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The 5 Best Credit Cards for Rewards

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The 5 Best Credit Cards for Rewards

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What’s all the fuss about credit cards rewarding you for spending? Well, for one, it’s to get you to spend more on your credit card. Banks and other financial institutions that issue credit cards are competing hard to get you to pick their credit card over the next person’s. This is because the credit card market in India is largely untapped, and is growing at a CAGR of 20% (since 2016). In this article, we cover the top 5 credit cards that give you the best rewards.

Every card issued by any bank or finance corporation may be good for one person but not for another. The first thing you must check before picking a rewards-based credit card is knowing what the rewards are. This article here should help you with that.

The top reward-led credit cards

SBI Prime

This is largely a shopping-based card that makes sense for you if you shop often and frequently eat out. Don’t be compelled to shop more if you pick this card. The wise thing to do would simply be to use this card when you take your friends or family out to shop or dine out, and charge all the expenses on the card, so you can benefit from the rewards.

The rewards:

  • 10 reward points per ₹100 spent on dining, groceries, supermarkets, movies.
  • 2 reward points per ₹100 spent on everything else except for fuel spend
  • 20 reward points for every ₹100 spent on your birthday! (this one’s quite sweet)

Standard Chartered Platinum Rewards

This is comparable to other cards of its kind. But with one significant upside - you get rewarded for fuel spends too. Here are the details:

The rewards:

  • 5 reward points per ₹150 spent at hotels, restaurants and fuel
  • 1 reward point per ₹150 spent on everything else

The Fi Money 5X Credit Card

If you’re looking for an entry-level card, ours is a good bet too! Your Fi Money card is a strong, rewards-packed card that gives you reward points on your top 3 brands of each month. So let’s say you spent a lot on MakeMyTrip flight tickets this month, followed by Zomato food orders and maybe Amazon shopping. You get 1 Fi-Coin (reward point) per ₹1 spent on these brands. But now let’s say the next month you may not spend on flight tickets at all, but you spend instead on a new phone at Croma. Then, you’ll be rewarded for your spends on Croma.

The rewards:

  • 1 Fi-Coin (reward point) per ₹1 spent on top 3 brands of the month
  • 1 Fi-coin per ₹5 spent on all other expenses
  • Rewards on all spends including rent and fuel
  • 1% charges on forex
  • No joining fees

American Express SmartEarn

This one’s pretty good pick if you’re looking for a shopping-first rewards card.

The rewards: 

  • 10X reward points per ₹50 spent on Flipkart, Amazon and Uber
  • 5X reward points per ₹50 spent on Paytm Wallet, Swiggy, BookMyShow, PVR, and more.
  • 1 rewards point per ₹50 spent on other expenses except for fuel, insurance, and utilities.

IDFC First Select

This one’s a shopper-first card too, and it’s free. It’s a pretty competitive card with some solid rewards. Here are the rewards:

The rewards:

  • 10X reward points on expenses more than ₹25,000 per month
  • 10X reward points on your birthday!
  • 6X reward points on all online purchases
  • 3X reward points on all offline purchases

Summing up

The thing about rewards on credit card spending is that, you shouldn’t be compelled to spend or shop more just because you got the card. The idea is to use the card wisely so that you can use the reward points to redeem stuff that you might otherwise spend your hard-earned money on.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best credit card for rewards?

The best card for rewards is any one that suits you in terms of your spending habits. Cards that come with great benefits as rewards may be high in terms of annual fees and other charges. Some of the best reward cards today are the HDFC Regalia Credit Card, Citibank Rewards Credit Card, IDFC First Select, American Express SmartEarn, and the Fi Money 5X card.

Which bank gives more reward points?

Many banks offer credit cards that suit your financial requirements and your spending behavior. No one bank is the best, therefore, and each credit card comes with its pros and cons depending on a variety of factors including annual fees, minimum spend limits, and so on.

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