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Credit cards are used by every category of people nowadays ranging from young professionals to high net-worth individuals. Some super-premium credit cards have a high joining fee while some mid-range cards have a lower joining fee, offering exclusive privileges and benefits to users. You can even get cards without any joining or renewal fees. Even though these cards don’t charge anything, they still offer some exciting hotel, dining, travel, entertainment, and other benefits. These cards also come in handy for people who want a credit card to improve their credit score and don’t plan on heavy use of their card.
Earlier the Shoppers Stop HDFC Bank credit card was lifetime free but now there aren’t any cards that are available at zero joining or annual charges. Although it is worth mentioning that from time to time HDFC does offer lifetime free credit cards to its users. Recently many have received the offer for a lifetime free Swiggy HDFC Credit Card. In this article, we will talk about all the low-fee credit cards offered by HDFC Bank.
Table of Contents
HDFC Bank Credit Cards – Joining Fee Below Rs. 500
Joining Fee
Renewal Fee
Best Suited For
Shopping
Reward Type
Reward Points
Welcome Benefits
Card Details +
This card is co-branded by HDFC Bank and Tata Group and is ideal for loyal customers of both these brands. The card has a joining fee of Rs. 500 and offers 2% value back on TATA brand spends in the form of NeuCoins. Other than rewards, you also get benefits across other categories.
- 499 NeuCoins as a welcome benefit
- 2% value back as NeuCoins on Tata brand spends
- 1% value back as NeuCoins on other brand spends
- Extra 5% value back as NeuCoins on registering for Tata NeuPass
- Complimentary domestic lounge access
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver and spend-based renewal fee waiver
Joining Fee
Renewal Fee
Best Suited For
Dining | Food
Reward Type
Cashback
Welcome Benefits
Card Details +
The Swiggy HDFC Credit Card is available at a joining fee of Rs. 500. This card is a must-have for foodies and Swiggy loyalists. By spending Rs. 2 lakh in a card anniversary year this card can be made lifetime free. You would earn 10% cashback as Swiggy Money on all spends across Swiggy and would even receive a 3-month complimentary membership to Swiggy One. Apart from this, you would also earn 5% cashback across online brands like Nykaa, BookMyShow, Ola, Myntra, Amazon, Uber, Adidas and more.
Joining Fee
Renewal Fee
Best Suited For
Fuel
Reward Type
Reward Points
Welcome Benefits
Card Details +
This co-branded fuel card by Indian Oil and HDFC Bank has a joining fee of Rs. 500 and offers fuel points as rewards which can be used to get around 50 litres of fuel per year. Cardholders also get an Indian XTRAREWARDS Program membership through which you can redeem fuel points at a decent rate and against a host of options.
- Complimentary Indian Oil XTRAREWARDS Program membership
- 5% back as fuel points at Indian Oil outlets, bill payments, and groceries
- 1 fuel point per Rs. 150 on other spends
- Up to 50 liters of free fuel per year
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver and spend-based renewal fee waiver
Joining Fee
Renewal Fee
Best Suited For
Travel
Reward Type
Reward Points
Welcome Benefits
Card Details +
This co-branded card by IRCTC and HDFC Bank comes with a joining fee of Rs. 500 and offers a decent reward rate of 5 Cash Points per Rs. 100 spent. You can redeem Cash Points against various options and get complimentary access to railway lounges per quarter. If you frequently travel by rail, this is a great card for you.
- Rs. 500 worth of Amazon vouchers as a welcome benefit
- 1 Cash Point per Rs. 100 on retail spends
- 5 Cash Points on your IRCTC spends
- Complimentary railway lounge access
- Spend-based renewal fee waiver and 1% fuel surcharge waiver
Joining Fee
Renewal Fee
Best Suited For
Shopping
Reward Type
Reward Points
Welcome Benefits
Card Details +
This credit card is like the better version of the Moneyback credit card. Both cards have the same joining fee of Rs. 500 but this card has a better reward rate as you can earn up to 20 CashPoints per Rs. 150 spent with the card. The card even offers gift vouchers, dining benefits, fuel benefits, and many more privileges to the cardholder
- 500 Cashpoints as a welcome benefit
- 2 Cashpoints per Rs. 150 spent
- 5x Cashpoints on EMI transactions
- 10x Cashpoints on spends at partner brands including Reliance Smart Store, Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, BigBasket, etc.
- Rs. 500 worth of gift vouchers on reaching the quarterly spending milestone
- 15% dining discount at top restaurants across the country
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver and spend-based renewal fee waiver
Joining Fee
Renewal Fee
Best Suited For
Shopping
Reward Type
Reward Points
Welcome Benefits
Card Details +
Cardholders can link this credit card to their UPI IDs and use the card to make UPI transactions on apps like Mobikwik, PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, etc. This card is the first one that can be linked to your UPI ID and it offers up to 3% cashback on regular as well UPI transactions. You just get the virtual version of this card and no physical card is issued.
- 3% Cashpoints on grocery, supermarket, dining, and PayZapp spends
- 2% Cashpoints on your Utility spends
- 1% Cashpoints on all other spends
- Spend-based renewal fee waiver
Benefits of HDFC Bank Lifetime Free Credit Cards
The following are the basic features and privileges that you can get with HDFC Bank lifetime free and other affordable, low joining fees credit cards –
- You do not need to pay any joining, annual, or renewal fees for this credit card.
- The application process for these credit cards is really simple and straightforward.
- These cards may not be on par with some other super-premium and mid-range credit card offerings by HDFC Bank, but they still have multiple discounts and deals for the cardholder.
- You get exclusive privileges across hotel/flight bookings, dining, travel, entertainment, lifestyle, fuel, and other categories.
- You can do multiple tasks with lifetime free credit cards and one of its top uses is to improve your credit score and build a decent credit history.
- The reward points and the redemption process on these cards are straightforward and amazing. You can redeem reward points against many products or vouchers, convert them to airmiles, cashback against the card statement balance, and more.
- Once you build a good credit history and score using your lifetime free card, you can apply for and move on to other premium credit cards.
Eligibility and Documents Required
You must meet certain eligibility requirements to apply for the HDFC Bank lifetime free credit cards. These are some basic requirements and are common for most credit cards.
- Applicant must be 21 to 60 years of age in case of salaried, and 21 to 65 years of age in case of self-employed people.
- Applicant must be an Indian citizen.
- Applicant must have a decent credit score
- Applicant must have a stable source of income.
You must provide the following documents whenever you apply for a lifetime free credit card. A recent photograph must also be provided along with the following documents –
- ID Proof – Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Driver’s License, Passport, etc.
- Address Proof – Aadhar Card, Rent Agreement, Ration Card, Passport, Latest Utility Bills, etc.
- Income Proof – Salaried individuals need to provide the latest 2 months’ salary slips and bank statements. Self-employed individuals need to provide their audited ITR of the previous year.
All the documents provided must be valid and original. The credit card application will be rejected in case any documents are invalid or fake.
Credit Cards Comparison
In the following table, we will compare some of the best and most popular HDFC Bank lifetime free and some other affordable, low joining fee credit cards.
| Category | HDFC Bank MoneyBack Plus Credit Card | IndianOil HDFC Bank Credit Card | Tata Neu Plus HDFC Bank Credit Card |
| Joining/Annual Fee | Rs. 500 plus taxes | Rs. 500 plus taxes | Rs. 500 plus taxes |
| Welcome Benefit | You get 500 Cash points on joining the card, and on card renewal, as a welcome benefit. | Complimentary Indian Oil XTRAREWARDS Program membership | 499 NeuCoins as a welcome benefit |
| Reward Earning | 2 Cashpoints per Rs. 150 spent 5x Cashpoints on EMI transactions 10x Cashpoints on spends at partner brands including Reliance Smart Store, Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, BigBasket, etc. | Get up to 5% of your purchases as Fuel Points at IndianOil outlets, groceries, and bill payments You get 1 Fuel Point on every Rs. 150/- spent on all other purchases and at other fuel stations | 2% back as NeuCoins while shopping at Tata brands. 1% back as NeuCoins while shopping at Non-Tata brands. Additional 5% back as NewCoins on Tata Neu app or website after registering for Tata NeuPass |
| Reward Redemption | Reward points can be redeemed against statement balance, flight/hotel bookings, products and vouchers, and Airmiles, where 1 Cash Point = Rs. 0.25 | Reward points can be redeemed against the IndianOil XTRAREWARDS program, against the product catalog, and against the card statement balance | NeuCoins can be redeemed against products on the Tata Neu app or website, where 1 NeuCoin = Rs. 1 |
| Dining/Movie Benefits | You get a discount of up to 15% on dining across more than 2,000 premium restaurants | Save up to 2.5% on your dining bills with the credit card | N/A |
| Travel Benefits | N/A | N/A | 1 complimentary domestic lounge access per quarter |
| Spend-Based Waiver | Renewal fee is waived on spending Rs. 50,000 or above in the previous year | Renewal fee is waived on spending Rs. 50,000 or above in the previous year | Renewal fee is waived on spending Rs. 1 Lakh or above in the previous year |
How to Apply for HDFC Bank Lifetime Free Credit Cards?
Follow these steps to apply for HDFC Bank lifetime free credit cards or other variants –
- Go through the details and features of the card of your choice.
- Click on Apply Now.
- You shall be redirected to the official application page.
- Provide the necessary details, submit the required documents, and your application will be successful.
You shall also be required to complete a video KYC in order to successfully submit your application.
Bottom Line
If you are someone who doesn’t plan on extensive use of the credit card and just want it to improve your credit score and history, then HDFC Bank lifetime free credit cards are perfect for you. These cards won’t offer top-class privileges like some super-premium cards but you do get exciting rewards and benefits on making transactions with your lifetime free card.
Several HDFC credit cards come with a spend-based renewal fee waiver which can make your card free of cost for you. Other than this HDFC rolls out various lifetime free offers from time to time. Let us know in the comments section below if you plan on using any HDFC Bank lifetime free credit card.