HDFC Bank MoneyBack Plus Credit Card
A classic Visa card with 5+ partner merchants. We break down whether the 0.33% return rate justifies the ₹500 annual fee.
HDFC Bank
A classic Visa card with 5+ partner merchants. We break down whether the 0.33% return rate justifies the ₹500 annual fee.
4 spending categories earn zero rewards (including fuel, wallet_load).
Accelerated 10X partner-earn cap of ₹625/month; base earn is uncapped.
The HDFC Bank MoneyBack Plus Credit Card is HDFC Bank's ₹500-a-year reward points credit card with about 0.3333% base rewards on everyday spend. Best for ₹1l+ annual spenders.
Quick Decision
Reward earnings only, at the everyday spend mix: milestone vouchers and lounge value are tracked separately in the sections below. 4 categories (fuel, wallet load, rent, etc., see Excluded list) earn 0% and are NOT in this range.
Casual users hit the lower end; engaged users hit the upper end.
See full analysisPros & Cons
A balanced look at what this card does well and where it falls short.
- Fee waived on ₹0.5L annual spend
- Welcome bonus worth ₹125
- Fuel transactions excluded from rewards
- Rent payments excluded from rewards
- No lounge access
Our editorial take on this card
What works
The 10X tier is a real 3.33% on Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, BigBasket and Reliance Smart Superstore - the 5 merchants that cover most middle-class online spend (groceries, food delivery, e-commerce). The fee economics are kind: Rs.500 joining and Rs.500 annual (plus 18% GST on each), waived completely once you spend Rs.50,000 in a card year. The quarterly milestone adds another Rs.500 gift voucher every time you cross Rs.50,000 in a calendar quarter - up to Rs.2,000/year in voucher value if you sustain that pace, on top of CashPoints earned. CashPoints redeem cleanly at Rs.0.25 per point as statement credit (no devaluation risk - the rate is published in the FAQ). Eligibility is forgiving: Rs.20,000/month net salary or Rs.6 lakh/year ITR for self-employed - one of the most accessible HDFC cards in this earn-rate band. And the card comes on both Visa and RuPay - pick RuPay if you also want to use it for UPI payments.
The 2,500 CashPoints/month cap on the 10X tier hurts: at 20 points per Rs.150 partner spend, you saturate the accelerated bucket at just Rs.18,750/month across all 5 partners combined - past that, partner spend drops to the same 0.33% as everything else. The base rate of 0.33% (2 CashPoints per Rs.150, redeemed at Rs.0.25) is genuinely weak - on Rs.30,000 of non-partner spend you earn just Rs.100/month, well below the 1%-1.5% you'd get from a card like HDFC Millennia or any plain cashback card. Four spend categories are entirely excluded from CashPoints: fuel, wallet/prepaid loads, rent payments, and government transactions - so the petrol pump and the rent transfer return nothing on this card. The fuel surcharge waiver is just a fee waiver (Rs.250 max per billing cycle on Rs.400-Rs.5,000 transactions), not a reward - fuel still earns 0 points. There is no lounge access on this card at all (Classic-tier HDFC product). CashPoints are also subject to a Rs.150 minimum transaction floor - any single spend below Rs.150 earns nothing. And every CashPoint redemption requires logging into NetBanking or SmartBuy and converting manually.
Bottom line
HDFC MoneyBack+ is a competent low-fee shopping card if your online spend is genuinely spread across Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, BigBasket, and Reliance Smart Superstore - the 3.33% effective rate is real money up to Rs.18,750/month combined partner spend (Rs.625/month, Rs.7,500/year). Add the Rs.2,000/year milestone-voucher potential and the easy Rs.50,000/year fee waiver and the math works for a Rs.20K-Rs.50K/month online shopper. But the 2,500-CashPoint monthly cap, the weak 0.33% base rate, and the 4 excluded categories (fuel/rent/wallet/government) mean it's not a forever card. Amazon-first shoppers should take Amazon Pay ICICI instead; heavier spenders should pay the extra Rs.500 for HDFC Millennia. Best used as an entry-level shopping card that gets upgraded to Millennia or Regalia once spend or income grows.
Independent analysis from public card terms, no paid placements or ratings.
Welcome Bonus
VerifiedOne-time bonus for new cardholders
500 CashPoints on card issuance
So what does this card actually earn?
Reward Points
This card earns reward points on every transaction. The real value of your points depends on how you redeem them: here is a breakdown of the redemption tiers.
Points are earned only on transactions of ₹150 or more (and in multiples of ₹150). Smaller purchases earn nothing, and any remainder above a multiple is not rounded up.
per point
0.27%
assumes ₹0.20/point redemption
Redemption Tiers
Tap a tier to update the Value Verdict above
Worst Case
Rewards catalogue browsing
Partner Rewards
Earn bonus rates at these merchants
| Merchant | Reward | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 10X | Multiplier |
| Reliance Smart SuperStore | 10X | Multiplier |
| Swiggy | 10X | Multiplier |
| BigBasket | 10X | Multiplier |
| Flipkart | 10X | Multiplier |
Monthly Reward Cap
Applies to accelerated (10X) partner earn only. Base earn has no monthly cap.
Monthly Cap
₹500
Annual Cap
₹6,000
2,500 reward points at ₹0.2/point
Excluded Categories
4 categories earn no rewards on this card
⚠ Do not use for Fuel / Petrol / Diesel / CNG, Wallet / Prepaid Instrument Loading, Rent Payments and 1 more. You earn 0 rewards on these spends. Use a different card or pay direct.
This card works best for amazon and reliance smart. Spends in those categories still earn at the headline rate.
Who Is This Card For?
Online shoppers earning Rs.20,000-Rs.60,000/month who spend Rs.10,000-Rs.18,000/month combined across Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, BigBasket, and Reliance Smart Superstore. First-time HDFC credit-card holders who want partner-accelerated rewards without paying the Rs.1,000 fee that HDFC Millennia charges. Salaried users below Rs.35,000/month who don't qualify for Millennia (which needs Rs.35K/mo) but still want HDFC's 10X partner program in a cheaper wrapper.
Amazon-exclusive shoppers - the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card is free, gives 5% to Prime members on Amazon (vs 3.33% here), and has no monthly earn cap. Anyone whose online basket is dominated by 1 merchant rather than spread across the 5 - the cap math only pays off when you saturate it. International travellers - the card is silent on forex markup in WhichWise's verified record (issuer fees-charges PDF places it in HDFC's standard FCC band, but we won't cite a specific rate without a quotable source). Heavy fuel/rent/wallet spenders - those categories earn zero CashPoints. Anyone wanting lounge access, golf, or any travel perk - this is a Classic-tier rewards-only card.
How It Compares
Side-by-side with similar cards in our database.
| Feature | This card | HDFC Bank Millennia | Airtel Axis Bank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | ₹500 | ₹1,000 | ₹500 |
| Reward ratecash-equivalent · accelerated | 0.27%up to 3.33% on partners | 1.00%no accelerator | 1.00%no accelerator |
| Network | Visa / RuPay | Visa / Mastercard | Visa |
| Acceptance | Universal | Universal | Universal |
| Eligibility | Applicable | Applicable | Applicable |
Methodology: reward rates shown at cash-equivalent redemption (statement credit / direct cashback): the most conservative tier every cardholder can realize. Travel-transfer or partner-merchant routing can be materially higher; see each card's full review for upside scenarios.
Fees & Charges
Complete breakdown of all fees associated with this card.
Value Verdict
All rupees · no routingEstimated annual value at ₹50,000/month spend with base earn on all retail.
✓ Fee waived above ₹4,167/month, so all ₹1,600 is net value
Year 1 also carries a one-time ₹500 + 18% GST joining fee (~₹590), charged upfront on issuance and not waivable by spend. The net above reflects the renewal-year fee (which your spend waives); subtract the joining fee from year-1 value.
First year bonus: +₹125 welcome value (not included above)
Assumptions used in this estimate▸
- • Reward earnings shown at the conservative redemption tier (SmartBuy bookings, gift vouchers).
- • Monthly reward cap of ₹625 applies to the 10X partner earn tier only; partner spend above the cap earns at the base rate.
- • Earn assumes all spend lands in eligible categories. 4 categories are excluded: spend there earns ₹0.
Eligibility
Requirements you need to meet to apply for this card.
Data verified against HDFC Bank official website · Last verified: 2026-05-09 · Terms & Conditions (MITC)
WhichWise does not accept payment for card placement or ratings. Fees, rates, and benefits may change. Always confirm with the issuer before applying.
Verified from the source
Key facts below are quoted verbatim from HDFC Bank's own pages and documents, not paraphrased.
- Joining fee
“First Year Membership Fee – ₹500/- + Applicable Taxes”
Verified quote from hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09 - Annual fee
“Renewal Membership Fee – ₹ 500/- + Applicable Taxes”
Verified quote from hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09 - Annual fee waiver
“Spend ₹50,000 in 12 Months and get Renewal Fee waived for next year”
Verified quote from hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09 - Reward type
“CashPoints will be posted as Reward Points only”
Verified quote from hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09 - Monthly rewards cap
“The Cardholder can earn up to 2,500 CashPoints under the 10X CashPoints feature in a calendar month”
Verified quote from hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09 - Welcome bonus
“Cardholder will receive a Welcome benefit of 500 CashPoints (Applicable only on payment of Joining membership fee)”
Verified quote from hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09 - Forex markup
“(no verbatim 'MoneyBack+ ... 3.5%' substring extractable from the Schedule of Fees PDF table — the cell pairing card-name to FCC% is split by OCR row breaks)”
Confirmed absent on hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09 - Lounge access
“K) Lounge Access ... Infinia, Infinia (Metal Edition): Complimentary priority pass membership ... Diners Club Credit Card - All visits exceeding the complimentary limit will be charged ... Complimentary Lounge Access Within India for BizBlack Metal Card and BizPower”
Confirmed absent on hdfc.bank.in (issuer brochure) · fetched 2026-05-09
Interested in HDFC Bank MoneyBack Plus?
Check the official page for the latest terms before applying.