If you shop mostly on Amazon, the Amazon Pay ICICI card wins and it is not close. It costs nothing, ever, and the 5% for Prime members is uncapped. If your online spending is spread across sites, the SBI Cashback card is the better card despite its fee.
The headline on every shopping card is 5%. Almost none of them pay 5%. The caps do the real work, and the caps are where the comparison should start.
Which shopping credit card returns the most?
| Card | Annual fee | Rewards | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card | ₹0 | ≈2% | Domestic use | |
Read moreThe rest of the record Forex markup1.99% Domestic lounge visits / year0 International lounge visits / year0 | ||||
| Cashback SBI Card | ₹999 | 4.2% cashback | Mostly online spending | |
Read moreWhat it is good at
The rest of the record Joining fee₹999 Forex markup3.50% Domestic lounge visits / year0 International lounge visits / year0 Waived off on annual spends of Rs. 2 lakhIssuer terms | ||||
| HDFC Millennia Credit Card | ₹1,000 | 2.4% cashback | E-commerce and food delivery | |
Read moreWhat it is good at
The rest of the record Joining fee₹1,000 Forex markup3.50% Domestic lounge visits / year4 International lounge visits / year0 Waived off on Rs. 1 lakh annual spendsIssuer terms | ||||
| Tata Neu Infinity HDFC Bank Credit Card | ₹1,499 | 2.8% cashback | Tata brands and UPI on credit | |
Read moreWhat it is good at
The rest of the record Joining fee₹1,499 Forex markup2.00% Domestic lounge visits / year8 International lounge visits / year4 Waived off on spending Rs. 3 lakh in a yearIssuer terms | ||||
Fees exclude GST, which is added at 18% on the statement. Figures are from issuer rate cards as tracked by Credsir, as of 5 September 2026. Effective return is our estimate of what a typical holder earns after caps, not the advertised rate.
Why the advertised 5% is almost never 5%
Take the HDFC Millennia. Five per cent sounds like the best number in the table. The accelerated rate is capped at ₹1,000 per quarter per category. Hit the cap and you are back to 1%. That is how a 5% card becomes a 2.4% card.
The SBI Cashback card caps at ₹5,000 a statement cycle. That is a much higher ceiling. You would need to spend ₹1,00,000 online in a month to reach it. Most people never do, so most people genuinely earn close to 5%.
The Amazon Pay ICICI card has no cap on the Amazon cashback at all. The limit is different. Your cashback arrives as Amazon Pay balance, so it is only worth something if you keep shopping on Amazon.
Read the cap before the rate. It is the single most useful habit in Indian credit cards. Our page on card charges covers the other numbers issuers bury.
What about quick commerce and Myntra?
Be careful here. Ten-minute delivery apps and fashion marketplaces are exactly where accelerated categories tend to stop. Merchant category codes shift, and an app that earned 5% last quarter may earn 1% this quarter.
Issuers change these exclusion lists with a short notice on a page nobody reads. We do not hold verified merchant-level exclusion lists for these cards, so we are not going to publish one. Check the issuer’s current terms for the specific app before you pick a card for it.
The practical defence is to prefer a card with a broad rule over one with a merchant list. The SBI Cashback card pays 5% on all online spends with no merchant restriction. That rule survives a marketplace changing hands. A partner list does not.
Does the network matter for shopping?
It has started to. The Tata Neu Infinity card runs on RuPay, so it can be linked to UPI. You can scan a QR code and still earn rewards. Visa and Mastercard credit cards cannot do that.
For a household that pays for a lot of small things by QR code, that is a structural advantage, not a marketing line. It is also the reason to read our page on UPI credit cards before deciding.
The trade-off is that NeuCoins only spend inside Tata brands. Croma, BigBasket, Westside and Tata 1mg are useful if you shop there. If you do not, the value collapses.
The honest verdict
Most people should hold two cards, not one. Take the Amazon Pay ICICI card because it is free and can never cost you anything. Add the SBI Cashback card for everything else online.
That pair covers the two real cases. It costs ₹999 plus GST a year, and the fee waives at ₹2,00,000 of spend. If you cannot clear that, keep only the free card.
Do not chase the third card for a category you shop twice a year. And never carry a balance to earn cashback. Interest on a revolving balance dwarfs any reward rate on this page. Our page on the minimum amount due explains why that trap works.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best credit card for online shopping in India?
For Amazon households, the Amazon Pay ICICI card, because it is lifetime free and the Amazon cashback is uncapped. For shopping spread across sites, the SBI Cashback card, because its 5% applies to all online spends with no merchant list.
Is a shopping credit card worth the annual fee?
Only if you clear the waiver. The SBI Cashback fee of ₹999 waives at ₹2,00,000 of annual spend. The HDFC Millennia fee of ₹1,000 waives at ₹1,00,000. Below those thresholds the fee eats a large share of the reward.
Do shopping cards give cashback or points?
It varies, and it matters. SBI Cashback and Amazon Pay ICICI pay real cashback with no redemption step. Tata Neu pays NeuCoins, which only spend within Tata brands. Points that need converting are worth less than the rate suggests. See reward redemption.
Are there caps on 5% cashback?
Almost always. HDFC Millennia caps accelerated cashback at ₹1,000 a quarter per category. SBI Cashback caps at ₹5,000 a statement cycle. Amazon Pay ICICI is the rare exception with no cap on Amazon spending.
Can I use a shopping credit card on UPI?
Only if it is a RuPay card. The Tata Neu Infinity HDFC card is on RuPay and can be linked to UPI, so QR payments earn rewards. Visa and Mastercard credit cards cannot currently be linked.
Sources
- Credsir credit card dataset, compiled from issuer rate cards, as of 5 September 2026. Issuer pages: ICICI Bank, SBI Card, HDFC Bank.
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