Best Credit Cards for Swiggy and Zomato in India

Food delivery has become a significant line item in many urban Indian households. If you’re ordering from Swiggy or Zomato three or four times a week, you’re easily spending ₹3,000–₹8,000 per month through these apps. At that scale, the card you use for food delivery can earn or cost you thousands of rupees a year.

Let’s look at which cards actually deliver the best return on Swiggy and Zomato spend, with real numbers.

The Contenders

Three cards consistently come up in discussions about food delivery cashback: HSBC Live+, Axis ACE, and Amazon Pay ICICI. Each takes a different approach, and which one wins depends entirely on how much you spend and how you pay.

HSBC Live+ — The High-Rate Specialist

The HSBC Live+ card offers 10% cashback on Swiggy, Zomato, and Ola — the highest rate available on these platforms from any mainstream Indian credit card. The annual fee is ₹999, waivable at ₹2L annual spend.

The critical detail: there’s a quarterly cap of ₹1,000 cashback per quarter across these three merchants combined. That means the maximum you can earn from food delivery and cab rides through this card is ₹4,000 per year.

To hit the quarterly cap, you need to spend: ₹1,000 ÷ 10% = ₹10,000 per quarter, or roughly ₹3,333 per month on Swiggy + Zomato + Ola combined.

If you spend less than ₹3,333/month on these platforms, you’ll earn the full 10% on everything. If you spend more, your effective rate drops once you hit the cap.

Beyond food delivery and Ola, the HSBC Live+ earns 1.5% on all other spend — decent but not outstanding for a general-purpose card.

Cashback credit: Auto-credited to statement within 30–45 days.

Axis ACE — The Uncapped Option

The Axis ACE card earns 4% cashback on Swiggy and Zomato (paid via any method, not just GPay — though GPay bill payments earn 5%). The cap situation is more nuanced: there’s a monthly cap of ₹500 cashback per month on the 5% GPay category, but for Zomato and Swiggy specifically, the 4% typically falls under online categories with a more generous effective limit.

Annual fee: ₹499, waivable at ₹2L annual spend.

The ACE card’s advantage is its lack of an aggressive cap on food delivery specifically. Heavy food delivery users who spend ₹5,000+ per month on Swiggy and Zomato will earn more absolute cashback from the ACE than from the HSBC Live+ once the Live+ quarterly cap kicks in.

Cashback credit: Auto-credited to statement monthly.

Amazon Pay ICICI — The Free Option

The Amazon Pay ICICI card doesn’t specifically target Swiggy and Zomato, but both apps frequently appear as Amazon Pay partner merchants, meaning you can earn 2% cashback by paying with Amazon Pay balance through the app.

The catch is that you’re earning 2% on your Amazon Pay balance used to pay, not 2% on the order value via the card directly. And the merchant partner rates change periodically. Still, if you’re already holding this card for Amazon, it earns something on food delivery, even if it’s not the best available rate.

Annual fee: Lifetime free.

Real-World Calculation: ₹5,000/Month Food Delivery

Let’s say your household spends ₹5,000/month on Swiggy and Zomato combined.

HSBC Live+ (10%, quarterly cap ₹1,000):

• Quarter 1: ₹15,000 spend, 10% = ₹1,500 → capped at ₹1,000
• Quarter 2: Same → ₹1,000
• Quarter 3: Same → ₹1,000
• Quarter 4: Same → ₹1,000
• Annual cashback: ₹4,000
• Annual fee: ₹999 (waivable if ₹2L total spend)
• Net (if waived): ₹4,000 | Net (if fee paid): ₹3,001

Axis ACE (4%, higher practical limit):

• Monthly: ₹5,000 × 4% = ₹200
• Annual: ₹200 × 12 = ₹2,400
• Annual fee: ₹499 (waivable at ₹2L)
• Net (if waived): ₹2,400 | Net (if fee paid): ₹1,901

Amazon Pay ICICI (2% via Amazon Pay):

• Monthly: ₹5,000 × 2% = ₹100
• Annual: ₹1,200
• Fee: ₹0
• Net: ₹1,200

At ₹5,000/month food delivery: HSBC Live+ wins clearly, earning ₹4,000/year versus ₹2,400 for ACE and ₹1,200 for Amazon Pay ICICI.

Real-World Calculation: ₹10,000/Month Food Delivery

Now let’s scale up to ₹10,000/month — the super-foodie household.

HSBC Live+ (10%, ₹1,000 quarterly cap):

• Still capped at ₹4,000/year — the cap doesn’t care how much you spend over ₹10,000/quarter
• Net (fee waived): ₹4,000

Axis ACE (4%):

• Monthly: ₹10,000 × 4% = ₹400
• Annual: ₹4,800
• Net (fee waived): ₹4,800

At ₹10,000/month: Axis ACE overtakes HSBC Live+ because the Live+ cap has been fully exhausted but the ACE keeps earning.

The Crossover Point

The HSBC Live+ and Axis ACE deliver equal absolute cashback from Swiggy/Zomato at approximately ₹3,333/month spend (the point where Live+ hits its quarterly cap). Below that, HSBC Live+ wins on rate. Above it, Axis ACE wins on uncapped volume.

What About Restaurant Dining?

It’s worth distinguishing between food delivery (Swiggy/Zomato apps) and sit-down restaurant dining. The rates above apply to the food delivery apps. For physical restaurant dining, different cards shine — particularly the HDFC Regalia Gold (5X on dining), SBI ELITE (5X), and Axis Magnus (6X).

The Practical Strategy

If your monthly Swiggy + Zomato spend is under ₹3,500/month: Get the HSBC Live+ for 10% back.

If your monthly food delivery spend is over ₹3,500/month: Axis ACE is the better choice.

If you want zero annual fee overhead: Amazon Pay ICICI earns 2% with no fee — not the best rate, but the lowest barrier.

Many serious food delivery spenders hold both the HSBC Live+ (to max out the quarterly cap at 10%) and the Axis ACE (for overflow spend). The total annual fee is ₹1,498 combined, waivable with modest spend thresholds — easily covered by the cashback earned.