How to Use Credit Cards Smartly to Earn Rewards on UPI Transactions

You can link RuPay credit cards to UPI for merchant payments and earn 1.5-5% cashback, after a 2022 RBI move

- Shipra Singh

UPI has become the most preferred mode of digital payments in India, quick, seamless, and accepted almost everywhere. What if you could turn those everyday QR code scans into cashback? Thanks to a move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2022, you can link RuPay credit cards to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and earn rewards on your daily transactions.

Since then, most major banks have introduced RuPay variants of their credit cards, including versions of their Visa or MasterCard cards, which can be used for UPI payments. Some have even launched exclusive UPI credit cards offering 1.5-5% cashback.

This story breaks down how to effectively use credit cards to earn rewards on UPI transactions and lists some of the most rewarding cards in this category.

All about UPI credit card

A UPI credit card allows users to pay merchants via UPI using their credit card instead of a bank account. However, these payments are restricted to customer-to-merchant (C2M) transactions only, not peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers. This limitation prevents users from misusing credit by revolving credit and sending funds to bank accounts of friends or family.