Axis ACE vs HDFC Millennia 2026: Which Cashback Card Wins?

Axis ACE and HDFC Millennia are two of the most popular entry-level cashback cards in India, and they reward different habits. Axis ACE wins for people with mixed everyday spending thanks to its uncapped 2% base rate. HDFC Millennia wins for heavy online shoppers because its 5% e-commerce rate has a ₹1,000 monthly cap, double ACE's combined bonus cap. The tipping point is roughly how much you spend online each month.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	Axis ACE	HDFC Millennia
Network	RuPay	Visa
Joining fee	₹499	₹1,000
Annual fee	₹499	₹1,000
Fee waiver spend	₹2,00,000/year	₹1,00,000/year
Base reward rate	2%	1%
Bill payments / utilities	5% (via Google Pay)	1% (cap ₹200/month)
Online shopping	4%	5% (cap ₹1,000/month)
Groceries	2% (base)	2.5% (cap ₹500/month)
Bonus cap	₹500/month combined on 5% and 4%	Separate caps per category
Reward type	Cashback	CashPoints, redeemed 1:1
Forex markup	3.5%	3.5%
Domestic lounge	4 visits/year at select airports	1 voucher/quarter after ₹1 lakh quarterly spend
International lounge	None	None
Min monthly income	₹15,000	₹35,000

All figures reflect BestCard's latest card data. Banks change cashback rules frequently, so check Axis Bank's and HDFC Bank's current terms before applying.

How the rewards actually work

Axis ACE

Axis ACE pays 5% on bill payments made through Google Pay and 4% on online shopping. Those two bonuses share a ₹500 monthly ceiling. Everything else earns a flat 2% with no cap, which is generous for a ₹499 card. Once you hit the ₹500 bonus cap, extra bonus-category spend falls back towards the base rate.

HDFC Millennia

HDFC Millennia pays 5% CashPoints on listed online merchants like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy and Zomato, capped at ₹1,000 a month. Groceries earn 2.5% up to ₹500 a month, utilities earn 1% up to ₹200, and other spends earn 1%. CashPoints redeem 1:1 against your statement. You also get 1,000 CashPoints on joining.

Worked example 1: ₹25,000 a month

Split: ₹3,000 bills, ₹8,000 online shopping, ₹5,000 groceries, ₹9,000 other.

Axis ACE

• Bills: 5% × ₹3,000 = ₹150
• Online: 4% × ₹8,000 = ₹320
• Bonus total ₹470, under the ₹500 cap
• Groceries and other: 2% × ₹14,000 = ₹280
• Total: ₹750 a month, ₹9,000 a year

HDFC Millennia

• Online: 5% × ₹8,000 = ₹400
• Groceries: 2.5% × ₹5,000 = ₹125
• Bills: 1% × ₹3,000 = ₹30
• Other: 1% × ₹9,000 = ₹90
• Total: ₹645 a month, ₹7,740 a year

At ₹3 lakh a year, both fees are waived. ACE earns about ₹1,260 more.

Worked example 2: ₹50,000 a month

Split: ₹5,000 bills, ₹20,000 online shopping, ₹10,000 groceries, ₹15,000 other.

Axis ACE

• Bills 5% (₹250) + online 4% (₹800) = ₹1,050, capped at ₹500
• Groceries and other: 2% × ₹25,000 = ₹500
• If the online spend above the cap earns the 2% base, add roughly ₹275
• Total: ₹1,000 to ₹1,275 a month, ₹12,000 to ₹15,300 a year

HDFC Millennia

• Online: 5% × ₹20,000 = ₹1,000, exactly at the cap
• Groceries: 2.5% × ₹10,000 = ₹250
• Bills: 1% × ₹5,000 = ₹50
• Other: 1% × ₹15,000 = ₹150
• Total: ₹1,450 a month, ₹17,400 a year

Here Millennia wins by ₹2,100 to ₹5,400 a year, almost entirely because of its larger online cap.

Lounge access and travel

Neither card is a travel card. Axis ACE lists 4 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year at select airports. HDFC Millennia's lounge voucher unlocks only after ₹1 lakh of spend in a quarter, and you choose it instead of a ₹1,000 gift voucher, not as well as. Both charge 3.5% forex markup, so neither should be used abroad. If travel matters, look at our best travel credit cards with lounge access.

Redemption: cashback vs CashPoints

How you get the money back differs slightly. Axis ACE credits cashback directly, so there's nothing to redeem or track. HDFC Millennia pays in CashPoints that you redeem 1:1 against your statement balance or for partner gift vouchers. The value is the same rupee for rupee, but Millennia asks you to log in and redeem, and points you forget about are worth nothing. If you prefer zero admin, ACE has a small edge. Read how credit card cashback actually works for the mechanics behind both.

Fees and waivers

ACE is cheaper to hold: ₹499 a year against ₹1,000. But Millennia is easier to waive at ₹1 lakh of annual spend, roughly ₹8,300 a month, while ACE needs ₹2 lakh, about ₹16,700 a month. If you spend between ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh a year, you'd pay ACE's ₹499 but nothing on Millennia. Above ₹2 lakh, both are free.

Eligibility differs too. ACE asks for ₹15,000 a month and Millennia ₹35,000, so ACE is the more accessible first card.

Who should pick which

Choose Axis ACE if:

• Your spending is spread across categories, not concentrated online
• You pay utility bills through Google Pay
• You want a low-income-bar first card
• You want uncapped 2% on everything outside the bonus categories

Choose HDFC Millennia if:

• You spend ₹15,000 or more a month on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy or Zomato
• You buy a fair amount of groceries
• Your annual spend is between ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh, where Millennia's waiver kicks in first

Verdict

For most first-time cardholders with mixed spending, Axis ACE earns more and costs less. Heavy online shoppers will get more from HDFC Millennia because its ₹1,000 online cap is double ACE's combined bonus cap. Many people hold both: Millennia for e-commerce up to its cap, ACE for bills and everything else.

For more detail, read our Axis ACE review and HDFC Millennia review, or see how ACE stacks up in SBI Cashback vs Axis ACE. You can also put both side by side on BestCard's compare tool.