IDFC FIRST Micro Enterprise Review 2026: The One IDFC Card That Charges Forex
The IDFC FIRST Micro Enterprise card is the only card in IDFC's range with a foreign currency markup — 2%. Its annual fee is 1% of your limit, and a 0.55% processing fee applies. Full review.
The IDFC FIRST Micro Enterprise Credit Card is unusual in IDFC's range in two ways, and both cost money.
It is the only IDFC FIRST card with a foreign currency markup — 2%, where every other card in the range is zero. And its annual fee is not a fixed amount.
IDFC FIRST Micro Enterprise Credit Card Quick Overview
| **Card type** | Micro-enterprise commercial card |
|---|---|
| **Best for** | A very small business that does not spend abroad |
| **Joining / renewal fee** | Nil joining, ₹1,000 + GST renewal |
| **Network** | Visa |
| **Base reward rate** | **Not published by the issuer** |
| **Reward currency** | IDFC FIRST Reward Points, valued at ₹0.25 each |
| **Lounge access** | None published |
| **Forex markup** | 2.0% |
Reward Structure: How You Earn
What this review cannot tell you
IDFC publishes no per-rupee earn rate for this card on its product page. The underlying data records the rate as unknown rather than zero, and flags it, so an automated comparison excludes the card rather than ranking it last on a figure that was never established.
| Spend | Effective rate |
|---|---|
| Everything else | 0.0% |
| Fuel, rent, wallet loads, government, gaming | **0%** |
The only card in the range that charges forex
Every other IDFC FIRST card — from the lifetime-free Classic to the ₹25,000 FIRST Private — charges zero foreign currency markup. This one charges 2%.
On a card aimed at the smallest businesses, that is the opposite of how the rest of the range is priced.
The annual fee depends on your credit limit
IDFC charges 1% of the card limit, or ₹1,000, whichever is lower.
| Card limit | Annual fee |
|---|---|
| ₹50,000 | ₹500 |
| ₹1,00,000 | ₹1,000 |
| ₹3,00,000 | ₹1,000 (capped) |
The underlying data records ₹1,000 — the ceiling — because the schema needs a single number. Read this table rather than that field.
And a processing fee at issuance
0.55% of the card limit plus GST, charged at issuance. No other card in IDFC's range carries one.
Two rules changed on 18 June 2026, and both cut value
1. Reward Points now expire. Points earned from the July 2026 statement cycle are valid for 24 months from the date they are credited. IDFC's older marketing says points 'never expire' and several of its pages still carry that claim — it is out of date.
2. Points are earned only on spends up to your credit limit in a billing cycle. Spend beyond your limit in the same cycle and that spending earns nothing.
The second rule is unusual, and this dataset has not seen it at any other Indian issuer. It bites hardest on someone with a modest limit who pays down mid-cycle and spends again — precisely the behaviour that lets a cardholder transact more than their limit in a month.
Cash withdrawals are interest-free for 45 days
This is worth stating plainly because almost nobody else does it. IDFC charges a flat ₹199 + GST per cash withdrawal and 0% interest for up to 45 days.
Almost every other issuer in this dataset charges 2.5% of the amount with a ₹500 floor and accrues interest from the withdrawal date with no grace period. On a ₹20,000 withdrawal repaid within the grace window, IDFC costs ₹199 where a typical competitor costs about ₹500 plus a month's interest.
IDFC charges ₹99 per redemption transaction — 396 Reward Points at the ₹0.25 rate. Redeeming small balances destroys most of their value.
What this review cannot tell you about charges
IDFC's MITC is a scanned image. The document runs to 30 pages and 29 of them contain no extractable text at all. Only page 4, the charges table, could be read.
That page does give the redemption fee, the card replacement schedule, and nil entries for branch cash payments, outstation cheques, duplicate statements and charge slips. The APR range, the zero-forex position and the cash withdrawal terms come from summary text IDFC quotes on its card pages.
Still unknown: the late payment charge amount, the over-limit charge, the minimum amount due formula and the interest-free period. Those are absent from the readable sources — not zero.
The interest rate is a range, not a rate. IDFC publishes 'From 8.5% - 46.2% per annum' and sets it per customer. The bottom of that range is among the lowest credit card APRs in India; the top is higher than most issuers' flat rate. Which one you get is not predictable.
Category Restrictions: Where You Won't Earn
- Where you earn nothing: Fuel and cash withdrawals earn no Reward Points.
- Point expiry: 24 months from the date the points are credited, for points earned from the July 2026 statement cycle onwards — a rule introduced on 18 June 2026. IDFC's older marketing says points never expire and several pages in this corpus still carry that claim; it is stale.
- Redemption fee: ₹99 per redemption.
Fees and Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | Nil |
| Renewal fee | ₹1,000 + GST |
| Finance charges | Set per customer within an APR range of 8.5% to 46.2% per annum, per IDFC's MITC summary. That is roughly 0.71% to 3.85% a month. IDFC prices this card dynamically rather than applying one rate to all holders. |
| Cash advance fee | ₹199 + GST per transaction, flat — not a percentage of the amount withdrawn. |
| Cash advance interest | 0% for up to 45 days. IDFC does not accrue interest on cash withdrawals during the interest-free window, which almost no other issuer in this dataset offers — most charge interest from the withdrawal date. |
| Forex markup | 2% — the only IDFC FIRST card with a foreign currency markup. |
| Dynamic currency conversion | Nil — the MITC's charges table covers dynamic and static currency conversion under the same nil markup entry as foreign currency transactions. |
| Late payment | Applicable on the Total Amount Due. THE AMOUNT IS NOT READABLE — it sits in the scanned portion of IDFC's MITC. Not published in the sources read, never zero. |
| Card replacement | ₹199 for all credit cards including image-personalised cards, with four exceptions: Ashva Metal ₹1,500, Mayura Metal ₹3,500, Gaj ₹4,000 and FIRST Private ₹4,000. The FIRST Digital RuPay card is nil. |
| Reward redemption | ₹99 per redemption transaction — 396 Reward Points at the ₹0.25 rate. |
| EMI processing | Processing fees, interest, foreclosure fee and pro-rata interest on instalment products are communicated at the time of the transaction or conversion rather than published in advance. A one-time Pre-EMI interest is also charged for the days between disbursal or conversion and the first statement. |
| GST | 18% on all fees and charges. |
Is the IDFC FIRST Micro Enterprise Credit Card Worth It?
Do not use this card abroad — it is the one IDFC card where that costs you.
Your fee depends on your limit, so a smaller limit is cheaper to hold.
Budget for the 0.55% issuance processing fee on top of the annual fee.
If your business spends abroad at all, almost any other IDFC card is cheaper on that dimension — including the lifetime-free ones.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the annual fee on the IDFC FIRST Micro Enterprise card? 1% of your card limit or ₹1,000, whichever is lower. A ₹50,000 limit costs ₹500 a year; anything above ₹1,00,000 is capped at ₹1,000. A processing fee of 0.55% of the card limit plus GST also applies at issuance.
Does the IDFC FIRST Micro Enterprise card charge forex markup? Yes, 2% — and it is the only card in IDFC FIRST's range that does. Every other IDFC card charges zero foreign currency markup.
What is an IDFC FIRST Reward Point worth? ₹0.25 for gift vouchers and products, which IDFC publishes on every card page. Four cards redeem better on travel booked inside the IDFC FIRST Bank app — FIRST Private at ₹1.00, Mayura and FIRST WOW! Black at ₹0.50, and Ashva at ₹0.40.
Do IDFC FIRST reward points expire? Yes, since 18 June 2026. Points earned from the July 2026 statement cycle are valid for 24 months from the date they are credited. IDFC's older marketing describing points as never expiring is out of date.
What is the forex markup on IDFC FIRST credit cards? Zero, across the range. The only exception is the Micro Enterprise Credit Card at 2%.
Cards Mentioned in This Article
