Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card Review: The Best Lifetime-Free Card for Amazon Shoppers
Pros
- Genuinely lifetime-free -- no joining or annual fee, ever
- Uncapped 5% cashback on Amazon.in for Prime members
- Forex markup cut to 1.99% (from 3.5%) in October 2025
- Now includes spend-gated lounge access, unusual for a zero-fee card
Cons
- Flight/hotel bookings via Amazon Pay lost 5%/3% eligibility from January 2026
- Cashback locked to Amazon Pay balance -- no statement credit or transfer option
- New 1% fee on Amazon Pay wallet loads of Rs.5,000+ (from 15 Jan 2026)
- Only 1% on spends outside Amazon and its partner merchants
Fee structure
No joining fee and no annual fee, for life. This is a genuinely lifetime-free card, not a fee-waived-conditionally one -- there's no spend threshold to hit every year just to avoid a charge, which is rarer than the marketing language on other "lifetime free" cards sometimes implies.
Cashback rate table
| Spend type | Cashback rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.in purchases (Prime members) | 5% | Uncapped, no monthly ceiling |
| Amazon.in purchases (non-Prime members) | 3% | Uncapped |
| Amazon Pay partner merchants (bill payments, recharges, Amazon Pay QR) | 2% | "Login and Pay with Amazon" flow specifically; paying the same merchant directly typically earns only 1% |
| All other eligible spends | 1% | Grocery, fuel, offline retail, etc. |
Cashback is credited as Amazon Pay balance, usually within about two working days after the billing cycle ends -- not reward points requiring separate conversion.
What changed in January 2026
ICICI's updated Card Member Terms removed flight and hotel bookings made through Amazon Pay from eligibility for the headline 5%/3% rate -- these now fall back to the lower "other spends" tier. Earlier Amazon marketing suggested travel bookings were included; ICICI's terms are the governing source, so don't plan around travel-booking cashback with this card.
Forex and lounge changes
ICICI cut the foreign transaction markup from 3.5% to 1.99% in October 2025 -- a meaningful improvement, though still higher than dedicated zero-forex travel cards. Lounge access was also added on a spend-gated basis (roughly Rs.75,000/quarter, i.e. about Rs.25,000/month) -- achievable for a regular user but not automatic the way it is on fee-charging premium cards.
Where it's limited
The 5%/3% rate applies only to Amazon.in, and cashback can only be spent as Amazon Pay balance -- it can't be converted to a bank statement credit or transferred out. There's no reward-point catalogue or airline transfer program. A 1% fee now applies to Amazon Pay wallet loads of Rs.5,000 or more, effective 15 January 2026, so avoid bulk-loading the wallet with this card.
How it compares
If your online spend is genuinely split across platforms, SBI Cashback (5% flat on any online merchant, Rs.999/year) is the better single card. If 70%+ of your spend is Amazon, this card at zero fee is difficult to beat -- and if it's split, comparison sites generally recommend holding both rather than picking one.
Bottom line
Consistently rated one of the best free cards in India for Amazon-heavy Prime shoppers -- unlimited 5% cashback, genuinely zero fee, and now a better forex rate and light lounge access on top. Still a poor fit as a primary card for someone who shops mostly outside Amazon, and travel bookings made via Amazon Pay no longer earn the headline rate.
Fees, reward rates, caps, and benefits verified against issuer pages and multiple comparison-site listings as of August 2026, including recent 2026 devaluations and rule changes noted above -- confirm current terms on the issuer's official page/MITC before publishing or applying, as card terms change without notice.
