Two credit cards from the same bank can return very different amounts. On Rs 50,000 of monthly spending, HDFC MoneyBack+ returns about Rs 3,360 a year, while Swiggy HDFC returns about Rs 12,312. That is a gap of Rs 8,952 a year, and both cards come from one bank.
A card's reward rate is not one number. Each card pays different rates on different kinds of spending, then limits the rewards with monthly caps, exclusions and an annual fee. Swiggy HDFC pays more on online shopping and food delivery, categories where many people spend heavily. MoneyBack+ pays less on the same spending.
The method: split the spending across categories, multiply each by the card's rate, apply the monthly cap, remove excluded spending and subtract the annual fee. The figures come from the fees, rates and caps the banks publish.
The same method was run across 260 Indian credit cards. On a typical Rs 40,000 a month, the median card returns Rs 2,340 a year, while the best card returns Rs 15,839. Only 22 of the 260 cards pay anything at all on UPI payments.
The full working for this pair, with every step shown, is at https://sahicard.co.in/vs/hdfc-moneyback-plus-vs-hdfc-swiggy . The figures were checked on 12 November 2026. Card terms change, so confirm the bank's current terms before applying. No bank pays SahiCard and nothing typed leaves the device.
Originally published on Medium: https://medium.com/@mysahicard/the-same-bank-two-cards-rs-8-952-apart-94b1864c17aa
