Are you thinking of applying a credit card to your bank? or Confused about which card should be perfect for you. A Bank Credit Card is one such thing that you won’t get easily by applying or asking the bank. Unlike the debit card which is directly linked to your savings or current account, you may get any type of debit card as you wish. But a Credit Card is a kind of loan and the Bank or Credit Card issuing authority may thoroughly scrutinize your creditworthiness before sanctioning or processing any credit card to you.

Here in this article, I will try to discuss What are the best Credit Cards in India for salaried people and more importantly, how to select the most suitable card for you, if your income ranges between ₹25,000 to ₹75,000 per month.

Before getting into the actual topic, let us have some idea about what are the requirements of a credit card and why I have selected the below-listed Credit Cards for this particular income group, i.e. a low to medium salary, up to ₹10 Lacs per annum.

Why do we need a Credit Card?

A credit card is a kind of collateral-free credit line, generally given to any individual or sometimes to a business entity mostly for online uses. You might also get a cash advance from the Credit Card, but the interest and charges are very high. The basic features of all the credit cards are the same, it will give you some grace period, ranging from 30 to 45 days, after which it will charge interest. Generally, interest on Credit Card is very high, ranging from 40 to 55% per year or 3 to 4% per month, including hefty late fees on delayed payments.

We generally use credit cards for online uses, mainly on e-commerce websites like Amazon, and Flipkart, or dining, grocery, and online food orders, mostly for discounts & cashback. Many Premium Credit Cards provide free unlimited VIP lounge access in international or domestic airports, but we don’t generally require such types of facilities unless someone is a heavy traveler. Similarly, many such features that are generally advertised by the Card Issuing banks, lack any practical requirements. However, card-issuing banks are charging high joining and renewal fees for providing such features & facilities.

Sometimes, many credit cards provide you an option to spend a certain amount for the waiver of renewal fees, and to waive this fee you start spending heavily and unknowingly fall into the Credit Card debt trap. Knowingly or unknowingly, you might be paying high interest and fees to the card-issuing banks and later settle the Credit Card dues with some lumpsum amount. All such things impact your Credit Score, and you may not get any further loans from any bank or lending institute. This is generally happening today, if your earning is lesser than the expenditure.

How to choose the right type of Credit Card?

All the Credit Card lending banks want you to spend more using your credit card because banks earn revenues from interchange fees or payment gateway fees from the merchants. The more you spend, the more banks earn revenues. There are many other ways, banks earn money from the credit card, including interest or renewal fees. But as a customer, we have to be cautious in spending as well as selecting proper card types.

Here are some of the tips that might help you select the right types of cards

1. Card issuing Banks

Select the bank that has a larger card base and more merchant tie-ups. The top four credit card provider banks in India are HDFC Bank, SBI Credit Card, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank, which account for 71% market share in India(Source). You may observe that most discounts provided by popular eCommerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, or Ajio are mostly from the top four Credit Card issuing banks. Other Banks like Kotak Mahindra Bank, BOB, and IndusInd Bank has also very good offers and discount programs, but they have a limited card base.

2. Minimum Charges

Carefully observe the joining fees, renewal fees, forex markup fees, interest rates after the grace period, late fees, etc. before applying for the card. You may also negotiate with the bank for a waiver of joining or renewal fees for premium types of credit cards if you have a good Credit Score or getting a salary from any reputed company. However, in many cases, bank charges high renewal fees, even after the bank executives’ assurance of waiver of charges initially.

The other reason for selecting low-fee-bearing cards is that you can apply multiple numbers of credit cards from different banks.

3. Cards from Multiple Banks

If you have a good Credit Score, a decent and regular ITR, and good repayment habits, you can get a credit card from any bank. For applying a new Credit Card, you do not have to maintain any savings bank account with the banks. You can apply for a fresh credit card from the bank’s website, and the bank’s executive will contact you.

The main reason for selecting multiple banks’ credit cards is that you will have more options to compare the discounts and cashback offers from the multiple Banks’ credit cards. You can also compare the EMI of different cards during checkout if you want to purchase items in EMIs.

4. Cards from Multiple Payment Processing Networks

In India, you will generally get three types of cards from banks – Visa, MasterCard, and RuPay. Visa and MasterCard payments are not processed in India, whereas RuPay Cards payments are processed in India. The payment processing fees of the RuPay card are somewhat less than the Visa or MasterCard. However, you might face difficulties in making payments from RuPay Cards in overseas payment gateways. I have written a detailed article on how to use RuPay cards for International transactions. You may read the article here

• How to enable RuPay Card for International Payments

The main reason for that you can avail the Payment Processor-specific discounts and offers from the Credit Card.

5. Low Interest

All banks charge interest after a certain grace period, which may vary from 3 to 4% per month. Also, many banks offer you to convert an EMI or debit transfer option. Observe carefully what the rate of interest banks charge from you. However, my recommendation is to clear the dues within the grace period to build a healthy Credit Score.

6. What you want from your card

Think carefully, about what you want from the card. If you want to utilize the card for normal use like online shopping, dining, or grocery purchases, then a regular credit card is sufficient. However, if you require the card for any specific purpose, like traveling, medical well-being, Lifestyle, or Fuel, then the Co-Branded one will be more suitable.

6. Rewards & Loyalty Program

All types of credit cards have their own Reward Programs, maybe from the banks’ own or tied-up merchant partners. However, rewards programs are not too important but certainly have some added benefits from your card spending. The Rewards earned can be redeemed in “Cash” or “Kinds”. Some Credit Cards have excellent rewards catalogs to redeem accumulated points.

Requirements for Credit Card

The prerequisites of all the card issuing banks are more or less the same. The most important criterion is the Credit Score, if you have a “Personal loan” CIBIL Score of more than 750, or an Experian Score of more than 700, then it will be easier for you to get any type of credit card. Sometimes you may get Credit Cards even with a 700 to 750 CIBIL Score if you are an existing salary account holder or loan customer of any bank and have good repayment records. Banks calculate the card limit by taking into consideration several other factors including CIS.

Many Credit Card issuing banks are now offering a complete online onboarding process for Credit Card, just you have to upload the required documents on their websites. Most Private Banks do not provide Credit Cards in every location, so you may not be able to apply for a credit card if you are staying in any rural or semi-urban areas.

Here are the Pre-requirements, for applying fresh credit card from any particular bank

1. KYC documents like Adhar Cards, PAN Cards, Employee IDs, and Trade License, issued by the State Govt. Authority if you are self-employed or a businessman.
2. Last 3 Years ITR for Self-employed or Businessman with the balance sheet, ITR or last 2 years Form 16 for salaried class individuals.
3. Current Account Statement for last 6 months for Self-employed or businessman, salary account statement for last 3 months for Salaried people.
4. Proof of Current residence address and office address of Salaried People, Trade License for self-employed.
5. Office Tele-verification number or HR Deptt. the contact number for the salaried people.

Please remember that without any Credit History or CIBIL Score below 700, no bank will provide a credit card, so try to build a good Credit History by using any Buy Now Pay Later Apps, which do not require any Credit History. The other option to build a good credit history is to apply for a Credit Card against FD.

• Best Debit Cards in India- Features & Comparison

 

Best Credit Cards in India for Salaried Individuals

There are numerous variants of cards provided by top Credit Card issuing banks in India, some of these variants are issued by the lender bank itself, and some are issued in partnership with merchant websites, which are called Co-branded cards. Here, in this article, I have only selected regular types of cards, not any co-branded cards.

I have selected these Credit Cards, particularly for middle-income salaried class people, whose earning ranges between ₹25000 to ₹75000 per month and will be mostly used for online shopping, dining, Grocery item purchases, or online food order. Please note that you always have the option to upgrade your Card at any time for a more premium one if you wish. Also, you can use two or more cards from the same Bank if they provide you.

 

1. SBI SimplyClick Card

SBI SinplyCLICK Credit Card is one of the most popular and best Credit Card for beginners. SBI Card is the 2nd largest card issuer in India, and you can simply use the SBI SimplyClick Credit Card for popular online shopping sites like Amazon for Prime Day Sale discounts or Flipkart for Big Billion Day sale. You can also use the Card for contactless tokenized payments up to ₹5000, with NFC enabled device. The Card comes with a Joining Fee of ₹499 and a renewal fee of ₹499 plus GST. You will get 2000 reward points after joining, which can be redeemed with Amazon Gift Card.

Verdict: One of the best credit cards for salaried-class individuals, if you are a salary account holder of SBI and have a minimum salary of ₹20000, definitely select the card.

2. HDFC Bank MoneyBack Card

HDFC Bank is the largest credit card issuer bank and HDFC MoneyBack Credit is the entry-level Credit Card offered by the Bank. You can apply for the card if you have a minimum salary of ₹25000 or ₹600000 per year as per ITR for self-employed. This contactless card has numerous features and can be utilized for getting discounts and cashback on popular online shopping sites in India. You will get a gift voucher worth ₹500 just after joining the Card Program.

Verdict: The HDFC MoneyBack Credit card is the least expensive credit card from HDFC Bank, and can be applied if you have a salary of at least ₹25000 and maintain a salary account with HDFC Bank. For other bank customers, the chances of getting a credit card from HDFC Bank with a salary of ₹25000 is meager.

3. ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card

ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card is one of the most popular and best credit cards from ICICI Bank and comes with a Contactless Visa Tap To Pay feature. You can use this lifetime free credit card in thousands of popular online shopping brands in India and earn 1 rewards points per ₹150 spent in partnership with PayBack. Most importantly, you can apply for this card, if you have a monthly salary of ₹25000.

Verdict: The approval process for this card is not very rigid & completely online, you may easily get this card if you have a good CIBIL Score. The card has exclusive discounts and cashback features with online food delivery websites like Zomato or Swiggy. More importantly, you may get a free Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Co-branded credit card from Amazon, without any further documentation process. The Amazon Pay ICICI Bank card limit will be the same as your ICICI Bank Platinum Chip Credit Card.

 

4. Axis Bank MY Zone Credit Card

Axis Bank, one of the leading credit card issuing banks in India, offers numerous variants of credit cards ranging from beginners to premium categories. If you are an Axis Bank salary account holder, then Axis Bank My Zone Credit Card is one of the best Credit Cards you can apply for with low to medium income. If you are not a salary account holder, you can also apply, but you need a bit higher level of income to meet the eligibility.

The Card offers tons of benefits including utility bill payments, fuel surcharge waivers, and discount programs with many online shopping sites. The card also offers a free add-on card with the same benefits as the main card. For more details on offers and discounts program, you may visit here.

The Card comes with joining and renewal fees of ₹500, which can be waived by negotiation with the Bank.

Verdict: Axis Bank My Zone Credit Card is one of the most popular entry-level Credit Card from the Axis Bank group. You can earn 4 EDGE points per ₹200 spent and discounts on the online food order site Swiggy. You can definitely apply for the card, if you are an existing salary account holder of Axis Bank, or works for any other reputed company in India.

5. SimplySAVE SBI RuPay Card

SBI SimplySave RuPay is another excellent entry-level credit card from SBI Card. The Card comes with Visa, MasterCard, and RuPay variants, offers and discounts for all the variants are the same. But if you want to avail added benefits of UPI on your Credit Card, then this card can be an excellent choice.

You can add this card to any popular payment app like BHIM, PhonePe, GPay, or Paytm and make use of the “Scan & Pay” features of UPI, only you need to link the same mobile number on RuPay Credit Card and UPI.

Similar to the SimplyClick Credit Card, you will get 2000 rewards points just after joining which can be redeemed by ₹500 Amazon gift voucher. The card can be used to get all the offers and discounts offered by popular e-commerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra in partnership with SBI Card.

To avail of the RuPay variant of this card, just ask the SBI Card executives to provide you the RuPay-based Card.

Verdict: The RuPay Version of this card can be used as a BNPL app after linking with any popular payment app. The service of SBI cards can be availed in most of the locations in India where SBI branches are present. Therefore anyone living in Semi-urban areas or where Private Banks do not provide credit card services, SimplySave Card from SBI Card can be a good choice, particularly for the SBI Salary account holders.

6. Bank of Baroda Easy Card

BOB Easy Credit Card from Bank of Baroda, is an excellent choice for BOB Salary account holders or any other bank’s salary account with at least ₹25000 per month and a CIBIL Score above 750 or a minimum Experian Score of 700. The card comes with joining and renewal fees of ₹500, which can be waived by minimum spending of ₹35000 in a year.

Similar to the SBI Card, you may apply for BOB Credit Cards in any part where the Bank of Baroda Branch is available.

BOB Credit Card has many offers and discount programs with many online shopping sites or Departmental stores, which can be comparable to many popular Private Bank credit cards.  The Card comes with both Visa and RuPay variants.

Verdict: Similar to SBI cards, anyone can apply for BOB Credit Cards in areas where Private Banks do not provide services, therefore BOB account holders especially salaried ones can apply for BOB Credit Cards where BOB branches are available. The RuPay version of the BOB Easy Card can be linked to UPI Apps and pay bills at the merchant store by scanning the QR.

7. ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card

Another excellent Lifestyle Credit Card from ICICI Bank, for mid-income salaried individuals. The ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card comes with a joining and renewal fee of ₹500. You can negotiate to waive the joining and renewal fees, if you are working in any reputed company and have salary accounts maintained with ICICI Bank.

This feature-rich credit card comes with Visa, MasterCard, and RuPay versions with one Complimentary Railway and Domestic Airport Lounge Access, per quarter. The RuPay version of Credit Card can be linked with popular UPI Apps. All the versions of Coral Cards have Contactless features for tokenized payments up to ₹5000. You can earn 1 PayBack point per ₹100 spent for the payments made on eCommerce websites.

Verdict: One of the best mid-income range Credit Cards from ICICI Bank. If you have a good Credit Score and work in any reputed company, can avail of this card along with the ICICI Platinum Chip Card. The Joining and renewal fees are negotiable. My recommendation will be the RuPay version of the Card if you are using the card mostly in India.

8. HDFC Bank Freedom Credit Card

HDFC Freedom Credit Card is one such card from the HDFC Bank Card Division, that can be sanctioned if you have a salary earning more than ₹20000 per month and salary credited to HDFC Bank account. For other bank customers, Banks may not sanction the card with an income of ₹20000.

HDFC Bank’s cards are known for offers and discounts on numerous online shopping websites in India. The card comes with joining and renewal fees of ₹500 and the renewal fee can be waived if you spend ₹50000 in a year.

The HDFC Bank Freedom Card can be used for any type of auto-payment of insurance premiums like LICI, HDFC Life, or SBI Life, by adding the billers from the HDFC Bank mobile banking app. The Card has both Visa and RuPay versions and my favourite is the RuPay one. If you do not want to use the card for an international payment gateway, the RuPay version of HDFC Bank Freedom Credit Card is best for online as well as offline payments, as you can use the UPI also.

You can also add the HDFC Bank Freedom RuPay card in PayPal for international transactions, you may visit here to see the details guidelines.

• How to enable RuPay Card for international payments

 Verdict: HDFC Bank Freedom Credit is one such card, that can be obtained with low income per month, for self-employed minimum income required per year is ₹6.00 lacs as per ITR. You can avail all the discounts and cashback offered by HDFC Cards on popular merchant websites. The RuPay version can be used like Tap & Pay by adding it to any popular payment app.

9. Kotak League Platinum Credit Card

Kotak League Platinum Credit Card, one of the best and feature-rich credit cards from Kotak Bank, can be applied with a minimum ₹5.00 Lacs income per annum as per ITR. The card comes with joining and renewal fees of ₹500 and the renewal fee can be waived if the spending ₹50000 or higher in a year. The only drawback of this Credit Card is that it is only available in Metro Cities.

You will get 5,000 reward points worth ₹500, just after joining, and can be redeemed through eVoucher. The Card has a Visa, MasterCard, and RuPay version, you may select any of the types. But if want to use UPI on the Credit Card, then the RuPay version will be the best for you.

Verdict: One of the most preferred cards for medium-income range individuals, if you are staying in any metro city, then definitely add this card to your credit card portfolio. The onboarding process is completely digital and comes with both Visa and RuPay versions. The contactless feature can be used for tokenized payments up to ₹5000.

10. IDFC First Select Credit Card

IDFC First Select Credit Card is one of the least expensive and lowest fees-bearing credit cards in India. This Lifetime free card is best suited for Lifestyle, Travelling, Dining discounts, and Wellness outlets. You need an annual ITR return of ₹12.00 Lacs and above to be eligible for this card. However, you may apply for this card if you are a salary account holder of IDFC First Bank.

You will get numerous cashback and discounts on Movie tickets, up to 20% discounts in more than 1500 restaurants, and 4 complimentary Domestic airport lounges access per quarter. However, the Credit Card merchant base is comparatively lesser than other popular Cards issuers like SBI Card, ICICI, Kotak, and HDFC Banks, but you definitely consider it if you are a frequent traveler, as it has only 1.99% forex markup fees.

Verdict: The IDFC First select card charges 0.75% to 3.50% interest after the grace period which is among the lowest compared to the other cards in the similar categories. This feature-rich credit card requires a bit higher salary income, but if you are living in metro-cities, then definitely think of it as an add-on card, as it is a lifetime free card.

Final Verdict

All the cards discussed above, are suitable for low to mid-income salaried individuals. You can apply for multiple banks’ credit cards or multiple credit cards from a single bank, but be cautious about card spending and repayment tracking. For tracking multiple credit card bills, CRED is an excellent app and is highly recommended to avoid forgetting payments of dues.

Do you have any other recommendations? please let me know in the comment section. If you like the article, then please share and like our Facebook Page.

Meanwhile, you might like to read this article…

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