Credit Cards for Beginners with Monthly Income under Rs. 30,000

Annual Fee: Nil

Best Features:

• Activation benefits on bill payment including 100% back up to Rs. 150 on Amazon shopping;  20% back up to Rs. 100 on electricity bill payment; 50% back up to Rs. 50 on prepaid recharges; 25% back up to Rs. 500 on postpaid recharges; 25% back up to Rs. 200 on DTH recharge; 25% back up to Rs. 550 on broadband bill payment; 10% back up to Rs. 250 on gas cylinder payment.
• 1 month EazyDiner Prime membership and Rs. 500 off on Amazon Prime membership for the first year
• 5% cashback on Amazon spends for Prime members
• 3% cashback on Amazon spends for non-Prime members
• 2% cashback on Partner brands – Swiggy, Domino’s, Uber, Rapido, MakeMyTrip, Practo etc.
• 1% cashback on other retail spends
• Dining discount via Culinary Treats Programme
• 1% waiver on fuel surcharge across all petrol pumps in India
• No Cost EMIs for Amazon purchases worth more than Rs. 3,000 with tenure choice of 3 and 6 months

Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card is best suited for frequent shoppers who prefer Amazon for everything – from groceries to electronics. Amazon Prime members can extract maximum value out of this card with accelerated 5% back in comparison to the 3% offered to non-Prime members. Cardholders can also avail 2% back on multiple Amazon Pay partner brands that cater to additional categories like flights, hotels, and even recharges and bill payments. The good part is that there is no capping on cashback earnings, allowing high-spenders to save a significant amount on Amazon and beyond.

Annual Fee: Rs. 500 (waived off on annual spends of Rs. 2 Lakh in the previous year)

Best Features:

• 10% cashback on Swiggy food ordering, Instamart, Dineout and Genie (capped at Rs. 1,500 per month)
• 5% cashback on online spends (capped at Rs. 1,500 per month)
• 1% cashback on other retail spends (capped at Rs. 500 per month)
• Complimentary Swiggy One Membership for 3 months on card activation
• 4 complimentary rounds of green fees and 12 free golf lessons/sessions with 50% off on green fee (for users with Mastercard variant)

While most cashback credit cards offer a 5% value-back on the partner brands, the Swiggy HDFC card keeps it a notch higher with 10% back. Consumers who use Instamart for groceries and order food online multiple times in a month can easily recover the annual fee of Rs. 500 through accelerated cashback. Despite being a co-branded card, Swiggy HDFC offers 5% return across multiple online platforms and decent 1% return on other eligible spends, making it a good choice for consumers who want to own a single credit card for all online spends.

Annual Fee: Rs. 499 (second year onwards, waived off on annual spends of Rs. 1.2 Lakh in the previous year)

Best Features:

• 3% cashback- 6 cashback points per Rs. 200 on online spends including top brands- Amazon, Zomato, Blinkit, Myntra, Swiggy, Uber, Nykaa, BookMyShow, Cleartrip etc. (capped at 5,000 cashback points per month)
• 1.5% cashback- 3 cashback points per Rs. 200 spent on offline and UPI spends
• 1%  fuel surcharge waiver of up to Rs. 250 per statement cycle

If you prefer spending online but do not have any specific merchant preferences, the Yes Bank Paisabazaar PaisaSave Credit Card is the right choice for you. The card offers up to 3% back on all online spends with a value-back of up to Rs. 5,000 every month; beyond this limit, users can earn a base cashback rate of 1.5%. If you are a beginner looking to save on your everyday online spends, this card is a good fit at a low fee of just Rs. 499. However, it lacks in offering other basic lifestyle benefits like lounge access, dining discounts, and more.

Annual Fee: Rs. 500 (waived off on annual spends of Rs. 3.5 Lakh in the previous year)

Best Features:

• 100% value-back on first fuel spend (worth up to 1250 EDGE reward points)
• 4% value-back on fuel transactions – 20 EDGE reward points per Rs. 100 on IOCL fuel pumps
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver of up to Rs. 50 per month (on fuel spends between Rs. 400 and Rs. 4,000)
• 1% value-back on online shopping- 5 EDGE reward points per Rs. 100
• 1 EDGE reward point per Rs. 100 spent on other categories
• Up to 10% discount on booking movie tickets via BookMyShow app/website
• Up to 15% discount via EazyDiner (maximum Rs. 500 every month)

Indian Oil Axis Bank Credit Card is a suitable choice for those who spend a considerable amount on fuel every month. It offers up to 5% back at Indian Oil fuel pumps (including a 1% fuel surcharge waiver). Beyond fuel, it covers some everyday categories like online shopping, movies, and dining, allowing cardholders to save more than the fee it charges.

Annual Fee: Rs. 500 (waived off on annual spends of Rs. 50,000 in the previous year)

Best Feature:

• 10X CashPoints on partner brands: 20 per Rs. 150 on Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, Reliance Smart SuperStore and BigBasket
• 2 CashPoints per Rs. 150 spent on other spends including UPI transactions
• Value of 1 cash point = Rs. 0.25 (Redemption options: Cashback, Unified SmartBuy (Flights/Hotels), Product Catalogue and Airmiles)
•  Bonus 500 cashpoints as activation and renewal benefit
• Gift voucher worth Rs. 500 on spending Rs. 50,000 in the previous quarter
• 10% additional discount on Swiggy Dineout at partner restaurants
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver up to Rs. 250 on transactions ranging between Rs. 400 and Rs. 5,000

HDFC Bank MoneyBack+ offers co-branded benefits with not one but five popular brands, including Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, Reliance Smart SuperStore, and BigBasket. With its multi-brand benefits, the card caters to the everyday categories like online shopping, food delivery, and groceries. If your monthly spending is inclined towards these brands, this card can be a good option to consider. Though the redemption value is low, the card stands out with multiple redemption options—a good feature for a low annual fee card.

Annual Fee: Rs. 499 (waived off on annual spends of Rs. 1 Lakh in the previous year)

Best Features:

• Amazon gift card worth Rs. 500 on joining
• 10X rewards i.e. 10 reward points per Rs. 100 on partner brands -Apollo 24×7, BookMyShow, Cleartrip/,Dominos, IGP, Myntra,Netmeds and Yatra
• 5X rewards  i.e. r reward points per Rs. 100 on other online spends
• 1 reward point per Rs. 100 on other retail spends
• Cleartrip/Yatra e-vouchers worth Rs. 2,000 on reaching annual spending milestones of Rs. 1 Lakh and Rs. 2 Lakh each.
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions of Rs. 500 to Rs. 3,000

Another card with multi-brand benefits on this list is the SimplyCLICK SBI card. Not only does it offer accelerated benefits on partner brands, but 5-times rewards on online spending as well, making it a good choice for online shoppers. However, a low redemption value of just 0.25 per reward may hamper the overall value-back.

Annual Fee: Nil

Best Features:

• 10X reward points i.e. 10 reward points per Rs. 150 on birthday spends and incremental spends above Rs. 20,000 in every month
• 3X reward points i.e. 3 reward points per Rs. 150 on online & offline transactions till Rs. 20,000 in a month
• 1 reward point per Rs. 150 spent on all utility and insurance bill payments
• Gift voucher worth Rs. 500 on spending Rs. 5,000 within 30 days of card issuance
• 5% cashback on 1st EMI transaction (Up to Rs. 1,000 )
• 25% off on movie tickets booked via District by Zomato (up to Rs. 100, once a month)
• 4 complimentary railway lounge visits per calendar quarter, on spends of Rs. 20,000 in the previous month
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver, up to Rs. 200 per month, on fuel spends ranging between Rs. 200 and Rs. 5,000
• Complimentary roadside assistance up to 4 times, worth Rs. 1,399
• Personal accident cover of Rs. 2 lakh and lost card liability cover worth Rs. 25,000

If you want your first card as lifetime free, IDFC FIRST Millennia can be a suitable choice. The card offers rewards on all spending, including often exempted ones like utilities and insurance. Additionally, if you are a high spender who doesn’t mind putting maximum spends on the card, you can utilize most of its features due to an accelerated reward on spends above Rs. 20,000. The welcome benefits worth up to Rs. 1,500 offer users a good start, and lifestyle benefits around lounge access and movies further enhance its overall value.