Credit Card Reward Points Expiry Rules in India

Reward points that expire unused are effectively free money handed back to the bank, and it happens more often than most cardholders realize — not because people don't want to redeem, but because they don't know their points have a clock running. Understanding your card's specific expiry rule is worth five minutes, especially if you're sitting on a large balance.

Typical expiry windows

Most Indian issuers expire reward points somewhere between 2 and 5 years from the date they're earned, though a growing number of premium cards now offer points that never expire as long as the account stays open and active. The expiry is almost always tracked per batch of points earned, not as a single account-wide clock — meaning points from a purchase 3 years ago can expire while points from last month remain valid, all sitting in the same balance.

Why this trips people up

Because your rewards balance shows a single running total, it's easy to assume the whole balance is equally "safe." In practice, if you check your account and see, say, 40,000 points, some meaningful chunk of that could be from purchases old enough to expire within the next billing cycle. Most issuers don't proactively flag which specific points are about to lapse — you have to check the earning date breakdown yourself, usually in the app's rewards or statement section.

Cashback vs points

This is one of the practical advantages of flat cashback cards over points-based ones — cashback is typically credited directly to your statement or account with no separate expiry clock of its own, removing this entire risk category. If losing track of points expiry sounds like more hassle than it's worth, our credit card rewards vs cashback comparison lays out the trade-off in full.

How to avoid losing points

Set a recurring reminder every 6–12 months to check your points balance and earning-date breakdown, and redeem opportunistically rather than hoarding toward one large redemption — a smaller redemption today beats a larger one that partially expires before you get to it. Our how to redeem credit card reward points guide covers the best-value redemption options so you're not stuck choosing between "redeem for less than ideal value" and "let it expire."

Account closure and expiry

Closing a credit card account typically forfeits any unredeemed points immediately, regardless of their individual expiry dates — this is worth checking before you close a card you're not using. See our credit card closure process guide if you're planning to cancel a card with a meaningful points balance still sitting on it.

Where to go from here

Read how to redeem credit card reward points for the best-value redemption paths, and credit card rewards vs cashback if you're deciding which reward structure suits you going forward.