IndusInd Bank and Tiger Fintech (a Bajaj Capital Group company) launched the IndusInd Bank Tiger Credit Card back in 2023, a Lifetime FREE co-branded credit card that runs on the Visa (Signature) platform.
With accelerated rewards, low forex markup fee and complimentary lounge access, you might think it’s certainly a card that you might want to explore especially as it’s a lifetime FREE credit card.
A lot has changed on the card since launch, and for the longest time most of it was for the worse. That changed in June 2026, when IndusInd added Air India Maharaja Club as a 1:1 transfer partner, which puts the card back in a very different league.
Here’s everything you need to know about the IndusInd Bank’s Tiger Credit Card in it’s current form:
Table of Contents
Updated for 2026: IndusInd Bank went live with Air India Maharaja Club point transfers on 1st June 2026, at a 1:1 ratio. If you read this review before, my verdict on the card has changed, and the Rewards section below explains why.
Overview
| Type | Entry Level Credit Card |
| Reward Rate | Upto ~6% |
| Annual Fee | Lifetime Free |
| Best for | Lounge Access & Air India Points Transfers |
| USP | 1:1 transfer to Air India |
I used to value this as a premium/airline credit card at launch, then downgraded it to an entry-level card after the devaluations.
With Maharaja Club transfers now live, it’s now as rewarding as it used to be during the launch, deserves to be called the best credit card to accumulate Air India points.
*** Best Card to earn Air India Points ***
Fees
| Joining Fee | Nil (Lifetime Free) |
| Renewal Fee | Nil (Lifetime Free) |
It’s quite a surprise to see that IndusInd Bank and Tiger Fintech are generous to offer a Lifetime Free Credit Card with benefits that can match a semi-premium credit card in some way.
Design
Looks like the designer is impressed with Federal Bank credit cards, as they have similar design but fortunately it’s not a copy paste like with HDFC Infinia’s new design.
Nevertheless, it looks neat and simple and the dotted elements certainly looks good.
Rewards
| SPEND SLAB | Rewards / 100 INR |
|---|---|
| <= 1L INR | 1 |
| 1L INR – 2.5L INR | 2 |
| 2.5L INR – 5L INR | 4 |
| >5L INR | 6 |
- Exclusions: fuel, utility bill payments , insurance premium , government services, Educational Institutes, Real Estate and rental payments
- Slabs reset every card anniversary year.
Redemptions:
| Redemption Option | Value | Cap / Month |
|---|---|---|
| Air India Maharaja Club | 1 RP = 1 Maharaja Point | 25,000 points |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 4 RP = 1 KrisFlyer mile | 5,000 points |
| Cash credit (Indus Moments) | 1 RP = ₹0.40 | 5,000 points |
| Vouchers (Indus Moments) | 1 RP = ₹0.40 | 5,000 points |
- Maharaja Club transfers: minimum 100 points, in multiples of 100, credited in 2-4 working days
- Transfers are done through the Indus Moments website
- Redemption Fee: 149 INR + GST (for cash & other redemptions)
For cash redemption, it might look like 2.4% return at the top slab, but the redemption fee and the caps will eat up ~10% of the redemption easily. So cash was never the way to use this card, and it still isn’t.
The transfer partners are where this card lives or dies. It used to be an amazing card for transferring to Vistara, and when that partnership ended after the Air India merger, all we were left with was KrisFlyer at 4:1, which works out to a poor ~1.5% return at best.
That’s now fixed!
Since 1st June 2026 you can move Tiger points to Air India Maharaja Club at 1:1, up to 25,000 points a month. At the base slab that’s 1 Maharaja Point per ₹100 spent, and once your annual spends cross ₹5 Lakh it’s 6 Maharaja Points per ₹100, on a card that costs you nothing to hold. There aren’t many free cards in India that can say that.
So if you’re already holding the Tiger card, don’t cancel it. And if you fly Air India or Air India Express with any regularity, it’s now worth putting your non-excluded spends on it to push into the higher slabs.
Lounge Access
| ACCESS TYPE | VIA | LIMIT | GUEST ACCESS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic Lounge Access | Visa | 2/Qtr | – |
| International Lounge Access | Priority Pass | 2/Year | – |
Note that IndusInd Bank’s Lounge Access program is comparatively better as it covers almost all lounges in India, so 2/qtr is a good limit. That’s 8 domestic visits a year, plus 2 international visits a year via Priority Pass.
And it’s a world wonder to see complimentary access via Priority Pass on a Lifetime Free credit card especially when it’s issued by IndusInd Bank that generally gives low access limits even on paid super premium cards.
What makes this stand out even more in 2026 is that there is no spend criteria attached. Almost every other issuer has now gated lounge access behind a previous quarter spend threshold, including on cards that charge ₹5,000 or more a year. Tiger doesn’t. You get the visits for simply holding the card.
Forex Markup Fee
- Forex Markup Fee: 1.5% + GST = 1.77%
- Reward rate on Intl. Spends: Same as domestic (differs with spend slab)
- Net gain: Negative at the 1X slab, positive from the 4X slab onwards
The forex maths on this card depends entirely on which slab you’re in. At the 1X slab you’re earning 1 Maharaja Point per ₹100 against a 1.77% effective markup, so it’s a loss. At the 4X and 6X slabs it flips, and 6 Maharaja Points per ₹100 against 1.77% is a comfortable net gain.
That said, if forex is your primary use case there are 0% markup cards that will serve you better, like the Scapia Card. Treat the low markup here as a nice-to-have on a free card, not as the reason to get it.
Movie Benefit
- Complimentary movie ticket upto 500 INR on bookmyshow (not Buy1 Get1)
- One ticket every 6 months in a calendar year.
This movie benefit is similar to the one of Eazydiner Credit Card (in the past) except that it’s not that lucrative. Yet that’s 1000 INR value every year, which I think is decent for a lifetime free card.
Hands-on Experience
While I don’t have the Tiger Card, it was applied for one of the family member and it took a bit to arrive, as it was new back then.
But after little over 2 months of usage on it, I can safely say that the points are getting credited smoothly as per the slab.
In-fact the Tiger credit card statement shows the bifurcation of the reward points earned as per the slab. Here’s a quick look at points statement, on total spends of ~1.5L INR.
This is such a wonderful feature to have, as it avoids all the confusion on how the points were earned. Brilliant work by IndusInd Bank in making it transparent.
The Vistara transfer era was the card’s high point for a long time, and losing it took most of the shine off. Maharaja Club at 1:1 effectively restores what that route used to do, so the card is finally worth accumulating points on again rather than just burning them for vouchers.
How to Apply?
IndusInd Bank Tiger Credit Card can be applied online (or) can as well be applied offline through branch.
I would ideally suggest applying online, as you might be aware that offline applications takes quite a long time with IndusInd bank, as long as 1 month in most cases.
Note that if you’re in a tier-3 city, you may still need to go the branch, as only metro cities and the nearby tier-2 cities are part of the online application system.
Bottom line
- Cardexpert Rating: 5/5
The IndusInd Bank Tiger Credit Card was a great card at launch, then spent a couple of years getting quietly devalued to the point where I was telling people to exit it. The Air India Maharaja Club tie-up in June 2026 reverses that.
As it stands today, you get 8 domestic and 2 international lounge visits a year with no spend criteria, a 1:1 transfer into a full service airline programme, a movie benefit worth ~₹1,000 a year, and a 1.5% forex markup. On a card with zero joining fee and zero annual fee. There is very little else in the market at that price, which is to say, free.
It’s not going to replace a proper super premium card if you’re a heavy spender, and the excluded categories are broad. But as a card that sits in your wallet costing nothing and quietly earns Maharaja Points, it’s an easy one to recommend, and it’s now on my best credit cards in India list.
Do you have IndusInd Tiger Credit Card? Feel free to share your thoughts & experiences in the comments below.
I have a LTF legend cc. can i upgrade to this card by calling Indusind?
In priority pass ,how to check I have 2 international lounge access , in dream folks is it easy to track in website, but in pp , bank customer care and pp customer care don’t know about the available lounge access limit.but this card is under rated premium card.
So they have removed CV points redemption for this card. Is this card still worth it without it?
Hi, can anyone clarify the reward points slabs is monthly or annually? And if monthly whether the spends is rolled over for the next month for slab calculation… Like if it’s 1L spends in the first month, reward rate is 1X, 1L spends in the second month, will the reward rate be higher at 2X or will start again from 1X till 1L spends? Thanks.
Its annual spend.
I have a legend card, how do i apply for this tiger card now? can i apply for it separately? the current limit of legend cards is 88k
Is this card considered as core banking ?
I don’t have any credit card with IndusInd bank , so if I get approval for this card will I be able to apply for other cards in future , thank you
Hi, thanks for the details. Could you help me with below query?
I have to travel (domestic) every month 4 times due to work. It costs me 11k for round trip so about 50k per month including cab etc.
I’ll spend about 8lac+ per year on the credit card, which one would be the best for me? Axis Atlas/Magnus/Indus Tiger/IDFC Vistara…. I’m very confused. Could you suggest me a good one for my use case. Thanks!
It’s really hard to tell in 1 line due to frequent exclusions of rewarding categories. Take an excel sheet and workout for those 4 cards with your probable spending on categories. Once you come to some conclusion post that here to be verified.
I have tried to transfer points from this card to Vistara. Apparently there is a cap of 25,000 points per month. You can’t transfer more than 25,000 points in a month to Vistara.
Thanks for spotting it.
This wasn’t there few weeks ago but I now see as well.
Looks like it’s the new site-wide limit for redemptions on all cards via IndusMoments.
Fair enough for Tiger card though, as it equates to about 4L spend (24K points).
Hi all, just wanted to know if there is any premium credit card which I can get on card on card basis. I have HDFC Diners Black (Limit 15L) and Standard Chartered Ultimate (Limit 15L) amongst few others. The issue is I don’t live in India anymore, so don’t have payslips to show, but still have few expenses as my family lives here. Apart from that, have Citi Prestige (30k AUD limit monthly) and few other Australian credit cards. Please let me know if there’s any worthwhile premium credit card worth having, though I understand credit card rewards market is not what it was 5 years back.
Thanks,
Nitin
Hi Sid, Brain Trust,
Any feedback on my query above please?
Regards,
Nitin
What are the best cards to pay taxes now?
Sid,
One clarification … Exclusions mentioned won’t earn any rewards. But will try count towards reaching the milestone of 5 lacs ? If yes then it’s a great card to have
Are co-branded cards like this eligible for Indus bank offers on e-com sites?
Hi Sid and all
how I should apply for the Tiger credit card. I already have legend credit card so I called CC and ask for this they told this card is not being issued from Indusind bank, you have to contact Bajaj fintech
Is this a way to apply for this card?
At branch, with a split limit.
While I took it, I just emailed customer care, they replied with option for split limit basis, i have consent, card received in 10days. That was in August. Not sure if their policy changed.
Yes I was given the same reply .
On their website there is no option to choose to apply tiger cc
I already have pinnacle card. Can I apply this Tiger card as a secondary card?
Yes, can have a 2nd card with a split limit but bank decides the same based on credit limit, profile etc.
Limit is just 2.2L earlier when easydiner was launched. I had applied. But was rejected.
This time as you said, I will go to branch
Is there any discrimination on rewards for wallet loads? Also, how many indusind cards can one hold at a time?
Haven’t tried wallet spends lately.
There is no limit per se technically, but not easily given. Dual cards are very much possible when there is good limit on existing card and preferably have a premium banking A/c with them.
Great card, it seems. so for someone spending >5lacs it is a cool 6% return if i assume Vistara cv point value as 1/-
I value CV points at ~75Ps these days as they’ve increased points requirement a bit for business class + added convenience fee, but yes it’s still good.
Is it better than the Indusind Legend? I have LTF legend, should I opt for this one? I don’t spend much on Indusind card as I have Amex Plat travel, HDFC Regalia and Citi IO credit cards as my main goto cards for daily use.
It’s ideally for those who’re into Vistara, as there are no other cards that gives earn rate as good as this.
This card is actually too good a card to be true with zero annual fee. I had Ltf legend, took this card back in August on split limit basis. The CIBIL enquiry they did was under ‘others/loan’ category. But apart from that no trace of Bajaj capital in application or during usage. No spam calls yet from Bajaj.
I’ve already used 500rs BMS offer and utilised this year’s two complimentary international lounge access. All went smoothly. Pretty happy so far… recently applied and received another in family member’s name.
Mainly to have a separate priority pass. Now the question is when they’ll devalue it. But one thing I really didn’t understand, what was Bajaj capital’s interest/gain in this card.
Hi, how did you get the PP? I didn’t get it as part of my card? Do you need to apply separately for it.
Not didn’t come with the card. I applied over call to customer care, delivered within 5days of calling.
Nice review. I was looking at indusind website few days back and I somehow completely missed this.
Its perfect for people with T names and Tiger as nickname. Looks good too.
What I like most is, as a ltf card, the international spend reward is the same at 6 rp / 100 once you cross the 5L mark. Its actually good for people with high international spend.
The reward system seems good, but lack of good redemption options other than vistara.
I already have emeralde and magnus, so not much need for this card. But the free 2 movie tickets per yr is something new. I think its the 1st card which offers this service. Specially useful when you want to watch a marvel movie and your partner / friend is a dc fan lol.
As far as movie tickets are concerned, I would say Eazydiner card is lot better.