Everything That Happened at GFF 2026 about Credit Cards

Global Fintech Fest 2026 ran for three days in Mumbai, from 9 to 11 September, and it acted as a launchpad for several new credit cards and features. The fest was a lot about agentic AI demos and UPI infrastructure, as well.

We followed through all the press releases and news updates to bring you every card-related announcement from GFF 2026 that affects you.

RuPay credit cards go international

The biggest card story out of GFF 2026 perhaps came from NPCI. RuPay credit cards linked to UPI can now be used abroad, starting with four corridors: the US, the UAE, France and Mauritius.

You can scan a merchant's QR code overseas, or pay an international e-Commerce site, through your UPI app. Before you enter your PIN, the app shows you the live exchange rate, the forex markup, and the final rupee amount.

Seeing the final amount before you pay, not three weeks later on your bill, is a real benefit.

NPCI also introduced RuPay Tap on Phone, which lets a physical RuPay card be tapped against an NFC-enabled Android phone at checkout. It’s authenticated by your card PIN instead of an SMS OTP.

Apart from that, RuPay's new passkey checkout drops the OTP altogether. It can be fingerprint or face authentication, working across iOS, Android, browsers and tokenised merchant gateways.

IDFC FIRST Bank drops its forex markup to zero

IDFC FIRST Bank picked the opening day of GFF 2026 to announce that its credit cards now carry a 0% forex markup on international transactions. It applies to its entire credit card catalogue with immediate effect.

Most cards in India still charge somewhere between 2% and 3.5% on foreign spend. So, on an expense of ₹1,00,000 during a trip, you have to pay roughly ₹2,000 to ₹3,500 extra.

IDFC FIRST cards reduce that extra expense to zero.

But there’s a catch. From Oct 26, 2026, most IDFC FIRST credit cards stop earning reward points on international transactions altogether.

Only a handful of premium and co-branded IDFC FIRST cards keep earning you existing rewards. We've broken down the effects in our full write-up on IDFC FIRST's zero-forex move.

Mastercard World Select premium programme

Mastercard used GFF 2026 to introduce World Select, a premium card programme aimed at India's growing affluent segment. Three banks signed on as launch partners: RBL Bank, City Union Bank, and Jammu & Kashmir Bank.

And the benefit stack is really mouthwatering:

• complimentary stays at select ITC Hotels properties
• up to ₹4,000 off visa applications through Atlys
• twice-yearly travel insurance
• discounts of up to 50% across 1,000 EazyDiner restaurants
• access to over 1,350 airport lounges worldwide

A 50% discount on a ₹4,000 dinner bill saves you ₹2,000 in one sitting, and that's before you've touched the lounge access or the hotel nights.

If the benefits arrive as advertised, this is a real upgrade over most existing premium cards. No cards have been announced for the World Select program yet, though.

Mastercard also announced partnership with Google Pay for biometric authentication to online card payments. It's expected to reach eligible Mastercard-on-Google-Pay users by the end of 2026.

Bank of India launches Terra Mastercard World Credit Card

The Terra Mastercard World Credit Card bundles in domestic and international lounge access alongside accelerated rewards on preferred spending categories.

Partner tie-ins include PVR INOX, Swiggy, Uber, Netmeds, Paytm Flights, Yatra, JioSaavn, Tata CLiQ Fashion and Tattva Spa.

This is one of the few credit cards from GFF 2026 that you can actually go and apply for today. It carries no issuance fee, but a ₹990 annual fee on the primary card and ₹750 on an add-on

If lounge access is why you're looking at this card, it's worth comparing against what's already available at that price point in our guide to credit card lounge access in India.

Amazon Pay and Kotak announce a business credit card

Amazon Pay and Kotak Mahindra Bank announced a small-business credit card on the last day of the fest. It’s aimed at sole proprietors and small businesses that buy through Amazon Business.

The card carries a nil joining fee and 5% cashback for Prime members on Amazon Business, flights and hotels. AWS credits are thrown in for cloud and data storage use.

We've already covered this one in full, including the catch. Read the complete breakdown in our Amazon Pay Kotak Business Credit Card launch article. We also have a guide to credit cards for startups that covers the currently available major business cards.

IndusInd Bank RuPay Select corporate card

IndusInd Bank's RuPay Select, launched at GFF 2026, takes a business's pre-sanctioned overdraft or cash-credit limit and turns it into a spendable RuPay credit card. The pitch is aimed squarely at business owners and MSMEs.

It's an interesting structural idea, converting an existing sanctioned facility into something you can actually swipe. The card is meant for paying vendors, covering GST and utility bills, booking travel, and managing day-to-day operations against a limit the business already has approval for.

The current eligibility criteria announced is just "you need an existing ODCC facility with IndusInd." So, business owners already banking with IndusInd should ask their relationship manager for this.

Federal Bank × Paisabazaar "Paisaback" Credit Card

Federal Bank and Paisabazaar launched a RuPay card built specifically around grocery spending. It offers 7.5% cashback at DMart, Reliance Fresh, Star Bazaar, Nature's Basket, Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket.

Apart from that, the card offers 1% reward on general POS and e-Commerce spend, and 0.5% on UPI above ₹2,000 outside grocery, fuel and travel. The monthly cashback cap is ₹1,000.

The fee is ₹500 to join and ₹500 a year. It’s waived once you cross ₹1.5 lakh in annual spend.

Say, your household spending is ₹8,000 a month across those grocery platforms; 7.5% works out to ₹600 a month (₹7,200 a year), comfortably under the monthly cap. If you spend up to ₹15,000 a month, though, the 7.5% would come to ₹1,125 (the cap means you get ₹1,000).

If your grocery spend already crosses ₹8,000 a month through these platforms, the card returns much more than the ₹500 fee. If it doesn't, this card has no reason to be in your wallet.

To see how it stacks up against other grocery and fuel cashback cards, see our roundup of cashback credit cards for groceries, fuel and utilities.

Bandhan Bank FLASH Digital RuPay Platinum Credit Card

Bandhan Bank's FLASH card is a fully digital RuPay and JCB co-branded card. The card is issued only to existing physical credit cardholders, and it shares the same credit limit.

It’s for someone who wants a second card purely as a backup or for easy digital payments. It has no joining fee and no annual fee, and offers a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on eligible transactions. Just don't expect it to do any heavy lifting on other rewards.

The Card Company's RuPay Prepaid Premium Metal Card

NPCI also confirmed a RuPay-powered metal prepaid card from The Card Company during the fest. It’s introduced as a premium design and elevated experience for prepaid payments.

It's a prepaid card, so there's no credit line, no interest, and no rewards structure to weigh against a fee. The entire proposition is the card itself. Worth knowing it exists; not worth applying unless it offers something extraordinary that a regular debit card doesn't.

BharatPe Flex UPI-native credit line

BharatPe Flex is built on NPCI's Credit Line on UPI infrastructure, offering up to ₹60,000 a month based on your credit profile. It can be used for UPI payments online and offline without a physical card. Repay the balance in full within 45 days, or spread it across 3 to 12-month EMIs.

Nalin Negi, CEO of BharatPe, described it as bringing the convenience of UPI and the flexibility of credit into one seamless payment experience.

Monzy's take

Out of everything that Global Fintech Fest brought for cards, two things are helpful for international travellers. RuPay's international expansion and IDFC FIRST's zero-forex move both save you money on your foreign expenses. IDFC's trade-off (give up roughly 1% in points to save 2 to 3.5% in markup) is worth accepting.

Federal Bank's Paisaback card earns a conditional yes: only if you already purchase groceries on the specific platforms it covers. Everything else from GFF 2026, from Mastercard World Select to the card launches, has too little published detail to run honest numbers on.

Disclaimer

This is our honest read of what was announced at GFF 2026, not financial advice. Terms, fees and eligibility can change before any of these cards or programmes go fully live – confirm the final details with the bank or issuer before you apply.