Devaluations are normal. So, why is it hurting Axis credit card holders?

livemint.com:

₹30 lakh in total relationship value or ₹10 lakh as average quarterly balance in their accounts. But to treat the Burgundy clients at par with non-Burgundy ones and to remove a lot of the benefits within three to four months is absurd," said Tejas Ghongadi, co-founder, The Points Code, a platform that advises credit card users on how to optimize reward points. Starting 20 April, Magnus Burgundy users will no longer get ‘buy-one-get-one tickets’ on bookmyshow—a movie ticket booking app, while concierge services are discontinued and spend categories of insurance, fuel and gold will neither earn rewards nor be counted for the annual spending threshold.

Magnus card will be treated on a par with other non premium cards of Axis Bank. Besides, its airport ‘meet and greet’ services have been reduced to four from the current eight. Sumanta Mandal, founder, Technofino, a digital platform that reviews credit cards and other banking products, said the bank’s fickleness is damaging for both the customers as well as the bank.

“The rewards Axis bank was doling out on its premium cards were unsustainable to begin with so the devaluations were due. But, the bank keeps downgrading its cards once every two months and this has made Magnus and Reserve cards absolutely worthless. It’s unfair for the users as they have paid fees for certain rewards and benefits, most of which are gone in a very short span," he said.

Abbas Zaidi, 28, is another victim of this devaluation. He paid a fee of ₹59,000 (including 18% goods and service tax) to renew his Axis Reserve credit card just three weeks before the recent downgrades were announced. He even had a plan to recover the fee on the ultra premium card: The 50,000 Edge Rewards given as annual benefit