Best Low-Income Credit Cards (Rs.10,000 to Rs.25,000 Salary)

Today, almost every major credit card issuer is offering multiple card options to people looking for a low-income credit card. Even if the income eligibility criteria of these cards are relatively low, they provide several benefits and privileges similar to high-end cards.

An individual with higher income is more likely to obtain a higher credit limit whereas an individual with a lower income may be sometimes rejected by bankers. So, there is an exclusive credit card offer for the low income class. The offer, which is made to the low income class earning around Rs.15,000 per month, is called low income credit cards.

Features and Benefits of Top Low Income Credit Cards

YES Bank Prosperity Reward Plus Credit Card

Key Highlights: This YES Bank Prosperity Reward Plus Credit Card comes with an exciting reward points program alongside other privileges like fuel surcharge waiver and lifestyle benefits.

Joining Fee: Rs. 499.

Renewal Fee: Rs. 499.

Features and benefits:

• Earn 12,000 bonus reward points on achieving spends of Ra.3.6 Lakh.
• 6 Reward Points for every Rs.200 spent on Grocery Stores & Supermarkets.
• 4 Reward Points given for Rs.200 spent on other categories.

Rewards redemption options: Redemption options include an exclusive collection of products and InterMiles (InterMile - 8 Reward Points).

Suitable for: People who spend frequently on retail and online purchases.

Eligibility to apply for the YES Prosperity Reward Plus Credit Card

SimplyCLICK SBI Card

Key Highlights: Tempting deals and discounts on online shopping and extra benefits on purchases from partner stores like Food Panda, Lenskart, Amazon.in, BookMyShow, etc. using this SimplyCLICK SBI Card.

Joining Fee: Rs.499

Renewal Fee: Rs.499 (2nd year onwards). Waived on yearly spends of over Rs.1 lakh.

Joining Bonus: Amazon gift voucher worth Rs.500.

Features and benefits:

• Gift vouchers on yearly online spends of Rs.2 lakh and Rs.1 lakh.
• Contactless payment feature for a safer and faster way of payment at merchant locations.
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver on fuel transactions of Rs.500 to Rs.3,000.
• Up to 10 reward points on online spends.
• The option of converting transactions above Rs.2,500 to EMI.

Rewards redemption option: Get e-vouchers of partner brands for redeeming your reward points.

Suitable for: People who frequently do online shopping.

Eligibility to apply for the SimplyCLICK SBI Card:

SimplySAVE SBI Card

Key Highlights: Multiple deals for spends on departmental stores, entertainment, grocery, dining, etc.

Joining Fee: Rs.499

Renewal Fee: Rs.499 (2nd year onwards). Waived on total yearly spends of over Rs.1 lakh.

Joining bonus: Cashback of Rs.100 on the 1st ATM cash withdrawal within 30 days of receiving the card.

Features and benefits:

• 10 reward points with this SimplySAVE SBI Card on special categories like movies, grocery, dining, and departmental store spends.
• 1 reward point on other category spends.
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver on fuel transactions of Rs.500 to Rs.3,000.
• Contactless payment feature for a safer and faster way of payment at merchant locations.
• The option of converting transactions above Rs.2,500 to EMI.

Rewards redemption option: The accumulated reward points can be used to get product from SBI’s rewards catalogue.

Suitable for: People using their credit card for their daily shopping needs.

Eligibility to apply for the SimplySAVE SBI Card:

HDFC Bharat CashBack Card

Key Highlights: This HDFC Bharat CashBack Card gives you multiple cashback offers on categories like IRCTC, bill payment, and fuel. You also get an opportunity to save up to Rs.3000 on several other popular categories.

Joining Fee: Rs.500

Renewal Fee: Rs.500 (2nd year onwards). Waived on total yearly spends of over Rs.50,000

Features and benefits:

• 5% cashback on rail bookings on the IRCTC website and on spends like fuel transactions, bills payment, and recharges.
• 5% cashback on facilities like Easy EMI, Payzapp, Smart Buy provided by the bank.
• Fuel surcharge waiver of 1% on transactions of Rs.400 and above.
• Accidental death insurance of up to Rs.50 lakhs and fire and burglary protection for goods for 6 months.
• Zero lost card liability after reporting about the loss of card.

Rewards redemption option: The cashback that is retained as points can be redeemed as cashback on the request of the cardholder.

Suitable for: People who use their credit card for daily shopping and paying utility bills.

Eligibility to apply for the HDFC Bharat CashBack Card:

HDFC Freedom Card

Key Highlights: You earn reward points on using the HDFC Freedom Card on a range of categories including dining, movies, birthday spends, groceries, railways, etc.

Joining Fee: Rs.500

Renewal Fee: Rs.500 (2nd year onwards). Waived on total yearly spends of over Rs.60,000.

Joining bonus: 500 reward points on payment of the membership fee.

Features and benefits:

• 25X reward points on birthday spends and 10X reward points on SmartBUY and PayZapp spends.
• Accidental death insurance of up to Rs.50 lakhs and fire and burglary protection for goods for 6 months.
• Gift voucher worth Rs.1000 on spends of Rs.90,000 in a year.
• Contactless payment feature for fast, secure, and convenient payments at retail outlets.
• Fuel surcharge waiver of 1% (capped at Rs.250 per billing cycle).

Rewards redemption option: You can redeem the points for cashback or choose from an exclusive collection of products.

Suitable for: People using credit cards for their daily regular expenses.

Eligibility to apply for the HDFC Freedom Card

HDFC Diners Club Rewardz Card

Key Highlights: Enjoy privileges like travel benefits, lifestyle benefits, and a host of reward points plans and redemption options.

Joining Fee: Rs.1,000

Renewal Fee: Rs.1,000 (2nd year onwards). Waived on total yearly spends of over Rs.1 lakh.

Features and benefits:

• 3 reward points on every Rs.150 spent on retail purchases using the HDFC Diners Club Rewardz Card.
• Services of a concierge for taking care of your travel needs.

Rewards redemption option: You can redeem the points for booking air tickets, hotels, air miles, or choose from an exclusive collection of products.

Suitable for: Frequent travellers who also want multiple privileges on their credit card.

Eligibility to apply for the HDFC Diners Club Rewardz Card

HDFC Regalia First Card

Key Highlights: This HDFC Regalia First Card provides you with exclusive lifestyle and travel benefits.

Joining Fee: NIL (For people applying on bankbazaar.com); Rs.1,000 (For other applicants).

Renewal Fee: Rs.1,000 (2nd year onwards). Waived off if the total annual spends for the previous year exceed Rs.1 lakh.

Joining Bonus: Welcome benefit of 1,000 reward points on payment of the joining fee.

Features and benefits:

• 4 reward points on every Rs.150 spent on the card.
• Access to over 1000 airport lounges through the complimentary Priority Pass Membership.
• 15% discount as dining benefits at premium restaurants in the country.
• Comprehensive insurance for self as well as for financial frauds involving the card.
• 1% convenience fee waiver on fuel transactions between Rs.400 and Rs.5000.

Rewards redemption option: The accumulated reward points can be redeemed for travel and hotel bookings, air tickets, or products from an exclusive catalogue.

Suitable for: Frequent travellers, particularly those who visit international destinations.

Eligibility to apply for the HDFC Regalia First Card

HDFC Diners ClubMiles Credit Card

Key Highlights: It comes with a highly attractive Miles Exchange Program. Avail the best services from partner airlines like British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Jet Airways, Trident, and Club Vistara.

Joining Fee: Rs.1,000

Renewal Fee: Rs.1,000 (2nd year onwards). Waived on yearly spends of above Rs.1 lakh.

Features and benefits:

• Exclusive lounge access program that gives up to 6 free access to over 700 lounges across the world.
• Get 15% discount and other dining benefits at leading restaurants in the country using the HDFC Diners ClubMiles Credit Card.
• Concierge services to take care of your travel needs.
• Domestic/international air tickets and hotel bookings on the exclusive Diners Club website.
• Air accident cover of Rs.1 crore and emergency medical expenses cover of Rs.25 lakh.

Rewards redemption option: Redeem the accumulated reward points for hotel or flight ticket bookings through the Diners Club website. They can also be redeemed for Miles with domestic and international airlines.

Suitable for: Frequent air travellers who also want multiple privileges on their credit card.

Eligibility to apply for the HDFC Diners ClubMiles Credit Card

SBI Tata Titanium Credit Card

Key Highlights: The SBI Tata Titanium Credit Card allows you to earn reward points every time you swipe the card for grocery and other spends.

Joining Fee: NIL

Renewal Fee: Rs.499

Features and benefits:

• Get 500 Empower Points of Rs. 500 on spends over Rs.2,000.
• Get 1.5% value back on spends at Croma and cromaretail.com.
• Get up to 5% value back on spends on Tata outlets.
• Get 3X reward points on spends at departmental and grocery stores.
• Earn 1 reward point for every Rs.100 spent on other spends.

Rewards redemption option: You can redeem your reward points for items on the bank's catalogue. 1 Empower Point = Re .1

Suitable for: Those who spends on daily groceries and shop at Croma.

Documents needed to apply for the above-listed credit cards

Although the exact list of documents varies from card to card, a few documents are common to all these credit cards. They are:

• Identity proof: for example PAN Card, Voter’s ID card, driving license, etc.
• Address proof: for example passport, Aadhaar card, ration card, etc.
• Income proof: Latest salary slip for salaried people and Income Tax Returns documents for self-employed people.

Apart from these, different banks may ask for different documents when you apply for your desired card.

How to Apply for a low income credit card

You can apply for the cards on the BankBazaar website. The advantages of applying on BankBazaar are that you would enjoy a smooth and rapid paperless application process. It also provides the facility of uploading the documents and thus saves your precious time.

Other benefits include checking your eligibility and credit score, instant approval for eligible individuals, and free gift vouchers.

To apply on the BankBazaar website, do the following:

• Visit Bankbazaar Credit Card and select the card that you want.
• Click the ‘Eligibility’ button that you see against it and check your eligibility for the card including your monthly income.
• If you are eligible, you would land on the application page where you need to enter certain information about yourself.
• Click ‘Submit’ after entering the details and you would be asked to upload the required documents.
• Once they are uploaded, click ‘Submit’.

On successfully submitting the application and the necessary documents, you would receive an ‘Application ID’. Use this ID to track your application status by clicking ‘ Track Application ’.

The other way of applying for the cards is by visiting the official card website of their respective banks.

Reward points on the top 10 Low Income Credit Cards

Most of the above listed credit cards offer multiple options of accumulating reward points across several popular categories. The reward points that you accrue this way can be redeemed for options like air miles, air tickets, hotel bookings, exclusive products, etc.

Here are some of the reward points plans on these cards.

Apart from the reward points listed here, most of these cards also give you a chance to earn milestone rewards, welcome bonus, annual spend bonus, etc. which offer reward points in bulk.

Merits of Low Income Credit Cards

• There is no restricted income criteria for the applicants of this card.
• Low income cards can be delivered within a short period of time.
• These cards can be offered without checking the earlier credit history like other cards.
• The interest factor, which is levied on this card, may be comparatively lower than that of other cards.
• These cards usually have zero annual and joining charges.

Demerits of Low Income Credit Cards

• These cards have restricted credit limits.
• A low income credit card may not provide premier features like other cards.
• The issuers of these cards may not have business tie-ups with the most commonly used brands.
• These cards may not be useful in developing and building the credibility of users.
• These cards have constrained scope in terms of usability and acceptability.

FAQs on Low Income Credit Cards

1. How can I get a low-income credit card?

   There are many banks in the country which offer low-income credit cards to people. If you wish to apply for a low-income credit card, you can apply for the same on BankBazaar or by visiting any branch of the bank. An application form along with necessary documents must be submitted. Once the bank verifies the application form and the documents, the credit card will be sent to you.

2. What is the minimum salary required for a credit card?

   The minimum salary required for a low-income credit card differs between one bank to the other. In most cases, the minimum salary required to apply for the credit card is Rs.15,000 per month. For some banks, Income Tax Returns are also asked, if they fall under the income tax bracket.

3. Which credit card is best for low income?

   There is a range of credit cards which are offered by various banks in the country. The low-income credit cards are the best for the people who fall under the category. There is a wide range of benefits with a low-income credit card such as lower annual fees, reward points with each expenditure along with fuel benefits as well.

4. Why do credit cards get rejected?

   Credit card applications can often get rejected due to various reasons. If the credit score of the applicant is low, banks can reject the application. Moreover, if any document is not submitted or the eligibility criteria of the applicant are not met, applications are rejected. However, the eligibility criteria and other requirements for a credit card is different and varies from one bank to another. It is important to keep a good credit score to apply for a credit card since it is a primary eligibility criterion for all banks.

5. What is a good credit limit?

   A good credit limit would ideally be 2X or 3X your salary amount. However, this depends from one bank to another. There are other factors involved which as well include, spending habits, repayment of debts, credit score, credit utilisation report as well as, the salary of the applicant. Different types of credit cards also have different credit limits. Business credit cards, for example, will have a higher limit compared to a regular credit card.