Best Credit Cards for People with Income of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000

If your monthly income is between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000, you would be eligible for a number of cards from leading banks and NBFCs. However, it is important to do your research and find out which of these cards actually offer good value and suit your needs. To make your search easier, here we have listed the 7 best credit cards for your income bracket suited for different categories like cashback, online shopping, fuel, travel, etc.

Best Credit Cards for Income above Rs. 25,000 and below Rs. 50,000

*The minimum income shown is only suggestive. Actual income requirements may vary.

Axis Ace Credit Card: Great Value Back on All Spends; Low on Travel Benefits

Annual Fee: Rs. 499
Minimum Income: Communicated at the time of application

Axis Ace is one of the best entry-level credit cards in the market offering the highest default cashback rate of 2% on all* transactions. Its 5% uncapped cashback on all utility bill payments on Google Pay is also a generous offer. So, if you pay electricity bill of Rs. 5,000, you get a cashback of Rs. 250. Most of us pay huge amounts in utility bills and getting such a generous cashback on these essential payments is truly a good deal. The two main reasons why it is on top of our list is its generous rate and a simple cashback model. Comparing with other cashback cards like HDFC Millennia and HSBC Cashback, the earnings are much higher with Axis Ace Credit Card.

Key Features of Axis Ace Credit Card:

• 5% cashback on utility bill payments like electricity, gas and internet on Google Pay
• 5% cashback on Grofers and Bigbasket (Till 28^th Feb 2021)
• 4% cashback on Zomato, Swiggy and Ola
• 2% cashback on all other spends
• 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits in a year
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs. 400 and Rs. 4,000 (max. 500 waiver in a month)

*Fuel transactions, e-wallet loading, EMI transactions and cash advances are not eligible for the cashback benefit.

Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card: Good Cashback on Shopping & Travel (Only at Flipkart and its Partner Merchants)

Annual Fee: Rs. 500
Minimum Income: Communicated at the time of application

One of the key highlights of this Axis Bank credit card is its default cashback rate of 1.5%, which happens to be the second-highest in the market. This means that even on an offline purchase of Rs. 3,000, you will get Rs. 45 as cashback.

Moreover, the card substantially rewards you for your shopping and travel expenses offering 5% cashback on Flipkart, Myntra and 2GUD and 4% cashback on MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and Uber. Though limited to certain platforms, this is a substantial cashback rate for an entry-level card, not common among cards in this fee range. Also, since Flipkart does not have a wallet system like Amazon, the cashback is directly credited to your card account, making the cashback model simpler.

Key Features of Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card:

• Welcome benefit worth Rs. 2,900 in the form of coupons
• 5% cashback on Flipkart, Myntra and 2GUD
• 4% cashback on MakeMyTrip, Uber, PVR, Goibibo and Curefit
• 5% cashback across all other categories
• 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits in a year
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs. 400 and Rs. 4,000 (max. Rs. 500 waiver in a month)

Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card: Good for Amazon Loyalists, Low Default Cashback Rate

Annual Fee: Nil
Minimum Income for ICICI Bank Customers: 25,000 p.m.
Minimum Income for Others: 35,000 p.m.

Amazon Pay ICICI card was among the first cards launched with a major e-commerce brand. Though the card’s universal cashback rate is comparatively low at just 1%, it still offers good value back for Amazon Loyalists, especially PRIME Customers. Since Amazon Pay has 100+ merchants listed on it, the 2% cashback is also quite a decent deal. However, the cashback is not credited to your Amazon Pay Balance and not to your card account restricting the usage only through the platform.

Key Features of Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card:

• 5% cashback on Amazon purchases for PRIME customers
• 3% cashback on Amazon purchases for Non-PRIME customers
• 2% cashback on 100+ partner merchants when using Amazon Pay as payment method and using this card
• 1% cashback on all other expenses
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel station

SBI Card PRIME: High Rewards on Everyday Expenses, Premium Benefits

Annual Fee: Rs. 2,999
Minimum Income: Rs. 32,000 p.m.

Coming to the cards that offer good reward points across different spending categories, SBI Card PRIME is one that must be considered. Though it charges an annual fee of Rs. 2,999, if you can make the most of all its benefits, the fee will be compensated. The card offers 2% reward points across all spends which is a decent rate. The key highlight, however, is its 10% reward rate on everyday expenses like groceries, dining, departmental stores and movies. If you set standing instruction for utility bills, you will get 20% rewards for such expenses. The milestone benefits on the card are also quite promising. The actual value of rewards sits quite low at 0.25% but considering the high rate on certain categories, it is still a good deal. The card can also be considered premium given its travel, lounge access and golf benefits.

Key Features of SBI Card PRIME:

• Welcome gift vouchers worth Rs. 3,000 from partner brands
• Earn 2 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent on the card
• 5X reward points on dining, movies, groceries and departmental store spends
• 10X rewards on utility bill payment on standing instructions
• Spend Rs. 5 Lakh in a year and get Rs. 7,000 e-voucher from Pantaloons/Yatra
• Spend Rs. 50,000 in a quarter and get Rs. 1,000 Pizza Hut Voucher
• Club Vistara Silver Membership with 1 free upgrade voucher
• Priority Pass Membership with 4 free international lounge visits per quarter
• 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits per year
• Golf and hotel privileges via Visa/Mastercard/American Express
• Annual fee waiver on annual spends of Rs. 3 Lakh

People also looked at: HDFC Diners Club Rewardz Credit Card

American Express SmartEarn Credit Card: Generous Reward Points on Everyday Brands like Amazon, Swiggy and more

Annual Fee: Rs. 495
Minimum Income: Rs. 37,500 p.m.

For the first time, American Express came up with a card that caters to the needs of the middle-income segment and made it quite a rewarding one. The general reward rate of American Express is the same at 2%. However, the card is giving accelerated points (up to 10-times more) with sensible everyday brands like Amazon, Flipkart, Uber, Swiggy and BookMyShow. So, for a Rs. 10,000 purchase at Flipkart, you will earn 2,000 reward points and it is a fairly generous deal for a Rs. 495 annual fee credit card.

Key Features of American Express SmartEarn Credit Card:

• Spend Rs. 10,000 in the first 90 days and get Rs. 500 cashback
• Earn 1 Membership Reward Point per Rs. 50 spent
• Earn 5X rewards on Amazon, Swiggy, BookMyShow, PVR, Myntra, Jabong, Big Bazaar and many more
• Earn 10X rewards on Flipkart and Uber
• Annual fee renewal on spending Rs. 40,000 in the previous year

Citi PremierMiles Credit Card: Good on Air Miles, Falls Short on Overall Benefits

Annual Fee: Rs. 3,000
Minimum Income: Rs. 25,000 p.m.

This Citibank credit card has continued to be one of the best travel credit cards in India for years because of its great air miles program and the feature to transfer the miles to a number of airlines and hotel chains. The general air mile earning rate is 4%, which is better than many other air mile cards like HDFC Diners Clubmiles and Axis Vistara Signature Credit Card. However, the redemption rate of these air miles could have been better. Currently, Miles to Air Miles transfer rate is 2:1 so for 2 miles earned on your card, you get 1 Air Mile with an airline of your choice. All-in-all, PremierMiles is still a good pick if you are looking for a simple and rewarding air miles program. Also, since the miles never expire, you can choose to accumulate miles and redeem at your own pace.

Key Features of Citi PremierMiles Credit Card:

• Earn 4 miles for every Rs. 100 spent
• Get 10,000 bonus miles on activation and 3,000 miles on renewal
• Earned air miles never expire
• Travel and Lifestyle Concierge Service from Visa/Mastercard

BPCL SBI Card Octane: Up to 7.25% Value Back on Fuel Purchases

Annual Fee: Rs. 1,499
Minimum Income: Communicated at the time of application

Though BPCL SBI Credit Card has been in the market for quite some time, this new variant- BPCL SBI Card Octane clearly outsmarts any other fuel card. Most of the fuel credit cards in India offer benefits in the form of accelerated reward points at select fuel stations and BPCL Octane also uses the same model. Its reward rate of 6.25% at BPCL petrol pumps is among the highest in India, combined with a 1% surcharge waiver. So, if you spend Rs. 10,000 at a BPCL fuel station, you get Rs. 625 back in the form of reward points plus Rs. 100 as surcharge waiver. The card also gives 10% rewards on sensible everyday categories like dining, departmental stores, movies and groceries.

Key Features of BPCL SBI Card Octane:

• 6,000 bonus reward points (worth Rs. 1,500) as welcome benefit
• 25X reward points on fuel purchases at BPCL petrol pumps (up to 2500 points per cycle)
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions up to Rs. 4,000
• 25 reward points per Rs. 100 spent at BPCL Fuel, Lubricants & Bharat Gas (Website & App Only)
• 10 reward points per Rs. 100 spent on dining, departmental stores, movies and groceries
• 1 reward point per Rs. 100 on all other spends except wallet reload and fuel purchases at stations other than BPCL
• 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits in a year
• Annual fee reversed on spending Rs. 2 Lakh in the previous year
• 2,000 voucher from Aditya Birla Fashion/Bata/Hush Puppies/Urban Ladder/Yatra on reaching annual spends of Rs. 3 Lakh
• Fraud liability cover up to Rs. 1 Lakh

More Cards to Consider for Income above Rs. 25,000 p.m.

In addition to the 7 best credit cards shown above, you can also consider the following cards that match your income requirement.

Related Read: Credit Cards for income below Rs. 25,000