Short answer: Not if you autopay the full statement. The rewards are real; the 36–42% APR on balances is more real.
Not if you clear the full statement every month by autopay. Used that way a card is a free 20–50 day loan with rewards attached. Carry a balance even occasionally and the 36–42% annual rate overwhelms every reward programme in the market.
The asymmetry
Cashback and points on Indian cards typically run 1–5% of spend. Revolving interest runs 3–3.5% per month, compounded. One month of carrying a ₹50,000 balance costs roughly ₹1,750 — more than a year of rewards on the same spending. The product is excellent at one setting and predatory at the other, and the switch between them is a single missed payment.
The minimum-payment trap
Paying the "minimum due" is the most expensive button in personal finance. It keeps the account current while the balance compounds, and interest typically applies from the transaction date rather than the statement date once a balance revolves — so new purchases stop having an interest-free period at all. A ₹1,00,000 balance serviced at the minimum can take years and cost more than the original spend.
Set it up once
Autopay the full statement amount, not the minimum, from the account your salary lands in. Set the date two days after payday. This removes the only real risk — forgetting — and converts the card into the useful version of itself permanently.
The quieter cost
Cards do increase spending for most people, by something on the order of 10–15% in studies of payment methods. The money is abstract at the counter and the bill arrives weeks later, so the feedback loop that restrains cash spending is broken. If you track, this is manageable — the tracker restores the feedback the card removed. If you do not track, a card is an excellent way to spend more than you intended for a year without noticing.
When to stop using one entirely
If a balance has revolved more than once in the last year, the card is not working for you. Move to UPI or debit until the balance is cleared and the habit has reset. This is not a permanent verdict on cards — it is the recognition that the product only pays when used in exactly one way.
Put numbers to it with the free budget calculator and emergency fund calculator — no sign-up, works on any phone.
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