Axis Bank has revised its Most Important Terms and Conditions (MITC) for credit cards, effective August 28, 2026. Four changes stand out, and one of them can meaningfully raise the cost of using your card abroad if you don’t adjust how you pay at the terminal.
Foreign spending got a lot more expensive
The Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) markup has jumped from 1.5% to 3.5%, plus applicable taxes. DCC kicks in when you use your Axis card overseas and the merchant offers to bill you in Indian rupees instead of the local currency — a prompt that shows up as the “convenient” option at most foreign terminals and ATMs.
On an eligible ₹1 lakh transaction, the markup before tax rises from ₹1,500 to ₹3,500. It can also apply to certain transactions within India where the merchant is registered overseas — some subscription and e-commerce billing falls into this category.
The fix is simple and free: always choose to pay in the local currency, not INR, when a terminal or ATM gives you the option. Declining DCC and letting your card network handle the conversion is consistently cheaper.
Late fee revised for larger outstanding balances
Axis has restructured its late-payment fee slabs. The lower brackets are unchanged, but the top slab has gone up:
| Outstanding amount | Late fee |
|---|---|
| Up to ₹500 | Nil |
| ₹501–₹5,000 | ₹500 |
| ₹5,001–₹10,000 | ₹750 |
| ₹10,001–₹50,000 | ₹1,200 |
| Above ₹50,000 | ₹1,300 |
If you’re carrying a balance above ₹50,000 and miss a payment, the fee is now ₹1,300 rather than the earlier amount. This is on top of interest, which continues to accrue separately.
Partial payments now follow a fixed order
This is the change most likely to catch people off guard. If you pay only part of your bill, Axis will apply that payment in a specific sequence: first to fees, charges and applicable taxes, then to EMIs, then to interest, then to regular purchase transactions, and cash advances last.
Previously, cardholders making a partial payment may have assumed it went toward reducing whatever balance they cared about most — often the purchase balance. Under the revised terms, your purchase balance is one of the last things a partial payment touches. If you routinely pay only part of your bill, this means your purchase balance — and the interest accruing on it — may reduce more slowly than you expect, even though you’re making regular payments.
Gift cards lose reward eligibility
From August 28, gift-card purchases are reclassified separately from general wallet spending. They will no longer earn reward points or cashback, and they won’t count toward milestone-spend thresholds or fee-waiver calculations. If you’ve been buying gift cards specifically to hit a milestone target or earn rewards, that route is now closed. Bridge fees, road fees and toll payments are similarly excluded from rewards under the revised terms.
What to actually do about this
If you travel internationally on an Axis card, the DCC change is the one to act on immediately — get in the habit of declining rupee billing at every foreign terminal, since it’s the single most avoidable cost increase here. If you carry a revolving balance and pay partially most months, check your next statement closely to see how the new payment-adjustment order affects your purchase balance — it may take longer to clear than you’re used to. And if gift cards were part of your rewards strategy, that avenue no longer applies from this billing cycle onward.
None of these changes affect your card’s core interest rate or annual fee — they’re targeted revisions to specific fee and reward mechanics, but each is easy to miss until it shows up on a statement.
