Normally, there are less people using Credit Cards than Debit Cards but still the number is pretty fascinating. Almost every Credit Card user goes through a question that which one is best for his use. Actually, they vary from user to user according to various factors such as:
- Purpose of usage (Domestic, Industrial, Business etc.)
- Amount of withdrawals
- Target of payments etc.
According to our latest review, here are the best 11 Credit Cards in India in 2018…
- Standard Chartered Platinum Rewards Card
- ICICI Instant Platinum Card
- Standard Chartered Manhattan Credit Card
- SBI Simply Click Credit Card
- Citibank Cashback Credit Card
- Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Credit Card
- American Express Gold Card
- Amex Platinum Travel Credit Card
- Citibank Premier Miles Credit Card
- HDFC Diner Credit Card
- SBI Signature Elite Credit Card
Standard Chartered Platinum Rewards Card
- No annual fees or joining fee
- Best for : Salaried people who want to own all rounder credit card.
Benefits
- Get additional 1000 rewards points if you transact within 60 days
- Bonus 500 points for registering for online banking
- 20% cashback on Uber rides
- 5 points on spending 150 rupees on dining
- 5 points on spending 150 on fuel
- 1 reward points on spending 150 on any other category
ICICI Instant Platinum Card
- Annual Fee : NIL
- ICICI credit card is a good option for Students, Housewives and Non-Salary people if they want to apply for credit card against a Fixed Deposit.
Key benefits:
- 3 payback points for every Rs.100 spent.
- Global Emergency Assistance and Card replacement service available.
- Get ₹ 100 off on movie tickets twice a month.
- Enjoy delicious treats at minimum 15% savings at over 800 leading restaurants across 10 cities in India.
- 2.5% fuel surcharge waiver can be availed on fuel transaction of maximum ₹ 4,000 at HPCL pumps.
Standard Chartered Manhattan Credit Card
- This is the only card that offers 5% cash back on your grocery spends
- Annual fee: 999 (but you can get it waived off)
Key benefits:
- 5% cashback on credit card expenditure at supermarkets & department stores
- 5x rewards when you use your credit card to pay for Hotels, Dining, Airline ticket reservation and Fuel
- You can earn up to Rs. 500 as cashback every month and Rs. 150 per transaction.
SBI Simply Click Credit Card
- SBI approves Simply Click for salaries people only.
- Annual fee: 499 (Waived off when spent 100,000 in a year)
- Bonus: Rs 500 voucher from Amazon
Key benefits:
- 10X rewards on online spends – Amazon / BookMyShow / Cleartrip / Foodpanda / FabFurnish / Lenskart / OLA / Zoomcar
- Earn 5X rewards on all other online shopping
- A welcome e-gift voucher worth Rs 500 from Amazon
- 2.5% fuel surcharge waiver (on 500+ trasaction amount)
- Cleartrip e-voucher worth Rs.2,000 on annual online spends of Rs. 1 Lakh (one more 2000 e-voucher on another 1Lakh milestone)
Citi Bank Cashback Credit Card
- Best for you if you watch movies and pay your bills online.
- Saving 5% regularly every month
- Annual fee:500
Key benefits
- 5% cash back on movie tickets
- 5% cash back on telephone bill payments
- 5% cash back on Utility Bill Payments
- 0.5% Cash Back on all other spends
Drawbacks
- You must have excellent Credit History before applying.
- 80% Citibank card applications decline because people do not have credit history.
- Online form is complex and lengthy, be patient and fill the information.
American Express Gold Card
- Earn 1,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points for simply using your Card 6 times on transactions of Rs. 1,000 and above every month.
- Annual fee:First Year Rs. 1000 (Second year onwards Rs.4,500)
Key benefits:
- Welcome gift of 4,000 Membership Rewards Point after first 3 spends in 60 days.
- 1000 Bonus MR Points for using your Card 6 times every month.
- Earn 1 MR point on Rs.50 spent on all spends except for spend on Fuel, Insurance, Utilities and Cash Transactions.
- Up to 20% off at selected restaurants.
- Redeem from 18 carat and 24 carat Gold Collection.
- Earn 5000 MR Points on renewal for second year
Citibank Premium Miles Card
- Citibank Premier Miles card comes with access to premium airport lounges across India and world.
- Earn extra mile on your ticket booking and online shopping through this card.
- Best for people who have 2-3L of annual spend on travel.
- Annual fee:3,000
Key benefits:
- Get 10000 Miles on activation.
- Earn 10 Miles for every 100 spent on airlines.
- Earn 10 Miles per Rs.100 spent with online partner merchants.
- Earn 4 Miles for every 100 of all other spends
- Redeem your miles at over 100 airlines.
- 100 Miles = Rs.45 with preferred partners.
- Redeem your miles up to 3 hours before take off.
American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card
- American Express Platinum Travel Card offers great benefits for frequent travellers (like vouchers from Indigo and Taj)
- Annual fee: First Year Rs. 3,500 (Second Year Onwards Rs. 5,000)
- Go for this credit card if your annual expenses are more than 2 lakh.
Key benefits:
- Welcome gift of 5,000 Milestone Bonus Membership Rewards Points redeemable for IndiGo Vouchers worth Rs. 4000.
- Spend Rs. 1.90 lacs in a year and get IndiGo Vouchers worth more than Rs. 7,700.
- Spend Rs. 4 lacs in a year to get IndiGo Vouchers worth more than Rs. 11,800. Also, get a voucher worth Rs. 10,000 from the Taj Group.
- You can have upto 3 Amex cards at a time.
- Your spending habit will increase your credit limit for this card.
Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium
- If you are first time applicant and your most of monthly expenses happen on fuel, phone and utility bills then you must apply for Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Credit Card
- Annual Fees –Free for First Year, 750 rupees from Second Year Onwards (Waived off if you spend 60,000 in first year)
- Joining Fees – 499/- rupees but it will be waived off if you spend 30,000 in first year.
- Clearly, you should apply for this credit card if your monthly expense is at least 5,000 rupees (12*5K = 60K per year)
- Minimum transaction amount for cashback eligibility is Rs750
Benefits of SVT Credit Card
- 5% cashback on fuels
- 5% cashback on phone bills
- 5% cashback on utility bills
- Transact within 60 days to get additional 1,000 Reward Points
- 500 bonus reward points on registering for online banking
HDFC Diner Premium Credit Card
- Diner credit card offer better benefits than Regalia
- Diner Premium Credit Card came with complimentary access to Golf lessons but HDFC removed that benefit now
- It’s only available with Diner International credit card that comes at the annual fees of Rs. 10,000.
- While Diner premium comes at annual fees of Rs. 2500 only but with limited benefits.
Additional Benefits
- Earn 4 Reward Points for every Rs. 150
- Air Accident Cover of INR 1 Crore
- Emergency Medical Expenses Cover of up to INR 25 Lakh
- Credit Liability Cover of up to 9 Lakh
- Travel Insurance Cover of up to INR 50,000 on baggage delay/loss
- Complimentary access to airport lounges
- Foreign transaction fees 2%
SBI Signature Credit Card Elite
- SBI Signature Card comes with a bunch of offers from the online shopping portals with decent bonus reward points.
- Annual fee: 4,999 (+Welcome Gifts worth 4,999)
Key benefits:
- Benefits worth Rs.30,000 every year.
- Welcome gift worth Rs.5,000.
- 2 Free movie tickets every month from Bookmyshow.
- 10 points per Rs.100 spent on Dining, Departmental stores, Grocery & International Spends
- 2 points per Rs.100 spent on others.
- Signature Contactless Advantage.
- Earn 10,000 bonus Reward Points on achieving annual spends of Rs. 2 lakhs, 3 lakhs and 4 lakhs
- Earn 20,000 bonus Reward Points on crossing annual spends of Rs. 5 lakhs.
- 1 Reward Point = Rs. 0.25.
Which is the best of the best?
- If you are first time applicant and looking for life time free card, then apply for Standard Chartered Platinum Credit Card.
- If you are online shopping freak, then SBI Simply Click would be better
- For fuel surcharge waiver, any premium credit card would waive off surcharge. If you spend a lot on fuel, then consider Citibank Indian Oil Credit Card.