Long story short, I'm a 33-year-old male who has had a relationship with ICICI for over 11 years. I started working in India, moved to the US, stayed there between 2015 and 2020, and moved back to India during COVID. 

Got ICICI Amazon Pay CC in 2021 and that was my only CC for about 2 years. Then got the Axis Atlas around when I got married in 2023. That stayed my primary CC for 2023 and half of 2024. 

Loved both ICICI APay and Axis Atlas. Went on a trip to Japan and raked up lots of Edge Miles. All Amazon orders were charged on the ICICI APay card, and everything else went on Axis Atlas. 

In early 2024, I began following this subreddit, and my CC collection continued to grow.

Took a Scapia CC to use on my international trip. Axis Flipkart CC seemed interesting for all the electronics that I keep shopping for. HDFC BizBlack CC made so much sense as a sole proprietor but had to run around HDFC to get it. Great card! 

Wanted a simple Rupay card and got IndusInd Platinum CC (IndusInd is my secondary banking relationship). HDFC was running the LTF offer on Tata Neu and I had to get it. 

I had an AmEx when I lived in the US and loved their customer service. Wanted to get one here, but I was denied for an MRCC in 2022. I reapplied in 2024 and mentioned I had an AmEx US CC and it got approved this time. 

AmEx gyftr seemed great, so the Gold Charge Card followed the MRCC. Platinum Travel CC was praised quite well by Pranay Kapoor, so got that too. 

Although my primary banking relationship was with ICICI, I didn't have any core ICICI card in 2024, so got the Coral CC. I got the paid version and I knew I could get the RM to get it converted to LTF soon. Needed an ICICI one for some of the shopping offers. 

And then we arrive in Early 2025. AmEx gyftr seems to be getting devalued every other month and my credit card strategy went haywire. As of today, all I see at 10K vouchers for Amazon Pay on AmEx gyftr. 

This is when I came to know about the ICICI Emerald Private Metal and it seemed incredible. Especially given how the other ICICI core cards are nothing worthy of even considering. I barely had any relationship with HDFC, so I knew Infinia wasn't realistic anytime soon. I was still apprehensive given how many paid cards I already had and I knew I couldn't justify two cards that were meant to be spent over 7.5L or 10L in a year to make good sense. 

Around this time, the RM at ICICI left the bank a new guy took his place. This new guy was quite proactive. He wanted to meet me in person and was asking for an appointment. I wasn't interested but this guy persisted. So I asked him if he can get me an Emerald Private Metal. 

He said that he'd push for it if I offered him and his boss an appointment. They came over to meet me and enquired about all the business I had with ICICI. I have a current account with them which brings in over 60L worth of inward remittances each year and I also have a home loan with a sanctioned limit of 1.45Cr. I also had a 10-year-old savings account, which wasn't used much. 

The conversation led to me asking them to give me an EPM and them persuading me to move my Equity holdings from my Zerodha DEMAT to an ICICI Direct DEMAT. I said I'll consider it. 

The RM got started on the application on the 24th of March and I got the Emerald Private Metal CC delivered today. FY closing led to some delays in approvals is what I'm told. I'm not complaining though. 

Right now, I feel overwhelmed with all these that I have in my hand. Some paid, some LTF (listed below). I need to trim and see how I will optimise my strategy with EPM added to the list. 

Can't lose Atlas as it is great for regular spends (4% reward rate when converted to airline miles) and I have some 56K Edge Miles that I may not be able to use until the end of this year. 

HDFC BizBlack is great for all the Tax payments. I get some 9K reward points for some 56K spent each month on BizBlack. Also, neither Atlas nor EPM gives any rewards for government payments. Not sure if EPM considers tax spending towards milestones (Atlas does not). 

AmEx Trifecta might be something I will trim down. Maybe the Gold Charge Card is what will be gone soon. 

Amazon Pay CC, Tata Neu CC, Scapia CC are LTF and are great for what they do. IndusInd Platinum CC is also LTF and is what is linked to my PhonePay for all the UPI spends. 

Axis Flipkart is not LTF but I make one or two large enough purchases on Flipkart in a year to make it worth it. Maybe this is also something that can be surrendered. ICICI Coral is not LTF and I will be surrendering that now that I have EPM. 

Overall, quite an overwhelming situation that I have gotten myself into. Looking for suggestions on how to make the most of the ICICI Emerald Private Metal. Also, what are the cards that you think I should get rid of? 

Thank you, especially if you've read this far. 

---- Renewal fees ----
ICICI Emerald Private Metal - 12.5K + GST 
(Not sure if I will hit the 10L milestone for fee waiver)
BizBlack - 10K + GST
(Will comfortably hit the 7.5L milestone for fee waiver)
Axis Atlas - 5K + GST
(Not sure if I will hit the 7.5L milestone)
ICICI Coral - 500 + GST
Axis Flipkart - 500 + GST
AmEx MRCC - 1500 + GST 
(Will comfortably hit the 1.5L milestone for fee waiver)
AmEx Gold Charge Card - 4.5K + GST
AmEx Platinum Travel Card - 5K + GST
AmEx Everyday Card - LTF (Issued in the USA)
ICICI Amazon Pay - LTF
IndusInd Platinum - LTF
Tata Neu Infinity - LTF
Scapia - LTF

Too many CCs, but couldn't resist getting Emerald Private Metal.