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HDFC Bank Freedom Credit Card Features and Benefits

The Freedom Credit Card is one of the most basic HDFC Bank Credit Cards and is still desired by thousands of individuals who are looking for an affordable card with decent reward rates and features. It comes with great welcome and annual benefits along with a good reward rate. To understand all the features and benefits of the card in detail, refer to all the points mentioned below:

Welcome/Renewal benefit

• You get 500 bonus Cash Points after successfully paying the joining fee.
• You also get 500 bonus CashPoints every year on card renewal.

Fuel Surcharge Waiver

A 1% fuel surcharge is waived at all filling stations across India for transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000 (the maximum waiver is ₹250 per statement cycle).

Spend Based Waiver

The ₹500 renewal fee is waived if you spent ₹50,000 or more in the previous anniversary year.

HDFC Bank Freedom Credit Card Reward Points

• You get 1 Cash Point for every amount spent of ₹150.
• You get 10 Cash Points for every ₹150 spent on BigBasket, OYO, Swiggy, Uber, and BookMyShow. The maximum Cash Points under this category are capped at 2,500 Cash Points every month.

CashPoints Redemption

• The Reward Points earned on the HDFC Bank Freedom Credit Card can be redeemed for cash back, products (from the HDFC product catalog), or hotel/flight bookings on Smartbuy.
• 1 Cash Point = ₹0.15 for redemption against all the categories as mentioned above.
• You need a minimum of 500 Cash Points for redemption against cashback.
• You can only use up to 50% of Cash Points to book flights/hotels on SmartBuy. The rest must be paid by credit card.
• Please note that the maximum amount of reward points that can be redeemed in a calendar month is 50,000.
• Rent payments, fuel spending, EMI transactions, wallet loads, gift card purchases, cash advances, and government transactions are excluded from the redemption of reward points.

HDFC Freedom Credit Card Eligibility Criteria

In order to get approved for the HDFC Bank Freedom Card, the applicants need to fulfill specific eligibility criteria, which depend on several factors, including their age, income, credit history, etc. The basic eligibility requirements for the HDFC Freedom Credit Card are mentioned below in the table:

HDFC Bank Freedom Credit Card Review

Given its not-so-strict eligibility criteria, low membership fee, and decent reward rate across almost all spending categories, the Freedom Credit Card by HDFC Bank is a good pick for first-time cardholders. Another card that can be considered very similar to this is the Swiggy HDFC Bank Credit Card, which has a similar annual fee and many more features, such as high 10% cashback on Swiggy. Earlier, the Freedom Card was the go-to choice for first-time credit card users, but since its devaluation in September 2024, it’s best to go for a different card offering with similar fees but many more rewards. This card is only helpful for those who spend the most on the accelerated reward category brands.

All these benefits combined make it one of the best offerings in the entry-level segment. What do you think of the HDFC Freedom Credit Card? Do let us know in the comments. And if you’re an existing cardholder, feel free to share your experience.