The CardBuzz blog
Card-by-card write-ups from our team, features, fees, lounge access and who each card actually suits. For the numbers after every cap and exclusion, head to the card pages.
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News & DevaluationsHow HDFC, SBI, Axis and ICICI Built India's Card Empires
Four issuers control the overwhelming majority of India's credit cards in force. They didn't get there by accident — each built its empire with a different strategy, a different flagship card, and a different theory of t
News & Devaluations9 Credit Card Innovations India Got Before Everyone Else
India's credit card market is often treated as a follower — a place where global ideas arrive late. The reality is the opposite: some of the most consequential card innovations of the last decade were pioneered, perfecte
Card ReviewsComeback Cards: Indian Credit Cards That Bounced Back From Devaluation
Devaluation is the default direction of the credit card industry. Benefits erode; they almost never come back. Which is precisely why the exceptions are worth studying: the cards that got devalued, took the hit, and then
News & DevaluationsLegendary Devaluations: The Credit Card Changes That Shook India
A devaluation is when your card quietly becomes a worse deal: the same spend earns fewer rewards, the same fee buys fewer perks. Every cardholder in India has lived through at least one. But a handful of devaluations wer
Card ReviewsDiscontinued Legends: The Indian Credit Cards We Miss Most
Credit cards die. Programs get acquired, airlines go bankrupt, issuers recalculate the math and pull the plug. But some cards are mourned like old friends, because they gave their holders something no replacement ever qu
Card ReviewsIndian Credit Card Hall of Fame: 15 Cards That Changed Everything
Every hobby has its legends, and India's credit card scene is no exception. A Hall of Fame card is not necessarily the best card you can get today. It is a card that changed how Indians think about credit cards — the one
ComparisonsThe Payment Verdict: A Decision Framework for Credit vs Debit
Nine articles into this series, the evidence is in. Credit cards win on rewards, protection, score-building, EMI, and international use. Debit cards win on debt prevention, cash access, surcharged transactions, and budge
ComparisonsFrom Debit-First to Credit-Smart: The 90-Day Migration Plan
Knowing credit cards are better on paper and actually switching are two different things. Most debit-first users stall on the same fears: "I'll overspend," "the fees will get me," "I don't understand the billing cycle."
ComparisonsDebit's Home Turf: Spends Where Debit Cards Outperform Credit
This series has made the case for credit cards at length — rewards, protection, score-building, EMI. Intellectual honesty demands the other side. Debit cards are not a consolation prize; on their home turf they are genui
ComparisonsThe EMI Equation: Credit's No-Cost Promise vs Debit's Limits
EMI — equated monthly instalments — is where credit cards reveal their deepest structural advantage. Not rewards, not lounge access: the ability to split a ₹60,000 purchase into twelve painless monthly chunks, often at g
ComparisonsAcross Borders: Debit vs Credit Abroad in 2026
The moment your flight leaves Indian airspace, the credit-vs-debit calculus changes shape. Foreign-currency markups, dynamic currency conversion traps, hotel security deposits, and fraud exposure all behave differently a
ComparisonsThe Fee Ledger: Every Rupee Credit and Debit Cards Charge
"Debit cards are free, credit cards charge fees" — this is the most common mental model in India, and it is half true in a way that costs people money. Debit cards do avoid the headline fees. But they carry their own qui