Axis Burgundy, HDFC premier banking and others: what balance opens a credit card?

Which savings or salary account gives access to premium credit cards?

Axis Burgundy, HDFC Preferred and Imperia, ICICI Select, Wealth Management and Private Banking, Kotak Privy League, SBI Wealth, HSBC Premier and Standard Chartered Priority all publish a balance, relationship value or salary route, and you need to meet any one. Most name cards. HDFC mentions premium credit cards and names none.

Read at each bank's own page or document on 31 October 2026. Banks not listed were not read, and Kotak's Maxima plan for select locations is left out. ICICI's balance and relationship figures apply to savings accounts opened on or after 1 August 2025. ICICI says those new-account terms do not cover salary accounts. Loan routes also exist at HSBC, Kotak, SBI and Standard Chartered. Criteria can change, so check the source before moving money.

Does meeting the balance guarantee a credit card?

No. The documents that address it keep the credit decision separate from the programme, and none of the pages we read publishes an approval rate.

Axis's Magnus for Burgundy FAQ, undated and written around changes from 1 January 2024, says approval is subject to the bank's credit policy, and asks for KYC documents and income proofs. Kotak's Privy League terms say entry is by invitation, that meeting the criteria is not an implicit invitation, and that card issuance is at the bank's sole discretion. Standard Chartered subjects Priority Visa Infinite applications to credit and policy checks. HDFC says "basis eligibility" and does not define it on the Preferred page.

If you have been refused before, read why credit card applications get rejected first.

What are HDFC Preferred and Imperia's eligibility criteria now?

HDFC Preferred now asks for Rs 4 lakh average monthly savings, Rs 6 lakh average quarterly current, Rs 20 lakh retail liability value, Rs 50 lakh total relationship value or a Rs 2 lakh net salary credit. Imperia asks for Rs 10 lakh, Rs 15 lakh, Rs 30 lakh, Rs 1 crore or Rs 3 lakh on the same measures.

HDFC's pages say these criteria took effect on 1 July 2025, and on 1 October 2025 for groups onboarded on or before 30 June 2025.

Total relationship value at HDFC counts your deposits, investments through the bank and insurance premia, plus 20% of retail loans outstanding and 20% of your demat balance. Fixed deposits count towards the balance only with a tenor of at least six months.

What counts towards relationship value at Axis, ICICI and HSBC?

More than your savings balance. Axis, ICICI, HSBC, SBI, Kotak and Standard Chartered all count deposits, and most count investments held through the bank.

Axis counts savings, current, term and recurring deposits, plus mutual funds, life insurance, PPF, NPS and other investments made through Axis. The Rs 30 lakh route excludes demat. ICICI's relationship value is deposits, account balance and demat holdings. HSBC adds fixed deposits, investments, paid-up life premiums and demat.

SBI's pages disagree. Its eligibility page starts a new client at Rs 15 lakh and its individual clients page, last updated 5 September 2024, at Rs 30 lakh. Both require Rs 50 lakh within a year of onboarding. Ask SBI which applies to you.

Can a salary account get me there without the balance?

Yes, at every programme in the table. The net monthly salary credit runs from Rs 1 lakh at ICICI Select and Kotak Neon to Rs 8 lakh at ICICI Private Banking. HDFC and Kotak specify a corporate salary account.

The risk is changing jobs. HSBC says that if you stop meeting the salary criteria, you need to meet the balance criteria instead.

Axis's MITC (changes effective 28 August 2026) also shows nil joining and annual fees on ordinary Magnus for Burgundy Salary Accounts opened on or after 1 July 2026. Axis's Magnus page limits this to a net monthly salary of Rs 2 lakh or above. Its Burgundy criteria say over Rs 3 lakh, and a notice says the requirement differs for its empanelled CAT A and Super CAT A corporates, so ask Axis which applies. The nil fee is at Axis's sole discretion and depends on keeping Burgundy.

Is holding the balance worth it for the card?

It depends on the money you give up plus the fee. A savings-only route costs you the gap between your savings rate and what the money could earn elsewhere, and that can exceed the card fee.

An example. You keep Rs 10 lakh in savings for Axis Burgundy. We assume 2.5% on savings and 6.5% on a fixed deposit, before tax. These are our assumptions, so use your own. The 4% gap costs Rs 40,000 a year. Magnus for Burgundy's fee is Rs 30,000 plus 18% GST of Rs 5,400, which is Rs 35,400. Together that is Rs 75,400 a year. Ordinary Magnus costs Rs 12,500 plus Rs 2,250 GST, or Rs 14,750, and needs no Burgundy relationship, though Axis's Magnus page asks for net salary or filed income of Rs 24 lakh a year and says this is indicative. So the Burgundy version has to return Rs 60,650 a year more in benefits you actually use. Axis's Magnus page also lists a welcome voucher of Rs 12,500 on ordinary Magnus and Rs 5,000 on the Burgundy card, none if you upgraded from Magnus. For a new holder that takes the first year to Rs 68,150.

Axis waives the Burgundy card's annual fee on Rs 30 lakh of eligible spend and ordinary Magnus's on Rs 25 lakh. Rent, wallet, utilities, insurance, fuel, gift cards and several other categories do not count. If you already hold Rs 30 lakh in Axis deposits, the gap may be close to nothing, because deposits count towards relationship value.

At the same assumed gap, HDFC Preferred's Rs 4 lakh costs Rs 16,000 a year and Kotak Neon's Rs 2 lakh costs Rs 8,000. These figures leave out any card fee: HDFC states none, and Kotak ties fee waivers on programme-linked cards to keeping eligibility. If you only want a card and hold no large balance, compare cards you can apply for directly, or a card against a fixed deposit.

What happens if my balance falls below the criteria?

You can lose the programme, the card's fee terms or both. The timing differs by bank: three months at HDFC, two quarters at HSBC and twelve months at ICICI.

Axis converts the account to a lower category savings account with advance notice, and that account's fees and charges then apply. Its MITC says Magnus for Burgundy is replaced with ordinary Magnus, at a joining and annual fee written as Rs 12,500++, if the criteria are not maintained. Its undated FAQ puts that review at every six months. HDFC may withdraw features after three consecutive months short, with prior notice. ICICI reclassifies after twelve months.

HSBC's below-balance fee is 0.20% of the shortfall for the quarter, up to Rs 2,000 plus taxes, so Rs 5 lakh short works out to Rs 1,000 plus taxes. It waives the fee if you rebuild the balance in the next quarter. After two quarters it moves you to another account on 30 days' notice. Its card's Rs 20,000 renewal fee is waived only for qualified Premier customers. Kotak ends the fee waiver on programme-linked cards such as White Reserve if you stop meeting the programme. The Rs 12,500 joining and annual fees then apply.

Do family balances count?

For the programme usually yes, for the card not always: Axis's Burgundy can be met at family level, but Magnus for Burgundy cannot. Grouping can also carry liability. HDFC's Preferred and Imperia terms, published 1 July 2025, make each account holder in a group guarantee the group's liabilities, and give the bank a lien and a right to set off and debit across group accounts without notice.

Axis's MITC ties the card to an individual Burgundy relationship. Its undated FAQ adds that only the primary holder of a joint account can apply, and that a customer new to Burgundy, with under three monthly statements, cannot use the Rs 10 lakh balance route. The MITC does not repeat those two rules, so confirm them with Axis.

HDFC measures balances across linked customers in your group, while salary credit is considered individually at group level. ICICI publishes separate family values for Wealth Management: Rs 75 lakh relationship value or Rs 15 lakh in deposits and balance. HSBC adds family balances held in Premier accounts when they are defined as a single relationship. Ask the bank how grouping affects the specific card.