Several issuers have revised rewards through lower caps, more exclusions, higher thresholds and spend-linked benefits. Axis Bank is the latest, with another set of changes taking effect from August 28.
But the trend goes well beyond one bank. CASHBACK SBI Card has a lower overall cashback ceiling, Airtel Axis has made its headline cashback more conditional, HDFC Bank has linked lounge access on some cards to quarterly spending, and Axis Bank removed three travel transfer partners earlier this year.
American Express Platinum Travel is also set for another milestone-reward revision in September, according to data shared by SaveSage. The important bit for cardholders: not every devaluation hurts everyone equally.
Biggest credit card devaluations of 2026
Take CASHBACK SBI Card. From April 1, its maximum cashback was revised to ₹4,000 per statement cycle, split into ₹2,000 each for online and offline spends. Earlier, the overall cap was ₹5,000. Government transactions, tolls and digital gaming were also added to the exclusions.
Airtel Axis underwent a different change from April 12. Its headline 25% cashback on eligible Airtel payments and 10% on utility payments through the Airtel Thanks app remain, but the amount that can be earned is now linked to the base 1% cashback generated from other eligible spending. Complimentary lounge access was also removed.
That is why the headline cashback or reward rate increasingly tells only part of the story. Which cardholders are most affected? Not every change in the table will affect every cardholder in the same way.
Yash Ferwani, credit card and points analyst at The Card Scientist, points to HDFC Regalia Gold. Domestic lounge access now requires ₹60,000 spending in the preceding quarter. But someone already spending towards the card’s ₹7.5 lakh annual milestone is likely to cross that threshold anyway.
The CASHBACK SBI change can work similarly. “If you only spend ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 a month on the card, a cap drop to ₹2,000 per month has zero impact on your actual net earnings,” Ferwani says, referring to the new ₹2,000 online cashback sub-cap.
His broader point is that a devaluation matters most when it affects the core reason you hold the card. He cites Airtel Axis and American Express Platinum Travel as examples where changes to reward mechanics or milestone benefits can matter considerably more to their target users.
Your points can lose value at the redemption stage too
Cardholders also need to look beyond how many points they earn.
From April 2, Accor Live Limitless, Marriott Bonvoy and Qatar Airways Privilege Club were removed from the Axis Travel Edge transfer-partner list.
Credit card enthusiast Himanshu Agarwal, creator of All Things Credit Card, considers the Accor removal one of the year’s more significant devaluations because of the relatively predictable value cardholders could extract through the programme.
According to Agarwal’s calculations, the removal reduced the effective return he estimates was possible on Axis Atlas from around 8.8% to roughly 4%. For Magnus for Burgundy, he estimates the comparable return could fall from as high as around 31% to about 14%.
There is also an impact on accumulated points. Agarwal gives the example of one lakh points that could earlier be transferred to Accor and redeemed at an assumed value of around ₹2.2 per point, translating into roughly ₹2.2 lakh of redemption value.
Removing the transfer route does not erase those points, but it can substantially alter the value a cardholder can extract from them depending on the alternatives available.
In other words, earning points is only half the equation. What you can eventually do with them matters too.
Why are banks cutting credit card perks?
Credit card rewards are not disappearing altogether, says Ashish Lath, CEO of SaveSage. Instead, issuers are becoming more selective about the customers and spending behaviour they reward.
“Several cards were launched with generous benefits to attract customers. As their user base and usage grew, the cost of reward points, cashback and lounge visits also increased,” Lath says.
Issuers are responding with lower caps, excluded categories and spend-linked benefits to control costs, he adds.
Lath calls this a periodic recalibration rather than a uniform decline in rewards. “The market is shifting away from simple, unconditional benefits towards targeted rewards linked to particular merchants, spending categories or minimum-spend conditions.”
Some revisions can also involve a trade-off. HSBC Live+, for instance, cut its forex markup from 3.5% to 1.99%, even as international cashback was removed, lounge visits reduced and some spends excluded from cashback.
So whether a revision leaves you worse off can depend heavily on how you actually use the card.
What existing cardholders should do now
For cardholders, that means looking beyond the advertised cashback or reward rate.
Agarwal suggests checking the actual rupee value allowed by reward caps, excluded spending categories and conditions attached to lounge access, milestones and fee waivers.
Ferwani recommends checking your own statements: identify what changed and see whether it affects where and how much you spend. If the change materially reduces the value you receive, then compare the card with alternatives.
Lath offers an even simpler test:
“If I applied for this card today under the revised terms, would I still choose it?”
If the answer is no, the card’s value proposition for you may have changed.
