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Zero forex mark-up credit cards can be considered one of the essentials for frequent international travellers as they help you save on every overseas transaction by eliminating or significantly reducing foreign currency conversion charges. These cards not only reduce the cost of your international spends but often come with additional travel-focused benefits, such as accelerated reward points on travel, points-to-miles conversion, complimentary lounge access, and discounts on flights and hotels. To help you make the most of your trips abroad, here is a curated list of the best zero forex mark-up credit cards that offer strong value and let you maximise your overall savings.
IDFC FIRST WOW! Credit Card Joining fee: ₹0 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹0 Lifetime free credit card Zero forex markup fee Product Details Federal Bank Scapia Credit Card Joining fee: ₹0 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹0 Up to 20% Scapia coins on your spends Zero forex mark-up fee with unlimited access to domestic airport lounges Product Details Ixigo AU Credit Card Joining fee: ₹0 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹0 10% discount on travel bookings at Ixigo Up to 10 reward points per Rs. 200 spent Product Details RBL World Safari Credit Card Joining fee: ₹3000 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹3000 Zero forex markup fee 5 reward points per Rs. 100 on domestic & international travel spends Product Details IDFC FIRST Mayura Credit Card Joining fee: ₹5999 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹5999 10X rewards on monthly spends above Rs. 20,000; 5X rewards below that Up to 8 international, 16 domestic (+4 guest visits) lounge access per year Product Details AU NOMO Credit Card Joining fee: ₹0 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹0 Up to 1,000 reward points as quarterly milestone bonus 2 domestic airport lounge visits per quarter; 0.99% forex mark-up Product Details MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Credit Card Joining fee: ₹999 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹999 Up to 6% savings on MakeMyTrip spends Rs. 1,000 MMT voucher every year Product Details AU Zenith+ Credit Card Joining fee: ₹4999 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹4999 2X reward points on travel, dining and international spends 16 complimentary international and domestic lounge access every year Product Details IDFC FIRST Ashva Credit Card Joining fee: ₹2999 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹2999 10X rewards on monthly spends above Rs. 20,000; 5X rewards below that Up to 16 domestic and 8 international lounge access per year Product Details YES BANK Marquee Credit Card Joining fee: ₹9999 Annual/Renewal Fee: ₹4999 36 YES Rewardz Points per Rs. 200 spent online & 18 on offline spends Up to 24 domestic & unlimited international airport lounge visits per year Product Details
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Here is the list of top cards that offer zero or low forex mark-up charges on your international expenses to help you find the right credit card for your needs:

Forex Mark-up Fee: Nil
Annual Fee: Nil
Key Features and Benefits:
This IDFC FIRST Bank credit card is a lifetime-free secured card that offers rewards on every card spend without charging any annual fee. A decent option for new-to-credit customers, this card can help in building your credit profile and score, along with understanding how credit card rewards work. Though it comes with basic rewards, the zero foreign currency exchange fee is a welcome added benefit, especially for those who often make international purchases.

Forex Mark-up Fee: Nil
Annual Fee: Nil
Key Features and Benefits:
This Federal Bank credit card is a co-branded card that is tailor-made for frequent travellers and the zero forex mark-up feature further enables travellers by reducing their costs during their international trips. In addition to Scapia coins that can be redeemed for future travel bookings, this card also offers airport benefits, like complimentary lounge access and airport shopping discount. These benefits make the travel experience more convenient and help the cardholders maximise their overall value-back by making the most of the travel benefits provided with the card.
Suggested Read: How Can Zero Forex Credit Cards Help You Save

Forex Mark-up Fee: Nil
Annual Fee: Nil
Key Features and Benefits:
This AU credit card is a co-branded card that offers direct discount on travel bookings made through the associated platform – ixigo. At zero annual and forex mark-up fee, this card comes with considerable saving options and lets the users earn rewards, in addition to the travel discounts. The complimentary lounge access feature is offered across airports as well as railway stations, making the time before and after the travel more comfortable for the cardholders. These features make it a good option for those who prefer making their travel bookings on ixigo or are looking for a platform co-branded card with direct travel discount and no annual charges.

Forex Mark-up Fee: Nil
Annual Fee: Rs. 3,000
Key Features and Benefits:
This RBL credit card enables frequent travelers by not just eliminating forex mark-up charges, but also through a variety of travel-related benefits. However, the base reward rate on domestic spends is slightly low. Despite that, accelerated reward rate on travel spends and complimentary lounge access, along with milestone bonuses of up to 25,000 reward points and voucher, contribute significantly to the overall savings. This card can be suitable for those who can maximise their value-back by meeting the spending milestones and use the earned rewards and voucher well.

Forex Mark-up Fee: Nil
Annual Fee: Nil
Key Features and Benefits:
IDFC FIRST Mayura is an all-rounder credit card which offers accelerated savings on travel. With up to 25% bonus savings on travel via rewards, higher reward redemption value for travel bookings and up to 15,000 rewards as milestone bonus, this card is suitable for travellers. Though most cards in this range offer complimentary lounge access, free guest visits add to the card’s value. Not just travel, free gold rounds/lessons and buy 1 get 1 offer on movies make this card an all-rounder which caters to multiple lifestyle needs.

Forex Mark-up Fee: 0.99%
Annual Fee: Nil
Key Features and Benefits:
AU NOMO is a secured credit card that comes with good reward benefits for its users. 0.99% forex mark-up fee is quite low compared to most secured and other low annual fee credit cards which come with 3.5% forex mark-up. Moreover, this card rewards the spends quite well through up to 1,000 bonus reward points every quarter on reaching an easily achievable spending milestone. Another spend-based benefit of domestic lounge access further lets the card users get a good value-back through this card.

Forex Mark-up Fee: 0.99%
Annual Fee: Rs. 999
Key Features and Benefits:
This ICICI Bank credit card is co-branded with a popular travel booking platform. It comes with up to 6% savings on MMT travel spends in the form of myCash that can be redeemed against travel bookings made on the associated platform – MakeMyTrip. Not just MMT, cardholders can also save through up to 4% cashback on travel and other spends on iShop platform. Low spending requirement for MMTBLACK tier upgrade, minimal forex markup and complimentary lounge access add to the travel savings, thus making this card a fit in for frequent travellers who are also MMT loyalists.

Forex Mark-up Fee: 0.99%
Annual Fee: Rs. 4,999
Key Features and Benefits:
Suggested Read: Best Credit Cards for International Travel

Forex Mark-up Fee: 1%
Annual Fee: Rs. 2,999
Key Features and Benefits:

Forex Mark-up Fee: 1%
Annual Fee: Rs. 4,999
Key Features and Benefits:
This YES BANK credit card offers benefits related to varied lifestyle needs, like online shopping, travel, dining and entertainment. With up to 4.5% savings through rewards on online spends and 2.25% savings on offline spends, this card competes well with other premium credit cards like HDFC DC Black credit card which offers up to 3.33% value-back as rewards. This card offers benefits beyond its annual charges through rewards as well as other travel and lifestyle spends, making it suitable for travellers, online shoppers, and high-spenders.
| Credit Cards | Forex Mark-up |
| AmpliFi Fi-Federal Credit Card | Nil |
| Axis Bank Burgundy Private Credit Card | Nil |
| YES BANK Private Credit Card | 0.50% |
| HSBC Premier Credit Card | 0.99% |
Q. Are zero forex mark-up credit cards completely free of foreign transaction charges?
A. Yes, zero forex mark-up credit cards do not charge any fee on foreign currency transactions. However, all credit card cash withdrawals come with additional charges.
Q. Which ICICI credit card has zero forex mark-up?
A. ICICI Bank does not offer credit cards with zero forex mark-up charges, however, MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Credit Card comes with a reduced forex mark-up fee of 0.99%.
Q. Do zero forex markup credit cards still attract GST or other taxes?
A. If a credit card does not come with any forex mark-up fee, your foreign currency transactions will not attract any taxes that are generally associated with the fee either. However, additional charges apply on foreign currency cash withdrawals made using a zero forex mark-up card.
Q. Who should apply for a zero forex mark-up credit card?
A. The customers who frequently travel abroad or make international purchases should consider applying for a zero forex mark-up credit card to save on additional charges and reduce the total cost.
Q. Can I use a zero forex mark-up credit card for online international purchases?
A. Yes, you can use zero forex mark-up credit cards for online international purchases.
Q. Do zero forex mark-up credit cards offer reward points on foreign spends?
A. Yes, the reward program of zero forex mark-up credit cards generally includes reward points earnings on foreign spends.
Q. What is the difference between zero forex mark-up and low forex mark-up credit cards?
A. Primarily, most credit cards come with a forex mark-up fee of 3.5% of the international transaction amount. On the contrary, zero forex mark-up credit cards do not come with any such charges and low forex mark-up credit cards are those which charge a reduced fee, generally below 3.5% but more than zero.
Q. Do zero forex mark-up credit cards have higher annual fees?
A. No, credit cards across the annual fee range can come with zero forex mark-up fee. For instance, cards with zero forex mark-up fee include lifetime free cards like Federal Bank Scapia and ixigo AU, along with cards with higher annual fees, like RBL World Safari and Axis Burgundy Private.
Q. Can students or first-time users get a zero forex markup credit card?
A. Yes, students and first-time users can get certain zero forex mark-up credit cards. Even if they are not eligible for unsecured credit card options, some secured credit cards can also be considered. For instance, IDFC FIRST WOW! comes with zero forex mark-up and AU NOMO comes with a reduced forex mark-up of 0.99%.
Q. Which zero forex mark-up credit card is the best for frequent travellers?
A. While zero forex mark-up credit cards can be a good option for all frequent international travellers, the best-suited option should be chosen based on overall card features and the card’s value-back potential based on your spending patterns.
Q. Do zero forex mark-up cards support international ATM cash withdrawals?
A. Yes, you can use zero forex mark-up credit cards for international ATM cash withdrawals. But you should keep in mind that similar to general credit cards, such cash withdrawals using zero forex mark-up cards are also accompanied with a one-time withdrawal fee and high interest charges from the day of withdrawal.