Federal Signet vs Axis ACE 2026: Free Card or Better Cashback?

Federal Bank Signet and Axis ACE sit at opposite ends of the entry-level market. Signet costs nothing to hold and comes with a modest lounge perk, but it pays almost nothing back. Axis ACE charges ₹499 a year, which you can waive, and pays far more on bills and food delivery. For nearly every spending pattern, ACE earns more than Signet by a wide margin.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	Federal Signet	Axis ACE
Network	Visa	RuPay
Joining fee	₹0	₹499
Annual fee	₹0	₹499
Fee waiver spend	Lifetime free	₹2,00,000/year
Base reward rate	0.25%	1.5%
Online shopping	0.75%	Base rate (1.5%)
Dining	0.5%	4% on Swiggy, Zomato and Ola
Bill payments	Base rate	5% via Google Pay, capped at ₹500/month
Reward type	Points (20 paise each)	Cashback to statement
Forex markup	2.5%	3.5%
Domestic lounge	1 per quarter, ₹20,000 prior-quarter spend	4 a year, ₹50,000 spend in prior 3 months
Insurance	₹2 lakh personal accident cover	None listed
Min monthly income	₹35,000	₹15,000

Figures are from BestCard's card data, last checked in September 2026 for Signet and October 2026 for ACE. Confirm current terms with each bank.

How the rewards actually work

Federal Bank Signet

Federal Bank Signet earns 0.25% on most spending, 0.75% on online shopping and 0.5% on dining. Points are worth 20 paise each. Our data warns that redeeming points as a statement credit yields roughly half the value of redeeming from the Federal Rewards catalogue, so the rates above are on the generous side if you take cash. Hitting ₹20,000 of spend in a quarter also unlocks a Swiggy voucher and a buy-one-get-one movie offer for that quarter.

Axis ACE

Axis ACE pays 5% on utility bills, DTH and mobile recharges made via Google Pay, capped at ₹500 a month. It pays 4% on Swiggy, Zomato and Ola, and 1.5% on every other eligible spend. Cashback is credited to your statement automatically, with no redemption fee.

Worked example 1: ₹25,000 a month

Split: ₹3,000 on Google Pay bills, ₹4,000 on food delivery and cabs, ₹8,000 online shopping, ₹10,000 other. Annual spend ₹3 lakh. For Signet I count food delivery as dining, which may not apply to every merchant.

Federal Signet

• Bills: 0.25% × ₹3,000 = ₹7.50
• Food delivery as dining: 0.5% × ₹4,000 = ₹20
• Online shopping: 0.75% × ₹8,000 = ₹60
• Other: 0.25% × ₹10,000 = ₹25
• Total: ₹112.50 a month, ₹1,350 a year

Axis ACE

• Bills: 5% × ₹3,000 = ₹150
• Food and cabs: 4% × ₹4,000 = ₹160
• Online shopping and other: 1.5% × ₹18,000 = ₹270
• Total: ₹580 a month, ₹6,960 a year
• ₹3 lakh clears the ₹2 lakh waiver, so no fee

ACE earns about ₹5,600 more over the year.

Worked example 2: ₹50,000 a month

Split: ₹5,000 bills, ₹8,000 food delivery and cabs, ₹15,000 online shopping, ₹22,000 other. Annual spend ₹6 lakh.

Federal Signet

• Bills: 0.25% × ₹5,000 = ₹12.50
• Dining: 0.5% × ₹8,000 = ₹40
• Online shopping: 0.75% × ₹15,000 = ₹112.50
• Other: 0.25% × ₹22,000 = ₹55
• Total: ₹220 a month, ₹2,640 a year

Axis ACE

• Bills: 5% × ₹5,000 = ₹250, under the ₹500 cap
• Food and cabs: 4% × ₹8,000 = ₹320
• Online shopping and other: 1.5% × ₹37,000 = ₹555
• Total: ₹1,125 a month, ₹13,500 a year
• Fee waived

The gap widens to about ₹10,900 a year. Doubling your spend does not close it, because Signet's rates are simply too low.

Lounge access and travel

Each card lists 4 domestic lounge visits a year. Signet spreads them as 1 a quarter and asks for ₹20,000 in the preceding quarter, which is roughly ₹6,700 a month. ACE gives 4 visits a calendar year but wants ₹50,000 of spend in the preceding 3 months, though it waives that for the first months after issue. Signet is easier to qualify for, but neither is a travel card. Signet adds a ₹2 lakh personal accident cover, which ACE does not list. Abroad, Signet's 2.5% markup beats ACE's 3.5%, but for real overseas spending look at our list of low forex markup cards.

Fees and waivers

Signet is free for life, with no target to track. ACE costs ₹499 a year, waived at ₹2 lakh of annual spend, about ₹16,700 a month. If you spend less than that, subtract ₹499 from ACE's earnings. Even paying the ₹499 would barely dent ACE's lead over Signet. One more point: Signet's welcome offer is a ₹200 Amazon Pay voucher on ₹3,000 of spend in 30 days, which is small.

Who should pick which

Choose Federal Signet if:

• You will not tolerate any annual fee, even a waivable one
• Your card will mostly sit unused, with an occasional lounge visit
• You want the lower ₹20,000 quarterly bar for lounge access
• You value the ₹2 lakh accident cover

Choose Axis ACE if:

• You pay bills through Google Pay
• You order from Swiggy or Zomato, or ride with Ola
• You spend ₹16,700 or more a month and want the fee waived
• You prefer cashback that lands straight on your statement

Verdict

Axis ACE is the better card for almost everyone who will actually use it. Federal Signet only makes sense if "no fee ever" matters more than earning anything. If you want a free card, there are better options than Signet; see our list of best lifetime free credit cards.

Read our Federal Signet review and Axis ACE review for more detail. You can also see ACE against other rivals in SBI Cashback vs Axis ACE and Axis ACE vs HDFC Millennia, or run your own numbers on BestCard's compare tool.