11 Best Credit Cards In India 2018 Review and Comparison

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…

1. Standard Chartered Platinum Rewards Card
2. ICICI Instant Platinum Card
3. Standard Chartered Manhattan Credit Card
4. SBI Simply Click Credit Card
5. Citibank Cashback Credit Card
6. Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Credit Card
7. American Express Gold Card
8. Amex Platinum Travel Credit Card
9. Citibank Premier Miles Credit Card

• HDFC Diner Credit Card
• SBI Signature Elite Credit Card

• Table of Contents

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  Standard Chartered Platinum Rewards Card
  

  1. No annual fees or joining fee
  2. 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
  

  1. Annual Fee : NIL
  2. 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
  

  1. This is the only card that offers  5% cash back on your grocery spends
  2. 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
  

  1. SBI approves Simply Click for salaries people only.
  2. Annual fee: 499 (Waived off when spent 100,000 in a year)
  3. 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
  

  1. Best for you if you watch movies and pay your bills online.
  2. Saving 5% regularly every month
  3. 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
  

  1. Earn 1,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points for simply using your Card 6 times on transactions of Rs. 1,000 and above every month.
  2. 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
  

   

  1. Citibank Premier Miles card comes with access to premium airport lounges across India and world.
  2. Earn extra mile on your ticket booking and online shopping through this card.
  3. Best for people who have 2-3L of annual spend on travel.
  4. 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
  

  1. American Express Platinum Travel Card offers great benefits for frequent travellers (like vouchers from Indigo and Taj)
  2. Annual fee: First Year Rs. 3,500 (Second Year Onwards Rs. 5,000)
  3. 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
  

  1. 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
  2. Annual Fees – Free for First Year, 750 rupees from Second Year Onwards (Waived off if you spend 60,000 in first year)
  3. Joining Fees – 499/- rupees but it will be waived off if you spend 30,000 in first year.
  4. Clearly, you should apply for this credit card if your monthly expense is at least 5,000 rupees (12*5K = 60K per year)
  5. 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
  

  1. Diner credit card offer better benefits than Regalia
  2. Diner Premium Credit Card came with complimentary access to Golf lessons but HDFC removed that benefit now
  3. It’s only available with Diner International credit card that comes at the annual fees of Rs. 10,000.
  4. 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

   

  1. SBI Signature Card comes with a bunch of offers from the online shopping portals with decent bonus reward points.
  2. 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.