HDFC Bank credit cards

An HDFC Bank credit card is the most widely held card in India, and the range here runs from a Rs. 299 shopping card to a Rs. 4,500 premium co-brand. Eight HDFC Bank cards are tracked on CredSpy, with annual fees between Rs. 299 and Rs. 4,500, published income requirements from about Rs. 12,500 a month, and renewal fees that are reversed on annual spends of Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 7,50,000 depending on the card.

This page sets out what each card charges, what it pays back, where the earn rate stops, and who the bank will approve — all read from HDFC Bank's published fee schedules and terms.

The cheapest card is not always the cheapest to hold: MoneyBack Plus waives its Rs. 500 fee at Rs. 50,000 of annual spend, while Biz First needs Rs. 7,50,000 for the same Rs. 500.

Every fee on each card page is read from HDFC Bank's own schedule of charges, with the date it was last checked.

HDFC Bank reverses the renewal fee when your spend in the card year crosses a threshold set per card:

The threshold counts eligible retail spending only. EMI conversions, fuel, wallet loads and rent usually do not count towards it, which is how a card that looks free ends up charging the fee.

HDFC Bank runs two kinds of card, and mixing them up is the common mistake:

Before comparing a points card with a cashback card, check the redemption value. Points are commonly worth about Rs. 0.25 each, so 10 points per Rs. 100 is close to 2.5% — not 10%.

The exclusions are nearly identical across the HDFC Bank range, and they cover a large part of most people's spending:

Cash advances earn nothing and start charging interest immediately. If fuel or rent is a large share of your spending, a card built for them will beat a higher headline rate here.

Lounge access is the weak point of this particular set: none of the eight HDFC Bank cards tracked here publishes complimentary domestic lounge visits, and Shoppers Stop Black records none either.

What these cards do offer instead is milestone value — a fee reversal or a voucher once annual spending crosses the threshold listed above. If lounge access is the reason you want a card, compare the travel category or an issuer whose cards carry visits, rather than assuming a premium fee includes them.

Published requirements, per card:

HDFC Bank does not publish an income figure for its other cards, including Pixel, MoneyBack Plus, PhonePe Uno and Shoppers Stop. It usually looks for a credit score around 750 on premium cards, and approves its own salary and savings customers more readily than new applicants.

Check your odds against every HDFC Bank card at once with the eligibility checker — it makes no credit bureau enquiry, so it costs nothing to run before you apply.

Compare any two of them side by side on the comparison page before applying.

What every HDFC Bank card tracked here costs, earns and includes, cheapest first.

Rs. 299 a year, with no spend-based waiver. Earns 3 points per Rs. 100 on online shopping; 1 point per Rs. 100 on other spends. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Earns nothing on fuel transactions, rent payments, wallet loads and cash advances and ATM withdrawals. Full HDFC Shoppers Stop review

Rs. 499 a year, waived once annual spending reaches Rs. 1,00,000 (about Rs. 8,300 a month). Earns 2 points per Rs. 100 on bill payments, capped at 500 points a month; 1 point per Rs. 100 on online shopping, capped at 500 points a month; 1 point per Rs. 100 on other spends, capped at 500 points a month. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Earns nothing on EMI transactions, fuel purchases, wallet loads and gift cards. Full PhonePe HDFC Bank Uno review

Rs. 500 a year, waived once annual spending reaches Rs. 50,000 (about Rs. 4,200 a month). Earns 10 points per Rs. 100 on online shopping; 10 points per Rs. 100 on food delivery; 10 points per Rs. 100 on groceries. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Earns nothing on fuel transactions, wallet loads, prepaid card loads and voucher purchases. Full HDFC MoneyBack Plus review

Rs. 500 a year, waived once annual spending reaches Rs. 1,50,000 (about Rs. 12,500 a month). Earns 5 points per Rs. 100 on travel; 1 point per Rs. 100 on other spends. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Worth knowing: UPI spends on the RuPay variant earn at most 500 Reward Points a calendar month. Full IRCTC HDFC Bank review

Rs. 500 a year, waived once annual spending reaches Rs. 7,50,000 (about Rs. 62,500 a month). Earns 3 points per Rs. 100 on bill payments; 2 points per Rs. 100 on utilities; 2 points per Rs. 100 on online shopping. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Earns nothing on fuel transactions, rent payments, wallet loads and cash advances and ATM withdrawals. Full HDFC Biz First review

Rs. 500 a year, waived once annual spending reaches Rs. 1,00,000 (about Rs. 8,300 a month). Earns 5 points per Rs. 100 on dining; 5 points per Rs. 100 on groceries; 5 points per Rs. 100 on travel. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Earns nothing on fuel transactions, rent payments, wallet loads and EMI transactions. Full HDFC Pixel review

Rs. 1,000 a year, waived once annual spending reaches Rs. 2,00,000 (about Rs. 16,700 a month). Earns 10% on food delivery, capped at Rs. 1,500 a statement cycle; 10% on dining, capped at Rs. 1,500 a statement cycle; 5% on online shopping, capped at Rs. 1,500 a statement cycle. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Worth knowing: No cashback on fees, finance charges or disputed transactions. Full Swiggy BLCK HDFC Bank review

Rs. 4,500 a year, waived once annual spending reaches Rs. 4,00,000 (about Rs. 33,300 a month). Earns 20 points per Rs. 100 on online shopping; 2 points per Rs. 100 on other spends. No complimentary lounge visits are recorded. Earns nothing on fuel transactions, rent payments, wallet loads and cash advances and ATM withdrawals. Full Shoppers Stop Black HDFC Bank review

The annual fee is the charge people compare, and rarely the one that costs most. Pay less than the full statement balance and interest applies from the transaction date, and the interest-free period stops applying to new purchases until the balance is cleared.

Paid in full every month, a HDFC Bank card costs only its annual fee. Revolved, the interest outruns any reward rate on the card several times over.

The eligibility checker scores your profile against each card's published criteria without a credit bureau enquiry.