Best credit card in India

Best Credit Card In India 2015 - 2016:

Please note that we are just considering the credit cards which is useful for most of the people. We are not considering other factors like interest rate. We have analyzed a wide range of credit cards that are with nil-low annual fees. We have considered wide audience and hence not included luxurious credit cards. We do not claim that these are the only best credit cards in India. Please use this only for reference.

Best Credit Card In India 2015 - 2016:

ICICI Bank Instant Platinum Credit Card:

You just need a Fixed Deposit to get this card. If you have one you can get it instantly, over-the-counter. If you do not have, just walk into the Branch, open a fixed deposit. and walk out with this Instant Card. This is the best credit card if you want to build or repair your Credit Score as this is an assured credit card.

This Card is available at over 2000 ICICI Bank branches and is issued against select Fixed Deposits. Check with your nearest branch for availability of this credit card. The Card is available at a low interest rate of just 2.49% per month.

The minimum Fixed Deposit amount is ₹ 20,000 and the minimum tenure of the Fixed Deposit has to be 180 days. This is one of the best credit card in India with no annual and joining fee.

Joining Fee: 

Nil

Annual fee:

Nil

Highlights:

• Instant. Assured. Free.
• Instant issuance against the security of your Fixed Deposit
• Assured card at zero annual fee
• Earn reward points and redeem for cash.
• Get ₹ 100 discount on up to 2 movie tickets per month at www.bookmyshow.com
• Minimum 15% savings on dining at over 800 restaurants courtesy our Culinary Treats program.
• Low interest rate -  Earn interest on your Fixed Deposit and use the Instant Card to manage your day to day liquidity – the Card is available at a low interest rate of just 2.49% per month.
• The Supplementary Credit Card fee is also NIL.
• Internationally valid - Global Emergency Assistance and Card replacement service available.

Standard Chartered Manhattan Platinum Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for people who buy groceries in supermarkets and departmental stores.

Apply for Standard Chartered Manhattan Platinum Card here - Application Link

• 5% cashback on supermarkets and departmental stores
• Earn 5x reward points per Rs150 spent on other categories
• Exclusive Visa platinum offers
• Enjoy 20% cashback of upto Rs. 600 per month on Uber rides.For offer details & T&C's, click here.
• Minimum transaction amount for cashback eligibility is Rs1000

Apply for Standard Chartered Manhattan Platinum Card here - Application Link

Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for people who spend money on bill payments.

Apply for Standard Chartered Manhattan Platinum Card here - Application Link

Joining Fee and annual fee: 

Joining Fee: Rs499. 

Special Offer - Spend Rs30,000 in a year and get a waiver on your joining fee (Year 1)*

Annual Fee Year 1: Nil

Renewal Fees Year 2 onwards: Rs750. 

Special Offer -Spend Rs60,000 in a year and get a waiver on your renewal fee (Year 2 onwards)*

Main Features:

• 5% cash back on all fuel spends
• 5% cashback on all phone bills
• 5% cashback on all utility bills
• Enjoy 20% cashback of upto Rs. 600 per month on Uber rides.For offer details & T&C's, click here.

Minimum transaction amount for cash back eligibility is Rs.750.

Apply for Standard Chartered Manhattan Platinum Card here - Application Link

Standard Chartered Platinum Rewards Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India who loves to get good amount of reward points.

Apply for Standard Chartered Platinum rewards Card here - Application Link

Joining Fee: 

Joining fee-Nil

Note : Joining fee and Annual fee are nil on applying online for the card

Annual Fee:

• Annual Fee Year 1: Nil
• Renewal Fees Year 2 onwards: Rs750. Special Offer -Spend Rs 60,000 in a year and get a waiver on your renewal fee (Year 2 onwards)*. So, if you think you will spend Rs.60,000, this credit card is a good deal.

Main Features:

• Earn 5 reward points for every Rs150 spent at fine-dining outlets
• Earn 5 reward points for every Rs150 spent on fuel
• Earn 1 reward point for every Rs150 spent on all other categories
• Enjoy 20% cashback of upto Rs. 600 per month on Uber rides.For offer details & T&C's, click here.

Minimum transaction amount for cash back eligibility is Rs.750.

Apply for Standard Chartered Platinum rewards Card here - Application Link

HSBC Platinum credit card:

This is one of the best credit card in India with no annual and joining fee.

Joining Fee - nil

Annual Fee - nil

• Get 10% cashback on all spends during the first 90 days from the date of card issuance subject to a minimum spend of Rs.10,000 and a maximum cashback of Rs.3000 per card valid from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016.
• Cardholder must make at least 3 transactions per month to qualify for eligible spends. If the cardholder does not make 3 or more transactions in a particular month then that month’s spends will not be considered for the cashback calculations.
• Get 3 Times (3X) Rewards on spends on dining, hotels and telecom spend categories for the first 12 months.

Axis Bank Insta Easy credit card:

This is one of the best credit card in India with no annual fees. It has cash withdrawal option.

Standard Joining Fee - Rs. 500(Joining Fee will be reversed upon spends of Rs. 5000 within first 45 days of card issuance).

Standard Annual Fee - Nil

• 50 Day Free Credit - Get upto 50 days without any charges(terms and conditions applicable)
• High Cash Withdrawals - Upto 100%
• Flexible Credit Limit - Increase or decrease the limit as per requirement
• Assured Approval - Consider the credit card application approved

Axis Bank MY Zone Credit Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for with Exciting offers on movie ticket bookings, dining, shopping and much more. This card is good for people who loves to spend on entertainment.

Joining Fee - Rs.500, Waived upon spends of Rs.5000 in 45 days

Annual Fee 1st Year -  Nil

2nd Year onwards -  Rs. 500

• 4 points with every Rs. 200 spent
• 25% Cashback on movie ticket bookings.
• 10X eDGE loyalty reward points on weekend Dining

Axis Bank Neo Credit Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for people who enjoys movie, frequently recharge and book bus tickets. This is one of the card with low joining fee and annual fee.

Joining Fee -  Rs.250 Waived upon spends of Rs.2500 in 45 days

Annual Fee 1st Year - Nil

2nd Year onwards - Rs. 250.

• Enjoy 10 % cashback on movie ticket, mobile recharge, Bus booking etc. 
• 2 points with every Rs. 200 spent 10 % Off on Myntra, Bookmyshow etc.

Citibank Cash Back Credit Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for online shopping to get cash back on movie ticket purchases, phone bill payments and utility bill payments. Annual Fee  - Rs.500 Annual Fee.

Apply for Citibank cash back credit card here.

• Great savings on your everyday spends
• 5% Cash Back on movie ticket purchases.
• 5% Cash Back on all your telephone bill payments.
• 5% Cash Back on all your utility bill payments made online through Citibank Online Bill Pay.
• Click here to know more and register for the secure Bill Pay facility.
• 0.5% Cash Back on all other spends.
• Use our Savings Calculator and find how much you can save with a Citi Cash Back Credit Card.
• Cash back in the Telephone / Movies / Utility category is capped at Rs.100 per month for each category. Identification of Telephone / Movies categories is done basis MCC codes provided by MasterCard.

Apply for Citibank cash back credit card here.

Kotak Urbane Gold Credit Card:

Annual Fee - 199
Condition for waiver of Annual Fees in first year - One swipe within 3 months and minimum retail spends of Rs. 15000 in the first year
Condition for waiver of Annual Fees in second year and onwards - Minimum retail spends of Rs. 15000 in second year and onwards
Reward Points Feature -  3 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent
Feature change in case annual spends threshold is not reached -  2 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent

Earn 3x Reward Points

Earn 3X reward points against every Rs. 100/- of retail spends
Every 1000 reward points have a redeemable worth of Rs. 75/-
Minimum 1000 points required for redemption

SimplyCLICK SBI Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for online shopping.

• Amazon.in Gift Card worth Rs. 500 on joining
• 5X Reward Points on online spends
• 10X Reward Points on online spends with exclusive partners
• E-vouchers worth Rs.2000 on annual online spends of Rs.1 Lakh and Rs.2 Lakhs each

SimplySAVE SBI Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for  Dining, Movies, Departmental Stores and Grocery Spends

• 2,000 bonus reward points on spends of Rs. 2,000 in first 60 days
• Enjoy 10 Reward Points per Rs.100 spent on Dining, Movies, Departmental Stores and Grocery Spends
• Annual fees reversal on spends of Rs. 75,000 and above
• 2.5% fuel surcharge waiver across all petrol pumps

ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Visa/MasterCard Credit Cards:

If you want a credit card to save when you movie, dining and fuel expenses, you can look into this card.

Joining Fee - Rs. 199 + service tax

Annual fee - Rs.199 + service tax (NIL when retail spends are greater than ₹ 50,000 in the previous year)

So, you have to ensure that you spend a minimum amount of Rs.50,000 to get waived off annual fee. 

Highlights of ICICI Bank HPCL Coral Visa/MasterCard Credit Cards:

• Reduce fuel bills with 2.5% cashback and 2.5% fuel surcharge waiver
• Earn free fuel with 2.5X rewards on fuel purchases
• Up to ₹ 200 off every month on movie tickets
• Complimentary airport lounge access
• Minimum 15% savings at leading restaurants

ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India for online shopping for reducing dining and fuel expenses.

Joining Fee:

Rs. 199 + service tax (ZERO Joining Fee on Online Applications)

Annual fee:

Rs. 99 + service tax (NIL when card spends are greater than Rs. 50,000 in the previous year)

Special offer for employees of Select Corporates:

No Joining Fee in the first year if purchases exceed Rs. 2,000 within 60 days of the card set up. You can easily get waived off if you plan correctly.

Features:

• Security of a Chip Card
• Rewards powered by PAYBACK
• Fuel Surcharge waiver of 2.5%
• Minimum 15% savings at leading restaurants
• Exclusive offers and Privileges from Visa / MasterCard

ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card Against Fixed Deposit:

This is one of the best credit card in India for people who do not have proper income documents. If you want a credit card without income documents, choose this card that will be given against your fixed deposit. 

Joining Fee: 

Rs. 500 + service tax

Annual fee:

Rs. 500 + service tax (NIL when card spends are greater than Rs. 1,25,000 in the previous year)

Highlights:

• Assured Credit Card. No Income Documents.
• 2X Cash Rewards on dining, groceries and at supermarkets
• Buy 1, get 1 movie ticket free, through the week on first come first serve basis
• Minimum 15% savings at participating restaurants
• Complimentary Provogue tie on joining

ICICI Bank HPCL Coral American Express Credit Card:

This is one of the best credit card in India who are looking for low annual feel with cashback offers, rewards and discounts.

Joining Fee:

Rs. 199 + service tax

Annual fee:

Rs.199 + service tax (NIL when retail spends are greater than ₹50,000 in the previous year)

Highlights:

• Smart Savings. Incredible Rewards.
• Reduce fuel bills with 2.5% cashback and savings on 2.5% fuel surcharge
• Earn fuel with 3X rewards or 6 PAYBACK Points/₹100 spent on fuel purchases at HPCL pumps
• Redeem 2,000 PAYBACK Points for fuel worth ₹500 at HPCL pumps
• Up to ₹200 off every month on movie tickets
• Complimentary access to Altitude Lounges at Delhi and Mumbai Airports
• Minimum 15% savings at leading restaurants

Things to consider before choosing the credit card:

Joining - Annual Fees - Renewal Fees:

Whenever you are approached for a credit card by a credit card representative, you will mostly hear about no joining fee offer or no annual fee offer if they provide one. 

This can be sometimes a trap for people who do not look into the details thoroughly due to lack of knowledge and experience of using credit cards. 

Joining fee is just a one-time fee, usually a small amount. Do not give more importance to joining fee if the benefits you get is low when compared to another card with a joining fee.

Annual fee should be considered if you are not a vivid spender. Why should you pay annual fee when you do not spend much using credit card? Some people just hold a credit card just because they were given a free credit card for a lifetime. They usually spend through debit card but not credit card. They always want to be in safer side and do not care about rewards and cash backs. They think that using credit cards might give up unnecessary tension and charges. But if you are a vivid spender and use credit cards for most of your transactions to reap the benefits of cash backs and rewards, you have to take sometime to analyse whether paying annual fee is actually worthy or not.

I am sure that you might think that no annual fee is an attractive offer for anyone who applies for a new credit card. If you are reading this section, I guess the same. You are right if you are not a heavy spender. If you want a credit card that you will use once in a while just to enjoy the rewards or to meet unexpected expenses, you can very well choose a credit card with no annual fee. But credit card with no annual fee can make a credit card a best one? Certainly, no if you use credit cards heavily for your shopping.

Interest rates:

This is the least important factor for the people who pay their credit calls on or before their due time. 

For others, this is the most important factor to be considered. If the benefits of two cards are same with a significant difference in the interest rate, you have to choose it right to save your amount on paying the interest.

Payment Options:

Check the payment modes available to make your credit card payment. While most of the banks accept online payment, you have to ensure your convenient payment mode is accepted in the bank.

Check the official website of the bank just before applying credit card for correct and latest updates :

Yes, what you are reading is right. Banks might change any terms, conditions, and fees anytime. Do not apply for credit card if you have not read the terms, conditions, fees and other details just before applying.

Choose the credit card based on your need:

Do not just look into one parameter. If you don't own a vehicle, what is the use in getting a zero annual fee credit card with only fuel offers? So, spend sometime to think about the requirments and choose the right credit card.

Some Misunderstanding that can happen while buying credit cards:

I remember the day when I got a call from a credit card company whether I want to renew my credit card by paying a renewal fee, which was given as a free lifetime credit card initially. God only knows why it was. I did not pay more attention to it as I was using that particular credit card very rarely.

This kind of problems arises for newbies especially the ones who join IT companies just after their college. On the first day of joining itself, they get a lot of offers from different credit card providers who highlight only the freebies. They use the term 'free' as many times as possible. Only a very few people catch the representatives and enquire more details about it. Others just sign the application and give it. Some of these people will later pay more charges if they do not spend time on understanding the credit card before using it.

I want to write about one of my friend who suffered a lot by filling a credit card form without reading the details fully. She has mistakenly opted for insurance. This is her mistake only and we cannot blame the representative. She was not having an intention for insurance but she had opted somehow. She had to pay charges. She fought with the company but they said it was opted by her. So, please be careful while filling the insurance forms. Do not just tick any check boxes or fill details without reading what it is even if you are running out of time.

Hope you find the article Best Credit Card In India 2015 - 2016 useful for you.