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How we compare cards and loans

Last updated 19 Oct 2026

CreditParakh compares Indian credit cards and personal loans on the numbers that decide whether they're worth it to you: for cards, fees, the value you get back and who can get one; for loans, the interest rate, fees and what the loan really costs. This page explains where those numbers come from and how we rank.

Which cards we cover

We compare 77 cards: the ones available through our referral partner, plus the most-searched cards we don't earn from. 45 of the 77 cards we compare have a partner link we may earn from; the other 32 link to the bank's own site, and we don't earn from them. Ranking never depends on what we earn. A card with a partner link shows “Apply now”; one without shows “View on [bank] site”. This still isn't every card in India, and we say so on every comparison page (“cards we compare”).

Where the facts come from

  • Only the issuing bank's own website and documents: product pages, fees and charges schedules, MITC (most important terms and conditions) and reward terms.
  • For cards sold through an app (such as Kiwi, Jupiter or Scapia), the bank's page comes first and the app maker's official site second.
  • We never copy figures from comparison sites, news articles or forums.
  • When a bank's own pages disagree (a banner says “lifetime free” but the fee schedule lists a fee), we use the fee schedule or MITC figure, because those are the binding terms, and say on the card's page that the bank's pages disagree.
  • Every card page shows the date we last checked it and links to the bank's page we used.

How we work out value back

Value back is the percentage of your spend that returns to you, at the redemption value the bank publishes. For example, 5 reward points per ₹100 at ₹0.25 a point is 1.25% value back. If a bank doesn't publish what a point is worth, we leave the rate blank (“–”) rather than guess. Accelerated rates usually have monthly caps; card pages mention them where the bank publishes them.

How cards are ranked

  • Each category ranks cards by the value back that matters for it: fuel cards by fuel value back, UPI cards by UPI value back, movies and dining cards by value back on restaurant bills and food-delivery apps, and so on. Where a card pays more only on one delivery app, that rate is used (dine-in usually earns less); restaurant discount programmes count as offers, not as value back.
  • Ties go to the card with the lower annual fee.
  • Lifetime free means no joining fee and no annual fee in the bank's fee schedule, not just in a promotion.
  • What we earn never affects rankings. See our disclosure.

How we judge each card

Every card page has a short verdict, what's good, what to watch out for, and who it suits. These come from the same written rules applied to every card, using only the bank's published terms. We never give scores or stars, and whether we earn from a card is never an input.

  • Is the fee worth it? We compare the card's rate on each spend with the best rate any lifetime free card we compare pays on it. The annual fee divided by the difference gives the monthly spend at which the fee pays for itself.
  • A card counts as strong on a spend when it ranks in the top 3 of that category, or pays at least 1.5 times the best free card.
  • We flag a fee that needs over ₹25,000 a month to recover, a joining fee of ₹2,500 or more, a reward cap reached by ₹10,000 of spend a month, a base rate under 0.5%, a forex markup of 3.5% or more, and lounge visits that need ₹20,000 or more of spend a month.
  • “Worth it?” says yes for lifetime free cards, and for paid cards above the monthly spend at which the fee pays for itself. Otherwise it says when the card makes sense: lounge use, a large joining fee recovered by rewards, or most of your spending on its best category.
  • We call out a fee waived at ₹1.5 lakh of yearly spend or less, a forex markup of 2% or less, and income requirements of ₹25,000 a month or less.

Editorial standards

Every card and loan fact on CreditParakh comes from the bank's or lender's own documents. This section explains who checks them, which documents we trust, and what happens when we get something wrong.

Who checks. The CreditParakh team. We publish as a team, not under personal names, so every page is signed "CreditParakh team". We never invent reviewers, testimonials or credentials.

Which documents count. We use official documents in this order:

  1. The most important terms and conditions (MITC), the key fact statement (KFS) and the fee schedule. These are the terms you accept when you apply.
  2. The bank's or lender's product page.
  3. Its FAQs and help pages.

For cards sold through an app, the bank's documents come before the app's website. We never take facts from comparison sites, aggregators, news articles or forums, even when they're easier to read.

When official pages disagree. We show both and say which one binds. For example, a product page may say "lifetime free" while the fee schedule lists a joining fee. We show the fee, describe the conflict, and ask you to confirm the fee with the bank before you apply. The MITC, KFS or fee schedule binds, because those are the terms you sign up to.

How often we check. We re-check every card and lender at least once a month. Every Monday we also check the banks' websites for new notices of changes. Each card and lender page shows the date we last checked it and links to the document we used.

How we log changes. When a bank changes a fee, reward rate, cap or lounge rule, we update the card's details and add the change to our credit card change log. Each entry shows the date and links to the bank's notice, with the old and new terms where the notice gives them.

What we earn. We may earn a commission when you apply through some of our links. What we earn never affects rankings, verdicts or which card comes first. Rankings follow the rules on this page and use only the banks' and lenders' published terms. We also list popular cards we don't earn from. Their buttons go to the bank's own site and say so.

Found an error? Email support@creditparakh.in with the page and what's wrong, and a link to the bank's document if you have one. We check it against the official source and fix it. Every correction is listed with its date in our corrections list.

Personal loans: which lenders we list

We compare 15 lenders available through our referral partner that publish standard personal-loan terms on their own websites: an interest rate range, fees, loan amounts and tenure. We leave out products we can't compare honestly, even when our partner offers them:

  • payday-style loans priced per day or with published annual rates in the hundreds of percent;
  • lenders that don't publish their interest rate, or whose own pages contradict each other on the basic terms;
  • loans open only to a bank's existing customers, such as a loan on a credit card.

Many loans are arranged by an app and given by a bank or NBFC behind it. RBI rules require the app to name that lender, and so do we: each lender page shows who actually gives the loan.

Personal loans: where the facts come from and how we rank

  • Only the lender's own website, Key Fact Statement samples, schedule of charges and its “lending partners” page. Never comparison sites.
  • Rates are the published yearly range. The rate you're offered depends on your credit score, income and the lender's checks, and is usually above the starting rate.
  • Lenders are ranked by the lowest published starting rate, then the lower top rate. A lender that doesn't publish a rate goes last.
  • Each lender page works out what a ₹1,00,000 loan for 12 months costs at its lowest and highest published rate, with its highest published processing fee plus 18% GST, using the same maths as our EMI calculator.
  • When a lender's own pages disagree, we use its schedule of charges or Key Fact Statement and say that the pages differ.
  • Whether we earn from a lender, or how much, never affects its rank.

What we are not

CreditParakh is not a bank or lender and doesn't guarantee approval. Approval is at the bank's or lender's discretion. We don't give personalised financial advice; compare the terms yourself before you apply.

Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix it and list it here with the date.

  • 19 Oct 2026: Our loan pages named some lenders behind loan apps by guessing from logos; they now name only the lending partners each platform lists itself. (/personal-loans/)
  • 19 Oct 2026: The verdict on the IndusInd Platinum RuPay card left out its ₹10,000 joining fee; it now counts the fee and says the bank's fee terms and product page disagree. (/credit-cards/indusind-platinum-rupay/)
  • 19 Oct 2026: Fee and eligibility text for several cards included our internal research notes; it now uses plain wording. (/credit-cards/compare/)
  • 19 Oct 2026: Fee lines for cards with a joining fee but no annual fee said "Free a year"; they now say "no annual fee". (/credit-cards/jupiter-edge-csb-rupay/)
  • 19 Oct 2026: Lender pages ended with a source note written for cards ("check the issuer's terms"); it now refers to the lender's terms. (/personal-loans/)