Top 10 Reward Credit Cards In India 2021

Reward benefit or reward point is a point that the card providers give their cardholders for making payments with their credit cards. The number of reward points offered by a credit card can differ from card to card. Once you have enough reward points in your account, you can redeem them, either in cash or you can use them to make payments for a product or a service.

Several financial companies offer reward cards, of various categories, and they offer reward points on several categories including shopping, groceries, bill payments, ticket bookings, etc.

Some credit card also offers a big number of reward points as welcome benefit or milestone benefit, where you can get a huge amount of reward points on spending a certain amount of money within a set timeline.

We have picked the top 10 reward credit cards in India 2021 from the several credit cards available in the market, you can choose the credit card that fits with your lifestyle and spending patterns.

Axis Bank Privilege Credit Card

• Fee: 
  • Joining Fee: ₹1,500 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹1,500 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a MasterCard.
• Benefits: 
  • With the issuance of the card, you will get 12,500 reward points, conditions apply.
  • You will also get 10 reward points on your transaction, T&C applies.
  • Also, you will get access to most of the domestic airport lounges, conditions apply.

This credit card offers benefits mostly on travel and dining, so if you want to earn reward points and others from those categories, then this card will be a good choice for you. Also, this card is best suited for use as a secondary credit card.

HDFC Infinia Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹10,000 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹10,000 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a Visa Credit Card.
• Benefits:
  • With this card you can win 10 reward points from your spending, T&C applies.
  • You will get access to most of the domestic airport lounges, conditions apply.
  • You will get up to a 15% discount on dining at most of the frontline restaurants.

HDFC Bank Infinia Credit Card is a premium credit card with premium benefits, you can earn big reward points from your everyday spending, also you can get other premium credit card experiences with this card. you can use this card as your primary credit card.

American Express SmartEarn Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹495 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹495 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is an American Express credit card.
• Benefits:
  • This card offers 10X reward points on online purchases, conditions apply.
  • You can win 500+ reward points monthly.
  • This card also offers a 0% surcharge on fuel purchase, conditions apply.

American Express SmartEarn Credit Card comes with several benefits and offers, it also comes with a lower annual and renewal fee, you can use this card for online shopping and another online spending.    

HDFC Bank Diners Club Privilege Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹2,500 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹2,500 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a Dinners Club credit card.
• Benefits:
  • You can earn up to 10X reward points from your purchase, with this card, T&C applies.
  • You can also get 10X reward points on Movie tickets, conditions apply.
  • This card also offers a 15% discount on dining.

This card offers some benefits and rewards to its customer, but because of the acceptance issue of the Dinners Club card, it is recommended to use it as your secondary credit card. 

ICICI Bank Coral American Express Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹500 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹500 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is an American Express credit card.
• Benefits:
  • You can win up to 10,000 reward points every year.
  • This card offers you access to most of the domestic airports, conditions apply.

This card comes with a big reward offer and several other benefits, the joining and annual fee is relatively low, you can use this card as a secondary card, especially for online uses.

Central SBI Select Plus Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹2999 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹2999 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a Visa credit card.
• Benefits:
  • With this card you can win up to 16000 reward points annually, conditions apply.
  • You can win 20 points from every purchase, T&C applies.
  • With this card, you will also get ₹1 lakh lost card liability coverage.

This card is best for those who want to earn rewards from their shopping, also there are lots of other offers on this card. This card can be used as a primary credit card.

Citi Rewards Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: None
  • Annual Fee: ₹1000 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a MasterCard.
• Benefit:
  • With this card you can earn reward points from every purchase, T&C applies.
  • You can win up to 300 points monthly.
  • Also, you can get up to 20% discount at most of the frontline restaurants in India, conditions apply.

This card is best for online use, and it is recommended to use it as a secondary credit card.

Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank Platinum Plus SuperCard

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹999 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹999 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a MasterCard.
• Benefits:
  • With the activation of the card, you will get 4,000 reward points as a welcome gift. T&C apply.
  • You will get 2 reward points on each of your transaction, T&C apply.
  • This card offers two free movie tickets monthly, conditions apply.

This card offers many extraordinary offers at a low cost. You will get many premium benefits from this card. You can use this card s your primary credit card.

YES Prosperity Rewards Plus Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹499 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹499 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a MasterCard.
• Benefits:
  • You can win 12,000 reward points as a birthday gift, conditions apply.
  • You can get 3 reward points on groceries, T&C applies.
  • This card also comes with accidental insurance coverage. T&C apply.

This card is best suited for your daily needs, especially at supermarkets, the reward program and the other offers can earn you a big benefit at the end of the month.  

YES Prosperity Rewards Credit Card

• Fee:
  • Joining Fee: ₹299 + GST
  • Annual Fee: ₹299 + GST
• Card Type:
  • It is a MasterCard.
• Benefits:
  • With the activation of the card, you will get 1000 reward points as a welcome gift. T&C apply.
  • You will get 2 reward points from each ₹100 spends, conditions apply.
  • This card also offers a 1% discount on fuel surcharges.

This card offers a wide range of benefits, you can use this card for daily purchases as your primary credit card.

From the above list, you can find out your desired credit card, by comparing the cards according to your need and the benefits offered by the cards. It is always important to choose a card according to your needs. For example, if you want to earn benefits from your travel-related expenses try to choose a travel reward card, similarly for shopping-related benefits choose a shopping card and for benefits on entertainment, choose an entertainment card. Because a good choice can make your life a lot better. 

How to earn reward points from your card:

Every credit card has a different method of earning reward points. It depends on the type of card you have. However, there are some general methods of earning reward points.

1. Some credit card offers their customer a big number of reward points as a welcome gift. Generally, to get the welcome gift you need to pay your annual fee in time and make a certain amount of spend with your credit card.
2. Card providers often offer multiple reward points on a specific brand or category. It can be online shopping, ticket booking, grocery, etc.
3. You can also earn reward points from your everyday spending, where you have to spend a minimum amount with your card to avail of 1 to 2 reward points.
4. The card provides also offers extra reward points on spends made in a foreign country.
5. You can also earn a big amount of reward points from a milestone program, where you have to spend a certain amount of money within a set period.
6. Some card provider also offers reward points on annual fee payment.
7. If you have an add-on cardholder, the points earned by the cardholder will be added to your account.

Points to keep in mind:

Reward points can be redeemed into cash or you can use them to get a discount on some selected categories. But if you want to redeem your points directly into cash then you should know these facts.

1. Expiry date – Every reward point has its expiry date, after which they are of no use. So try to use your points as soon as possible.
2. Minimum Points to make a redemption – With some credit cards, you need to have a certain number of reward points to make a redemption, although if there is no minimum requirement, you have to pay some points as a cost of redemption.
3. Charge – For every redemption no matter what is the amount, you have to pay a minimum charge for processing.  

Earning benefits from your card is awesome, if you can use the benefits of your card properly, you can end up saving a lot of money, but the reward point is different from other benefits, it needs redemption. A reward point normally values ₹0.25, so you need a decent amount of points to make a noticeable benefit. And when you make redemption of your points, you have to pay some charge also, that reduces the value even further.

So it is advised not to spend too much with your card just to earn reward points, use your card properly and it will earn benefit for you.