By Ankur Mittal
Updated On June 23, 2023

The Kotak Mahindra Bank has over 2.5 million customers in our country with more than 300 branches spread everywhere. To fulfil the needs and requirements of people, the bank offers different products like life insurance, mutual funds, stockbroking, etc. The bank also has an admirable range of credit cards across various categories with exceptional benefits and features.

Kotak Mahindra bank launched credit cards in 2008 and their portfolio includes super-premium, travel, fuel, and even lifetime free credit cards. If you are new to credit, instead of premium cards with high fees and top-end features, you should go for a lifetime free or low annual fee credit card that helps you build a better credit score.

In this article, we will talk about Kotak Mahindra Bank lifetime free credit cards and other variants that charge a low, nominal annual fee.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Lifetime Free Credit Cards Post
Table of Contents

Kotak Mahindra Bank Lifetime Free Credit Cards

Kotak-811- DreamDifferent-Credit-Card

(4.2/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Nil

Renewal Fee

Nil

Best Suited For

Shopping

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

Welcome benefit in the form of 500 Bonus Reward Points

Kotak Bank Fortune Gold Card

(3.9/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Nil

Renewal Fee

Nil

Best Suited For

Shopping

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

NA

Metro-Kotak-Credit-Card

(4.5/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Nil

Renewal Fee

Nil

Best Suited For

Shopping

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

Rs. 500 cashback on making a single transaction worth Rs. 10,000 or more within the first 30 days.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Credit Cards – Joining Fee Below Rs. 500

kotak 811 credit card

(4.5/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Rs. 500 (plus applicable taxes)

Renewal Fee

Rs. 500 (plus applicable taxes)

Best Suited For

Shopping

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

500 Bonus Reward Points on expenditure of Rs. 5,000 within 45 days of card issuance.

Kotak League Platinum

(4.3/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Rs 499 plus applicable taxes

Renewal Fee

Rs 499 plus applicable taxes

Best Suited For

Movies

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

Get a movie voucher worth Rs 500 on payment of the joining fee

Kotak Urbane Gold Credit Card

(4.5/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Nil

Renewal Fee

Rs. 199 (plus applicable taxes)

Best Suited For

Shopping

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

NA

IndianOil Kotak Credit Card

(4.5/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Rs. 449 plus taxes

Renewal Fee

Rs. 449 plus taxes

Best Suited For

Fuel

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

Get 1000 Reward Points on spending Rs. 500 or more within 30 days of getting the card

Kotak Veer Platinum Credit Card

(4.5/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Nil

Renewal Fee

Rs. 299 (plus applicable taxes)

Best Suited For

Shopping

Reward Type

Reward Points

Welcome Benefits

500 Reward Points if you spend Rs. 500 in the first 30 days of card set-up

Kotak Myntra Credit Card

(4.7/5)

Fees

Joining Fee

Rs. 500

Renewal Fee

Rs. 500

Best Suited For

Shopping

Reward Type

Cashback

Welcome Benefits

Myntra voucher worth Rs. 500 on making 1 transaction above Rs. 500 inside 30 days of card issuance

Lifetime Free Credit Cards by Kotak Mahindra Bank

Lifetime free credit cards by Kotak Mahindra come without any annual or joining fees. These cards are perfect for people who are not looking for elite-level privileges and rewards, and want an entry-level card to help develop their credit score and build good credit utilization habits.

The following are the top Kotak Mahindra Bank Lifetime Free credit cards which you can get –

Kotak 811 #DreamDifferent Credit Card

The Kotak 811 Dream Different secured credit card and you have to make a fixed deposit with the bank to get the card. It is a lifetime free offering and does not charge any joining or annual fee from the cardholder, and even offers reward points as a welcome benefit. You earn 1 reward points on every Rs. 100 spent with the card and 2x reward points on your online spends. You can even reward points as milestone benefits and redeem the points easily against a host of choices. Other benefits of the card include, movie tickets, cashback, fuel surcharge waiver, etc.

  • Secured lifetime free credit card without any joining or annual fee
  • 1 RP per Rs. 100 spent and 2x RPs on online spends
  • Bonus 500 reward points as a welcome benefit
  • Bonus reward points on reaching the spend milestones
  • 4 complimentary PVR movie tickets per year
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver
  • 8% railway surcharge waiver on IRCTC website booking and 2.5% waiver on bookings at railway counters

Kotak Bank Fortune Gold Credit Card

The Kotak Mahindra Bank Fortune Gold credit card is also a lifetime free offering by the bank and is powered by the Visa Business network. Even though the card does not have much rewards or high-end offerings for the cardholders, it does have decent privileges and benefits for the customers on the basis of their spends. The card offers cashback up to Rs. 750 and complimentary PVR movie tickets on spending Rs. 1.5 Lakhs or more in the card anniversary year. Apart from this, you get a fuel surcharge waiver and fraud protection cover up to Rs. 50,000 for the cardholder.

  • Lifetime free credit card without any joining or annual fee
  • 4 complimentary PVR movie tickets per year
  • Cashback oh up to Rs. 750 as a milestone benefit
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs. 500 to Rs. 3000
  • Zero liability fraud protection cover of Rs. 50,000 for the cardholder

Metro Kotak Credit Card

The Metro Kotak credit card is a great choice for hotel owners, caterers, and kirana store owners and it comes lifetime free with no joining or annual fees. The card is co-branded by Metro Wholesale and Kotak Mahindra Bank and is exclusively for people who shop at Metro Wholesale for their stores or businesses. You must have a Metro membership to be eligible for this card and it offers 1% cashback up to Rs. 10000 per statement cycle on your spends. One thing you must know is that you cannot make fuel or international spends with this credit card as it is for Metro Wholesale purchases exclusively.

  • Lifetime free credit card without any joining or annual fee
  • The card is exclusively for Metro Wholesale members
  • Up to Rs. 500 cashback on making a single transaction of more than Rs. 10,000 within 30 days
  • 1% cashback on monthly spends of Rs. 5 Lakhs and more
  • 25-0.5% cashback on monthly spends of less than Rs. 5 Lakhs

Credit Cards with Joining Fee Below Rs. 500 by Kotak Mahindra Bank

Other than the lifetime free cards by Kotak Mahindra bank, there are several other affordable cards that have a joining fee of Rs. 500 or less than that. Let’s take a look at these credit cards –

Kotak 811 Credit Card

The Kotak 811 credit card is a beginner card launched by the bank recently and is similar to the secured Kotak 811 DreamDifferent credit card when it comes to the benefits and rewards offered by the card. The card has a low joining fee of Rs. 500 and offers you up to 0.5% reward rate on your online spends and up to 0.25% on your offline spends. You can also earn bonus reward points on reaching the spend milestone and other benefits like insurance cover, fuel surcharge waiver, etc. There are no travel benefits with the card but you can get complimentary movie tickets.

  • Bonus 500 reward points as welcome benefit on spends of Rs. 5000 or more in 45 days
  • 2 reward points per Rs. 100 spent online and 1 reward point per Rs. 100 spent offline
  • 4 PVR movie tickets on spending Rs. 75000 or above in a year
  • 8% surcharge waived at IRCTC online bookings and 2.5% surcharge waived at railway ticket counter bookings
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs. 500 to Rs. 3000
  • Lost card insurance cover of Rs. 50,000
  • Spend-based annual fee waiver

Kotak League Platinum Credit Card

The Kotak League Platinum credit card is another decent offering by Kotak Mahindra Bank that provides several benefits and rewards on your spends. When you pay the Rs. 500 joining fee of this card, you receive a Rs. 500 worth movie voucher as a welcome benefit. Also, when you spend Rs, 1,25,000 per six months, you get 4 complimentary PVR movie tickets or up to 10,000 bonus reward points. Other than this, the Kotak League Platinum credit card is packed with features like railway surcharge waiver, fuel surcharge waiver, spend-based renewal fee waiver, and more.

  • 500 worth movie voucher on paying the joining fee
  • 8x reward points on spending Rs. 2 Lakhs or more annually on special categories
  • 4x reward points on all other categories
  • Complimentary 4 PVR movie tickets or bonus 10,000 RPs on spends of Rs. 1,25,000 or more in six months
  • Zero liability protection cover worth Rs. 1,25,000
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver and spend-based annual fee waiver

PVR Kotak Gold Credit Card

A co-branded credit card by PVR cinemas and Kotak Mahindra Bank, the PVR Kotak Gold credit card is made for people who love going to movies regularly. The card comes at no joining fee and a renewal fee of Rs. 500 offering many decent spend-based offers on your movie spends. You get 1 PVR movie ticket on spending Rs. 10,000 and 2 PVR movie tickets on spending Rs. 15,000 per month. Not just tickets, the card also takes care of the popcorn for your movies. Even though, it is one of the best movie cards, it offers exclusive insurance, and food and beverage benefits.

  • 1 complimentary PVR movie ticket on spending Rs. 10,000 per month
  • 2 complimentary PVR movie tickets on spending Rs. 15,000 per month
  • The card does not have a joining fee and Rs. 500 renewal fee
  • Cashback of up to 15% on food and beverages at PVR outlets
  • 5% cashback on PVR box office movie tickets

Kotak Urbane Gold Credit Card

The Kotak Urbane Gold credit card is the perfect option for people who regularly shop because it provides decent rewards on most all purchases made with the card. You can get the card at no joining fees but will have to pay a renewal fee of Rs. 199. Even though the card has a very low fee, it offers some really nice benefits. You can earn 3x reward points on your retail spends and up to 4 PVR movie tickets or 10000 bonus reward points on spending Rs. 1 Lakh or more in the card anniversary year. The reward points earned on this card can be redeemed for movie tickets, shopping bills, mobile recharges, and more.

  • 3x reward points per Rs. 100 spent on retail
  • Bonus 10,000 reward points or 4 PVR tickets as a welcome benefit
  • Insurance coverage in case of lost card and credit shield cover
  • Added benefits on the add-on credit card

IndianOil Kotak Credit Card

Kotak Mahindra bank and Indian Oil partnered to launch their co-branded IndianOil Kotak fuel credit card that comes at a joining fee of Rs. 449. It is an entry-level credit card which is perfect for people who regularly refuel their vehicles and are new to the credit card industry. Cardholders are rewarded everytime they refuel their vehicles at Indian Oil outlets across the country and also on their dining, grocery, and some other spends with the card. The card offers you a chance to earn up to 60 litre of fuel every year free of cost.

  • 1000 reward points as welcome benefit on spending Rs. 500 within 30 days
  • 24 reward points per Rs. 150 spent at IndianOil outlets and 12 reward points per Rs. 150 on dining and grocery
  • 3 reward points per Rs. 150 spent elsewhere
  • Personal accident insurance cover of up to Rs. 2 Lakhs
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver and spend-based annual fee waiver

Kotak Veer Platinum Credit Card

The Kotak Veer Platinum credit card was launched by the bank for the Veer Jawans of the army of our country, in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India. With this card, soldiers can earn decent rewards on their everyday spends and up to 3x reward points on dining, groceries, movies, and 2 reward points on other spends. The card has no joining fee and a nominal Rs. 299 annual fee which is quite low when we look at the benefits and privileges offered by the card. You even get exciting welcome benefits within 30 days of card issuance on the basis of your spends.

  • 3x reward points per Rs. 200 spent on groceries, dining, etc.
  • 2 reward points per Rs. 200 spent elsewhere
  • Welcome benefit in the first 30 days on the basis of your spends
  • Added benefits with add-on cards

Myntra Kotak Credit Card

The Myntra Kotak credit card is a co-branded fashion card launched recently by Kotak Mahindra Bank and fashion e-commerce giant Myntra. The card is made for young professionals who regularly shop at Myntra and are fashion enthusiasts. You can get an instant 7.5% discount on all spends made at Myntra along with 5% cashback on partner brands and 1.25% cashback elsewhere. As a welcome benefit, the card offers a Rs. 500 Myntra voucher and a complimentary Myntra Insider membership. Even though the card has a low joining fee of Rs. 500, it still offers lounge access and a host of other milestone benefits to the cardholder.

  • 500 worth Myntra voucher on 1 transaction above Rs. 500 within 30 days
  • Instant 7.5% discount on Myntra spends
  • 5% cashback at partner brands and 1.25% cashback elsewhere
  • Complimentary Myntra Insider program membership
  • Complimentary domestic lounge access per quarter
  • 2 complimentary PVR tickets on spending Rs. 50,000 per quarter
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver and spend-based renewal fee waiver

Eligibility Criteria & Documents Required

You must meet the following eligibility criteria to apply for Kotak Mahindra Bank credit cards –

  • The applicant must be an Indian resident
  • The applicant must be 18 to 65 years of age
  • The applicant must have a stable source of income
  • The applicant must have a decent credit score

Documents Required

You will need to submit the following documents while applying for the Kotak Myntra credit card –

ID Proof – Voter ID, Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Driving License, Passport, etc.

Address Proof – Voter ID, Driving License, Water/electricity bill, Passport, Aadhar Card, etc.

Income Proof – Recent months’ salary slip for salaried individuals and audited ITR for self-employed individuals

How to Apply for Kotak Mahindra Bank Lifetime Free Credit Cards

Follow these steps to apply for Kotak Mahindra Bank credit cards:

  • Visit the official Kotak Mahindra bank website
  • Select Cards & Fastag and then click on Credit Cards
  • Click on the credit card you want to apply for
  • Go through the information related to the card
  • Next click on Apply Now and follow the prompts to apply for the card successfully

Credit Cards Comparison

In the following table, we will compare the top Kotak Mahindra Bank lifetime free and other affordable credit cards.

Category Kotak 811 Dream Different Credit Card Kotak Bank Fortune Gold Credit Card Kotak League Platinum Credit Card IndianOil Kotak Credit Card
Joining/Annual Fees Nil Nil Rs. 500 plus taxes Rs. 449 plus taxes
Welcome Benefit Bonus 500 reward points NA Rs. 500 worth movie ticket voucher Bonus 1000 reward points on spending Rs. 500 or more within 30 days
Reward Earning 2 RPs per Rs. 100 on online spends 1 RP per Rs. 100 on other spends NA 8x RPs per Rs. 150 spent on special categories 4x RPs per Rs. 150 spent on other categories up to Rs. 2 Lakhs 24 RPs per Rs. 150 spent on fuel 12 RPs per Rs. 150 spent on dining and grocery 3 RPs per Rs. 150 spent elsewhere
Reward Redemption Redeem points against a host of products/vouchers, flight/hotel bookings, etc. at Kotak Rewards portal, where 1 RP = Rs. 0.25 NA Redeem points against a host of products/vouchers, flight/hotel bookings, etc. at Kotak Rewards portal, where 1 RP = Rs. 0.25 Redeem points against a host of products/vouchers, flight/hotel bookings, etc. at Kotak Rewards portal, where 1 RP = Rs. 0.25 You can redeem points against IndianOil XTRAREWARDS also
Dining/Movie Benefits NA Get complimentary PVR movie tickets for any day and any show Rs. 500 worth BookMyShow movie ticket voucher Up to 2% back as reward points on your dining spends
Travel Benefits NA NA NA NA
Spend-Based Waiver NA NA Renewal fee waiver on spends of Rs. 50,000 or more in the year Renewal fee waiver on spends of Rs. 50,000 or more in the year

Bottom Line

Kotak Mahindra Bank has a nice catalog of credit cards ranging from premium to entry-level cards. If you are someone new to the credit scene who does not want elite-level features and are looking for a beginner credit card to build your credit score and history, then you can consider going for a Kotak Mahindra lifetime free credit card.

You can use this credit cards to begin your credit journey before moving on to better, premium credit cards. There are multiple Kotak Mahindra credit cards that are also available at a low, nominal joining fee of Rs. 500 or less. Head over to the comments and let us know if you plan on applying for any of the Kotak Mahindra lifetime free credit cards.

FAQs:

Kotak Mahindra Bank has some lifetime free credit cards in their portfolio that do not charge any joining or annual fees from the cardholders. These cards are – Kotak 811 #DreamDifferent Credit Card, Kotak Bank Fortune Gold Credit Card, and the Metro Kotak Credit Card.

The following Kotak Mahindra Bank credit cards have a joining fee below Rs. 500 –

  • Kotak 811 Credit Card
  • IndianOil Kotak Credit Card
  • Kotak League Platinum Credit Card
  • Myntra Kotak Credit Card

There are several credit cards by Kotak Mahindra Bank that do not charge a joining fee and only the renewal fee. You will have to pay the following renewal charges on Kotak Bank credit cards –

  • Kotak Veer Platinum Credit Card – Rs. 299 plus taxes
  • Kotak Veer Select Credit Card – Rs. 599 plus taxes
  • Kotak Urbane Gold Credit Card – Rs. 199 plus taxes
  • PVR Kotak Gold Credit Card – Rs. 499 plus taxes
  • PVR Kotak Platinum Credit card – Rs. 999 plus taxes
  • Kotak Royale Signature Credit Card – Rs. 999 plus taxes

No, the Kotak 811 credit card is not lifetime free and it charges a joining fee of Rs. 500 plus taxes. The card is similar to the secured Kotak 811 #DreamDifferent credit card which is a lifetime free offering and requires the cardholder to make a minimum fixed deposit with the bank. However, the features and benefits on the Kotak 811 card are slightly better. It has a decent reward rate, complimentary movie tickets, railway and fuel surcharge waiver, etc.

The following Kotak credit cards offer a spend-based annual fee waiver – Kotak Privy League Signature Credit Card, Kotak Zen Signature Credit Card, Kotak League Platinum Credit Card, Kotak Royale Signature Credit Card, Indian Oil Kotak Credit Card, and Kotak 811 Credit Card.