3-Card Stacks
Minimal, focused combos for specific goals
The Holy Trinity
The empirically backed 3-card combination tailored for the urban Indian millennial.
Why this works
- ✓The Online Workhorse: SBI Cashback gives flat 5% on almost all online spends (capped at ₹5,000/cycle).
- ✓The Utility & Dining Master: Airtel Axis Bank provides 25% on Airtel bills, 10% on utilities, and 10% on Swiggy/Zomato.
- ✓The Travel/Forex Shield: Scapia Federal Bank is a zero-forex markup card offering unlimited domestic lounge access based on spending.
The ₹0 Fee Trio
Three lifetime-free cards that cost you nothing while delivering solid cashback on everyday spends.
Why this works
- ✓ICICI Platinum is the most widely-held entry card — LTF with basic rewards and no conditions.
- ✓Federal Scapia is the only LTF card with 0% forex markup — perfect for intl subscriptions & travel.
- ✓IndusInd Nexxt is LTF with interactive display — good offline companion with no annual overhead.
Shop · Fuel · Fly
1 shopping card + 1 fuel card + 1 travel card. The three-pillar approach covering the most common Indian spend categories.
Why this works
- ✓ICICI Amazon Pay: 5% on Amazon (India's largest e-commerce) + 2% on wallet-loaded spends — covers shopping.
- ✓SBI BPCL Octane: 7.25% effective value on fuel + 5X at BPCL — covers all fuel station visits.
- ✓Axis Atlas: 5X Edge Miles on travel (flights/hotels) with excellent lounge access — covers travel.
5-Card Stacks
Balanced portfolios covering major spend categories
The High-Spender Quintet
The ultimate 5-card bucket for the maximizer. Super premium foundation with specialized category optimizers.
Why this works
- ✓Super Premium Foundation: HDFC Infinia Metal offers 5 reward points per ₹150 spent (3.3% base, up to 16.5% via SmartBuy).
- ✓The UPI Innovator: Kiwi UPI Credit Card is lifetime free and yields 1.5% cashback on all offline UPI merchant spends.
- ✓The Dedicated Travel Miles: Axis Bank Atlas offers 2 EDGE Miles per ₹100 spent, and 5 EDGE Miles per ₹100 on direct airline/hotel bookings.
- ✓The Fuel Optimizer: IndianOil RBL Bank XTRA yields 15 Reward Points per ₹100 spent on fuel (approx 7.5% value back).
- ✓The Dining Specialist: HSBC Live+ offers 10% cashback on dining and groceries (capped at ₹1,000/month).
The Cashback Machine
5 cards tuned for maximum pure-cashback extraction. No points complexity — just money back to your account.
Why this works
- ✓SBI Cashback: 5% back on online shopping — the king of internet spends.
- ✓Axis Ace: 5% on bill payments via GPay, 1.5% on everything else — utilities & offline covered.
- ✓HSBC Cashback: 1.5% unlimited on all spend — no cap, no categories to track, great default card.
- ✓SC Manhattan: 5% cashback on grocery (BigBasket, Swiggy Instamart) — covers your monthly essentials.
- ✓ICICI Amazon Pay: 5% on Amazon, 2% on AmazonPay — handles India's largest e-commerce platform.
The Lifestyle Suite
2 shopping cards + 2 lifestyle cards + 1 fuel card. Built for urban professionals who spend across dining, fashion, streaming, and commute.
Why this works
- ✓HDFC Regalia Gold: 5X on Myntra/Nykaa/M&S — fashion & lifestyle shopping maximized.
- ✓Axis Flipkart: 5% unlimited on Flipkart/Myntra — covers India's 2nd largest marketplace + fashion.
- ✓Amex MRCC: 5X on Amazon/Swiggy/BookMyShow — lifestyle spends with milestone bonuses every ₹20k.
- ✓Swiggy HDFC: 10% on Swiggy (food delivery) — essential for frequent food ordering.
- ✓Axis IOCL: 4% fuel surcharge savings + bonus points — handles all fuel station costs.
10-Card Stacks
Full-coverage portfolios for maximum optimization
The Ultimate Portfolio
Optimization for every single rupee spent. Cover every category with the highest possible reward rate.
Why this works
- ✓HDFC Infinia: The base for everything (3.3%) + SmartBuy (16-33%).
- ✓Amex Gold & MRCC: specialized usage for reward multipliers and monthly milestones.
- ✓Axis Airtel & Ace: Precision strikes on utility bills for 10-25% cashback.
- ✓Tata Neu Infinity: The best card for UPI spends (1.5% returns).
- ✓SC Ultimate: High flat rate for uncategorized spends where others fail.
- ✓SBI Cashback: Catches any online spend that Infinia SmartBuy doesn't cover better.
The All-Rounder Ten
A diverse 10-card portfolio covering shopping, fuel, travel, dining, international, and lifestyle — for users who want category-optimized returns without super-premium fees.
Why this works
- ✓SBI Cashback + ICICI Amazon Pay + Axis Flipkart: Triple-cover online shopping across all platforms.
- ✓Axis Ace: Handles all bill payments (electricity, broadband, phone) at 5% via GPay.
- ✓SBI BPCL Octane: 7.25% effective return at fuel stations — huge savings for car owners.
- ✓Axis Atlas: Premium travel booking value with lounge access bundled.
- ✓Federal Scapia: Zero forex markup — use for intl Netflix, Spotify, and foreign travel spends.
- ✓Swiggy HDFC + SC Manhattan: Cover food delivery and grocery — daily essentials optimized.
- ✓Amex MRCC: Milestone bonuses every ₹20k push overall return rate higher.
📐 How We Calculate Net Benefit
Projected Rewards
Annual rewards value assuming category-optimised spending patterns. We assign each card to categories where it earns the highest rate and avoid overlap.
Annual Fee Total
Sum of all annual fees BEFORE waivers. Many cards waive fees on spend targets — the real cost could be ₹0 if you meet thresholds.
Net Gain
Projected Rewards minus Annual Fee. A positive number means the combo pays you to use it. Higher is better, but also consider the effort of managing multiple cards.