Credit cards are mostly used for payments for shopping, food, travel, etc. If a credit card is a zero annual free credit card, it gives many reward points and a good credit score, which helps you to get an interest-free loan of 30 to 45 days. But If you get trapped in the clutches of credit cards and you keep paying the minimum amount due, a loan with 35 to 40 percent interest will eat away at you, but if you use the credit card wisely, it can be very beneficial.
Credit cards offer a great way to earn reward points and cashback, but funding your business is equally crucial for growth and success. In our detailed post on business funding, we explore what business funding is, how it works, and the various types of business funds available. To learn more, click Here
In this article, we will see how to use credit cards to save money, improve credit scores and earn rewards on credit cards. Also, we will explore the top credit cards in all categories, like shopping, food, fuel, payments, and travel.
How to use credit cards to save money?
Here, we have given some points that will help you to understand the best use of credit cards to save money and earn rewards.
1) Interest-free loan:-
Credit card companies give you an interest-free loan of 30 to 45 days on every purchase, which means they tell you to spend it. When the bill is generated after a month or after 15 days, you can get the entire money back. Then you will not have to pay any charge, which is good for managing your cash flow with this system.
2) Boosts the credit score:-
When you pay your entire credit card bill 100%, and not even a single penny less, your credit score starts improving because it is considered as a loan by the credit agencies because you pay the money as per the rules. Also, if you are offering this loan with full dedication, you are considered as a good customer and a good loan creditor, and then you can get the loan at a lower rate. When your credit score improves, you can easily take out your home loan, car loan, and personal loan at low interest, which saves you money.
3) Earn reward points:-
Whenever you swipe a credit card for your needs and desires, you get points that you can convert and spend on countless things, like shopping or other payments. We also have to use credit cards wisely and responsibly because if we do, we can get the most benefit from them.
Top credit cards with categories to save money
Here are the top credit cards with various categories that give good rewards points, discounts, coupons and many more.
Shopping category:
1) Flipkart Axis Bank Credit card
It is the best co-branded credit card for Flipkart with Axis Bank. If you use Flipkart to buy products, you will easily earn discounts, coupons and cashback.
Benefits:
- 5% cashback on all Flipkart expenses
- 4% cashback on Cleartrip hotel/airline bookings
- 1.5% cashback on all online & offline spends
- Annual fee is Rs.500 + GST
2) Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit card
It is the best credit card by Amazon with ICICI Bank. With this card, you can get up to 5% cashback, but it is only available to Amazon Prime members. If you are not an Amazon Prime member, then you get only a 3% discount on purchases. Also, there is no limit for cashback and payments.
Benefits:
- 5% – 3% Cashback on all Amazon expenses
- 5% cashback on Amazon online booking
- 2% cashback on Amazon gift cards
- 2% cashback on Amazon pay spend
- 1% cashback on all other expenses
- No joining fees and no annual fees
3) SBI Cashback Card
It is offered by SBI(State Bank of India) for customers to get cashback on every purchase. You can get 5% cashback on high purchases around 5,000 – 10,000 Rs. If you want to purchase high-value products online, then you can easily get 5% cashback with this Credit card.
Benefits:
- 5% cashback on every online retailer
- Annual fee is Rs.999 + GST
- It is accepted everywhere
4) HDFC Tata Neu Card plus
It is the best card for purchasing any product on the Tata Neu platform by the Tata industries, which are present in various categories like fashion, travel, health care, entertainment and many more. It gives a total of 5%-7% cashback on purchases, and if you spend 1,00,000 or above, the annual fee will be waived off.
Benefits:
- 7% cashback on Neu spends
- Neu coins for rewards
- No joining fees
- Annual fee is Rs.499 + GST
Food category:
1) HDFC Swiggy Card
It is the best food card that helps to save money on food. If you want to order food multiple times a month, you can use this card to get cashback of up to 10% on all Swiggy food products. You can easily use it to order food through Swiggy money on Swiggy.
Benefits:
- 10% cashback on all Swiggy spends
- 3 months Swiggy membership for free
- 5% cashback on partner retailers
- 1% cashback on all other expenses
- Annual fee is 500Rs + GST
2) Axis Neo card
It is the best food card for purchasing products, with 40% cashback on Zomato. If you spend above 200Rs, you will get 40% cashback, but this offer is valid twice a month. Also, if you use this offer at the maximum limit, you can easily save 3000Rs per year.
Benefits:
- 40% discount on Zomato spend on 120Rs/order(twice in a month)
- 5% off on utility bill payments
- 10% off on Blinkit, Bookmyshow and Myntra
- Lifetime free card
Petrol/Fuel category:
1) IDFC Power Plus Card
This is for HPCL Fuel petrol pumps by HP. It is the best credit card by IDFC with a Rupay card, which means you can pay with UPI. This card gives you cashback and reward points on HP’s Pay App.
Benefits:
- 6.5% savings on HPCL Fuel petrol pumps
- 5% off on utility payments & IDFC Fast Tag recharge
- other several benefits
- Annual fee is Rs.499 + GST
2) HDFC Indian Oil Card
This is the fuel credit card by Indian Oil with HDFC. The user can get fuel points to use them at fuel pumps, which helps to save extra money on fuel. Fuel points are automatically credited and debited on the Application.
Benefits:
- 5% savings as fuel points on fuel spend
- 5% fuel points on grocery/utility bill payments
- Annual fee is Rs.500 + GST
3) AXIS Indian Oil Card
It is a Rupay card by Indian Oil with AXIS Bank, which is connected to UPI, so you can easily pay with UPI. It offers some reward points on fuel spent to save money. Also, if you spend 50,000 or above in a year, then the annual fee will be waived off.
Benefits:
- 4% savings as reward points on fuel spend
- 1% fuel surcharge waive-off
- Annual fee is Rs.500 + GST
4) SBI BPCL Card
It is a BPCL(Bharat Petroleum) Credit card with SBI. It offers the joining bonus and cashback on spends. You can easily redeem the cashback for purchases.
Benefits:
- 4.25% value back on fuel spends
- 2000 reward points as a joining bonus
Payments:
1) Standard Chartered Smart Card
It is one of the best credit cards that offers cashback on all online spending, such as products, fees, shopping, etc. You will get a maximum of 1000Rs per month. Also, if you spend 1,20,000 in a year, then the annual fee will be waived.
Benefits:
- 2% cashback on all online spends
- 1% cashback on all offline spending
- No joining fees
- Annual fee is Rs.499 + GST
Travel:
1) Standard Chartered EaseMyTrip Card
This card is the best for booking hotels, flights, etc. It offers up to 20% discount on the EaseMyTrip Website and 10% on flight bookings for users of the EaseMyTrip platform. It offers 2.5% cashback on all bookings. Also, if you spend 50,000 Rs in a year, the annual fee will be waived.
Benefits:
- 20% discount on hotel bookings
- 10% discount on flight bookings
- 2.5% cashback on spends of booking on other travel sites
- Annual fee is Rs.359 + GST
2) Ixigo AU Credit Card
This credit card offers discounts and reward points. It doesn’t charge joining fees or annual fees, but it also gives a 1000Rs voucher and 1000 reward points to redeem on future bookings to get cashback and save money.
Benefits:
- 10% discount on flight bookings
- 10% off on hotels and buses bookings
- No payment gateway charges on train bookings
- Joining bonus of 1000Rs Ixigo voucher and 1000 reward points
- No joining fee and No renewal fee
- Lifetime free credit card
Conclusion
In Conclusion, those are all the credit cards in every category where we often spend but want to save money. These credit cards offer a lot of cashback, discounts and reward points to save money and spend for future purchases with them. So, if you are smart, then you will not only save money but also improve your credit score to take a loan easily. You will also be able to earn an interest-free loan.