Credit cards for founders and freelancers in India
Eight cards on the three things that matter when you pay for software, ads and travel yourself: what the card costs, what it gives back, and what it adds to a bill in dollars.
| Card | Fee | What it gives back | Forex mark-up | Suits | Source | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axis Bank ACE | ₹499 to join (waived on ₹10,000 spend in 45 days); ₹499 a year from year 2, waived above ₹2 lakh spend. Plus GST. | 1.5% cashback on all other spends, no cap, software included. 5% on bills paid through Google Pay and 4% on Swiggy, Zomato and Ola (₹500 a statement for those two together). None on rent, wallet loads, fuel, insurance, education or government. | 3.5%. Rupee payments to merchants abroad also 3.5% from 28 Aug 2026. | Flat cashback on everything, including software bills paid in rupees. | Axis card page · cashback terms · changes from 28 Aug 2026 read | Apply on Axis’s site → |
| YES Bank POP-Club | No joining fee; ₹399 + GST a year, waived at ₹1.5 lakh spend. The page also shows a limited-time lifetime-free offer. | 10 POPcoins per ₹100 online, 2 per ₹100 elsewhere including UPI. YES Bank’s pages do not say what a POPcoin is worth. None on advertising and marketing merchants, rent, fuel, wallets, utilities or government. | 3.5% from 15 Jun 2026 (YES Bank’s MITC; not on the card page). | Small personal online spends. Not ad spend: it earns nothing. | YES card page · YES Bank MITC read | Apply on YES POP-Club’s site → |
| BOBCARD EternaBank of Baroda’s card company | No joining fee from 1 Sep 2026 on the card page (the older MITC still says ₹2,499). ₹2,499 a year from year 2, waived at ₹2.5 lakh spend. | 15 points per ₹100 on online, international, travel and dining (up to 5,000 points a cycle); 3 per ₹100 elsewhere. A point is ₹0.25 as cashback. None on fuel; utilities earn only the base rate. | 2%. | Dollar software bills paid online: lower mark-up and the higher points rate on them. Needs income above ₹12 lakh. | BOBCARD card page · MITC · reward terms read | Apply on BOBCARD’s site → |
| Tata Neu Infinity HDFC BankThe cheaper Plus (₹499) earns 1% outside Tata; its forex mark-up is not stated on its page. | ₹1,499 + GST to join and each year; renewal waived at ₹3 lakh spend. | 1.5% back in NeuCoins on non-Tata spends, 5% on Tata Neu and Tata brands; 1 NeuCoin = ₹1 on Tata Neu. UPI capped at 500 NeuCoins a month. None on fuel, wallets, rent or government. | 2% (HDFC’s card FAQ). | Someone who already buys on Tata Neu, and wants a low mark-up on spends abroad. | HDFC card page · card FAQ read | Apply on Tata Neu HDFC’s site → |
| HDFC Bank Regalia Gold | ₹2,500 + GST to join and each year; renewal waived at ₹4 lakh spend. | 5 points per ₹200. A point is ₹0.50 on flights and hotels (about 1.25%), up to ₹0.15 as statement credit. None on rent or government. | 2%. | Higher earners (income tax return above ₹18 lakh) who travel and will redeem on flights or hotels. | HDFC card page read | No link from us. Apply on the bank’s own site. |
| SBI Card CASHBACK | ₹999 + GST a year, waived at ₹2 lakh spend. | 5% on online spends and 1% offline, each capped at ₹2,000 a statement (₹4,000 in all) from 1 Apr 2026, so online cashback stops at ₹40,000 of online spend a statement. None on utilities, rent, fuel, wallets, insurance, education or government. SBI Card does not say whether online spends in foreign currency earn 5%. | 3.5%. | High personal online spend in rupees. | SBI Card page · changes from 1 Apr 2026 · MITC read | No link from us. Apply on the bank’s own site. |
| Amazon Pay ICICI Bank | None, to join or to keep. | 5% on Amazon.in for Prime members (3% otherwise), 2% with Amazon Pay partners, 1% elsewhere, paid as Amazon Pay balance. Nothing on international spends since 11 Oct 2025. | 1.99%. | Amazon shopping. Not for dollar software bills: they earn nothing. | ICICI card page · card terms · MITC read | No link from us. Apply on the bank’s own site. |
| ScapiaThe BOBCARD-issued version (the Federal Bank version’s fee documents did not open for us) | None, to join or to keep. | 10% back in Scapia coins on spends of ₹20 or more; 5 coins = ₹1, usable only on travel booked in the Scapia app (about 2% of spend). None on rent, utilities, fuel, wallets or education; the terms also exclude a “forex transaction” without defining it. | 0%. | Paying abroad or in dollars with no mark-up, if you travel enough to use the coins. | BOBCARD Scapia key facts · terms read | No link from us. Apply on the bank’s own site. |
These are personal cards
The terms of Axis ACE, SBI CASHBACK and Amazon Pay ICICI say the card is not to be used for business purposes, and YES POP-Club gives points only on personal spends. If the company pays for software and ads, ask your bank about a business or corporate card in the company’s name. The table is for founders and freelancers who pay those bills themselves.
The mark-up on dollar bills
Most software is billed in dollars. The bank adds its forex mark-up to every such bill, so a card’s reward on those bills is worth only what is left after the mark-up. Some cards also give nothing at all on foreign spends, and some charge the same mark-up when a foreign merchant bills you in rupees. Read the forex column before the reward column.
How we picked
Four cards come from banks that run affiliate campaigns through Cuelinks, the network we use: Axis, YES Bank, BOBCARD and Tata Neu HDFC. Four are well-known cards we chose because founders ask about them; HDFC, SBI and Scapia also run campaigns there, but we have not linked them. Where a bank has several cards we took the one most relevant to software and travel spend. The BOBCARD campaign does not say which card it pays on; we show Eterna because it has the lowest mark-up of their main cards.
We have not used these cards. Rewards change often, so check the bank’s page before you apply; every source is linked in the table.
Read next
How many credit cards there are in India · Credit card spending in India · Business current accounts compared