Axis Bank Ace Credit Card vs HDFC Millennia Credit Card- Which One Should You Pick?

Axis Bank Ace Credit Card and HDFC Millennia Credit Card are two of the best shopping credit cards in the Indian Credit Card market. Both these cards are entry-level credit cards and have a cashback reward structure. While Axis Bank Ace Credit Card comes with a membership fee of just Rs. 499 per annum. HDFC Millennia Credit Card comes with a slightly higher membership fee of Rs. 1,000 per annum

In this article, we will discuss the reward rate and other benefits that these two cards offer, one by one in detail, and finally give you a quick comparison between the two credit cards so that is becomes easier for you to pick one based on your needs.

Axis Bank Ace Credit Card

Axis Bank Ace Credit Card is a shopping credit card launched by Axis Bank in collaboration with Google Pay in October last year. It is an entry-level cashback credit card and comes with a membership fee of Rs. 499 per annum. The card offers a high reward rate of 5% on mobile recharges and utility bill payments via the Google Pay app. Some of the key features of the Axis Bank Ace credit card are as under-

5% cashback on mobile recharges and utility bill payments made with the card via Google Pay. The option to pay with credit cards is available only on the Android version of the Google Pay app.
4% cashback on Zomato, Swiggy and Ola and 2% cashback on all other transactions made with the card.
4 complimentary lounge access at select domestic airports across India.
There is no upper limit on the cashback that can be earned on the card in a given month.
Up to 20% discount on dining bills at over 4,000 partner restaurants across India under the bank’s Dining Delights program.
The joining fee of Rs. 499 is waived off on the expenditure of Rs. 10,000 within the first 45 days of card issuance and the annual renewal fee (second year onwards) is waived off if a minimum of Rs. 2 lakh were spent in the previous year.

HDFC Bank Millennia Credit Card

The Millennia Credit Card by HDFC Bank is another very popular shopping credit card in the Indian credit card market, particularly among young professionals and millennials. Just like Axis Bank Ace Credit Card, HDFC Millenia credit card also has a cashback reward structure. The card is offered in three variants- Visa variant, MasterCard variant and RuPay variant.

HDFC Millennia Credit Card is an entry to mid-level card and comes with a higher membership fee of Rs. 1,000 per annum. The card offers a high reward rate of 5% on some of the most popular e-commerce websites including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, BookMyShow, Swiggy and Zomato. Here are some of the salient features of HDFC Millennia Credit Card-

The cashback earned on HDFC Millennia Credit Card is processed as CashPoints which can either be redeemed against the card’s statement balance (1 CP = Re. 1), product purchases (1 CP = Rs. 0.30), flight/hotel bookings (1 CP = Rs. 0.30) or can be transferred to partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs (1 CP = Rs. 0.30).
You earn 5% cashback on partner e-commerce websites including popular brands like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, BookMyShow, etc. and 1% cashback on all other online and offline spends. The maximum number of CashPoints that can be earned in a given month is capped at 1,000 CashPoints.
You get 8 complimentary domestic and 2 complimentary international airport lounge access per annum with the Millennia Credit Card.
You are also entitled to a discount of up to 20% on dining bills at partner restaurants with the complimentary Dineout Passport Membership.
The minimum income requirement to be eligible for HDFC Millennia Credit Card is Rs. 35,000 per month for salaried applicants and Rs. 6 lakh per annum for self-employed applicants.
Annual membership fee of Rs. 1,000 is waived off on the expenditure of Rs. 1 lakh in the preceding membership year.

Quick Comparison

The following chart gives you a quick comparison between Axis Bank Ace Credit Card and HDFC Millennia Credit Card-

	Axis Bank Ace Credit Card	HDFC Millennia Credit Card
Reward Rate	Cashback is automatically transferred to the cardholders’ accounts5% cashback on bill payments (electricity, gas, internet, etc.) and mobile and DTH recharges with the card via Google Pay.4% cashback on Swiggy, Zomato and Ola.2% cashback on all other spends with the card.There is no upper limit on the cashback that can be earned on the card.	5% Cashback on Amazon, BookMyShow, Cult.fit, Flipkart, Myntra, Sony LIV, Swiggy, Tata CLiQ, Uber and Zomato.1% cashback on all other spends with the cardCashback is earned as CashPoints.A max cap of 1,000 CashPoints per month is applicable.
Reward Redemption	The cashback is directly adjusted against the card’s statement balance every month.	1 CashPoint = Re. 1 (cashback)1 CashPoint = Rs. 0.30 (product catalog)1 CashPoint = Rs. 0.30 (flight/hotel bookings on SmartBuy)1 Cash Point = Rs.0.30 (AirMiles)
Welcome/Renewal Benefits	10,000 miles for spending Rs. 1,000 or more in the first two months after receiving the card and 3,000 miles each time your membership is renewed.	1,000 CashPoints as a welcome benefit on realization of the joining fee
Milestone Benefits	N/A	15,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend Rs. 1.9 lakh in a year.Taj Stay Vouchers worth Rs. 10,000 and an additional 25,000 Membership Reward Points on annual spending of Rs. 4 lakh.
Additional Benefits	You get 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits per quarter (applicable for the Visa Signature variant) or 6 domestic lounge visits per quarter (applicable for Mastercard variant).Up to 20% off at over 4,000 partner restaurants under the bank’s dining delights program.	8 domestic airport lounge access every year (max 2 per quarter).20% discount at partner restaurants with Dineout Passport.
Membership Fee	Rs. 499 per annum.Joining fee is waived on spending Rs. 10,000 within 45 days of card issuance and renewal fee (second year onwards) is waived off on expenditure of Rs. 2 lakh in the preceding year.	Rs. 5,000 per annum, (Rs. 3,500 joining fee for the first year)
Eligibility	No minimum income criteria are explicitly specified by the bank.The age of the cardholder must be between 23 years and 70 years.	Minimum income of Rs. 35,000 per month (salaried applicants) or Rs. 6 lakh per annum (self-employed applicants)Age >18 (for both Salaried or Self-Employed Applicants).

Conclusion

As is obvious from the comparison above, although HDFC Millennia Credit Card comes with a higher annual fee than Axis Bank Ace Credit Card, the reward rate and benefits that it offers justify the higher annual fee. You not only get a high reward rate of 5% on some of the most popular e-commerce websites but also complimentary domestic lounge access with HDFC Millennia Credit Card which most other entry-level credit cards do not offer. However, as far as utility bill payments and mobile/DTH recharges are concerned, Axis Bank Ace Credit Card, with a reward rate of 5% (compared with just 1% on the Millennia Credit Card), has the upper hand.

Keeping in mind all the pros and cons of both credit cards, it can be concluded that if the majority of your online spends are for bill payments and mobile/DTH recharges and food orders, and you’re not a very big fan of online shopping, Axis Bank Ace Credit Card which comes with a lower annual fee should be your pick. Otherwise, HDFC Millenia Credit Card is definitely more rewarding and you simply can not go wrong with it.