Flipkart Axis Credit Card Vs. Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card: Which one to choose?

Despite being entry-level cards, both Amazon ICICI and Flipkart Axis Credit Cards offer good welcome benefits. The Flipkart Axis card gives a shopping voucher worth Rs. 500 along with a Swiggy discount coupon worth up to Rs. 100. Overall, you get a benefit worth Rs. 600, which is higher than the joining fee charged.

With the Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card, you get complimentary 3-month membership to Amazon Prime and 1-month EazyDiner membership. Along with this, one time bonus cashback on a few select categories like prepaid recharges, electricity bills, etc., summing up to a total benefit of up to Rs. 2,000, against a zero joining fee.

For a long time after its launch, the Amazon ICICI Card did not offer any joining benefits. Despite the highest benefits being offered to Amazon Prime users, the card did not provide a complimentary membership. However, a joining benefit worth up to Rs. 2,000 that they later added, along with a 3-month Amazon Prime membership, now gives it a good edge over the Flipkart Axis Card.

Both Flipkart Axis Bank and Amazon Pay ICICI Bank offer maximum cashback (5%) with their respective partner brands. Here are some key differences between the two cards’ value-back structure:

1. While the Flipkart Axis Card offers 5% cashback to all users on Flipkart purchases, Amazon ICICI offers the highest cashback only to Amazon Prime members; non-Prime members get a 3% cashback. Besides, maximum benefit on the card is offered to Amazon Prime users but complimentary membership is offered only for 3 months. On the other hand, Flipkart Axis users get the same 5% benefit whether or not they are a Flipkart Plus member.
2. Flipkart Axis extends benefits beyond shopping as its primary category. The accelerated 5% cashback is not limited to just Flipkart, but also Cleartrip. This comes as a big advantage especially for users who majorly spend on both shopping and travel and do not have any specific brand limitations towards other categories. The card also offers 4% cashback on cult.fit, PVR, Swiggy, Uber- covering other major categories like movies, dining, etc.
3. Even with an unbiased cashback percentage for all users, Flipkart card comes with its own share of cons. Post the April 2024 devaluation, the base cashback percentage on the Flipkart Axis card was reduced to 1% from 1.5% offered earlier. This brings both cards to the same level for users looking for a decent cashback percentage on general purchases.
4. The Flipkart Axis credit card comes with a long list of exclusions from its rewards program that cover some everyday categories, like utilities and wallet reloads. Thus, the Amazon credit card outshines here, as users can earn 2% cashback on recharges and bill payments done via Amazon, including mobile, broadband, and DTH recharges, Amazon Pay wallet loading, electricity bill payments, water supply bill payments, gas cylinder bills, etc.
5. Cashback earned on Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card is credited to the user’s Amazon Pay wallet and can be used to make purchases through Amazon. Whereas, the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card offered direct cashback into the statement.

Lifetime-free credit cards usually do not come with complimentary lounge access, so it may be fair for the Amazon Pay ICICI Card to not offer this benefit. Flipkart Axis Bank credit card offers four complimentary lounge visits to select airport lounges in the country. This benefit, when combined with the 5% cashback on Cleartrip, makes this card a good option for travelers.

However, the airport lounge access on the card is spend-based, as users need to spend Rs. 50,000 in the previous quarter to avail of this benefit, which could be difficult to achieve for those who do not put regular spends on their card.

Both these credit cards offer some of the following similar benefits:

Both cards offer similar surcharge waivers on fuel expenses. However, in terms of dining benefits, Flipkart Axis Bank card is better, as you not only get a 15% discount that is equivalent to the Amazon ICICI Card but also get 4% cashback on transactions across its partner merchant – Swiggy.

While both cards offer maximum cashback on their associated partners, you can also spend on other brands and categories to earn value-back as per the base cashback rate of 1% via both cards.

For better understanding, we have created an illustration below on how much you can save with these cards. For this, we have considered a cumulative monthly spend of Rs. 38,000 across popular brands and multiple categories, like apparel shopping, groceries, travel, movie tickets, food delivery, and daily commute.

On the basis of the above example, Flipkart card emerges as a better card for those who have their spends spread across multiple brands, specifically the card’s partner merchants.

However, you must note that, contrary to the above example, if you limit majority of your spends to Amazon platform, then the Amazon Card will definitely be a better choice. But again, here, non-Prime customers earn a significantly lower percentage of cashback on general Amazon spends as compared to that offered to Flipkart customers with the Flipkart card.

Overall this brings forth the Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card as a better choice for those who spend on not just Flipkart but also across other online portals. Amazon ICICI Credit Card, on the other hand, is a great choice for Amazon loyalists, especially those who hold Amazon Prime membership.

You should consider getting Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card if:

• You frequently shop on Flipkart
• You prefer Cleartrip for your travel bookings
• You are looking for an online shopping credit card that offers benefits on multiple popular online brands
• You frequently order food online and can utilize the benefits offered on Swiggy
• You prefer a cashback credit card over rewards card
• You want complimentary domestic lounge access on your card
• You are ready to pay an annual fee of Rs. 500
• You can spend around Rs. 3.5 Lakh a year to avail the annual fee waiver

Flipkart Axis Bank credit card is better for- 1) a higher cashback percentage on Flipkart, 2) extended cashback benefits on its partner merchants, and 3) offering lounge access. However, the card requires a higher spending requirement of Rs. 3.5 lakh a year to unlock the annual fee waiver, which is relatively high for an entry-level card.

You should consider getting Amazon ICICI Credit Card if:

• You are new to credit cards and need to improve your credit score
• You are looking for a lifetime free credit card
• You are an Amazon Prime member
• You frequently use Amazon Pay to make payments or shop across its partner brands
• You use Amazon Pay app for making payments
• You are comfortable without any offer of complimentary lounge access via the card
• You have another credit card that can offer you good returns on non-Amazon spends and other benefits like complimentary lounge access

Amazon Pay ICICI credit card is better for- 1) decent cashback percentage on Amazon purchases; 2) higher value-back on Amazon spends for Prime users; and 3) a lifetime free credit card. Furthermore, to maximize the benefits on this card, you require an Amazon Prime membership, which does not come complimentary for the cardholders.

Both Amazon and Flipkart are leading merchants in the online shopping arena where you can shop across a wide range of items ranging from kitchen appliances, gadgets and decor items to apparel, groceries, etc. If considered individually, both Flipkart Axis and Amazon Pay ICICI are good credit card options as they offer up to 5% cashback, which is among the top cashback rates in the market. You can choose the best-suited card for you as per your brand preferences and spending patterns. Additionally, you may look for other credit cards, like HDFC MoneyBack+, HDFC Millennia, and SBI SimplyClick, that can also help you save considerably on multiple spending categories, similar to Flipkart Axis and Amazon Pay ICICI.