Kotak UPI RuPay Credit Card
The Kotak UPI RuPay is a lifetime-free, virtual-only credit card built for paying by UPI — link it to Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm and scan-and-pay from a credit line. Before anything else, know who it is for: Kotak issues it only to customers who already hold a Kotak credit card, so it is a companion to an existing card rather than a way in. It earns 3 reward points per ₹100 on eligible spends, and because it is on the RuPay rail it works at any UPI QR code. The honest caveat is Kotak's point value: 1,000 points redeem for ₹100 (about ₹0.10 a point on the catalogue, and only ₹0.07 for cash since the June 2025 revision), so 3 points per ₹100 is an effective ~0.3% at best, ~0.21% as cash. A long exclusion list — rent, fuel, railway, wallet loads, EMI, education, insurance, government, gaming, balance transfers and utility spends above ₹35,000 a cycle — earns nothing. Nor is it free of charges: Kotak levies 1% on rent from the first rupee, and 1% on wallet loads and gaming above ₹10,000 a cycle, fuel above ₹25,000 and utilities above ₹35,000, plus a ₹500 over-limit charge and 3.5% on foreign currency. There is no add-on card and no cash withdrawal at all. No card is couriered; the details auto-register in the Kotak mobile app. One linking caveat worth checking first — Kotak says customers holding multiple CRNs cannot link their Kotak RuPay credit card on any UPI app for now, and for the first 24 hours after linking, spending is capped at ₹5,000 a day. It is a convenience card for UPI credit, not a rewards engine.
Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
0.3% on Other
3 reward points per ₹100 (~0.3% at ₹0.10/point catalogue; ~0.21% as cash at ₹0.07 since June 2025); min 1,000 points to redeem; excludes rent, fuel, utilities over ₹35k/cycle and more
Lifetime Free
No annual fee — ever. Keep this card long-term without any recurring cost.
UPI Linked
Link to PhonePe, GPay or Paytm and earn credit card rewards on UPI payments
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | reward points | 0.3% | — |
Fees & charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | Lifetime free |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | Free |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
Should you get it?
Best for: Existing Kotak credit-card holders who want UPI scan-and-pay on a credit line, UPI-first spenders adding a second, no-fee card for convenience
Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
Strongest value if you spend heavily on Other ( 0.3% back).
✓ Pros
- Lifetime free — no joining or annual fee
- Works at any UPI QR code via Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm
- 3 reward points per ₹100 on eligible spends
- Fully digital — virtual card registers in the Kotak app
✕ Cons
- Weak Kotak point value — ~₹0.10 on the catalogue, ₹0.07 as cash since June 2025
- Long exclusion list (rent, fuel, railway, wallet, EMI, education, insurance, government, utilities over ₹35k) earns nothing
- Virtual-only — no physical card is issued
- No add-on card and no cash advance facility at all
- Kotak says customers with multiple CRNs cannot link a Kotak RuPay credit card on any UPI app for now, so the card's one job may not work for you
- Standard ~3.5% forex markup on international use
Eligibility & documents
Age
18 + years
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed
Documents required
- None — Kotak issues this card against an existing Kotak credit-card relationship, virtually, with no separate document collection
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
🎁 Online rewards catalogue (mobile recharge, shopping, e-vouchers, movies, travel) at ~₹0.10/point
🎁 Cash value / statement credit at ₹0.07/point (minimum 2,000 points)
What your Kotak Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Statement credit BEST Standard redemption
Gift voucher catalogue BEST Brand & e-gift vouchers
The concern Kotak points are weak (~₹0.10 on the catalogue, ₹0.07 as cash since June 2025) and a long exclusion list — rent, fuel, railway, wallet, EMI, education, insurance, government, gaming and utilities over ₹35,000/cycle — earns nothing, so the effective return is ~0.3% at best.
The bottom line
Providing a no-annual-fee method to route merchant UPI transactions through a credit line, the Kotak UPI RuPay card delivers solid payment utility across all UPI QR merchants. However, cardholders should recognize its limited reward potential: with points valued at ~₹0.10 (and ₹0.07 for cash), the 3 points per ₹100 rate generates an effective return of around 0.3%, alongside substantial category exclusions. It works well for day-to-day UPI convenience, while larger routine expenses are better suited to dedicated cashback cards.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the Kotak UPI RuPay Credit Card are taken from Kotak Mahindra Bank 's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page . Last verified 5 Aug 2026 . Reviewed by Devchandra Sah . Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for Kotak Mahindra Bank . All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2023 · 4 changes · last change Jun 2025
▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed
2025 3 changes — 3 cuts
▼ Redemption Observed 8 May 2025 · Effective 1 Jun 2025
Cash redemption value cut ₹0.10 → ₹0.07 per point
₹0.10 per point → ₹0.07 per point (min 2,000 points to redeem)
Effective 1 June 2025 Kotak cut the cash redemption value of a UPI RuPay reward point from ₹0.10 to ₹0.07 — a 30% cut — and set a 2,000-point minimum for cash redemption. On a card whose headline is 3 reward points per ₹100, that drops the effective cash return from about 0.30% to roughly 0.21%, which is the single biggest hit to this card's value.
Verification: Kotak Mahindra Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
▼ Fee Observed 8 May 2025 · Effective 1 Jun 2025
Finance charge raised; 1% category transaction fees added
3.5% per month finance charge (reported); no category transaction fee → 3.75% per month; 1% fee on select categories over per-cycle limits
As part of the same 1 June 2025 revision, Kotak introduced a 1% transaction fee on this card once per-cycle limits are crossed — on wallet loads and gaming above ₹10,000, fuel above ₹25,000 and utilities above ₹35,000, plus education paid through third-party apps. The current 3.75% monthly finance charge is confirmed in Kotak's own KFS; the 3.5% it is said to have replaced is reported rather than published — Kotak has no live page carrying the pre-revision rate.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed
▼ Reward Observed 8 May 2025 · Effective 1 Jun 2025
Several categories dropped from reward earning
Wallet, gaming, insurance, government, fuel, rent & education spends earned points → These categories earn no reward points
From 1 June 2025 wallet loads, online skill-based gaming, insurance, government, fuel, rent and education spends stopped earning reward points on the UPI RuPay card. Because this is a UPI-first card often used precisely for bill-type and QR payments, the exclusions remove earning from a large share of the spends people actually put on it.
Verification: Kotak Mahindra Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
2023 1 change — 1 neutral
◆ Launch Effective Sept 2023
Kotak UPI RuPay virtual card in market
3 reward points per ₹100, lifetime free, virtual-only
Kotak's virtual-only, lifetime-free RuPay credit card was in market by September 2023, in the wave that followed RuPay credit cards becoming linkable to UPI in mid-2023. No physical card is issued — the details are registered in the Kotak mobile banking app and the card is linked to UPI apps for scan-and-pay. It earned 3 reward points per ₹100 with no per-cycle earning cap, on both UPI and regular card transactions, at 1,000 points = ₹100. Kotak published no dated launch notice, so the month is bracketed from the earliest community coverage.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Source: Kotak UPI RuPay Credit Card value timeline — CardAdvisor
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Source: Kotak UPI RuPay Credit Card value timeline , CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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Quick summary
Type Entry credit card
Reward rate 0.3%
Best for Existing Kotak credit-card holders who want UPI scan-and-pay on a credit line
Joining fee Free
Annual fee Lifetime free
Reviewed by
Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade
Last verified 5 Aug 2026
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