Zero forex markup credit cards in India — what they actually save
Quick answer. Only 4 of 23 Indian cards in our data come out ahead on foreign spending once GST and rewards are counted. The two best are not zero-markup cards: HDFC Infinia and HDFC Diners Club Black net +0.94% despite a 2% markup. IDFC FIRST WOW nets +0.67% with no markup; Scapia breaks even. Your everyday card is probably costing you around 3% abroad. And whatever card you use, our advice is to decline the "pay in rupees" option at the till.
Based on the 23 Indian cards in our data — a subset of the market, not all of it; rates last checked between 2026-07-21 and 2026-08-16.
What is a zero forex markup card, and which cards have one?
A zero forex markup credit card charges no percentage fee when you spend abroad. Of the 23 cards here, two do this: IDFC FIRST WOW and Scapia Federal Bank. Every other card charges between 1.5% and 3.5%.
That sounds like the answer. It isn't, quite — and the table below shows why.
Ranked by what you actually keep, HDFC Infinia Metal and HDFC Diners Club Black both come out ahead of every zero-markup card, despite charging a 2% markup. They earn 3.3% back on foreign spending, which more than covers the markup and the GST on it. IDFC FIRST WOW is third. Scapia, with zero markup and no rewards on foreign spending, lands exactly at break-even.
Ranking by forex markup alone is the wrong metric, and it produces the wrong winner.
Two things get left out. First, the figures here add 18% GST to the markup itself, so a 3.5% markup is really 4.13%. Second, your card still earns rewards on that transaction. What you actually pay is markup, plus GST on the markup, minus whatever you earn back.
Computed that way across the 23 Indian cards, the result is not what the "zero forex card" genre suggests:
Only 4 of 23 Indian cards in our data come out ahead on foreign spending. One breaks exactly even, and 18 lose money on every international transaction. The two best performers are not zero-markup cards — they are 2%-markup cards whose rewards more than cover the markup.
Which of your cards loses least abroad? The full table
Net return = reward earned − (markup + 18% GST on the markup). A negative number is what that card costs you, as a percentage of everything you spend abroad. The rupee column models ₹1,00,000 of foreign spending in a year.
| Card | Annual fee | Markup | + GST | Reward | Net | On ₹1,00,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HDFC Infinia Metal | ₹12,500 | 2% | 2.36% | 3.3% | +0.94% | +₹940 |
| HDFC Diners Club Black | ₹10,000 | 2% | 2.36% | 3.3% | +0.94% | +₹940 |
| IDFC FIRST WOW† | ₹0 | 0% | 0% | 0.67% | +0.67% | +₹670 |
| Axis Magnus | ₹12,500 | 1.5% | 1.77% | 2.4% | +0.63% | +₹630 |
| Scapia Federal Bank† | ₹0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0.00% | ₹0 |
| HSBC Live+ | ₹999 | 1.99% | 2.35% | 1.5% | −0.85% | −₹848 |
| HDFC Regalia Gold | ₹2,500 | 2% | 2.36% | 1.3% | −1.06% | −₹1,060 |
| Amazon Pay ICICI | ₹0 | 1.99% | 2.35% | 1% | −1.35% | −₹1,348 |
| IDFC FIRST Select | ₹0 | 1.99% | 2.35% | 0.75% | −1.6% | −₹1,598 |
| Tata Neu Infinity HDFC | ₹1,499 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1.5% | −2.63% | −₹2,630 |
| Axis ACE | ₹499 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1.5% | −2.63% | −₹2,630 |
| HDFC Millennia | ₹1,000 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| Swiggy HDFC Bank | ₹500 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| SBI Cashback Card | ₹999 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| Flipkart Axis Bank | ₹500 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| Airtel Axis Bank | ₹500 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| Amex Membership Rewards (India) | ₹4,500 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| Amex Platinum Travel (India) | ₹5,000 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| Standard Chartered Smart | ₹499 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 1% | −3.13% | −₹3,130 |
| SBI Prime | ₹2,999 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 0.5% | −3.63% | −₹3,630 |
| IRCTC SBI Card (RuPay)† | ₹500 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 0.5% | −3.63% | −₹3,630 |
| ICICI Coral | ₹500 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 0.5% | −3.63% | −₹3,630 |
| SBI SimplyCLICK† | ₹499 | 3.5% | 4.13% | 0.25% | −3.88% | −₹3,880 |
This table is about the card you already hold, not the card to apply for. Three of the four cards that come out ahead charge ₹10,000 or more a year. On the ₹1,00,000 of foreign spending modelled here, HDFC Infinia's +₹940 is outweighed by its own ₹12,500 fee more than thirteen times over. Nobody should take a premium card for its forex maths alone.
Do this: find your cards in the table and use the one highest up for anything billed abroad — a hotel, a foreign subscription — expecting roughly 3% to go in markup and GST if all you hold is everyday cashback cards.
Where a card doesn't publish a markup, the standard Indian 3.5% is assumed. Rewards here are each card's base rate: international spending — a US-billed subscription, a hotel abroad — rarely qualifies for a domestic category bonus, and never for a brand-locked rate.
Why isn't the zero-markup card the winner?
A zero-markup card is not automatically the best card. HDFC Infinia charges 2% and still nets +0.94%, ahead of IDFC FIRST WOW's 0% markup at +0.67%. Infinia earns 3.3%, which more than covers a 2.36% all-in markup. Markup is only half the equation.
Scapia is the clearest illustration of why. It charges no forex markup at all — and earns nothing on international spending. Net: exactly zero. That is still better than the 18 cards below it, which is a real endorsement, but it is not the "free international spending" the zero-markup framing implies.
Your everyday card is probably costing you around 3% abroad. Amazon Pay ICICI, SBI Cashback, HDFC Millennia and Swiggy HDFC — four of the everyday cards in our data — all land at −3.13%. On ₹1,00,000 of foreign spending that's ₹3,130 gone, quietly, in markup and GST.
Should I pay in rupees or the local currency abroad?
Everything above assumes the transaction is billed in the local currency.
This section is our own guidance, not a computed figure — we do not model any of it. If you let a terminal or a website bill you in rupees instead — "would you like to pay in INR?" — we believe you are accepting dynamic currency conversion, where the merchant or their payment processor sets the exchange rate. We have not confirmed a spread ourselves, but that margin is typically worse than your card's markup, and you may still pay the markup on top.
So, as our own recommendation rather than a number we can show you: we believe you should always choose to be billed in the local currency — dollars in the US, euros in the EU, baht in Thailand. We believe you should decline the rupee option every time.
Do this: when a terminal or website offers to charge you in INR, say no and pay in the local currency — it is, we believe, the single largest avoidable cost on this page.
Which card should I actually use on a trip?
If you have a trip or a foreign-billed subscription coming up, the question is not "which is the best forex card" but "which of the cards I already hold loses me the least". For an Indian wallet the honest answer is: your premium card if you have one, your zero-markup card if you have one, and if you have neither, accept that roughly 3% is the cost of the transaction and choose on other grounds.
Applying for a card purely to save the markup is worth doing only if your foreign spending is large enough to clear the card's annual fee — a calculation worked through in the annual-fee break-even guide.
If you hold three or four cards and cannot remember which one has the lower markup, that is the moment Beni is for: name your cards, and it tells you which one to use for a foreign charge.
Questions people ask
Which Indian credit card has zero forex markup? Of the 23 here, IDFC FIRST WOW and Scapia Federal Bank. IDFC FIRST WOW also earns 0.67% back on foreign spending; Scapia earns nothing on it, so it lands at exactly zero.
Is a 2% forex markup card ever better than a zero-markup one? Yes — HDFC Infinia charges 2% and still nets +0.94%, because it earns 3.3% back on foreign spending — the catch is its ₹12,500 fee.
Is Amazon Pay ICICI good for international payments? It costs about 1.35% net in our data — ₹1,348 on ₹1,00,000 of foreign spending. Fine for a one-off; not a card to plan a trip around.
How these numbers were made
Computed with Beni's own engine over 23 Indian cards: each card's published markup (or the 3.5% default where none is published), GST at 18% applied to the markup, and each card's base reward rate. Rates and markups are estimates from public issuer information and change without much notice. Each card links to its issuer's page in the table above. Every India card in our data was last checked between 2026-07-21 and 2026-08-16. Confirm against your issuer's schedule of charges before you rely on this, particularly for the four cards that cannot be checked automatically, marked † in the table: IDFC FIRST WOW, Scapia Federal Bank, IRCTC SBI Card and SBI SimplyCLICK — all four of which appear above. Two deliberate omissions: some cards waive or rebate markup on specific categories or above certain spends, and some issuers price dynamically — the standard published rate is modelled, not every promotional exception. One row is disputed by the issuer's own site: HDFC's Tata Neu Infinity page lists a 2% foreign currency markup while its fees FAQ says 3.5%; the table uses 3.5%, so that row may overstate the cost — check HDFC's schedule of charges. And Axis Magnus's 2.4% assumes points are redeemed at travel-transfer value; redeemed for statement credit it is materially lower, which would push it below Scapia. Full method: how these guides are made.
No affiliate links — Beni earns nothing whichever card you use. Beni is not a bank, takes no payment, and never asks for card numbers.
Related
- Which credit card should you use for each purchase? (India)
- Is your credit card's annual fee worth it? (India)
Beni can tell you which of your own cards costs least on a foreign charge — pick your cards by name, no card numbers needed.