usage of Dreamfolks for Spa. Has anyone used the spa access from this card ?

    Someone mentioned that its valid for only 4 places in India (got list from idfc site Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar and Mumbai Arrivals T2). only ODE Spa. If that is the case then this is very poor.

    ICICI dreamfolks has Spa list for 15+ airports

    Reply
  21. CHALAM

    For virtual card,
    download idfc app or net banking > login> my cards> click on card details >click on card image >verify otp to get card details…. Etc.

    Reply
  22. Shrinath Karmaran

    One of the smoothest on boarding process , got approved for wealth card with a limit of 10 Lacs with HDFC limit of 11 lacs, physical card delivered in 5 days & dreamfolks card in next 10 days

    Reply
  23. Pradeep

    I applied for ICICI, IDFC and indusind card.

    The best experience was with IDFC. The best part is minute details such as your payment to hotel or online shopping have a personalized message which no other bank have.

    The application process and issuance process is best.

    Reply
  24. Prashant

    On IDFC First Wealth / Select card, did anyone get charged “Reward Redemption Fees” of 99 rs? + 8.91+8.91 CGST+SGST?
    Very annoying.
    Redeem 500 Gift card and end up paying 115 rs for it.

    Reply
  25. Rahul

    Jio cashback for IDFC credit card for June and July was credited today

    Reply
  26. Rachit

    A very under-appreciated reward of this card is the dreamfolks membership. Those who travel frequently out of busy airports internationally would know the pains of carrying Priority Pass and the rejections faced. Dreamfolks is better in that regard as its less known and hence still being accepted.

    Reply
  27. Anudeep

    I tried applying but it was not showing Wealth in the portal. Customer support tells me i need atleast 3L monthly take home for Wealth card. Is is the same for everyone else or was it approved just based on the other card limit? i have HDFC infinia with >10L limit

    Reply
    1. HArrY J

      Pain in the dash to get it. On portal it doesn’t show me wealth card despite having regalia and infinia with limits that only their private series can match. They called but it is still under process. All this while I know senior managers in the card division. Applied for father instead and got it but they rejected add-on card for mother.

      No idea of dream folks- seems to be a substandard option but then nothing bad to have as LTF.

      Reply
    2. Shastry

      u r eligible for the under card against card criteria. u should provide Inifinia details

      Reply
  28. Suresh

    Hi Sid,
    I tried applying through link but the page doesn’t move otp validation. Tried in different browser and receive no error messages. I already have IDFC select credit card, my net take home monthly pay is 1.7 lacs and hold hdfc, citi and icici credit cards with limit more than 8 lacs. Are you aware of why I am not able to proceed further
    Thanks
    Suresh

    Reply
  29. JP

    I applied based on my Infinia card with 25L CC limit. They are offering me IDFC First Classic, so the algorithms are not placed right I guess. So those who are plannning to apply on card to card basis, have a second thought.

    Reply
  30. Siva

    I applied online and got offered IDFC First Select card. I have Regalia card with 5L limit. I tried reaching to bank via mail to upgrade (to wealth) but didn’t get any response. Customer care team is pushing to take Select card and suggesting to upgrade after 6 months with no assurance. I learnt that you too had to voice up during upgrading. Can you please suggest any better way that I can take to get the variant upgraded immediately?

    Thanks in advance

    Reply
  31. Ajay kr singh

    Iam holding IDFC select credit card i want to upgrade it to wealth credit card.please suggest me to how to upgrade credit card.call center says that there is no upgradation offer.Iam also holding other bank card with 10L limit.

    Reply
  32. Sajai

    LTF cards are good to have.hold a idfc bank account. Process was simple, contacted the relationship manager for account, arranged for call back from branch. Provided all details. I was offered wealth card, video kyc was done within an hour. Credit score was checked subsequently and in few hours card was issued. Got the physical card delivered in 2 days. IDFC has been making things simpler and quicker across their products. Look forward to a good service on the card

    Reply
  33. Avinash

    Now, IDFC has restricted the movie ticket offer to only 439992 and 444341 Bin’s only.

    @sid, I have requested Bank to upgrade card to wealth. Is there any chance that I can know the Bin before even accepting the upgrade offer. I was using select card primarily for movie offers. I am more interested in wealth card movie offers than other benifits.

    Reply
  34. Balpreet Singh

    Hi Sid and Others,

    I have a query. Does lounge access work only on Dream Folks card? Or it can be done with the credit card( like other credit card) When I tried at Chennai Airport domestic lounge using visa variant, I got card decline error. Hence want to know how has the experience been for others.

    Reply
  35. Deepak Kumar

    Is it possible to set the primary card mobile number for the transaction alerts of add-on card for IDFC Wealth card ?

    Reply
  36. Ajay kr singh

    Iam holding idfc first select credit card.I want to upgrade to wealth credit card.I want to know how to upgrade to wealth credit card.My relationship is wealth.Iam also holding hdfc Infinia and citibank rewards credit card with higher limit

    Reply
  37. Hardik

    We can use visa credit card and dreamfolks card both for domestic Longue access free of charge ??

    Reply
  38. Anurag K

    Looks like the Railway lounge facility is suspended from the Wealth Credit card. It doesn’t show it on their website while lower variant cards e.g. select have this facility. Might be inspired by ICICI where they don’t give Railway lounge on Sapphiro but gives on their lower variant e.g. Rubex and Coral.

    I currently own Diners Black (LTF), ICICI Sapphiro (LTF), Yes First Preferred (LTF) and AMEX MRCC and looking for a card with Railway Lounge facility. When I’m applying online it is showing wealth variant but if Railway lounges are not there then it is of no use for me as already my credit cards are covering all the requirements. I also don’t see an option to choose select option while applying.
    Sid, why don’t you write a detailed article about railway lounge and the best card to use them?

    Reply
  39. Rushabh

    How does the cash withdrawal work? Can I withdraw 50k in one go from idfc atm and be charged only 250 as fee and I can repay in next bill? So basically I got 50k loan at cost of just 250?

    Am I right in understanding this?

    Reply
    1. Nilesh Kabra

      Your understanding is correct. Just some additions: since most ATMs now do not give ₹2000 note and with max. 40 notes coming at a time in most of them. the maximum ‘loan’ you can get would be ₹500*40= ₹20000. These charges are per withdrawal transaction. Also IDFC has revised these charges to ₹199 now

      Reply
      1. Suresh

        Are you sure that ATM’s withdraw max 40 notes?
        Anyone tried this Cash withdrawl from this IDFC card?

        Reply
  40. OP

    IDFC has added spend criteria for lounge access.
    Spend 5000 in each calendar month to activate access in next calendar month.

    Reply
    1. S das

      Is this rs 5000 threshold for lounge access with the credit card or dreamfolks card. Need clarity on that

      Reply
      1. Mahesh S. Panicker

        Seems like its for the credit card as well, as this is across card variants. I got the message on the spend 5000 to unlock lounge access on my IDFC Select card. On top of the card devaluation, another disappointment from IDFC.

        Reply
      2. Anupam

        Lounge access is only thru Dreamfolks card. You need to spend 5k pn the credit card to get complimentary lounge access thru Dreamfolks card.

        Reply
        1. Balpreet Singh

          Domestic lounge access via card. I have used it in march

          Reply
  41. Ravindra

    there are few catches for Wealth card :

    SPA is valid only for 30 min of session and foot , shoulder massage only for airport spa.
    if you want to avail lounge access monthly 5k spent is must. on card.

    I got life time free so only keeping it else i dont find major benefits on this.
    I have Infinia, Axis Magnus, SC Ultimate, Yes First privs.

    go-ahead if you get free of cost 🙂

    Reply
  42. Atul

    I had 33k spend on the card, then made a transaction of 20k
    but got only 6X points credit.

    Do 10X points come later or how & when are they credited ?

    Also , being eligible for 10X points is for >30k spends ,
    this 30k threshold is billing cycle based month or calendar month ?

    Reply
  43. Dipak

    Much Awaited Devaluation is here finally:
    Insurance Premium & Utility Bill Payments excluded from 10x rewards. it will fetch just 1x Reward from 21st August 2023

    Reply
  44. Rohit

    I have IDFC Wealth and am getting addons for my family. Please help with a few questions : Will I get a separate Dreamfolks for each addon card? Is the quarterly spa benefit multiplicative (4 for each Dreamfolks card) or constant (4 in total across all cards)? Does the condition (spend 5 k a month to get benefits in next month) need to be fulfilled for each addon card whose DF card will be used for benefits, or ok to fulfill that only on Primary card?

    Reply
  45. manoj

    I think Railway lounges are still there on wealth credit card. May be they didn’t highlighted/removed the same on their website

    Reply
  46. Kunal

    Looks like they have removed the spend criteria for lounge access on this card. I was able to redeem the benefit in Jan with zero spend. The wording on website is also updated, it says ensure monthly spends, but not 5000.

    Reply

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