IRCTC BOBCARD versus ICICI Bank Coral, metric by metric. The metric runs down the centre; each card's values face it from its own side, and a gold edge on the centre line marks the round winner.
IRCTC BOBCARD	Metric	ICICI Bank Coral
#92 — wins this row	Our rank	#96
₹500 joining, then ₹350/yr	Fee — joining · annual (+ GST)	₹500/yr
None	Fee waiver	₹1,50,000 spend
3.5% + GST (standard BOBCARD)	Forex markup	3.5% + GST
3.75%/mo (45%/yr) — standard BOBCARD tier (non-Eterna)	APR	3.75%/mo (45%/yr)
0.5%	Headline earn rate	0.5%
BOBCARD Reward Points	Currency	ICICI Reward Points
₹0.25/pt	House value	₹1.00/pt †
500 bonus reward points on spending ₹5,000 within the first 60 days	Welcome benefit	—
22 of 789	Lounge doors opened	94 of 789 — wins this row
₹3.6L+/yr (community)	Income — salaried	not published
₹4.8L+/yr (community)	Income — self-employed	not published

† ICICI Bank Coral: Coral redeems ICICI Reward Points at ₹0.25 apiece — a quarter of the ₹1.00 house value the Emeralde Private earns on iShop travel. ICICI publishes no per-point value for Coral itself, but the identically-programmed Rubyx membership kit states it outright: "Each reward point is equivalent to ₹0.25 when redeemed for cash." The ₹1 rate is documented only for Emeralde Private Metal and Times Black. earn.base already bakes the haircut in.

Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →

Ranking-value face-off

Everyday spend at each card's base rate plus a realistic ~20% at its best accelerator (less for narrow or capped boosters) — milestones, fee waivers and the redemption haircut all at our house ₹/point. That's why the biggest headline rate doesn't automatically win. This is the ranking model, the one that orders the board; each card page prints the earn-rate-only net annual value instead, which reads lower for any card with an accelerator (both models, side by side). Tune it to your own spend in the calculator.

IRCTC BOBCARD ICICI Bank Coral

at ₹1L/month

₹10,210 wins

₹8,500

at ₹3L/month

₹31,330 wins

₹20,500

at ₹5L/month

₹52,450 wins

₹32,500

IRCTC BOBCARD out-earns ICICI Bank Coral at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.

How the gap moves with spend

IRCTC BOBCARD leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹40 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹19,950 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹19,950).

ICICI Bank Coral pays 9 annual spend milestones, the first at ₹2,00,000 a year, and IRCTC BOBCARD pays none; IRCTC BOBCARD runs a 10.0% booster on IRCTC train tickets (irctc.co.in), where ICICI Bank Coral earns one flat rate.

IRCTC BOBCARD draws above the line, ICICI Bank Coral below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step

Ranking value for each card at every ₹25,000 step of monthly spend, with the gap between them and the card in front at that level.
Monthly spend	IRCTC BOBCARD	ICICI Bank Coral	In front
₹0.25L	₹2,290	₹2,250	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹40
₹0.5L	₹4,930	₹4,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹430
₹0.75L	₹7,570	₹6,750	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹820
₹1L	₹10,210	₹8,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹1,710
₹1.25L	₹12,850	₹10,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹2,850
₹1.5L	₹15,490	₹11,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹3,990
₹1.75L	₹18,130	₹13,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹5,130
₹2L	₹20,770	₹14,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹6,270
₹2.25L	₹23,410	₹16,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹7,410
₹2.5L	₹26,050	₹17,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹8,550
₹2.75L	₹28,690	₹19,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹9,690
₹3L	₹31,330	₹20,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹10,830
₹3.25L	₹33,970	₹22,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹11,970
₹3.5L	₹36,610	₹23,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹13,110
₹3.75L	₹39,250	₹25,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹14,250
₹4L	₹41,890	₹26,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹15,390
₹4.25L	₹44,530	₹28,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹16,530
₹4.5L	₹47,170	₹29,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹17,670
₹4.75L	₹49,810	₹31,000	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹18,810
₹5L	₹52,450	₹32,500	IRCTC BOBCARD by ₹19,950

Transfer reach

live transfer routes from BOBCARD Reward Points — no transfers; its own redemption value is the ceiling

IRCTC BOBCARD

live transfer routes from ICICI Reward Points — no transfers; its own redemption value is the ceiling

ICICI Bank Coral

Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →

What to watch out for

IRCTC BOBCARD · 2 more →

The 40-RP rate is lean-season only (travel 15 Jan–31 Mar & 15 Jul–15 Sep; 16 RP/₹100 the rest of the year) and train earn caps at 250 Travel Points (₹250) per statement cycle
Reward points are ₹0.25 flat; the departmental-store 4-RP accelerator caps at 1,000 RP per cycle
0.5% on everything that isn't a train ticket; 3.5% forex markup and no airport lounge

ICICI Bank Coral · 2 more →

0.5% reward rate — points redeem at just ₹0.25
No welcome benefit whatsoever
3.5% forex — the wrong card abroad

The call

For the ₹1L/month spender, IRCTC BOBCARD nets ₹10,210 against ₹8,500 — a ₹1,710 gap. At ₹5L/month, IRCTC BOBCARD nets ₹52,450 against ₹32,500 — a ₹19,950 gap. Lounge chasers: ICICI Bank Coral opens 94 of 789 tracked doors to IRCTC BOBCARD's 22.

Our standing verdicts: IRCTC BOBCARD — Downgrade; ICICI Bank Coral — Downgrade. On our board, IRCTC BOBCARD sits at #92 to ICICI Bank Coral's #96 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →

Straight answers

Which is better, IRCTC BOBCARD or ICICI Bank Coral?

IRCTC BOBCARD. It sits at #92 on our board to ICICI Bank Coral's #96. IRCTC BOBCARD takes 4 of the 5 rounds we can score. IRCTC BOBCARD out-earns ICICI Bank Coral at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.

IRCTC BOBCARD or ICICI Bank Coral — which earns more at ₹3L a month?

At ₹3L a month, IRCTC BOBCARD nets ₹31,330 against ₹20,500 — a ₹10,830 gap. Those are ranking-value figures: everyday spend at the card's base rate plus a realistic slice at its best accelerator, net of the fee.

Which costs less to hold, IRCTC BOBCARD or ICICI Bank Coral?

They cost the same to get: ₹500 joining, then ₹350/yr. IRCTC BOBCARD waives its fee at no spend level — there is no waiver; ICICI Bank Coral at ₹1,50,000 of spend.

Which gets you into more airport lounges, IRCTC BOBCARD or ICICI Bank Coral?

Lounge chasers: ICICI Bank Coral opens 94 of 789 tracked doors to IRCTC BOBCARD's 22. Visit quotas, guest charges and spend gates are per card — the lounge map carries each one.

How current is this comparison?

Both card records were last re-verified against their issuers' own documents on 2026-07-26. Every figure on this page — the ranking values, the fee rows, the lounge counts, the transfer ratios — is recomputed from those records each time the site builds, so a devaluation changes the call the day we log it.