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Axis ACE utility bills stop earning anywhere but Google Pay

From 20 April 2024 Axis ACE pays no cashback on utility spends made on any platform other than Google Pay, naming MCC 4814, 4816, 4899 and 4900. The 5% on bills, DTH and recharges survives only through Google Pay on Android, inside the ₹500-a-statement cap it shares with the 4% category — the same bill paid on the biller's site or the Axis app now earns nothing, not the 1.5% base.

What changed

Worse for you

Devaluation · Axis Bank

Before

Utility, DTH and mobile bills earned cashback on any platform

After

0% off Google Pay (MCC 4814/4816/4899/4900); 5% only through Google Pay on Android

See it with every other change · How FY2025 scored on the devaluation index

The card this affects

Axis Bank ACE credit card

Axis Bank ACE

Axis Bank

₹12,700 a year at ₹75,000 a month

Keep

ACE built its name on one line: 5% back on your electricity, gas, broadband and phone bills. On 20 April 2024 Axis narrowed that line to a single app. Its own cashback terms now read that cashback “shall not be eligible for Utility spends done on any other platform except Google Pay”, and they name the codes — MCC 4814, 4816, 4899 and 4900.

The catch is what happens to the bill you pay elsewhere. It does not fall back to ACE’s 1.5% base. It earns nothing. Pay the electricity board’s own site, the Axis app or another wallet, and the card hands back ₹0 on the one category it was famous for.

Through Google Pay on Android the 5% survives, but inside a ₹500-a-statement ceiling it shares with the 4% on Swiggy, Zomato and Ola — about ₹10,000 of bills a month before the cap bites. Route every bill through Google Pay or treat ACE’s bill stack as worth nothing.

Before: Utility, DTH and mobile bills earned cashback on any platform

After: 0% off Google Pay (MCC 4814/4816/4899/4900); 5% only through Google Pay on Android

Source: Axis Bank’s ACE cashback terms.

Comparisons this changes

Tata Neu Infinity HDFC Bank vs Axis Bank ACE

The Tata-ecosystem card against the Google Pay bills card. Tata Neu Infinity pays NeuCoins: 5% at Tata brands, up to 10% on the Tata Neu app with NeuPass and 1.5% almost everywhere else; ACE pays 5% on bills and recharges through Google Pay and 4% on Swiggy, Zomato and Ola under one ₹500 cap a statement, and 1.5% on everything else. ACE out-earns the Tata Neu card at ₹25k a month and again from ₹4.5L; in between, the page's value model scores the two level. ₹1,499 waived at ₹3,00,000 of spend against ₹499 waived at ₹2,00,000, and forex is 2% against 3.5%. The Tata Neu card opens two domestic lounge visits a quarter on ₹50,000 of the previous quarter's spend and four international a year; ACE four domestic a year on ₹50,000 of spend in the previous three months.

HSBC Live+ vs Axis Bank ACE

Two cards with an uncapped 1.5% base and the same ₹2,00,000 fee waiver, and the page's value model scores them level at every spend level it tests, because it credits base earn and not the accelerators — so the accelerators decide it. Live+ pays 10% on dining, food delivery, groceries, shopping and utilities up to ₹1,200 a month, ₹14,400 a year, and charges 1.99% abroad; ACE pays 5% on bills through Google Pay and 4% on Swiggy, Zomato and Ola inside one ₹500 cap a statement, ₹6,000 a year, and has charged 3.5% abroad since 28 August 2026. ₹999 against ₹499. ACE opens four domestic lounge visits a year on ₹50,000 of the previous three months' spend; Live+ two domestic and one international.

Axis Bank ACE vs Fibe Axis Bank Credit Card

Axis's two cashback entry cards, and the fee is the whole argument: ACE pays 1.5% on everything for ₹499, Fibe pays 1% for nothing at all. Both open the same four Set A lounge doors a year, so ACE only wins once you spend past ₹1,00,000 a year — and Fibe stops earning entirely above ₹1,50,000 a month.

More on this story

  1. Citibank India credit cards fully migrate to Axis

  2. Axis Atlas takes its first big cut

  3. Axis Vistara cards zero out CV Points on government and utility spends

  4. Axis launches Magnus for Burgundy, the gutted Magnus's escape hatch

  5. Axis Magnus is gutted: the enthusiast era officially ends

  6. Axis Reserve loses half its miles-conversion value alongside Magnus

Axis Bank transfer partners

Sources

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