Federal Bank credit cards compared

The Scapia Credit Card is a lifetime-free travel card designed around zero forex markup and travel rewards, issued digitally via the Scapia app in partnership with Federal Bank and BOBCARD (Bank of Baroda). Cardholders earn 20 Scapia Coins per ₹100 (~4% effective return, where 5 coins = ₹1) on flights and hotels booked through the Scapia app, and 10% coins (~2% return) on other eligible spending. Note that the RuPay variant earns half that rate (5% coins on spends of ₹500+) compared to the Visa variant (10% coins on spends of ₹20+). Following a February 2026 update, complimentary unlimited domestic airport lounge access is unlocked by spending ₹20,000 or more in the previous calendar month, while insurance, utilities, rent, and fuel transactions are excluded from reward accrual.

Federal Bank markets Celesta as its flagship consumer card, and the standout fact is that it costs nothing to hold: although the bank's own Schedule of Charges still lists a ₹3,000 joining fee and a matching ₹3,000 annual fee, those only apply to people who signed up before 3 April 2023 — everyone applying now pays neither. You can pick it up on either the Visa or the Mastercard network with no difference in rewards, fees or perks between the two; there's no RuPay version, so UPI linking isn't an option. On spending, Celesta doesn't try hard: the base is 1 Reward Point per ₹100, which triples for travel and international purchases and doubles for dining, and Federal prices each point at 25 paisa — working out to roughly 0.25% back ordinarily and 0.75% at the top end. What actually justifies the card is unrelated to points: a 2% markup on foreign-currency transactions (well under the typical 3.5%) and a pair of international airport lounge visits each year that come with no minimum-spend requirement. Applicants with no credit history can also get the card secured against a fixed deposit.

Sitting between Federal Bank's Signet and Celesta cards, the Imperio is the mid-tier entry in the bank's self-issued lineup, and it shares the lifetime-free status of both siblings. Federal's Schedule of Charges still lists a ₹1,500 joining and annual fee, but that line only applies to customers who signed up before 3rd April 2023 — anyone applying now pays nothing to join or renew. Visa and Mastercard versions carry identical rewards and charges, and since there's no RuPay option, the card can't be linked to UPI. Rewards are pitched at household spending: a standard 1 Reward Point per ₹150, rising to 3x on grocery and healthcare purchases and 2x on utility bills. Because Federal values each point at 25 paisa, that translates to just 0.17% back on ordinary spend and 0.5% at the accelerated rate — modest enough that rewards shouldn't be anyone's main reason for choosing this card. Airport lounge access follows a spend gate: clear ₹40,000 in a quarter and two domestic visits open up for the following quarter. Applicants without an existing credit history can also get the card secured against a fixed deposit.

Among Federal Bank's own-branded cards, the Signet sits at the entry level and is the easiest of the three to qualify for. There's no cost to holding it today: although Federal's Schedule of Charges still lists a ₹750 joining fee and ₹750 annual fee, those apply only to customers who were onboarded before 3rd April 2023, and the card's own page confirms outright that there is no membership fee and no joining fee for anyone applying now. Uniquely among Federal's proprietary cards, Signet is issued on all three networks — Visa, Mastercard and RuPay — with the RuPay version linkable to a UPI ID, so it doubles as a card you can use for routine scan-and-pay transactions. Where it falls short is rewards: the standard earn rate of 1 Reward Point per ₹200 is the lowest across Federal's range, even with a 3x multiplier on electronics and apparel and a 2x multiplier on entertainment. Since Federal officially prices each point at 25 paisa, that base rate translates to just 0.125% back — modest enough that this card functions less as an earner and more as a free pass to lounge access and the occasional voucher. One more route in: it's available against a fixed deposit, giving applicants without a credit history a way to get their first card.