Federal Bank international debit card: Your full guide

Federal Bank in India offers international debit cards for both Indian and Non-Resident Indians.

Read on to learn more about Federal Bank’s international debit cards and how they work.

📝 Table of contents
Cards overview How to apply? Fees and charges How to activate?

Federal Bank international debit cards

Federal Bank offers 2 different international debit cards:

Rupay Platinum International Debit Card

NRI EMV International Debit card

Although they are both international debit cards, there are differences between the two cards when it comes to eligibility, benefits, and usage. Let’s take a deeper look.

Eligibility

Rupay Platinum International Debit Card is available for platinum accounts at Federal Bank. Typically platinum accounts require a minimum average quarterly balance of either:¹

• A minimum of ₹5 Lakh in a Federal Bank CD or SB account and ₹5 Lakh in term deposits
• A minimum of ₹10 Lakh in a CD or SB account

NRI EMV International Debit card is only available to Non-Resident Indians. And it can only be linked to an open NRE account at Federal Bank. NRE accounts have a required minimum balance of ₹5,000.

🛂 Non-Resident Indians are citizens of India who live outside of India for more than 182 days.

Benefits and perks

Rupay Platinum International Debit Card comes with benefits and perks for travel and shopping. You can earn reward points by shopping at stores and online.

And you get 2 free lounge passes per quarter in domestic lounges and 2 free passes per year for international lounges. Here are some additional benefits:

• Personal Insurance of ₹2,00,000
• 5% cashback on Utility Bill payments up to ₹50 per month
• Up to 1% cashback on fuel up to ₹75 per month
• 24/7 Concierge services in English and Hindi
• Discounts on local purchases made at Cafe Coffee Day, IRCTC, and movie tickets and more

NRI EMV International Debit card offers easy shopping in person and online. It can be used globally including at ATMs in 180 countries. The embedded chip enables secure transactions wherever you are.

Usage and limits

Rupay Platinum International Debit Card has a total daily usage limit of ₹3,50,000.

That includes a daily purchase limit of ₹3,00,000, and a cash withdrawal limit of ₹50,000.²

NRI EMV International Debit card has a daily usage limit of ₹30,000.³

To make things easier, here is a quick table on how both cards compare:

	Rupay Platinum International Debit Card	NRI EMV International Debit card
Provider	Rupay	Mastercard/Visa
International use	Yes	Yes
Chip-enabled	Yes	Yes
Daily usage	₹3,50,000	₹30,000
ATM use abroad	Yes	Yes
Eligible	₹10 lakh banking relationship with Federal Bank	Non-Resident Indian
Perks	Yes	Minimal

How to apply for an international debit card with Federal Bank?

To apply for an international debit card with Federal Bank, you will first need an account with Federal Bank.

Here are the steps to opening an account:

1. Go to the Forms & Stationery page on the Federal Bank website
2. Select the PDF for either a Resident or NRI
3. Fill out the form on your computer or you can print it and complete
4. Bring the form to your local Federal Bank branch

For an account opening you will need to provide the following documents as well:⁴

• Photograph
• Copy of your PAN
• Passport/ Aadhaar/PAN/driver's license for identity proof
• Passport/ Aadhaar/PAN/driver's license for address proof

If you have a Federal Bank account already, you can request for a debit card online:

1. Head to the Federal Bank website
2. Click on Fed-E-Point
3. Enter in your 14 digit account number
4. Enter in the OTP on your registered mobile phone
5. On the dashboard click on Debit Card Application
6. Select the account that you would like the debit card for
7. Choose the debit card from the eligible cards list on screen
8. Click continue
9. Verify the address for delivery
10. Click on submit request

The debit card should arrive at the address selected on the screen.⁵

Federal Bank international debit card charges

Here are the fees & charges for both international debit cards available at Federal Bank:

	Rupay Platinum	NRI EMV Debit card
Annual fees	₹500	₹300
International ATM fee	₹ 100	₹ 100
International transaction fee	3.50%	3.50%

There may be additional charges or fees so it is best to speak to a Federal Bank representative. Certain charges can be avoided if there are more than ₹ 50,000 worth of purchases made with the debit card.⁶

One of the main things to note is that with both debit cards there are still fees associated with spending globally, despite being international cards. There are 2 main fees, the first being a transaction fee of 3.5%. That will be added to all international transactions.

The second will be an exchange rate fee, which is tucked into the exchange rate you will get on your purchases made with the card abroad. Federal Bank makes their exchange rate slightly weaker than the real exchange rate you see on Google. And in that way, they take a cut on every conversion. It can seem small, but the exchange rate fee can add up in a big way.

Manage money internationally with Wise

Want to spend and send money easily overseas? Look no further than Wise Web/Android/ iOS app.

Wise is easy to set up right from your phone or computer. Just have your PAN and an address proof ready and you can join Wise for free. And once you are registered, you can start sending money abroad- whether it's for a gift, tuition, or booking your next holiday.

And if you are already residing in supported countries like US, UK, Australia or more- spending money globally just got easier with the Wise multi-currency account.

Federal Bank international debit card activation

Your Federal Bank international debit cards should arrive with the international transaction feature ready. But if it is not activated yet, you can take the following steps to enable the debit card features:

• Call 04842866700 and enable debit card services
• Log into Fednet and select Debit Card Services and then Debit Card ON/OFF from the menu

If you have any problems or issues, it is advised to head to the Federal Bank branch near you. There is a Locate Us option on the right side of the Federal Bank homepage to find the nearest bank branch. ⁷

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Sources used for this article:

1. Platinum eligibility
2. Rupay Platinum
3. NRI EMV Card
4. Account opening process
5. Debit card process
6. Fees
7. Activation

All sources checked as of 3 March, 2022