ENTRY-LEVEL CARDS — 4 CARDS
Best First Credit Cards in India 2026
Best entry-level credit cards in India for first-time applicants. Low eligibility requirements, lifetime free options, and simple reward structures.
Your first credit card should be easy to get approved for, cheap or free to hold, and simple to use responsibly while you build a credit history. Entry-level cards have lower income and CIBIL requirements, often come lifetime-free, and keep reward structures straightforward.
Used well — paying the full bill every month — a first card builds the credit score you’ll need for premium cards and loans later. Avoid high-fee cards until you know your spending. The beginner-friendly entry-level cards below are our editors’ picks for a first card, strongest first.
Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card
ICICI · VISA
Lifetime Free
annual fee
● BEST FOR: 1% cashback on all spends
Annual fee
Joining fee
Base reward
Forex markup
Min income
The Amazon Pay ICICI card is still the most frictionless cashback card in the country and the top pick for beginners — lifetime-free, with 5% back on Amazon for Prime members (3% for non-Prime), 2% where you log in and pay with Amazon Pay at partner merchants such as BigBasket and Swiggy, and 1% on most other spends, all paid instantly as spendable Amazon Pay balance with nothing to manage. The catch in 2026 is the fine print: fuel, rent, EMIs, cash, education, tax payments, international, gold and silver earn nothing, and since 11 Oct 2025 nor do utility bills paid outside Amazon. January 2026 added transaction fees too (1% on wallet loads of ₹5,000 or more, 2% on skill-based gaming, 1% on transport transactions over ₹50,000). Still excellent — just no longer untouchable.
Why it stands out Lifetime-free, 5% on Amazon for Prime members (3% non-Prime) + 2% at Amazon Pay merchants — paid instantly as Amazon Pay balance
Best suited for Anyone with Amazon Prime who shops on Amazon regularly. The 5% is instant and automatic; non-Prime members still get 3% — the best Amazon rate on any no-fee card. Just not for fuel, rent, international spends or utility bills paid to the biller, which earn nothing.
IDFC FIRST Millennia Credit Card
IDFC · VISA
Lifetime Free
annual fee
● BEST FOR: 1.25% reward points on Dining
Annual fee
Joining fee
Top reward
Welcome bonus
Forex markup
Min income
The IDFC FIRST Millennia is a lifetime-free entry card with decent online rewards, but its real distinction is among the lowest interest-rate floors in India — from 0.71%/month (8.5% p.a.), risk-priced up to 3.85%/month (46.2% p.a.), versus a ~42% p.a. industry norm. It earns 10X (~1.25%) on dining, travel and international spends, 3X on all other spends and 1X on utilities/insurance/railway/FASTag (points worth ₹0.25 each). For a first card, that low-interest safety net matters more than a slightly higher cashback rate. The June 2026 revision was mixed — points now expire after 24 months and earning is capped to your credit limit per cycle, but 10X on dining, travel and international no longer needs any minimum spend. (The old 6X-online accelerator had already been cut to 3X on 1 May 2024.) Get it for the safety margin; let a category card handle pure rewards.
Why it stands out Interest from 0.71%/month (8.5% p.a.) — risk-priced up to 3.85% — on a lifetime-free first card
Best suited for For students and young professionals who want a free first card with a genuine low-interest safety net for months when full payment is not possible. Use a category card alongside it for higher everyday rewards.
IDFC FIRST WOW! Credit Card
IDFC · VISA
Lifetime Free
annual fee
● BEST FOR: 0.5% reward points on all spends
Annual fee
Joining fee
Base reward
Forex markup
IDFC FIRST WOW is a secured credit card backed by a Fixed Deposit — the only way to get a credit card with no income proof and no credit history. Lifetime free, linked to UPI, and earns rewards like a regular card. The FD continues to earn interest while the card builds your credit score.
Why it stands out FD-backed credit card — no income proof, no credit history needed
Best suited for For people who have been rejected for a regular credit card due to no credit history — new employees, self-employed professionals, or anyone starting their credit journey. The FD-backed card gives you all card benefits while your FD earns 7%+ interest simultaneously.
Axis Bank SUPERMONEY RuPay Credit Card
Issued by Axis Bank · RUPAY
Lifetime Free
annual fee
● BEST FOR: 1% cashback on all spends
Annual fee
Joining fee
Base reward
Forex markup
Fuel waiver
Min income
The Axis SUPERMONEY is a lifetime-free RuPay card built by Axis Bank with the super.money app for one job — earning cashback on UPI. Link it to the super.money app and UPI payments earn 3% cashback; everything else earns a 1% base. Effective 1 January 2026 the old flat ₹500/month total cashback cap was removed: the 1% base is now uncapped, and the accelerated 3% is instead capped at the cashback you earn from all your other spends that cycle, with a ₹100 floor if those come to less than ₹100. Transactions under ₹100 do not earn. There is no joining or annual fee, a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on ₹400–₹4,000 fuel transactions (max ₹400/cycle), and the usual RuPay convenience of paying from any UPI app without carrying the card. For a free card that pays you to scan QR codes, it is among the most useful RuPay/UPI cashback cards going.
Why it stands out Lifetime-free RuPay/UPI card — 3% cashback on UPI payments through the super.money app and 1% on everything else, with the 1% base now uncapped (since Jan 2026)
Best suited for UPI-first spenders who want cashback on PhonePe/GPay-style QR payments at zero cost, and are happy to route spends through the super.money app for the 3% rate. Best as a secondary everyday-UPI card alongside a primary rewards card — but check you can actually get it first, because Axis states that for existing Axis Bank customers this card is available only to Axis Bank Flipkart Credit Card holders.
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Recent changes to these cards
The latest source-verified changes to the cards ranked above, from their value timelines. A strong entry-level cards card can be devalued overnight — this is how each pick has actually behaved.
Dynamic currency conversion markup more than doubles to 3.5%
1.5% + GST→3.5% + GST
Axis Bank raised the dynamic currency conversion mark-up from 1.5% to 3.5% plus GST. DCC applies when an overseas merchant offers to bill you in rupees instead of the local currency, and it stacks on top of the usual foreign-currency mark-up. Declining the rupee option at the terminal and paying in the local currency avoids the charge entirely.
Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
In-app travel accelerators trimmed (hotels & flights)
33% bonus on hotels, 13% bonus on flights→20% bonus on hotels, 10% bonus on flights
From 18 June 2026 the accelerated reward points on travel booked through the IDFC FIRST Bank app were cut for the Millennia — hotel bookings from a 33% bonus to 20%, and flight bookings from a 13% bonus to 10% — reducing a bounded upside for customers who book travel in-app.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
Points get 24-month expiry + credit-limit earn cap
Points never expired; no per-cycle earn cap→24-month expiry; rewards capped to credit limit per cycle
Reward points credited from the July 2026 statement cycle now expire 24 months after being earned (previously lifetime-valid), and points accrue only on spends up to the assigned credit limit in a billing cycle. The FIRST Millennia was explicitly named among the affected cards. Existing balances stay redeemable for 24 months from the July 2026 cycle.
Verification: IDFC FIRST Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
FASTag & railway spends cut to 1X, plus high-usage fees
Earned at card rate, counted toward 10X threshold→1X only; excluded from 10X threshold; 1% high-usage fee
Under a portfolio-wide fair-usage revision effective 18 January 2026, FASTag recharges and railway spends earn only 1X and no longer count toward the 10X threshold. A 1% fee (plus GST) now applies if FASTag recharges exceed ₹10,000 or railway spends exceed ₹25,000 in a billing cycle. The same notice added that no reward points accrue for a cycle if the Minimum Amount Due is not paid by the due date.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
Second base-earn cut — re-pegged from ₹150 to ₹200, FASTag/railway to 1X
4 pts / ₹150→4 pts / ₹200
Effective 18 Jan 2026 IDFC FIRST revised the WOW's reward-earning base again, from one block per ₹150 to per ₹200 — so 4X now means 4 points per ₹200 (~0.5%) and 1X means 1 point per ₹200. The same notice downgraded FASTag (MCC 4784) and railway (MCC 4111/4112) spends to 1X. This is the state the current card-data reflects.
Verification: IDFC FIRST Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Show 10 more changes
New wallet, gaming & transport transaction fees
No such fees→1% wallet loads ≥₹5,000; 2% skill-based gaming; 1% transport >₹50,000
As part of ICICI's portfolio-wide 2026 revision, the card added a 1% fee on wallet-load transactions of ₹5,000 or more (MCC 6540), a 2% fee on skill-based gaming transactions (MCC 5816), and a 1% fee on any transport transaction exceeding ₹50,000 (MCC 4111/4112/4784/4131). All three thresholds are per transaction, not per month. Note the card remains exempt from the reward-side e-wallet-reload exclusion, so a wallet load still earns the 1% base — it just costs 1% to make.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Rent, high-fuel and third-party-education payments pick up 1% fees
None→1% on rent (min ₹249); 1% on fuel above ₹30,000/cycle; 1% on education via third-party apps (min ₹249)
IDFC FIRST's 2026 fee schedule added a 1% Rent and Property Management fee (minimum ₹249 a transaction, MCC 6513), a 1% fee on statement-cycle fuel spends above ₹30,000, and a 1% fee (minimum ₹249) on education payments routed through third-party apps. These sit alongside the earlier FASTag/toll (above ₹10,000/cycle) and railway (above ₹25,000/cycle) fees. None of them applies to the FIRST Private card.
Verification: IDFC FIRST Bank ↗ · Confidence: Reconstructed
3% super.money UPI cashback throttled to 1× base earn; sub-₹100 spends excluded
Bounded only by the ₹500 total cap→Capped at 1× the base cashback earned that cycle; sub-₹100 txns earn nothing
From 1 January 2026 (announced 10 December 2025) the 3% super.money-app UPI cashback is capped at the total cashback earned from all other 1% spends in the same billing cycle — with a ₹100 floor if those other earnings are under ₹100 — and transactions below ₹100 no longer earn any cashback. This sharply throttles reward for UPI-only users who spend little elsewhere.
Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Flat ₹500 monthly cashback cap removed — 1% base now uncapped
Flat ₹500 per statement cycle (all cashback)→1% base cashback uncapped
Announced 10 December 2025 and effective 1 January 2026, Axis scrapped the old flat ₹500-per-cycle total cashback cap. The 1% base cashback on all non-app spends became uncapped, a clear gain for cardholders with high everyday (non-super.money-app) spending.
Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Cashback exclusion list widened — education, international AND off-Amazon utilities
Near-universal 1% base earn→Education, international and utilities paid outside Amazon excluded; gold/silver, tax, fuel, rent, EMI and cash already were
Clauses 11 and 12 of ICICI's Amazon Pay card T&C add two exclusions with effect from 11 Oct 2025: education and international transactions earn no Reward Points, and — the change most coverage missed — utility transactions made OUTSIDE the Amazon platform earn nothing either. Clause 13 (fuel, gold, silver, any precious metal and any tax-related payment) and clause 17 (EMI, EMI-on-call and cash) restate exclusions that already applied, and rent went in June 2024. Two things survive: insurance premiums still earn the 1% base, and non-tax GOVERNMENT MCCs still earn, because this card is the MITC's named exception to the rule that reclassifies government spend as a utility payment. The 'unlimited cashback' proposition narrowed to Amazon, Amazon Pay checkout and a shrinking base.
Verification: ICICI Bank (card Terms & Conditions) ↗ · Confidence: High
Forex markup slashed 3.5% to 1.99%
3.50%→1.99%
Alongside a 7-year partnership renewal, ICICI cut the foreign-currency markup from 3.5% to 1.99%, repositioning the no-fee card as usable for international/travel spends. The 5% Prime / 3% non-Prime core rates were left unchanged.
Verification: ICICI Bank (press release) ↗ · Confidence: High
Launch promo — 100% cashback up to ₹500 on the first Flipkart UPI spend
A one-time launch offer gave 100% cashback (capped at ₹500) on the first eligible super.money-app UPI transaction on Flipkart, valid 1–30 June 2025. A new-cardholder onboarding promo, not a recurring benefit — it lapsed at the end of June 2025.
Verification: super.money ↗ · Confidence: High
Axis Bank & super.money launch the SUPERMONEY RuPay Credit Card
Axis Bank and super.money (Flipkart Group's credit-first UPI platform) launched this lifetime-free RuPay card on 22 May 2025: 3% cashback on 'Scan & Pay' UPI made through the super.money app, 1% on all other spends, a flat ₹500-per-statement-cycle total cashback cap, and a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on ₹400–₹4,000 fuel spends (max ₹400/cycle). No joining or annual fee, and as a RuPay card it links to UPI apps so you pay by scanning QR codes.
Verification: Axis Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Rent payments dropped from rewards
1% reward on rent→0% on rent
Rent transactions stopped earning the 1% reward with a 30-day RBI-mandated notice; the same change also disabled the option to part-pay other purchases using Amazon Pay balance. Fuel surcharge waiver was unaffected.
Verification: ICICI Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Online rate halved 6X to 3X; threshold exclusions widened
6X on online spends up to ₹20,000/month→3X on online spends up to ₹20,000/month
Effective 1 May 2024 online spends up to ₹20,000/month were cut from 6X to 3X reward points; the 10X incremental rate above ₹20,000 was retained. Education, wallet-load and government-services spends were set to 3X and excluded from the 10X threshold, and a 1% + GST surcharge was added on utility spends above ₹20,000 in a cycle. The FIRST Millennia was named among the affected cards.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High
Same change also applies here to IDFC FIRST WOW! Credit Card.
Same change also applies here to IDFC FIRST WOW! Credit Card.
How this list has changed
Our picks move when the cards do — these are CardAdvisor’s own list updates, dated, with the reason. They are editorial decisions, not issuer events.
- 14 Aug 2026 · Removed Idfc First Classic — It is a mid-tier card, and our recommender only shows entry-tier cards to first-card users — the page contradicted the engine beside it. Its entry-tier twin takes the slot.
- 14 Aug 2026 · Added IDFC FIRST Millennia Credit Card — The entry-tier twin of the FIRST Classic: lifetime-free, the same low-APR safety net, approving from a 650 credit score.
- 14 Aug 2026 · Added Axis Bank SUPERMONEY RuPay Credit Card — Entry-tier, lifetime-free, RuPay-UPI linked with 1% uncapped cashback — the UPI-first beginner card.