Top 10 Best Credit Cards In India

List of 10 Best Credit Cards in India 2024

Factors To Consider Before Choosing The Best Credit Card

There are some factors you have to think about before choosing the best credit card suited for your needs

• Credit Score
A high credit score will help you get your credit card application approved easily and also fetch you a higher credit limit.
• Fees
You will need to check the fees associated with the credit card before you opt for it. Many cards come with an annual fee and joining fee which you will have to pay while buying them. You can opt for cards with lower fees if they offer the benefits you are looking for. Also, check out annual and joining fee waivers on milestone spends and lifetime free credit cards with Nil joining and annual fees, and choose the best one suitable to your needs.
• Interest Rates
Firstly, you have to shop around and compare the interest rates of various credit cards. Higher interest rates will make it difficult for you to pay your monthly EMIs. If you carry your balance from one month to another, which you will sometimes do, the interest rate charged will be higher.
• Other Benefits
Benefits such as reward points, cashback, instant discounts, air miles, fuel surcharge waivers, and welcome benefits should be considered. This way, you will derive the maximum benefit from your credit card.

Best Credit Cards in India 2024

1. IDFC First Millennia Credit Card

Joining Fee: Nil

Annual Fee: Nil

The IDFC First Millennia Credit Card is loaded with benefits for the millennials and is designed to cater to their lifestyle and financial needs. Here are the benefits.

Features and Benefits:

• Lifetime free credit card
• Welcome Perks: Receive welcome gift vouchers worth Rs.500 on reaching a spending threshold of Rs.15,000 within the first 90 days of card issuance.
• Cashback:
  • 5% cashback on your first EMI transaction performed within 90 days of your credit card being issued.
• Rewards:
  • 10x reward points on every transaction that you make on your birthday.
  • Receive 6X reward points on every online purchase.
  • Get 1 reward point for every Rs.100 spent using your credit card.
• Discounts:
  • Discount of 25% on your movie ticket up to Rs. 100, monthly.
  • Enjoy up to 20% off at 1,500 restaurants across India.
• Interest-free cash withdrawals:
  • Enjoy interest-free cash withdrawals from ATMs in the country for up to 48 days

2. ICICI Instant Platinum Card

Joining Fee: Nil

Annual Fee: Nil

If your credit score is low, then you can go in for this credit card. It is the best option for students, housewives, and non-salaried people. Getting approval against an FD is very easy for this card. However, the approval rate is not good if you don’t have an FD with the bank.

Features and benefits:

• Contactless technology: This card comes with built-in contactless technology to make swift and secure payments at retail outlets.
• Reward Points: Earn reward points which are redeemable against various categories like fashion, electronics, health and beauty, e-vouchers, and home and kitchen.
• Discounts: Avail 25% discount up to INR 100 on the purchase of a minimum of two tickets up to two times in a month through BookMyShow.
• Low interest rates: The card comes with a low interest rate of just 2.49% per month.

3. Niyo Global International Travel Card

Joining Fee: Nil

Annual Fee: Nil

This card will be a great pick for international travellers. Here is the pack of benefits.

Features and benefits:

• Nil Forex Markup Fees: Zero forex markup fees on overseas transactions helps you save 3 to 5% on them
• Global Acceptance: The Niyo Global zero forex card works hassle-free in 150 countries across POS, ATM, and e-commerce
• Airport Lounge Access: Free airport lounge access at international airport terminals across the world.
• Fast Delivery: Quick delivery as it reaches you within 3 to 5 days
• Cashback:
  • Earn coins on every transaction and redeem them as cashback abroad
  • Up to 1% cashback on domestic spends
• VAT refunds: Save 5% to 20% on international purchases via VAT refunds
• Zero balance savings account option
• Competitive interest rates up to 6.5%
• Protection: Security features like real-time tracking, card locking, and in-app currency converter provide added assurance.
• Zero TCS on spends
• Contactless technology: Contactless payments and 0% commission on mutual fund investments

4. Dhanlaxmi Bank Platinum Credit Card

Joining Fee: Nil

Annual Fee: Nil

The credit card comes with a world of privileges curated especially for you. It offers generous rewards for everyday spending. Here is the comprehensive set of benefits and features.

Features and Benefits:

• Cashback: 5% cashback on supermarket and departmental store purchases, subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 per month.
• Coverage: It offers coverages such as credit shield up to INR 1 lakh, purchase protection up to INR 1 lakh, and air accident insurance up to INR 20 lakhs.
• Global Assistance: Provides global customer assistance for emergencies
• Online concierge facility
• Low interest charges
• emPower: You can budget, review, and handle your expenses with an online financial planning tool called emPower

5. Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card

Annual Fee (Per annum): Nil

Joining Fee (Per annum): Nil

This card is a great choice for those who want to shop on Amazon India and earn rewards against the same. It comes with a host of benefits and features.

Features and Benefits:

• Lifetime Free
• Reward points:
• Unlimited rewards without expiry using this credit card
• Reward points can be used to purchase over 10 crore products at Amazon and in more than 100 partner merchants of Amazon Pay.
• 1 Reward point = 1 Rs (auto credited as Amazon Pay Balance)

No cost EMI: For 3 and 6 months on Amazon.

Cashback:

• Earn 5% cashback for shopping on Amazon if you are an Amazon Prime member
• Earn 3% cashback for spends on Amazon India even if you are not a member of Amazon Prime
• Earn 2% cashback on payments to 100 plus partner merchants
• Earn 1% cashback on your other expenses such as shopping, insurance payments, travel, dining, and much more.
• 100% cashback upto Rs. 200 on Amazon shopping
• 50% cashback upto Rs. 100 on prepaid recharges
• 25% cashback upto Rs. 350 on postpaid bill payment
• 20% cashback upto Rs. 250 on electricity bill payment
• 25% cashback upto Rs. 200 on DTH recharge
• 25% cashback upto Rs. 400 on broadband bill payment
• 10% cashback upto Rs. 250 on gas cylinder payment

• Fuel Surcharge Waiver: Fuel surcharge waiver of 1% each time you refuel.

6. SimplyCLICK SBI Card

Renewal Fee (Per annum): Rs. 499 plus taxes

Annual Fee (One time): Rs. 499 plus taxes

This credit card provides additional rewards and perks for online purchases made with multiple partner brands such as Cleartrip, BookMyShow, EazyDiner, Netmeds, etc. Here are the benefits.

Features and Benefits:

• Welcome bonus: Get an Amazon gift card worth Rs.500 as a welcome bonus
• Annual fee waiver: on reaching threshold spends of Rs. 1,00,000
• Reward points:
  • 5x rewards on all online spends
  • 1 reward point per Rs.100 on other spends

• Milestone benefits: ClearTrip and Yatra e-vouchers worth Rs 2,000 on net annual spends of Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 2,00,000, respectively
• Fuel surcharge waiver: A fuel cost waiver of 1% for all fuel purchases between Rs. 500 and Rs. 3,000
• Flexipay perks: You can convert your transactions into easy monthly instalments by using Flexipay.
• Global acceptance: It can be used in over 24 million outlets across the world, including outlets in India.

7. SBI SimplySAVE Credit Card

Renewal Fee (Per annum): Rs. 499

Annual Fee (One time): Rs. 499

This card offers higher reward points on daily spends like groceries, dining, movies, departmental store purchases etc. Let us read on to find out more about the features and benefits of the card.

Features and benefits:

• Reward points:
• Earn 1 reward point per Rs. 150 spent on all expenditures
• 10X points on movies, dining, groceries, and department store purchases
• 2,000 additional reward points worth Rs. 500 for spends of Rs. 2,000 within the first 60 days of card activation.

• Fuel surcharge waiver:1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs. 500 and Rs. 3,000.

• Annual fee reversal: Avail of an annual fee reversal on spends of Rs. 1 lakh or more on your SBI SimpleSave credit card

8. HDFC Millennia Credit Card

Joining Fee: Rs. 1000

Annual Fee: Rs. 1000

Features and Benefits:

• Welcome Benefits: 1000 cash points applicable only on payment of membership fees.
• Cashback and Discounts:
• 5% Cashback on Flipkart, BookMyShow, Amazon, Cult.fit, Myntra, Sony LIV, Swiggy, Tata CLiQ, Uber and Zomato
• 1% cashback on all other spends (excluding fuel) including EMI & Wallet transactions
• Rs. 1000 worth of gift vouchers on spends of Rs.1,00,000 and more in each calendar quarter
• Up to 20% discount on partner restaurants through Dine Out

• Lounge Access: 8 complimentary domestic lounge access per calendar year with 2 per quarter.
• Fuel surcharge waiver: 1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations across India.
• Renewal Offer: Renewal membership fee waiver on spends of Rs. 1 lakh or more in the previous 12 months.

9. RBL Shoprite Credit Card

Joining Fee: Nil

Annual Fee: Rs. 500

The RBL Bank Shoprite credit card gives great benefits for shopping, entertainment, and fuel spends. It offers value back as reward points and direct discounts with certain brands. Here are the features and benefits.

Features and Benefits:

Welcome Bonus: The card offers 2000 reward points for cardholders

Reward points:

• 1 reward point per INR 100 spent on purchases, except categories such as fuel, railways, utility, rental, and miscellaneous.
• 5% value back along with 20 reward points for every INR 100 spent on grocery shopping.
• The maximum limit on reward points that can be earned in this category is 1,000 points per month.

• Discount on Movies: A discount of 10% (Up to INR 100) on movie tickets booked through BookMyShow up to 15 times a year.
• Fuel surcharge waiver:
• Fuel surcharge waiver for transactions in the range of INR 500 and INR 4,000 at all fuel stations.
• Maximum waiver of INR 100 per month.

10. The American Express SmartEarn™ Credit Card

Joining Fee:Rs. 495 plus applicable taxes

Annual Fee: Rs. 495 + applicable taxes (Waived off on spending Rs. 40,000 and over in the previous year of card membership)

Maximize your savings by earning reward points on every purchase with this card. Enjoy additional privileges like bonus cashback, fee waiver, gift vouchers, etc. Here are the benefits in detail.

Features and Benefits:

• Reward Points:
• 10x membership rewards on transactions with Zomato, Ajio, Nykaa, BookMyShow, Uber, and more for every INR 50 spent.
• 5x membership rewards earned on transactions with Amazon and Paytm Wallet.
• Earn 1,250 membership reward points monthly on spends of just INR 7,500. You can get spending points with partner merchants such as Zomato, Uber, BookMyShow, Flipkart, Amazon, and Paytm Wallet.
• Earn 1 membership reward point for spends of INR 50, excluding insurance, fuel, utilities, cash transactions, and EMI conversions at the point of sale.

• Other Privileges:The card comes with endless privileges such as flexibility in bill payment, fuel convenience fee waiver, 24/7 card-related assistance, EMI conversion option with American Express EMI, dispute resolution, emergency card replacement, and zero lost card liability.

Conclusion

The credit cards given above are some of the best credit cards to look forward in 2024. It is very important to pick a credit card that aligns with your spending habits and lifestyle. Before deciding, carefully assess your needs, the rewards structure, and the annual fee. A card that is suited to your spending habits and lifestyle is essential.

FAQs on Best Credit Cards in India: