Home › Guides

International transaction charges on Indian credit cards

Quick answer. Fourteen of the 23 Indian cards in our data charge the standard 3.5% on a foreign currency transaction — which is 4.13% once 18% GST is added, or ₹4,130 on every ₹1,00,000 you spend abroad. Two cards charge nothing, and seven charge something in between. If you hold more than one card, check both: four banks in our data charge different rates on different cards of their own.

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. Every card name below links to the issuer's own page.

What does my card charge for an international transaction?

Find your card. The last column is what the markup costs you on ₹1,00,000 of foreign spending — a fortnight's holiday, or a year of foreign subscriptions.

One caveat before you act on the table. HDFC's own site disagrees with itself on one card: the Tata Neu Infinity product page lists a 2% foreign currency markup while HDFC's fees FAQ says 3.5%. The table uses 3.5%, so that row may overstate what you pay — check HDFC's schedule of charges before you rely on it.

The gap between the cheapest and the dearest card is ₹4,130 per ₹1,00,000. That is the whole spread, decided by which piece of plastic you happen to pull out.

Rewards are not included here, which likely changes the answer. This page answers what the card charges. Some cards earn enough back to offset it — that is a different question, and our forex guide works it out card by card.

Do this: find your card in the table and read the last column — that is what a ₹1,00,000 holiday costs you in markup alone.

Why do two cards from the same bank charge different amounts?

Because the rate is set per card, not per bank. This catches people out constantly, and it is the most useful thing on this page.

Four issuers charge different markups on different cards of their own: HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and IDFC FIRST Bank.

HDFC is the clearest example. HDFC Infinia Metal, HDFC Diners Club Black and HDFC Regalia Gold charge 2%. HDFC Millennia, Swiggy HDFC Bank and Tata Neu Infinity HDFC charge 3.5%. Same bank, same wallet, nearly double the cost.

Axis is the same story from the other end. Axis Magnus charges 1.5% while Axis ACE, Flipkart Axis Bank and Airtel Axis Bank charge 3.5%.

So "what does an HDFC card charge abroad?" has no single answer. Only "what does this HDFC card charge?" does.

Related: every HDFC card's charge abroad, from HDFC's own terms.

Do this: if you hold more than one card, check whether they are in different bands before you travel — within one bank they often are.

Why is the charge more than the markup?

Because GST is charged on the markup, not on the whole transaction — a distinction worth getting right, because the first version sounds alarming and the second is merely annoying.

18% of 3.5% is 0.63%, which is why a 3.5% markup costs 4.13%. On a ₹10,000 hotel booking that is ₹350 of markup and ₹63 of tax on it.

The same arithmetic runs down the whole table. A 2% markup lands at 2.36%. A 1.5% markup lands at 1.77%.

Do this: when you compare two cards, compare the all-in column, not the headline markup — the difference between 2% and 3.5% is wider than it looks once tax is added.

Which cards charge the least?

IDFC FIRST WOW and Scapia Federal Bank charge no markup. Nothing, no GST, ₹0 per lakh.

Axis Magnus is the cheapest card here that charges a markup at all, at 1.5%, or 1.77% with GST.

Do this: if a zero-markup card is what you are after, note that "no markup" and "cheapest overall" are not the same claim — the forex guide shows why two 2% cards can beat both zero-markup cards once rewards are counted.

Does the "pay in rupees" option at the till save me anything?

No. It likely costs you more, and this is where most avoidable money goes.

When a foreign terminal or website offers to bill you in rupees, you are accepting dynamic currency conversion, where the merchant or their payment processor may set the exchange rate rather than the card network. That margin is likely worse than your card's markup, and it is charged on top of it.

Our advice is to always choose to be billed in the local currency. Dollars in America, euros in Spain, yen in Japan. Our advice is to let your card convert at the network rate, which applies the markup in the table above — a number you can check in advance.

Do this: when a terminal or a website offers to charge you in rupees, say no.

What if my card is not in the table?

If your card is not in the table, our advice is to assume 3.5% until your issuer's schedule of charges says otherwise. It appears to be the standard rate across most Indian issuers, and it is the rate 14 of our 23 cards charge.

Our data covers 23 Indian cards, which is not the whole market. A card missing here is missing from our dataset, not from the world.

Do this: search your issuer's site for "schedule of charges" and look for "foreign currency transaction" or "cross-currency markup" — the number is published, usually in a fees PDF.

Frequently asked

Does the markup apply if I am in India but buying from a foreign site? Yes. The markup appears to apply to the transaction being in a foreign currency, not to you being in a foreign country. An overseas website billing you in dollars from your sofa in Mumbai may therefore be a foreign currency transaction.

Is the GST refundable? Not to an individual cardholder, it appears. It is a tax on the bank's fee.

Do zero-markup cards have other costs? They can — annual fees, spending conditions, or narrower reward rates. This page covers the markup only, and those other costs may matter to you.

Which card should I actually take abroad? That depends on rewards as well as cost, and the answer may not be the cheapest card. Our forex guide computes it.

Is 3.5% negotiable? Not by asking, it appears. It is set in the card's terms. Changing what you pay may mean changing which card you use.

If you hold several cards, this is exactly the kind of thing that is annoying to check by hand. Beni can tell you which of your own cards costs least on a foreign charge. Pick your cards by name — no card numbers needed.

Each figure is that card's published markup, or 3.5% where none is published, plus 18% GST. Markups are estimates from public issuer information and may change without much notice. Four cards cannot be checked automatically and are marked †: IDFC FIRST WOW, Scapia Federal Bank, IRCTC SBI Card and SBI SimplyCLICK. Two scope limits are worth knowing: Axis Magnus's travel rate assumes points redeemed at travel-transfer value, and Scapia Federal Bank earns nothing on international spends, though it charges nothing either. Full method: how these guides are made.

Related: why your credit card cashback wasn't credited.

Related: paying by RuPay credit card on UPI — charges and rewards.

No affiliate links — Beni earns nothing whichever card you use. Beni is not a bank, takes no payment, and never asks for card numbers.