HDFC
HDFC Bank Freedom Credit Card
Good fit for online shopping across multiple brands — 10% across 5 merchants, ₹500 annual fee.
Top reasons to choose this card
- 10% across 5 merchants
- ₹50K fee waiver
What you'd do with it
- Strongest on eligible partner merchants like Swiggy, Uber, BookMyShow, and BigBasket.
- Competitive for day-to-day rewards with an estimated base return around 0.3%.
- Works when a ₹500 annual fee is acceptable for the accelerated earn rates.
Annual fee ₹500 per year
Forex markup 3.5% high
Lounge access 0 no lounge
Rewards / ₹100 10 CashPoints ₹100 on BigBasket
The catch Forex markup is 3.5%, so this can get expensive for frequent international spends.
- Welcome benefit timing may vary
- Fee waiver available
- Welcome benefit listed
- Annual fee known
- Forex markup known
At a glance
Snapshot · usage · fitFast facts
- Annual fee
- ₹500 lower than 62 of 112 cards
- Joining fee
- ₹500
- Forex markup
- 3.5% the standard rate (matches 66 cards)
- Lounge access
- — domestic lounge
- Reward rate
- 10 CashPoints / ₹100 on BigBasket
Fit data not yet captured for this card.
Still worth it?
Evidence-backed snapshotGood fit if
- Annual fee is relatively low at ₹500.
- Fee waiver applies at ₹50,000 annual spend.
- Use this when BigBasket spends are your main use case and the reward cap still leaves enough value.
Verify before applying
- Annual fee known
- Fee waiver available
- Forex markup known
- No lounge access
- Welcome benefit listed
- Welcome benefit timing may vary
- Monthly interest known
- Welcome benefit timing and claim process.
- Lounge spend criteria, guest rules, and visit caps.
- Annual fee waiver terms and eligible spend exclusions.
- Issuer fees, GST, finance charges, and late-payment terms.
- Reward terms to verify: base earn is 5% category cashback. Cashback earn applies up to ₹7,50,000 per statement, then 5% category cashback applies. BigBasket reward rate applies up to ₹25,000 per month, then 5% category cashback applies. BookMyShow reward rate applies up to ₹25,000 per month, then 5% category cashback applies. Oyo reward rate applies up to ₹25,000 per month, then 5% category cashback applies. Swiggy reward rate applies up to ₹25,000 per month, then 5% category cashback applies. Uber reward rate applies up to ₹25,000 per month, then 5% category cashback applies. Still verify excluded categories.
Next best move
Is this good for lounge access?
Lounge access is not fully verified. Check issuer terms before relying on this card for lounge access.
Is this good for international spends?
Forex markup is 3.5%, so frequent international spends may be costly.
Is the annual fee easy to recover?
Fee waiver applies at ₹50,000 annual spend. Verify eligible spend exclusions before counting on it.
When do welcome benefits arrive?
A welcome benefit is listed. Included items: Reward points equivalent to joining fee (500 pts). Timing may depend on joining fee payment, card activation, first eligible transaction, or issuer processing.
Spending requirements
Spend gates · caps · milestone thresholdsRequirementAmountPeriodUnlocksRealismStrength
Annual fee waiver₹50,000yearAnnual fee waivertrivialstrong
Watch outs
Before choosing this card- Forex markup is 3.5%, so frequent international spends may be costly.
Reward reality
Point value · limits · exclusionsVerified value₹0.15 per pointHeadline redemption
Best verified laneBigBasket (domestic)10 CashPoints / ₹100
Limits/capsBigBasket (domestic): up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback; BookMyShow (domestic): up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback; Oyo (domestic): up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback
Reward rules
Structured earn rates · eligibility · caps when they bindScopeRateEligibilityLimit
BigBasket (domestic)10 CashPoints / ₹100—up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback
BookMyShow (domestic)10 CashPoints / ₹100—up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback
Oyo (domestic)10 CashPoints / ₹100—up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback
Swiggy (domestic)10 CashPoints / ₹100—up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback
Uber (domestic)10 CashPoints / ₹100—up to ₹25,000 per month; excess not counted unless source allows fallback
Estimated usage
Example usage at this monthly spend
₹
- At this monthly spend, you'd earn: ~1,000 CashPoints/month (base earn · uses base/general earn rate; partner and category bonuses not included)
- Fee waiver achievable at this spend
- Forex cost ~₹1,750 per ₹50k international spend
Illustrative only, using current base rates and snapshot data.
Benefits & charges
Side-by-side factsBenefits
Lounge Access
- Domestic (cardholder)
- —
- International (cardholder)
- Not included
Rewards
- Points per ₹100
- 10 CashPoints value depends on redemption
- Headline point value
- ₹0.15 per CashPoint (Headline redemption) · verified 6 Jul 2026 Operator-verified headline rate — full channel grid in Redemption value.
- Point validity
- Points expire 2 years after earning · verified 7 Jul 2026
Redemption value
- You earn
- CashPoints
- Redemption
- ₹0.15 per CashPoint · verified 6 Jul 2026
Fees & charges
Fees
- Monthly interest rate
- 3.49% / month
- Annual fee
- ₹500
- Joining fee
- ₹500 · verified 6 Jul 2026
- Fee waiver spend
- ₹50,000 · verified 6 Jul 2026 Below catalog median waiver (₹2,00,000 vs ₹50,000).
- Interest-free period
- Up to 50 days · verified 7 Jul 2026
International Use
- Forex markup
- 3.5%
2 sources agree · verify issuer terms before applying
Where to verify
- CardInsider
- Operator-verified anchor
- Issuer site (verify current terms) (opens in new tab)
- Product tier
- Mid-tier
Fuel Benefits
At the pump- 1% fuel surcharge waived on transactions ₹400–₹5,000.
- Maximum waiver ₹250 per statement cycle.
Annual fee break-even math
When does this card pay for itself ₹1.7L Break-even using base rewards to offset ₹500 fee
Base rewards only: at base earn rates, you need roughly ₹1.7L in yearly spend to offset the ₹500 annual fee.
Compare with similar cards
Similar tier · similar benefitsThe fine print
Caps · exclusions · sources · last refresh- Category cap: 10,000 RP per month · insurance transactions
- Category cap: 2000 Reward Points per calendar month · Utility transactions
- Statement cycle cap: 2,00,000 RP per statement cycle · Maximum earn limit
- Statement cycle cap: 15,000 RP per statement · General reward earn
- Category cap: 2,500 RP per month · BigBasket
- Category cap: 2,500 RP per month · BookMyShow
- Category cap: 2,500 RP per month · Oyo
- Category cap: 2,500 RP per month · Swiggy
- Category cap: 2,500 RP per month · Uber
Expiry: 3 years, and Easy EMI cards/ PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card/ PhonePe HDFC Bank Uno Credit Card on which reward points/ cash points are valid for 1 year
- Travel redemption: ₹99 redemption fee per redemption
- Annual fee: ₹500.
- Forex markup currently listed at 3.5%.
- — domestic lounge.