Top Credit Cards In India 2021 [Updated]

                                 

 

Credit card is the common medium for the payment of online purchases. That is the reasons banks have designed exclusive cards to attract customers with reward points, cashback, and discounts among other benefits. The credit card offers provide a chance to save on every spend. 

There are different types of Credit cards, and they have various benefits as well according to their categories. Here we take a look at the top credit cards in India for every category to help you choose the best card as per your lifestyle. For the best credit card offers; click here 

Types of credit cards in India

1. Shopping Credit Cards

The most popular category of credit cards among people of different age groups. Leading banks in India offer shopping credit cards. The shopping credit cards include benefits such as discounts, higher reward points, and cash back features.

2. Reward credit cards

As it is clear from the name these credit cards provide different rewards on credit cards purchase and these credit cards are of three types cashback, points and travel. some people like to get the cashback of their credit points, some just want to redeem their points and travel cards are beneficial for frequent travellers.

3. Student credit cards

 As it is clear from the name, these cards are specially for students, Banks have amazing offers on these cards for our young minds, and it also helps them to maintain a good credit history and loans are also available at a low rate on these cards.

4. Business credit cards

These cards are designed especially for business purpose and it also helps a person to keep his personal and private transactions separate.

5. Lifestyle Credit Cards

Lifestyle cards are designed to offer luxury and convenience to individuals. Today, you have a wide variety of lifestyle cards to choose one that reflects your personality. The changing lifestyle has made this category of credit cards more usable in India.

6. Co-branded Credit Cards

Two parties typically a bank and a merchant join hands to offer co-branded credit cards. The co-branded cards can include benefits across any category such as travel, fuel, shopping etc.

7. Cashback Credit Cards

Cashback cards offer a money back on specific categories. You get direct cashback on your purchase or you can convert reward points into cashback and pay your credit card bill.  

8. Travel Credit Cards

With the help of travel credit cards, it's time to travel less expensively. They can include additional perks such as complimentary airport lounge access.

So, these are the categories and on the basis of these categories, banks provide various credit cards to the customers. You can choose any card from these categories according to the benefits provided by the banks.

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Now you are aware of the categories of the credit cards, the question is how to get the right credit card according to your requirements?

Now have a look at the top credit cards for each category.

Best Shopping Credit Cards India 

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
SBI Simply click credit card	Joining fees- Rs 499/- No annual fees until you cross purchase of worth 1 Lac	E-gift voucher of worth Rs. 500 from amazon. Great offers available online with partners like Amazon, Foodpanda,OLA etc. Earn one reward point on every Rs. 100 purchase.	Worldwide acceptance. Railway ticket online booking Balance transfer.
American Express gold credit card	First year:-1000 Rs. plus taxes From second year- 4,500 Rs. plus taxes	Welcome Gift - 4000 bonus point rewards After completion of first year earn 5000 reward points. You can redeem your points on 18 or 24 karat gold.	Bonus points on booking with makemytrip. High credit limit. Exciting offers
RBL Titanium delight credit card	Annual membership of Rs.750 after one-year fees depends upon previous year expenses.	3000 reward points as a welcome gift. 1 reward point on every 100 Rs purchase. Free movie tickets on Wednesday once in a month.	Good credit limit
HDFC Money back card	Joining fees- Rs. 500 Annual fees- Rs. 500 ARP- 40.8%	Save up to 1,800 Rs. every year. Get 2 reward points on every Rs. 150 spent	50 days of interest-free credit from the day of purchase. Redeem reward points for gifts from HDFC reward catalogue
Citibank Rewards card	No joining fees. Renewal fees- 1000 Rs.	1 reward points on other purchases. 10 times extra reward on the department store, apparel and selected partners.	Redeem your reward points with partner stores.

 

Best Travel Credit Cards

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
SBI Air India signature card	Annual Fee - 4,999 Renewal Fee - 4,999	Get 20000 reward points on card issuance. Earn 4 reward points on every 100 Rs. purchase.	Add on cards facility available.
American express MakeMyTrip card	First-year joining fees- Rs. 750 plus taxes Second-year- Rs. 1500 Rs. plus taxes.	Welcome Gift - Two vouchers of makemytrip each of worth 1000. 2 reward points on every Rs. 100 Get cashback  from more that 50 payback partners.	Cashback on travel bookings. Airport Lounge access.
HDFC Superia	Spend Rs. 75,000 in a year and get a waiver of next year's annual membership fee.	3 Reward Points on Rs 150 spent.  50% more RP on dining spends.	Welcome Benefit -1000 Reward Points. Renewal Benefit: 1000 reward point. Enjoy redemption of Reward Points at over 20 international airlines
Axis Bank Privilege credit card	Joining fee- Rs. 15000 Renewal Fees - Rs. 1500	10 points on every Rs. 200 spend domestically.	Travel Vouchers worth Rs. 5000 on Activation Airport lounge access. Convert purchase into EMI.
JETprivilege HDFC Bank Diners club	Joining fees- Rs. 10000 Annual fees- Rs. 5000	1 JetPrivilege Tier Point for every Rs.1,50,000 Earn 8 JPMiles for every Rs. 150 spent	Unlimited Airport Lounge access to over 600+ lounges globally Exclusive Dining Privileges
YATRA SBI card	Joining fees - Rs. 499 Renewal fees- Rs. 499	6 Reward points on every 100 Rs. spend on dining, movies, entertainment etc. 1 Reward point on every 100 Rs. spent in other categories.	Complimentary Air Accident cover of Rs. 50 lacs Rs. 1,000 off on domestic flight bookings. Min. trxn of Rs. 5,000
SBI Card Prime	Joining fees- Rs. 2,999. Annual fees- Rs. 2,999	Get 20 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on standing instructions of Utility Bills payments Get 15 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on BigBasket Get 10 Reward Points per Rs.100 spent on Dining, Groceries, Departmental stores and Movies	Enjoy Complimentary Club Vistara Silver membership Waiver of Renewal Fee on annual spends of Rs. 3 Lakhs Get Pizza Hut e-Voucher worth Rs. 1,000 on achieving spends of Rs. 50,000 in a calendar quarter

 

Best Cashback Credit Cards

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
Citibank Cash back credit card	Annual Fee - Rs. 500	5% cashback on movie tickets. 5% cashback on telephone bills 0.5% cashback on other bills.	Shopping privilege EMI privilege Dining privilege.
Standard Chartered Manhattan credit card	Joining Fee: Rs.999+tax	5% cashback on supermarket expenditure. 3 times extra rewards on spending hotels, dining etc.	Lifetime free add-on card Enjoy Complimentary Airport Lounge

 

Best Lifestyle Credit Cards

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
HDFC Diner premium credit card	Joining Fee - Rs. 2500  Renewal Fee- Rs. 2500	Earn 4 Reward Points for every Rs. 150/- retail spends Redeem Reward Point for AirMiles across Airlines.	1 crore worth air accident coverage. Up to 25 Lakhs worth medical coverage. Up to worth 9 Lakhs credit liabilities coverage.
SBI Elite credit card	Joining Fee - Rs. 4,999 Annual fees - Rs. 4,999	Get 5X Reward Points on Dining, Departmental stores and Grocery Spends. Earn 2 Reward Points per Rs. 100 on all other spends, except fuel. Earn upto 50,000 Bonus Reward Points worth Rs. 12,500/ year.	Free Movie Tickets worth Rs. 6,000 every year Access over 1000 Airport Lounges worldwide

Also Read: Paytm has launched its credit card in collaboration with Citi Bank. You can check eligibility for Paytm First Credit Card from the Paytm App. For more information click here

Best Student Credit Card

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
SBI Student plus Advantage	Joining Fee- NIL Annual fees- NIL Second-year annual fees- 500 Rs.	Get 1 Reward Points for every Rs. 100 spent Get 10X Reward Points on your International spends 2.5% fuel surcharge waiver at any petrol pump in India	Credit card for education loan customers of SBI.

Co-Branded Credit Cards

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
Indianoil Citi Platinum Fuel	Annual Fee - Rs. 1000, waived off on spends of Rs. 30,000 or more.	Earn 4 Turbo Points for every Rs.150 (2.67%) of fuel purchased Full waiver of the fuel surcharge (1%) on fuel purchases Get 2 Turbo Points on every Rs.150 spent at groceries and supermarkets. Get up to 71 litres of fuel for free per year	Turbo Points never expire. Exclusive Concierge Service. Convert your Turbo Points to free fuel or redeem them in-store or online for exclusive products in lifestyle, leisure, and travel.
Jet Airways American Express Platinum	First Year Fee: Rs. 5,000 plus applicable taxes (Second Year onward: Rs. 10,000 plus applicable taxes)	8 JPMiles for every Rs. 150 spent except for spend at Fuel, Insurance, Utilities and Cash Transactions. Earn 16 JPMiles for every Rs. 150 spent for booking revenue tickets on www.jetairways.com	Welcome Gift - Get 10,000 Bonus JPMiles on the first charge on your Card. Get a complimentary Jet Airways Base Fare Waived Domestic Ticket. Enjoy up to 20% OFF at select premium restaurants.
Air India SBI Signature Card	Annual Fee (one-time) :Rs. 4,999   Renewal Fee (per annum) :Rs. 4,999	Get 4 Reward points for every Rs. 100 spent. Get up to 1,00,000 bonus Reward points annually Convert your Reward points into Air India miles. 1 Reward point is equal to 1 Air India Air mile	Enjoy International Airport Luxury Lounge Access to over 600 airport lounges with complimentary Priority Pass Program. Enjoy the complimentary Visa Lounge Access Program in India at major domestic airports.
Amazon Pay ICICI Bank	No joining fee or annual fee	Earn 5% back on Amazon.in for Amazon Prime customers. Earn 3% back on Amazon.in for non-prime customers. Earn 2% back on 100+ Amazon Pay partner merchants by using this card on Amazon Pay. Earn 1% back on other payments.	No joining fee or annual fee No limit to the earnings from this card No expiry date for your earnings

 

Also Read: Amazon has launched credit card in association with ICICI Bank. You can check eligibility for Amazon Pay Credit Card from Amazon website or app. For more details click here

Best Business Credit Cards

 

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
ICICI Bank American Express Business Ascent	Joining fee: Rs 2,000 + GST   Annual fee: Rs 1,500 + GST	PAYBACK Points from ICICI Bank Rewards on every Rs 100 spent on dining and Airline transactions. 6 PAYBACK Points from ICICI Bank Rewards on every Rs 100 spent on Hotel and Car rental transactions. 3 PAYBACK Points from ICICI Bank Rewards on every Rs 100 spent on other spends (except fuel, utility and insurance spends)	Joining bonus of 3,000 PAYBACK Points. Annual bonus of 2,000 PAYBACK Points.
HDFC Business Regalia	First Year Membership Fee – Rs. 2500/- + Applicable Taxes, Renewal Membership Fee – Rs. 2500/- + Applicable Taxes	Earn 9 Club Vistara points for every Rs 100 spent on Vistara Flights Get 5% off on business tax payment, telecom, hotels, dining, taxi and electricity bill payment Earn 4 Reward Points for every Rs 100 spent across all categories	Welcome Benefit - 2500 Reward Points Renewal Benefit - 2500 Reward points   Spend Rs. 3L in 12 Months and get Renewal Fee waived for next renewal year.
Citibank Corporate Card	Joining/Annual Fee is communicated at the time of sourcing	2 Reward Points for every Rs.125/- in purchases.	Save upto 15% on your dining bills. Enjoy savings and offers at hundreds of stores in your City.

 

Best Rewards Credit Cards

 

Credit Card	Membership Fee	Rewards	Features
HSBC Smart Value	No joining fees Rs. 499 annual fee (waived off for annual spends of Rs. 50,000 or more). Amazon voucher worth Rs. 500 on payment of annual fee	Get 1 reward point for every ₹100 spent Reward points validity for 2 years Earn 3 Times Rewards (3X) on all spends on online, dining, and telecom categories.	Get Rs. 250 Swiggy Voucher on your first transaction Get Rs. 2000 Cleartrip voucher & Rs. 250 Amazon Gift Voucher on the first transaction of any amount within 30 days of credit card issuance
HDFC Bank MoneyBack Card	First Year Membership Fee – Rs. 500/- + Applicable Taxes, Renewal Membership Fee – Rs. 500/- + Applicable Taxes	2 Reward Points (RP) on Rs 150 spent. 2 X Reward Points on online spends.	Get a gift voucher of Rs 500 every quarter by doing Rs 50,000 worth of retail spends. Minimum 2500 Reward Points needed for reward redemption. Up to 50 days of interest free period from the date of purchase
SBI Card PRIME	Joining Fee: Rs. 2,999 Renewal Fee: Rs. 2,999 Welcome gift worth Rs. 3,000	Get 20 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on standing instructions of Utility Bills payments Get 15 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on BigBasket Get 10 Reward Points per Rs.100 spent on Dining, Groceries, Departmental stores and Movies	Enjoy 20 Reward Points per Rs. 100  spent on your birthday Exclusive benefits across 900 luxury hotels worldwide Enjoy Complimentary Club Vistara Silver membership

 

 

 

 

So, now you are done with the basic knowledge of credit cards another question arises, that is basic but important is the eligibility criteria of credit cards. Choosing the top credit cards in India also depends on the eligibility of the user. 

Also Read: For the top 10 life-time free credit cards click here

 

How to Check Eligibility  For Credit Cards?

It is important to know whether you are eligible to apply for a credit card of any bank and what is the basic eligibility criteria to apply for the credit cards.

So let me tell you

There are some basic conditions that every bank follows when you apply for a credit card-

• The person should have citizenship of India.

• Age of the applicant should be above 18.

• Should have good CIBIL score (not in every case)

• Should have a permanent source of income.

          NOTE- This is not applicable to student credit card

So these are the basic eligibility criteria similar for every bank. If you are not able to fulfil these criteria then you can not apply for a credit card in India.

Now my friend now you are all set to apply for a credit card in India, as I have mentioned the list of credit cards, it has the 10 best credit cards in India according to their offers in their categories

And now I am going to discuss them in detail

Top 20 Credit Cards in India 

1. SBI Simply Click credit card

SBI Simply click card is best for people who love shopping whether it is online or physical. This card has amazing offers with different sites like Amazon, Flipkart, MMT, ClearTrip etc.

I think it is one of the best cards for people who want to get their first ever credit card. If you book/buy something from this card, you will get amazing rewards and cashback.

Also, this card will also be beneficial for housewives and students as well since both of them do not have a source of income and they do not have enough money as well to fulfil their needs. So this card will help them to get their things done with those extra rewards.

 

2. American Express Gold credit and charge card

American express gold credit and charge Card is good for online shoppers. Since it has some amazing offers for online shopping and travel booking and you can get amazing rewards on the card as well.

Annual fees for the first year is Rs. 1000 plus taxes and from the second year it is 4500 Rs. plus taxes. Since it is a charge card so you will not be able to use the card until you repay your balance amount, and it may help you to create a good credit history.
 

 

3. RBL Titanium delight credit card

RBL Titanium delight credit card is specially designed for the lifestyle, you will get lots of discount on groceries and other food stores on Wednesday, you will get lots of discount in dominos on Wednesday on this card. So I think this card will be better for salaried people. This card has fewer rewards than other cards but it has amazing offers and 40 days of interest-free grace period to repay the amount which is a good thing because salaried people have fixed days to get their salary.

 

4.  HDFC Money Back Card

HDFC is one of the oldest banks in India and the credit card that is offered has great reward plans, especially on online spends. Its reward point can be easily redeemed for an impressive range of gifts.

If you redeem your points then it will be mentioned in your next credit card statement but there will be a redemption fee of Rs 75. Also, check best HDFC Credit Cards offers to save on dining, movies, and shopping. 

NOTE- Reward points are valid for two years from the day of obtaining.

 

5. AXIS Bank credit cards for lifestyle benefits

The credit card has a good reward points scheme which is good for people who do online shopping or online transaction very often, you can get double reward points for international transaction.

So in this way, people who transfer their money overseas can get the best benefits, but this card does not have any cashback offer right now, but I think this is not a problem since customers are getting good reward points.

                    

 

NOTE-  Use the credit card for its partners especially, it will help you to get more reward points. Also, international and online portal transactions will be beneficial while using this card.
 

6. Citibank Reward card

If you want good rewards then I will say that you should go for this credit card, it has amazing offers, you can earn up to 10 reward points on spend of Rs. 125.

Also, you can waive your annual fees of Rs. 1000 by spending 30000 or more in a year. Meanwhile, check Citi Credit Card offers and save on your every spend. 

 

 

7. SBI Air India signature card

Credit Card from SBI has a higher reward rate and amazing offers as well, which makes it attractive for users, but this card is most beneficial for frequent travellers because it has amazing offers on travel bookings. An annual charge of this card is Rs. 4999 with default payment charge of 3.35%. Also, you can earn up to 30 reward points on every 100 Rs.

    

 

8. American Express MakeMyTrip card

It is again a travel card like SBI air India signature card and provides amazing offers on travel booking with their partners, so many frequent travellers got amazing rewards and cash back on this card.people can get coupons  up to worth 9000, and also you can get cashback on every 100 Rs,you can also use this card and restaurants and get rewards and cash back.

 

9. HDFC Premium credit cards

This card is best for business travellers and frequent travellers as well, this category of HDFC credit card has three premium cards and they provide different offers according to their category,but its reward rate is 1.6% is higher than SBI cards that means you can get extra cash back or you can redeem your rewards in a better way.

Also, they provide amazing offers every month which saves a lot of money.

 

10 AXIS Bank credit card for travel benefits

Axis bank has offered a card which is beneficial for frequent flyers, but what I have observed is It is better than the lifestyle card of the same bank.

It has good offers on travel that too with the offers that are available on lifestyle card.

 

11. JETPrivilege HDFC Bank Diners club

Though HDFC has high annual fees for this card it provides all the privilege to the frequent flyers, HDFC bank provides good facilities through this card and this is the thing that makes

 

12. YATRA SBI Card

SBI has partnered with yatra.com to bring this card that is a delight for travel lovers. You can get points for all the purchase from yatra.com as well as on other purchase as well.

You can get this card at the cost of 499 INR only that too with amazing welcome gift vouchers on holidays, domestic and international travelling as well.

People who do not want to pay high annual fees can go for this card, as this card has fewer benefits than the axis card but has amazing deals because of the partnership with yatra.com.

 

13. SBI Card Prime

This prime card from SBI also has great deals for travellers and the key point of this card is you can save almost 33000 INR per year by using this card.

You get club Vistara silver membership which provides you great benefit to frequent flyers. Also, it has benefits of SBI yatra card as well but it has higher annual fees than that, which should be taken care of.

   

                    

                                         WHAT IS CLUB VISTARA?

Club vistara is a reward program for frequent flyers, which provides the fastest and attractive rewards to their customers and members according to their type of membership.

Also, I like the thing that there are small surprises(discount/reward etc) every time when you travel. This club provides you with the rewards which you can use while travelling and you can save money with the help of it.

 

14. Citibank Cash back credit card

Citibank cashback credit cards have made life easier and exciting as well because by using these cards you can earn amazing cash back rewards.

Also, I have read some reviews of customers and they are satisfied with the services.

 

15. Standard Chartered Manhattan credit card

If you are priority banking customer then you can apply for this credit card, this card provides amazing offers in travel, shopping etc. also this card is the combination of cashback and reward points which makes it attractive.

This card also has the convenient transfer mode which makes the transaction more easy and fast as well. Also, you are allowed to redeem your reward points for an attractive offer from the reward catalogue. You can earn up to 500 cashback every month if you do the transactions.

 

16. HDFC Diner Premium credit card

HDFC diner card is one of the premium cards in the market, the card offers 40 reward points with a redemption rate which is amazing. So in this way, this card will suit the middle to high-income individuals.

Also, you can redeem your reward points in airlines like jet airways. Accessible 24/7 and you can use it internationally.

 

 

17. SBI Elite credit card

As it is clear from the name that this card belongs to the elite class of credit cards, this card has reward rate of 0.5% to 2.5%, and SBI is one of the most trusted banks in India so we can trust on this gem card.

One of the best features of this card is, it has contactless transaction feature which means you just have to show the card in front of the reader and your transaction will be done, but for this, you should take care of one thing and that is, the reader should be secure.

This card also has the fraud cover as well which cover up to 1 lakh, that too within 48 hours of reporting the loss

 

18. SBI Student Plus Advantage credit card

You have to agree that Everyone needs to learn money management for a better and balanced life and I think student life is good for this well you get two beneficial things at this point of time:-

   1- You do not need any credit history to get your own credit card, and also since it will be your first then it will help you to maintain your CIBIL as well.

    2- Student credit cards have low-interest rate and no annual fees for two years.

 

Going through this card I have noticed that this card provides discount even on small transactions, also you can turn your payment into EMI if you pay Rs. 2500 or more for a purchase.

 

19. SBI Simply save card

This card is better suited to people who have the income till Rs. 40000 per month. Since it is a fact that we can not save that much amount in fixed salary, so this card is going to help you in that by giving extra reward points on grocery, dining etc.

4 reward points of this card are equal to 1 Rs. and you get 10 reward points on every Rs. 100 spent on groceries, dining, departmental store etc.

Another thing that I like about this card is, you can use your reward points to pay your outstanding balance.

If we talk about how this card is different from other cards of SBI then i will say that it provides good rewards on things that we need on a daily basis and helps to save lots of extra money if used properly.

 

20. ICICI HPCL coral credit card

People who have a higher income than 25000 Rs. per month can get this card, Though the annual fee for this card is just Rs. 199 plus GST from the second year but if you cannot meet its eligibility criteria then I will recommend SBI Simply Save card.

You can save up to 15% in dining bills under ICICI bank culinary program, and what I like the most in this card is you can save lots of money on fuel surcharges as well because it gives 5 points on every 100 Rs spent at HPCL pumps.

 

Though credit cards are becoming an important tool in India still people are not aware of the proper use of credit cards, that fine print of “HOW TO USE CREDIT CARD” is still a mystery for users in India.

Banks provide proper instructions and their terms and conditions of using the credit card but people in India just ignore that part and starts using the card without any instructions and have the bad experience later on.

 

Tips to Choose the Best Credit Card

Here are a few tips below that will help you to shortlist credit cards according to your requirements

1. If you have a monthly salary of less than 25000 Rs then I will suggest that go for lifestyle and reward cards. It will help you.

2. If you travel a lot and want to save money in travelling then I think you should try SBI yatra card, it has amazing reward points that too with all airport lounge access.

3. For luxury benefits and extra advantages go for premium class cards and if you talk about my opinion then I will choose HDFC diners club card, though they have high annual fees, they have the good luxury offers and have good reward schemes as well.

 

Credit cards are like the option of self-finance, so before applying for credit cards just make a list of your requirements, and also set a budget for yourself so that you do not cross that line.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Which is the best credit card in India 2021?

Here in the post, we have mentioned the best credit cards in India. To choose the best credit card you need to know about the types and features. Also, the credit card eligibility is a key factor in your decision. Depending on these factors you can easily choose the best credit for yourself.

Which is the most premium credit card in India?

HDFC Diners Club Black, Standard Chartered Ultimate, Standard Chartered Yatra Premium, and Jet Privilege HDFC Diners club are some of the best premium credit cards in India. You can compare all these credit cards to choose the best one as per your lifestyle and eligibility.

Which company credit card is best?

Citibank, Standard Chartered, ICICI, SBI, HDFC, and HSBC have very good options available in the market. Depending on your eligibility and lifestyle choices, you can shortlist 2-3 credit cards and then read their reviews to find the best card for yourself. 

Which credit card is best in India?

Here in this post, we have mentioned some of the best credit cards for each category. Depending on your lifestyle, you can choose the best credit card. The eligibility criteria are also crucial in deciding the best card for a person. You need to take into account different factors to select the best credit card in India.

Which Bank gives credit card easily?

ICICI Bank has launched a co-branded credit card with Amazon Pay. The credit card is very easy to get. You can apply online and if you are eligible the credit card will be delivered to your address within 7 days. If you are an existing ICIC Bank customer, you can easily get this credit card with no paperwork.