Best Credit Cards for Black Friday International Shopping 2026

For Black Friday orders from US, UK or other foreign websites, the best credit card is one with zero forex markup. Federal Bank Scapia and Scapia Axis Bank are lifetime free and charge no markup, which alone saves about 4% compared with a typical 3.5% card once GST is counted. Low-markup cards you may already hold, like OneCard Metal and Amazon Pay ICICI, are a decent fallback.

Black Friday falls on 27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on 30 November, so there's still time to get a new card delivered and activated.

What an international order really costs

When you pay a foreign website in dollars or pounds, your bank adds a forex markup on top of the network exchange rate. On most Indian cards that's 3.5%. GST at 18% is then charged on the markup itself. So a 3.5% markup really costs about 4.13% of your order.

Rewards offset some of this, but most cards earn 1% or so, which doesn't close the gap. That's why the markup matters more than the reward rate for international shopping.

The shortlist

Federal Bank Scapia

The Federal Bank Scapia card charges 0% forex markup with no joining or annual fee. It earns 10% in Scapia Coins on eligible spends, worth about 2% since 5 Coins equal ₹1, and the Coins redeem against flights and hotels in the Scapia app. Check whether international online purchases count as eligible spend for Coins. It also gives unlimited domestic lounge access in months with ₹5,000 or more of spend. The income bar is ₹25,000 a month.

Scapia Axis Bank Credit Card

The Scapia Axis Bank card also charges zero forex markup, on both online and in-person spends, with no cap on the waiver. It's lifetime free, earns 1% on general spend, 5% on UPI Scan & Pay transactions of ₹500 or more, and up to 20% in Scapia Coins on travel booked in the app. Domestic lounge access unlocks in billing cycles with ₹20,000 of spend.

Scapia Plus

Scapia Plus is the paid tier: no joining fee, then ₹1,499 a year, waived on ₹3 lakh of spend. It keeps the 0% markup and lists a 3% base earn rate, the highest among the zero-forex cards here, along with travel insurance and guaranteed lounge visits. The income bar is higher at ₹60,000 a month. Our record for this card was last verified in July 2026, so confirm current terms.

IDFC FIRST Select

IDFC FIRST Select is lifetime free with 0% forex markup, but its base earn rate is a low 0.5% and it needs ₹1,00,000 a month of income. IDFC has started cutting reward points on international spends for some cards (Power+ stops earning on them from 26 October 2026), so check whether Select still earns abroad. Even with zero rewards, the zero markup makes it a good international card.

OneCard Metal

OneCard Metal is lifetime free with a 1.5% forex markup and a 1.5% base earn rate, plus a 5X rate on its auto-detected top spending categories. The base rate roughly cancels the markup before GST, which makes it a reasonable option if you already have one. The income bar is ₹50,000 a month.

Amazon Pay ICICI

Amazon Pay ICICI is lifetime free with a 1.99% forex markup and 1% back on general spend. It isn't the best card for this job, but it's widely held, and its markup is far lower than the 3.5% common elsewhere.

Summary table

Card	Annual fee	Forex markup	Base earn rate	Min. income
Federal Bank Scapia	₹0	0%	About 2% (in Coins)	₹25,000/month
Scapia Axis Bank	₹0	0%	1%	Not listed
Scapia Plus	₹1,499 (waived on ₹3 lakh)	0%	3%	₹60,000/month
IDFC FIRST Select	₹0	0%	0.5%	₹1,00,000/month
OneCard Metal	₹0	1.5%	1.5%	₹50,000/month
Amazon Pay ICICI	₹0	1.99%	1%	₹30,000/month

All figures reflect BestCard's latest card data. Issuers change forex and reward rules more often than most terms, so verify on the issuer's site before applying.

Worked example: a $400 order

Assume a $400 order converts to about ₹34,000 (using ₹85 to the dollar for round numbers).

• Typical 3.5% card earning 1%: markup ₹1,190 plus 18% GST of ₹214 = ₹1,404 in charges. Rewards of ₹340 bring the net cost to about ₹1,064.
• Amazon Pay ICICI: markup ₹677 plus GST of ₹122 = ₹799. Rewards of ₹340 leave a net cost of about ₹459.
• OneCard Metal: markup ₹510 plus GST of ₹92 = ₹602. Rewards of ₹510 leave a net cost of about ₹92.
• IDFC FIRST Select: no markup. If international spend earns its 0.5%, you get ₹170 back.
• Scapia Axis Bank: no markup, ₹340 back at 1%.
• Federal Bank Scapia: no markup, about ₹680 back at 2% if the spend earns Coins.
• Scapia Plus: no markup, ₹1,020 at the listed 3%.

Between a typical 3.5% card and Federal Bank Scapia, the swing on one order is roughly ₹1,700. Across a few Black Friday orders, that's real money.

How to choose

• You want a free card just for international orders: Federal Bank Scapia or Scapia Axis Bank.
• You spend over ₹3 lakh a year and travel too: Scapia Plus, with its fee waived.
• You already hold OneCard Metal or Amazon Pay ICICI: use them rather than a 3.5% card if a new card won't arrive in time.

For the full field, see our guide to the best zero forex markup credit cards.

Mistakes to avoid

Paying in rupees on a foreign site. If checkout offers to charge you in INR, decline. That's dynamic currency conversion, and the exchange rate is usually worse. Our dynamic currency conversion explainer covers why.

Forgetting to enable international transactions. Under RBI rules, Indian cards are enabled for domestic use by default, and international online usage has to be switched on in your card app. Do it before the sale starts; our guide to international transaction controls shows how.

Ignoring customs and shipping. Goods shipped to India can attract customs duty, and forwarding services add their own charges. Factor these in before assuming a US deal beats the Indian price.

Assuming tax rules haven't changed. Rules on TCS for international card spends have shifted more than once. Read our explainer on TCS on international credit card spends and confirm the current position with your bank or a tax advisor.

Still deciding which card to add before the sale? The BestCard card matcher can shortlist zero-forex cards that fit your income and spending.