IDFC FIRST Bank said on Friday 18 September 2026 that it has removed the foreign currency markup from its entire credit-card portfolio. It applies automatically to existing and new cardholders alike: no new card, no upgrade, and no minimum spend to unlock it.
What changed
| Before | From 18 September 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| IDFC FIRST Classic forex markup | 3.5% | 0% |
| Effective cost with 18% GST | ~4.13% | 0% |
| Condition to qualify | — | None |
The bank's own product page now carries the line "All IDFC FIRST Bank Credit Cards now come with Zero Forex Markup". Business Standard reports IDFC FIRST's published card charges had historically ranged from 1% to 3.5% depending on the card, with 3.5% applying to several.
Zero markup is not the same as free. The bank still converts at the card network's applicable rate, and ATM, cash-advance and other transaction-specific charges are unaffected. IDFC FIRST's page also repeats the standard warning to pay in the local currency abroad — choosing rupees hands the conversion to the merchant's provider at a DCC rate the bank does not control.
Who is affected
One card in our database: the lifetime-free IDFC FIRST Classic, which we verified at 3.5% on 2 September 2026 and re-verified at 0% today. Every other issuer we track is unchanged — most of the market is still at 3.5%.
It rearranges the cheap-forex table. The RBL Bank World Safari was the only verified 0% card we held, and it charges ₹3,000 a year with no spend waiver.
What to do
The saving is the markup you were paying, so it scales with foreign spend and nothing else:
| Foreign spend a year | Cost at 3.5% + GST | Cost now | Saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹50,000 | ₹2,065 | ₹0 | ₹2,065 |
| ₹2,00,000 | ₹8,260 | ₹0 | ₹8,260 |
| ₹5,00,000 | ₹20,650 | ₹0 | ₹20,650 |
If you hold the Classic, there is nothing to do — and nothing to cancel elsewhere until you check what the other card was buying. A ₹3,000 fee for 0% forex is no longer a forex decision: the World Safari's fee now buys its lounge access and welcome benefit, and the MakeMyTrip ICICI's 0.99% buys its 6% travel earn rather than a cheaper swipe.
If you were shopping for a low-forex card, a lifetime-free 0% card has no break-even point, which no fee-paying card can match on markup alone. What it does not give you is a good earn rate: the Classic's base is 0.375%, international spends earn 10X reward points worth about 1.25%, and every redemption costs ₹99 + GST. It is a forex instrument that happens to be free, not a travel card — and on our methodology the two are priced separately. The full comparison is in our forex markup guide.
Sources
- IDFC FIRST Bank — FIRST Classic Credit Card — the zero-forex statement, the earn structure and the redemption fee, read 20 September 2026
- The Hindu BusinessLine — IDFC FIRST Bank removes forex markup across all credit cards — 18 September 2026, for the announcement date and the no-conditions wording
- Business Standard — IDFC FIRST Bank removes forex markup on all credit cards: What you save — 18 September 2026, for the 1%–3.5% historical range and the charges that are not covered