Looking for the best credit card in India to suit your needs? You’re at the right place. Whether you need cashback, lounge access, complimentary hotel stays or business/first class redemptions, you can find everything here.
I’ve analysed 250+ credit cards in India across various banks and compiled a list of best credit cards for 2025 based on various user segments.
With about 10+ active credit cards in my wallet, below list covers most of the cards that I personally use and even more.
Table of Contents
Entry Level Credit Cards
- Suggested income: 5 Lakhs+
- Suggested spend: 1 Lakhs+
Entry-Level credit cards, also called as credit cards for beginners are those cards that are targeted at first-time credit card users.
SBI Cashback Card
- Best for: 5% Cashback on Online spends
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
SBI Cashback Credit Card is one of the most simple yet generously rewarding cashback credit card that suits well for beginners, as it offers 5% Cashback on online spends (upto 1L spend/month) which is lucrative even after the recent devaluation.
*** Best Cashback Credit Card ***
Federal Scapia
- Best for: Domestic Lounge Access & Airport benefits
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
While the rewards on Scapia Credit Card is comparatively low at 2% it comes with complimentary airport lounge access & shopping benefit which is quite useful if you’ve domestic travel.
*** Best Lifetime FREE Card ***
HDFC Swiggy
- Best for: 10% Cashback on Swiggy food/grocery spends
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
If you’ve significant spends on swiggy, then you’ll enjoy the 10% cashback on all Swiggy spends, including food delivery & Instamart along with 5% cashback on a wide range of online shopping portals.
Axis Cashback Card
- Best for: Upto 5.6% Cashback on Online spends
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
While SBI Cashback & HDFC Swiggy Credit Cards are better cashback cards with less restrictions, Axis Cashback serves the need when your spends are more so you can stack it with other cashback cards.
Amex MRCC
- Best for: Gold Collection & Points Transfers
- Read Review
American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC) is the best way to get into the world of Amex. You can get 2000 MR bonus points monthly (20K spend), that gives you a sweet annual return of 6% on spends.
Note: Amex is expected to resume onboarding new cards on/before Oct 2025.
Other noteworthy cards in this segment: SBI Phonepe Select Black & HSBC Live+
Premium Credit Cards
- Suggested income range: 12 Lakhs+
- Suggested spend range: 6 Lakhs+
Premium credit cards comes into picture when your lifestyle has pinch of luxury factor to it. It comes with more travel benefits like domestic and international lounge access, better reward rate, etc.
HDFC Regalia Gold
- Best for: Airport Lounge access & Points transfers
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
The most important benefit of this card apart from rewards and points transfer at 2:1 (including Accor) is the ability to get add-on cards with Priority Pass for all family members, which shares the generous complimentary domestic & international lounge access limit with the primary card.
IDFC Mayura
- Best for: 0% Forex Markup & Travel Spends
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
IDFC Mayura is a wonderful card when you have significant forex spends as the 0% forex + rewards is quite lucrative which is as good as super premium cards.
HDFC Tata Neu Infinity
- Best for: UPI Spends & utility/insurance payments
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
If you’re looking for a single UPI Credit Card, HDFC Bank Tata Neu Infinity Rupay Credit Card is the one that you need.
It not only gives decent rewards on UPI spends, but also offers lucrative 5% return on utility bill payments and more. On top of that, you may also purchase gift cards with 5% reward rate.
Travel Credit Cards
When your life has good amount of travel, that’s when you need to have these exclusive Travel credit cards.
Travel & airline credit cards are designed in such a way that you get travel vouchers/points/miles instead of cashback.
Axis Atlas
- Best for: Accor, ITC & other airline transfers partners
- Review: Axis Atlas
Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card comes with an amazing reward rate on regular spends and much more on select categories like direct hotels/airlines. It’s a hot pick for 2024 & 2025 and stands good even after it’s recent devaluation.
Note: Issuance restricted as of September 2025
HSBC Travel One
- Best for: Accor & other airline transfers partners
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
HSBC Travel One Credit card is a new and noteworthy card with it’s new accelerated rewards program. It’s particularly useful if you don’t have the HSBC Premier Credit Card.
Amex Platinum Travel
- Best for: Redeeming Taj Vouchers Or for Marriott
- Read Review
American Express Platinum Travel card is the best travel credit card in the country, hands down! It retains it’s name and fame for almost a decade now.
I personally enjoy using this card as it helps me to stay at one unique Taj property every year by using the complimentary Taj Vouchers that comes with it.
HDFC Marriott Bonvoy
- Best for: for its lucrative joining/renewal benefits
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
While HDFC Bank’s Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card has poor reward rate on ongoing spends, it stands good for its incredible welcome and renewal benefits which can easily fetch twice or thrice the value of the joining fee.
Apart from the joining benefit, it’s particularly useful for domestic & international lounge access even for add-on’s which is similar to the Regalia Gold except that here the card works directly for the access.
RBL World Safari
- Best for: 1 Yr Worldwide travel insurance, 0% Forex markup Fee
- Review: RBL World Safari
RBL World Safari Credit Card is a hidden gem for frequent travellers as it not only offers the compete 1 Year international travel insurance but also comes with a 0% markup fee on international spends.
Super Premium Credit Cards
- Suggested income range: 25 Lakhs+
- Suggested spend range: 10 Lakhs+
Super premium credit cards are those that comes with higher reward rate, higher credit limit, unlimited lounge access, better card linked benefits & many more perks that you would need to enjoy a luxury lifestyle.
HDFC Diners BizBlack
- Best for: 5X Rewards on Income Tax/GST payments
- Read Review (or) Apply Now
If you’re into business, close your eyes and go for the HDFC Diners BizBlack Credit Card as it earns lucrative rewards not only on tax but also on bill payments.
Only downside though is the lower acceptance of Diners cards in India compared to Visa/MasterCard, which means you have to keep a backup card handy.
Yes Bank Marquee
- Best for: 4.5% return on Online Spends
- Review: Yes Bank Marquee
Yesbank’s recently launched Marquee Credit Card is a pretty good Super Premium Credit Card especially if your spends are largely focused online, as it gives you amazing rewards (redeemable for travel) on online spends.
Stan C. Ultimate
- Best for: any spend, rewards as shopping vouchers
- Review: Standard Chartered Ultimate
Just like HDFC Infinia/Diners Black, Stan. C Ultimate card too comes with sweet 3.3% reward rate. The USP of this card is that you get reward points on almost ANY spend, lower rewards on select categories but still good.
Though the pain point with this card is the lack of good redemption options. Decent vouchers available now are: ITC, Titan, Starbucks, Fabindia & few more.
Other noteworthy cards in the super premium segment for select set of users: SBI Aurum & ICICI Times Black
HNI Cards
The HNI cards either demands high banking relationship or a lifestyle of a High Net-Worth individual.
- Suggested spend range: 30 Lakhs+
Axis Magnus Burgundy
- Best for: >10% Reward rate on higher monthly spends
- Review: Axis Magnus Burgundy
If your spends are over 3 Lakhs a month even for few months in a year, Axis Magnus Burgundy is perhaps the ONLY credit card you would ever need. it has everything you can dream of and even more.
Axis Olympus Credit Card is a good alternate if you already hold one, not open for new applications.
HSBC Premier
- Best for: Rewards on all kinds of spends
- Review: HSBC Premier
HSBC Premier Credit Card with its upgraded features and benefits is certainly useful for those who prefer to enjoy rewards on all kinds of spends. With it’s recent launch of accelerated rewards, it’s a wonderfully rewarding card for 2025.
HDFC Infinia
- Best for: 5X Rewards with decent reward rate on regular spends
- Review: HDFC Infinia
Infinia is everyone’s dream for ages without an exception. If you are looking for a single credit card for with great support and rewards, then Infinia will serve the need.
If you couldn’t get Infinia, Diners Black Metal is equally good with same ongoing reward rate.
ICICI Emeralde Private
- Best for: Welcome benefit & decent ongoing rewards
- Review: ICICI Emeralde Private
ICICI Bank’s Emeralde Private Credit Card, is perhaps the first ever credit card in the history of ICICI Bank credit cards to carry a good reward rate of 3% on regular spends. And with the recent launch of iShop, it does serve the need.
Amex Platinum
- Best for: hotel tier benefits & Marriott redemptions
- Review: Amex Platinum
Amex Platinum Charge Card has degraded a lot in the recent times, yet it still holds it’s value at-least for the first year, as you get much more benefits than what you pay for, thanks to the signup bonus.
Choosing the Card
Choosing the best credit card is lot simpler than how it used to be in the past, thanks to all the aggressive credit card offers around.
#1 If you’re a beginner to the game and have relatively low annual spends (<5L) with significant online spends, get the SBI Cashback or HDFC Swiggy Credit Card along with Scapia so you’re covered with best in class cashback + lounge access.
#2 If you spend >10 Lakhs a year, get HDFC Infinia and your entire family is taken care for lounge access, domestic and abroad apart from rewards.
#3 If you spend >30 Lakhs a year, consider exploring Axis Magnus Burgundy or HSBC Premier as per your profile.
While that’s the easy way to put it, if you have higher spends, you may need a personalized strategy and that’s where my 1-on-1 credit card consultation might come handy.
FAQ’s
Which is the best credit card in India for 2025?
Calculate your annual spend and choose the cards from the list above. The best card varies from one person to another.
How many Credit Cards can I have?
As many as you need. Start with 2 cards if you’re new to the system and increase the count gradually based on your spends. 5 cards is sufficient for most.
Which Credit Card has best customer service?
Amex is known for their premium customer support. You may also enjoy a similar treatment with any bank, as long as you take their super-premium cards.
Which Bank’s Credit Card is best in India?
HDFC Bank is the market leader and has very good merchant offers as well. So start with HDFC and add others as per your requirement.
Which is the best fuel credit card?
That’s a million dollar question as it’s quite a complicated subject that deserves a long answer. There is a modern method to save well over 10% on fuel spends, checkout Best Fuel Cards article for a detailed coverage on that.
Bottom line
India had never seen such wonderfully rewarding cards available to public both in affluent and retail (entry-level) categories in the history of Indian Credit Cards.
The Year 2025 is indeed the golden age of credit cards especially for beginners, as 5% cashback through multiple cards is happening for the first time in the industry.
What’s your thoughts about the above list of best credit cards for 2025? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below. We shall amend the list if required.
Submitted a request to close my Airtel Axis Credit card today.
Hi Sid. I have Amex Plat, HDFC Regalia Gold, Axis Horizon, SBI Aurum as my main cards and couple of other cards. Should I surrender Aurum in view of the low reward rate compared to other cards? Was thinking of switching Aurum for Times Black. Request advise.
I feel the Times Black fee is quite high for a 2% rewards rate. It really only makes sense for those with significant Klook spends who can take advantage of the 10% offer. Otherwise, there are plenty of better card options to choose from.
Waiting for update since a long time. Will keep waiting, no worries!
And it’s finally up, thanks for the patience.
Hi Siddharth,
2026 list is needed now. Our favourite travel card (AmEx Plat Travel) has been neutered, and Atlas is no longer available. HDFC has put in a really strict criteria for Infinia and EPM is not so easy to get anymore. Magnus Burgundy seems excessive at 30k + Gst, especially if the regular spends are not that high. Your new list would help position travel / overall cards for different income /expenditure brackets.
It’s a good guide for all enthusiasts as well as new entrants.
Hey Sid, can you please and please update the list for 2026? I have been following you since my first credit Card in 2017. I would say the most trustworthy info is available on this portal.
Thanks for all the kind words, will get the new list live very very soon.
Please make this for 2026 considering Airtel Axis and SBI Cashback is massively devalued
HDFC Infinia has changed the minimum spend requirement to 18L. From what I understand, anything below 18L and the card will be cancelled. Did anyone else get this mail?
Many, including me.
Approx everyone has received this mail. I received the mail along with a condition to spend 3.0 Lakhs in March-April or maintain a TRV of 30 Lakhs.
Hi! Siddharth. Please advise me a suitable credit card preferably lifetime free, for best payment discounts in quick commerce apps like Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy instamart, Zomato, Swiggy, Bigbasket, etc and complimentary domestic airport lounge access.
Sourcing of HDFC SWIGGY CARD has been discontinued from 10 February 2026.
@Sid
Could you please suggest best credit card/fintech app for online Govt payments via QR at Egras portal by which i could maximize my cashback/reward points. Some credit cards which are actually good do not have Rupay Veriant & some credit cards do not provide any cashback/rewards on Govt payments based MCC codes.
Sid,
This time we had enough revisions to this page. Though curious to know ,will there be a 2026 refresher 🙂
As you’ve asked, let me see if I can do a fresh list for 2026, hopefully in a week. 🙂
It’s been three weeks now, don’t leave us hanging 😀
2+ more weeks please. 😐
Looks like whenever Sid finalizing , one of the card getting devalued on a weekly basis. 🙂
lol, I see them. Will try to get the new list up in few days.
wrt the HDFC Bonvoy Card, no one talks about any benefit of Diners Club, are there no benefits at all or not all worth talking about. There would be some valid reason why HDFC has tied up with Diners for this card unlike DCB(M) a specific diners card, could you share some more information regarding this?
Coming from the US and having the Chase Sapphire credit card with a $95 annual fee, I am totally spoilt to the extent that I am having it for the last 10+ years. Claims are super smooth. This card offers all the benefits that I look for when traveling abroad. Are there any cards in the list that offer all of the following?
a) Purchase protection
b) Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
c) Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
d) Lost Luggage Insurance
e) Extended Warranty Protection
f) Zero foreign transaction fee
Axis Atlas is discontinued.Is Axis Horizon a good alternative for Axis Atlas.
@sid
I have infinia a my default card. Missed the axis thing completely.
Do you have recommendation for regular non accelerated offline spends? For around 10L a year
Hi Sid, what do you think about the Kotak Solitaire Card?
It’s not worth the NRV that it demands.
Hi Sid, I’d appreciate your perspective on which bank currently delivers the most compelling overall offering for HNI families, across both private and public banks, factoring in interest returns, value-added benefits, and service excellence.
HDFC Imperia & HSBC Premier are pretty good in most aspects but interest returns doesn’t generally go well with big banks for obvious reasons.
Regalia Gold CC has lost its USP of lounge access, HDFC has removed the lounge access to Tier 2 cities and some of the lounges in Tier 1 as well, has anyone recently experienced this?
Hi Sid,
Thanks for sharing all this great insight!
How do you rate SBI Aurum? Is it a good value or would you recommend switching to HDFC Infinia, Magnus B or HSBC Premier?
It’s good as long as you’re able to use it effectively. Other cards are good for higher ongoing spends.
Hi Sid, any view of following?
Have 2 infinia in family. Had normal magnus. Now option to get emareld pvt or burgundy magnus, both paid. Infinias usually cover 50% of my spend. which one would u suggest for the rest 10-15lakh spend?
Given your inputs and conditions, Emeralde Pvt is the answer.
Thank you for your expert opinion!
FYI and others, My RM who was with axis and now with ibank asked me to not to go for burgundy. Which is understandable given his changed loyalty. He claims he can get burgundy also with 30-50l fd. for emarald it’s very difficult and you need significant push. I know him to be a sensible and reasonable guy. Will go for epm.
Ajay, just to be clear, you asked for a card for only remaining 15L spends and hence Sid probably suggested EPM, else M Burgundy is better for your 30L spends, as long as you know how/where to redeem.
Thanks, got it, will give a thought. If I plan to buy a car of 30-40l, assuming the dealer agrees for cc pmt, then I guess Magnus B beats all. otherwise I usually spend multiple times on travel and infinia serves well.
Do you’ve any news on CRED Credit Card?
Yes, it’s most likely coming. They’ve a grand event going live by today 6PM. We’ll have all details soon.
Hi @Sid,
One more card can be added or mentioned under Beginner category:
CSB Jupiter Edge+ card – it has decent rewards structure (10% on major ECom sites & 5% on Travel portals & 1% on UPI spends)
It comes with one time Joining Fees of 500rs but if applied via referral link then one gets equivalent Jewels credit after card issuance to offset this fees. And no annual fees for life after that.
I am not sure if we can share our referral link here on this forum or any other dedicated section to post that; let me know the option if available 🙂
The reward rate is poor on regular spends and hence not making it to the list.
One can easily get 1500 per month on ECom, Grocery, Apparels, Beauty, etc. as general spends as part of 10% cashback feature and also 5% on Travel occasionally if not regularly. And with Zero fees this are handsome rewards I guess for everyday usage !!
I’d be interested in your take on the 6:1 transfer rate to air India with Jupiter CSB. For a specific use case where kirana or UPI shopping payments can translate to a 6-8% reward rate (especially after the air India revaluation), the Jupiter CSB Edge+ is a better choice than SBI Cashback, Kiwi, or Scapia if you’ve got better cards but still need one specifically for under 40 INR spends.
Cashback over Air India Points appears to be a better choice with Jupiter.
Wonder why Axis Airtel has been left out? Cash back on Airtel, Bigbasket and zomato/Swiggy. Plus a very nominal fee which can be covered in a few months
Caps are super tiny isn’t it?
Correct. And on top of it, it mixes up airtel and non airtel categories to one category , giving less cashback . This happens too frequently and many have ditched this card .
Also the addition of convenient charges on Utility Bill pay since recent months is big downer now for overall rewards !!
Hi sid
best transfer partner for amex rewards before closing of my platinum charge card (dec2025)
Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines or Marriott, depending on your profile.
Hi, you missed the icici times black card?
also can you do a post comparing it to ICICI emerald private.
ICICI Times black doesn’t carry much value without iShop and so it’s limited to select users only. Will do, thanks.
HSBC Liv+ deserves a dedicated section under recommendation in above post for its generous 10% cashback on Grocery & Dining – the most common expenses in every household.
Using this card from past 2 years and combining it with SBI Cashback card pretty much covers all types of basic common spends of day to day needs.
It’s a rewarding card indeed for offline Grocery/Dining. I’ve already mentioned it in a line for now but didn’t make it to the list because the issuance is not only limited to select cities but also for select profiles.
Hi. Why haven’t you considered SBI Phonepe Select Black Rupay Credit Card (with 10% cashback on Phonepe bill payments as well as 5% cashback up to 40k per statement cycle, with 1% UPI cashback), and Axis Supercard Pro (3% cashback on Super Money UPI App spends)?
SBI Phonepe Select Black Rupay – Too many rejections, including mine, but already mentioned in a line for now, will lift it to the list once new applications are stable.
Axis Supercard Pro – Nice find, but I see it’s good for UPI only, which can be covered separately.
Don’t know what’s happening with the SBI and their acceptance and rejection model.
SBI rejected me for the basic SBI bpcl octane card. Earlier held SBi Elite but closed down before COVID.
Have 8 cards with hdfc and ICICI giving me 13 lacs limits and amex 5 lac with one card and 2 axis giving me 8 lac limits , hsbc 6 lac and IDFC mere 1.5 lac despite having TRV of 2 crore plus
SBI rejected me saying over leveraged.
While I get my salary in SBI itself.
SBICard is now actively rejecting applications on over leveraged profiles, ideally those with about 5+ active cards as they can’t take risk by further giving limits to them. But you may escalate to re-process the application, mine approved that way, but took almost a month.
Sid,
Could you please elaborate the escalation procedure for ‘re-processing’ the application?
Thanks.
Email the “Customer Service Head” requesting for reason / re-processing.
I really do not know Sid, SBI has always disappointed whether its card application or limit increase etc. Somehow old timers have a thing for SBI and go behind (including me 🙂 )
I can’t find link to apply for sbi phone pe card. Any links ?
What about HDFCBANK Ultimo credit card.
Hi Sid, you haven’t included HDFC Diners metal card. Is it because diners business card is included. Since most of the card users are working professionals if you can comment in that please.
That’s right, skipped it as DCB Metal kind of overlaps with Infinia & Bizblack. But I understand that DCB Metal is relatively easy to get, will do a review on that separately in sometime.
Sid, you missed mentioning IDFC First Private CC under HNI/UNHI category, the best card with accelerated rewards, 40% on hotels and 20% on flights. Even at the base reward, if redeemed on travel bookings, get you solid 6.67%. 0 Forex mark up and other benefits, it’s the best card, I believe.
Agree but needs high TRV and so will have to put IDFC Private along with other cards like Axis Burgundy Private separately. 🙂
Can you please do a post on it ?
Certainly, will do shortly.
What TRV are we talking about? Even with 4Cr TRV, they are not giving me this card. Can this be LTF?
No LTF. But TRV seems to be vague . Every RM spins their own story. Some said 50L investments in their demat + 50L in FD.
Dropped the TRV like hot to 25k and filed an RBI complaint.
Hello Siddharth,
Is it true that HDFC has stopped complimentary domestic lounge access in their priority pass for Infinia customers?
Because in that case the number of domestic lounges available for access will drastically reduce for all infinia card holders.
Infinia still provides complimentary domestic lounge access through Priority Pass. You can also request email confirmation from Infinia Support for peace of mind.
Tried for email confirmation quite a few times for domestic lounge access via PP. They simply say that use PP for international lounges and card for domestic. I explicitly asked if there would be charges if PP is used for domestic lounges but they never confirmed.
Sid, what’s your take? Could we continue to use PP for domestic lounges as well?
I tired both PP and card. In case of domestic usage with PP I was charged zero however Card charged me nominal 2 Rs for the verification. Used the card 4 times in the week.
So have a peace of mind.
Congratulations Sid. You blog is famous 🙂
Thanks but on what metrics are you referring to here? Hope there are no new deviations. 😀
Famous – because there’s a Tendulkar and there’s a Kohli reading your blog!