Lifetime Free credit cards are usually the most popular credit cards. And for good reason – decent rewards and no commitment on fixed annual spending to get a waiver. There are many LTF credit cards in the market but not everything is worth your time and energy. Here is a list of the best lifetime free credit cards that you can apply for today.
List of Best Lifetime Free Credit Cards
Axis Bank Neo Credit Card – Limited Time Offer
Axis Bank is running an LTF offer on its Neo credit card. It is an entry-level offering with a low reward rate but has got some decent discount offers on partner merchants like Zomato and Amazon Pay.
- Reward Rate: 0.1%
- Best Use: Discount offers on Zomato, Amazon Pay, Blinkit
- Lounge Access: Not Available
IDFC First Bank Credit Cards
IDFC First Bank has some of the best lifetime free credit cards today in the market. All four variants (Millennia, Select, Classic, and Wealth) are LTF and offer decent rewards. We also get complimentary railway, airport lounge access, and roadside assistance among other benefits.
- Reward Rate: Up to 2.5%
- Best Use: 10X rewards, Online Spends
- Lounge Access: Both Airport and Railway Lounge depending on variant
Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card
ICICI Bank does not offer many lifetime free credit cards. But its best LTF offering is the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank credit card. If offers between 2% to 5% unlimited rewards on Amazon spends and 1% on all other spends. Unlimited rewards can add up to a significant amount for Amazon purchases alone. If you don’t have Infinia/DCB, this is the card to have for Amazon India shopping. This is a LTF credit card with one of the best rewards rate in India.
- Reward Rate: 1% to 5%
- Reward Redemption: Amazon Pay Gift Voucher
- Best Use: Use on Amazon India to get 5% for Prime customer and 3% for non-Prime customer
- Lounge Access: Not Available
HSBC Visa Platinum Credit Card
Entry-level lifetime free credit cards that have Airmiles as a redemption option? Good to be true but we have the HSBC Platinum credit card with just that. The USP of this card is reward redemption for Airmiles and Hotel Loyalty memberships. We can transfer accumulated rewards on this card in a 1:1 ratio to Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer and British Airways Avios.
- Reward Rate: 1.3% to 3%
- Reward Redemption: Statement credit and Airmiles
- Best Use: Spend more than Rs 4 Lakhs for 5X Rewards and transfer to travel partners
- Lounge Access: Only for the first year
OneCard – Metal LTF Credit Card
OneCard is one of the most popular entry-level lifetime free credit cards even today. The USP of this card is its metal form factor – something we see only on super-premium credit cards. While the reward rate is a little low, we get some good spending offers that boost the reward rate. Plus, we also have some good merchant offers on Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, Flipkart, etc. that will help you save.
- Reward Rate: 0.2% to 1%
- Reward Redemption: Statement credit
- Best Use: Merchant and Spend Offers
- Lounge Access: Not Available
IndusInd Bank Legend Credit Card
IndusInd Legend credit card is now offered Lifetime Free and you should get this card to avail IndusInd Bank merchant offers along with other benefits.
- Reward Rate: 0.5% to 1.5%
- Reward Redemption: Statement credit
- Best Use: Spend and merchant offers
- Lounge Access: Complimentary airport domestic lounge access
AU Bank LIT Credit Card
The AU Bank LIT credit card is an interesting LTF offering. The standard reward rate is only 0.25% but it has several features that can be activated at extra charges. These features together can take the reward rate to as much as 12.5% on some spends.
- Reward Rate: 0.2%
- Reward Redemption: Statement credit
- Best Use: Activate features on demand to get extra cashback and reward points
- Lounge Access: Not complimentary but feature pack can be activated at extra cost
AU Bank Xcite Credit Card
All three AU Bank Xcite range cards are lifetime free (LTF) credit cards. The Xcite is the base variant of the new Xcite range of credit cards from AU Bank. You can get the Xcite range of credit cards through online card to card applications based on the limit of your existing credit card.
- Reward Rate: 0.2% to 3%
- Reward Redemption: Gift vouchers including Amazon GV
- Best Use: Dining, Movie, Grocery and Departmental Stores Spends
- Lounge Access: Only railway lounge access
AU Bank Xcite Ace Credit Card
The Xcite Ace is a cashback credit card targeted at Axis Ace users who prefer simple cashback for rewards.
- Reward Rate: 1% to 3%
- Reward Redemption: Statement Credit
- Best Use: Spend Rs 20,000 to get up to 3% cashback on spends
- Lounge Access: 2 visits/quarter to IRCTC railway lounges and 2 visits/quarter to domestic airport lounges
AU Bank Xcite Ultra Credit Card
The Xcite Ultra is the top most variant and offers good return on international transactions. This credit card offers some excellent rewards compared to most other cards in this list.
- Reward Rate: 1% to 3%
- Reward Redemption: Redeem rewards for vouchers including Amazon Pay GV
- Best Use: International Spends
- Lounge Access: 2 visits/quarter to IRCTC railway lounges and 2 visits/quarter to domestic airport lounges
Scapia Federal Bank Credit Card
So many lifetime free (LTF) credit cards but Scapia is another unique offering. It is another co-branded credit card like OneCard in this list. It is issued in partnership with Federal Bank and offers zero forex markup on international spends.
- Reward Rate: 2% to 4%
- Reward Redemption: Travel bookings on Scapia app
- Best Use: International Spends
- Lounge Access: Unlimited domestic airport lounge access
Our Pick from the best Lifetime Free Credit Cards
With all the buzz around premium credit cards, we often don’t think about lifetime free credit cards. But, LTF credit cards have their own space. They are a good fit for customers who are starting out with their credit card journey. What better way to experience how useful credit cards can be than a no strings attached LTF card?
If we had to get 2 cards from this list of best lifetime free credit cards, our picks would be:
- IDFC First Bank Select or Wealth: These two variants offer good benefits and rewards. So, if you get an offer to apply for one of these, then go ahead.
- Scapia: This one gives you zero forex markup and also gives you unlimited complimentary airport lounge access with Rs 5000 spend.
While there are many more LTF credit cards in the market, the above are the best ones for rewards and benefits.
Any other credit card that you feel should be on this list? Do comment and share.
4 thoughts on “10+ Best Lifetime Free Credit Cards in India”
I think foreign markup fee on OneCard has been increased to 1% recently.
Thanks Varun. That was a typo. It is fixed now.
Any Card recos for offline Jewellary purchase?
SC Ultimate is one of the safest bets