HDFC Bank has recently announced new minimum requirements for existing Infinia Credit Card cardholders. Infinia is the bank’s evergreen flagship super-premium credit card, one that has long served as inspiration for competitors.
If you hold HDFC Infinia, you’ll now need to either spend or maintain a certain amount with the bank each year or risk losing the card.
New Requirements
Starting April 1, 2026, Infinia cardholders must meet at least one of the following each financial year to retain the card:
Spend ₹18 lakhs on the Infinia card between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, or
Maintain a Relationship Value of ₹50 lakhs (savings, current, and fixed/recurring deposits combined) with HDFC Bank during the same period.
Those who don’t meet either condition will be notified in 2027 and may be downgraded to another card or removed from the programme altogether.
Additionally, some cardholders were asked for a ₹3 lakh spend requirement within 2 months to hold the card before the new financial year kicks in, these were likely accounts with low spends and low relationship value.
Why Is This Happening?
Over time, many Infinia holders stopped using it as their primary card, keeping it purely for status, lounge access, and SmartBuy perks while routing everyday spends to higher-rewarding cards like the Axis Magnus Burgundy.
On top of that, a large number of cardholders got access to Infinia in the recent years without truly meeting the eligibility criteria. This gradually diluted the card’s exclusivity.
HDFC Bank now needs to clean up the portfolio, even if it means some genuine cardholders get caught in the crossfire, since pulling spends back from other rewarding cards is no small ask.
My Thoughts
This is a good move. A criteria-based trim is far better than an product devaluation, and the bank has given cardholders a full financial year to plan ahead. So only serious cardholders can keep Infinia going forward, just how it used to be pre-covid.
That said, if the bar is this high, the benefits should reflect it.
Super Premium Credit Cards with similar relationship requirements like the HSBC Premier offer perks like a 1:1 points transfer ratio and complimentary airport transfers.
So if HDFC Bank is asking cardholders to commit at this level, it’s fair to expect a refresh in return: better benefits, with possibly a higher annual fee so that it can sustain for a longer period.
My bet is that an upgraded Infinia with stronger perks is on the way, and if so, it remains one of the best cards to hold.
This change also probably means the much-rumoured Infinia Reserve can’t be expected anytime soon, the bank likely wants to stabilise the existing Infinia base before launching something even more exclusive.
Bottomline
HDFC Bank has made it clear, you can’t just hold the Infinia card without actually using it. From April 2026, you need to either spend ₹18 lakhs a year on it or keep ₹50 lakhs with the bank. If you don’t, the card will be taken away in 2027.
If you’re already spending big on Infinia, nothing changes for you.
But if you’ve been splitting spends across multiple cards and barely swiping Infinia, now is the time to decide: do you want to make it your main card, or let it go?
The bank has given us a full year to figure it out. That’s fair isn’t it? what do you think?
