Groceries are the single largest recurring category for most Indian households — ₹10,000–₹30,000 a month for a family of four. At an average 1% cashback, that's ₹1,200–₹3,600 a year left on the table. The right grocery-focused credit card returns 5% on this spend, adding up to ₹10,000+ of annual value. Here are the four cards we trust in 2026.
1. SBI SimplySAVE Credit Card — highest rate on groceries
The SBI SimplySAVE pays 10X reward points on grocery, departmental stores, dining, and movies. That's effectively 2.5% cashback at SBI's redemption rate (4 points = ₹1). At ₹20,000 monthly grocery spend, that's ₹6,000/year of rewards against a ₹499 annual fee (waived on ₹1 lakh annual retail spend). Best-in-class for the grocery-specific use case.
2. HDFC Millennia — broad 5% online
The HDFC Millennia pays 5% cashback on BigBasket, Blinkit, Zepto, and several other online grocery platforms, plus 5 more partner categories. Monthly cashback cap: ₹1,000 on 5% categories. Annual fee ₹1,000 waived on ₹1 lakh spends. Strong pick if your grocery spend is entirely online and you'd also use the 5% on Amazon / Swiggy / Zomato.
3. Flipkart Axis Bank — best for BigBasket + Flipkart households
The Flipkart Axis Bank card offers 5% cashback on Flipkart (which now owns Cleartrip + groceries via Myntra) and 4% on preferred partners. BigBasket and a few other delivery services qualify for the 4% tier. ₹500 fee, waived on ₹3.5L spend.
4. Axis Ace — flat 2% on everything else
If your household shops mainly at DMart, local kirana, or other offline stores, most category-specific cards don't apply. The Axis Ace pays 2% unlimited on every offline swipe and UPI QR scan. Not category-leading, but the most reliable card for offline grocery runs.
Which card works where?
| Shop | Best card | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| BigBasket | HDFC Millennia | 5% |
| Blinkit / Zepto / Instamart | HDFC Millennia | 5% |
| DMart (offline) | Axis Ace | 2% |
| Reliance Smart / More | SBI SimplySAVE | 2.5% |
| Local kirana (POS) | SBI SimplySAVE or Axis Ace | 2–2.5% |
| Amazon Pantry / Amazon Fresh | ICICI Amazon Pay | 5% (Prime) |
| Swiggy Instamart | HDFC Millennia or HDFC Swiggy | 5–10% |
Two-card strategy for grocery-heavy households
Split your grocery spend by channel:
- Online quick-commerce (Blinkit / Zepto / BigBasket / Amazon): HDFC Millennia or ICICI Amazon Pay. 5% back.
- Offline hypermarkets and kirana: SBI SimplySAVE (2.5%) if you have it, else Axis Ace (2%).
A ₹25K/month household splitting 60% online and 40% offline recovers ₹1,050/month = ₹12,600 annually, against ₹999 of fees combined. Net value ≈ ₹11,600/year on spending you were going to do anyway.
Cards to avoid for grocery
Most travel-and-lounge cards (Regalia Gold, SBI Card ELITE, Infinia) give only the base rate on grocery — 0.5–1% — which is far below category specialists. Premium cards are for travel and dining; don't optimise grocery on them.
For the broader online-shopping picture, see our best credit cards for online shopping round-up. Pure cashback optimisers should also read the best cashback credit cards guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which credit card gives 5% cashback on BigBasket?
The HDFC Millennia and Flipkart Axis Bank cards both qualify. HDFC Millennia has a wider set of grocery merchants; Flipkart Axis is better if you also shop Flipkart.
Do credit cards give cashback on local kirana / POS machines?
Yes — every transaction on a POS terminal earns the card's base rewards rate. Specific "grocery" tagging is rare outside major chains. SBI SimplySAVE's "grocery and departmental stores" category applies broadly to POS-coded merchants.
Is 2.5% cashback at SBI SimplySAVE actually cashback?
It's 10X reward points, not literal cashback. Redemption on the SBI catalogue values points at roughly ₹0.25, so 10 points per ₹100 spent = ₹2.50 of value = 2.5% effective.
Can I use multiple grocery cards simultaneously?
Yes. Carry both and pick the right one at the checkout based on merchant. Most value-maximisers hold HDFC Millennia for online + SBI SimplySAVE for offline.
Credit Cards Editor, OnePaisa Editorial
Sandhya writes on credit cards for OnePaisa — reward programmes, fees and charges, lounge and travel benefits, and head-to-head card comparisons. Every fee, earn rate and benefit in her guides is checked against the issuer's MITC document and official product page, and against OnePaisa's verified product data, before it is published. Where an issuer does not disclose a number, the guide says so instead of estimating it.
Work published under this byline follows OnePaisa’s editorial standards — how our guides are researched, fact-checked against primary sources, and corrected.