AU Xcite ACE Credit Card
AU Xcite ACE is the best free cashback card in India for general non-Amazon spend, earning 2% flat on all purchases with no annual fee and a monthly cap that only binds at ₹50,000/month. If you are not on this card already, there is no reason not to hold it.
By Ashutosh · Updated June 2026
The market for free cashback cards in India is crowded but mostly mediocre. Yes Kiwi earns 0.5%. YES First gives 1%. SBI SimplyCLICK earns 1% on general spend. AU Xcite ACE earns 2% flat — double the typical free card baseline. The ₹1,000/month cap sounds limiting but only applies at ₹50,000/month spend on this single card, which is high for a backup or general-purpose free card. Amazon Pay ICICI is free and gives 5% on Amazon, so that card covers e-commerce. Xcite ACE covers everything else: offline retail, dining where you do not have a specialized card, fuel, subscriptions, and any merchant where your primary card earns 1% or less. The math on holding this as a zero-cost wallet addition is unambiguous. At ₹15,000/month on general spend: ₹300/month or ₹3,600/year from a free card. Zero reason not to hold it.
Anyone who wants a free, always-earning backup card that outperforms the typical 1% baseline on general everyday spend without tracking categories or partners.
Your entire monthly spend is on Amazon (use Amazon Pay ICICI) or you are primarily interested in lounge access and travel benefits — Xcite ACE has neither.
5% on partner dining/travel (cap ₹1K/mo), 2% on everything else · Lifetime free · ₹500 welcome cashback
PROS
- No fee with strong rewards
- 2% base is excellent for a free card
- 5% on partners
CONS
- ₹1,000/mo cap on 5% categories
- Partner-dependent for highest rates
- AU Bank less established
- General Non-Amazon Online Shopping: Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio, Nykaa, 1mg, and any non-Amazon online purchase earns 2% flat on Xcite ACE. At ₹10,000/month in online shopping excluding Amazon: ₹200/month or ₹2,400/year from a free card. This directly competes with AU's own 3% to 5% partner rates on specific platforms but without the limitation of partner-only earning.
- Offline Retail and Supermarket Purchases: Physical store purchases — malls, supermarkets, electronics stores, apparel — earn 2% without restriction. This is particularly valuable for spends where no partner deal applies and your primary card drops to 1% or 0.5%. At ₹10,000/month offline retail spend: ₹200/month or ₹2,400/year.
- Dining and Food Delivery (When No Better Card Available): When your dedicated dining card (like HSBC Live+) is not accepted or you have already hit its monthly cap, Xcite ACE earns 2% on restaurants and food delivery. This is 4x ICICI Platinum's base rate and 2x most general-purpose card base rates.
- Subscriptions and Recurring Charges: Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime subscription renewals, gym memberships, and other recurring charges earn 2% flat. At ₹3,000/month in subscriptions: ₹60/month or ₹720/year from charges that would otherwise earn 0.5% to 1% elsewhere.
- Backup Card for Any Declined Primary Card Situation: As a free card, Xcite ACE costs nothing to hold in your wallet. Any time your primary card is unavailable — declined, over limit, or lost — Xcite ACE steps in and still earns 2% rather than the 0.5% a typical no-frills backup card would deliver.
Amazon Pay ICICI earns 5% on Amazon for Prime members from a free card. Xcite ACE earns 2% on the same Amazon purchase — a 3 percentage point gap. Always route Amazon spend through Amazon Pay ICICI.
HSBC Live+ earns 10% on dining, Swiggy, Zomato, BigBasket, and Blinkit. If dining and food delivery is your highest-spend category, Live+'s 10% at ₹1,999 fee generates far more absolute cashback than Xcite ACE's 2%.
AU ixigo is also free and gives 17 lounge visits per year (16 domestic + 1 international). Xcite ACE has zero lounge access. If you travel and want lounge benefits without paying a fee, AU ixigo from the same bank is the right free card for travel.
Xcite ACE caps at ₹1,000/month cashback (binding at ₹50,000/month). IDFC FIRST Power Plus earns 1.5% flat with no monthly cap for ₹2,999/year. High spenders who regularly exceed ₹50,000/month and want no cap should upgrade to Power Plus.
The definitive free card combination. Amazon Pay ICICI at 5% on Amazon and Xcite ACE at 2% on everything else — total combined fee zero. Together these two free cards deliver above-average earning across virtually all spend categories. Every Indian consumer should hold both of these cards.
Live+ takes dining, food delivery, and grocery at 10%. Xcite ACE picks up all remaining spend at 2%. Together: dining at 10%, general spend at 2%, Amazon via a third free card at 5%. This three-card stack (adding Amazon Pay ICICI) at ₹1,999 total fee delivers exceptional earning coverage.
View HSBC Live+ Credit Card →Scapia (free) handles all international purchases with zero forex and domestic lounge access (₹20K milestone). Xcite ACE catches all domestic spend at 2% including utility and insurance categories that Scapia excludes post-February 2026. Zero combined fee, complementary exclusion lists.
View Scapia Credit Card →Is AU Xcite ACE really completely free with no hidden charges?
AU Xcite ACE is a lifetime-free credit card with no joining fee and no annual fee, as of June 2026. There are no spend-based conditions to maintain the free status. Late payment fees, cash advance fees, and over-limit charges apply as with any credit card, but the card itself has no recurring cost. AU Bank has maintained this structure since launch — confirm on AU Bank's website that this has not changed if applying significantly after June 2026.
What is the minimum income required for AU Xcite ACE?
AU Bank's income criteria for Xcite ACE are more accessible than premium card issuers. Salaried applicants typically need a minimum net monthly income of ₹20,000 to ₹25,000. Self-employed applicants need to demonstrate income through ITR filings. The exact current threshold is listed on AU Bank's credit card application page — income norms may be revised periodically.
Can I get both AU Xcite ACE and AU ixigo from the same bank?
Yes, holding multiple AU Bank credit cards is permitted subject to the bank's internal credit limit allocation policies. Many AU Bank customers hold both Xcite ACE for cashback and ixigo for lounge access as a complementary free card pair. Apply for the second card after the first is at least three to six months old and in good standing.
Does the 2% cashback apply to fuel purchases?
Fuel purchases are typically subject to special MCC (merchant category code) treatment. The 1% fuel surcharge waiver may apply separately, but the 2% cashback rate may or may not apply to fuel depending on AU Bank's current MCC exclusion list. Check the card's terms document for fuel-specific treatment, as this is one of the most commonly variable exclusion categories across Indian credit cards.
How does AU Xcite ACE cashback get credited?
AU Xcite ACE cashback is credited directly as a statement credit, applied to your outstanding balance. The credit typically appears in the next billing cycle after the qualifying transaction is posted. There is no minimum redemption threshold and no expiry on accrued cashback, making it genuinely hassle-free compared to point-based programs that require active redemption.
Is AU Bank a safe bank to hold a credit card with?
AU Small Finance Bank is a scheduled commercial bank regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. It is not a cooperative bank or NBFC — it holds a full banking license and is subject to RBI's credit card regulations including the Right to Benefit, the Grievance Redressal framework, and consumer protection norms. Your credit card with AU Bank has the same legal protections as any other RBI-regulated bank card. AU Bank has grown significantly since 2017 and is listed on BSE and NSE.