Kotak Biz Credit Card Review 2026: 4X on Travel and Supermarkets, Travel Insurance, Fees & FAQs

The Kotak Biz is a business credit card for the self-employed — proprietors and partners of partnership firms — at ₹299 joining and ₹499 a year. It earns 4 Reward Points per ₹100 on four named categories and 1 point per ₹100 everywhere else, and it bundles seven travel insurance covers that most cards at this price do not have.

At ₹0.25 a point that top rate is 1%. It is a modest card, and the reason to hold it is the insurance and the surcharge waivers rather than the earn rate.

Kotak Biz Quick Overview

Eligibility Criteria

This card is not open to salaried applicants. Kotak's stated criteria:

• Self-employed, proprietors, or partners of partnership firms only
• Primary cardholder aged 21 to 65
• Minimum Income Tax Return of ₹4.8 lakh and above per annum
• Resident of India
• Available at all Kotak credit card sourcing locations

Reward Structure: How You Earn

Neither the 4x nor the 1x rate is capped.

Kotak's MITC also names Flipkart B2B alongside the four categories. It is a merchant rather than an MCC, so whether a given Flipkart B2B purchase codes into the 4x band is not something any published document settles.

What a point is worth

Two published rates, and the difference matters:

• ₹0.25 per point on the Kotak Rewards catalogue and on category redemptions — Kotak's page names mobile recharge and shopping. The catalogue itself has no minimum and covers flights, hotels, vouchers and merchandise.
• ₹0.20 per point in cash, reduced from ₹0.25 with effect from 1 June 2025. Minimum 2,000 points.

This review uses ₹0.25, because that is the best rate available to every cardholder. If you only ever take cash, cut every figure here by 20% — the top rate becomes 0.80% and the base rate 0.20%.

For a statement credit through the Kotak Rewards Portal the minimum is 4,000 Kotak Rewards, or 4,000 Reward Points through the contact centre.

The category thresholds nobody mentions

The card page says wallet loading, fuel, rent and online gaming earn nothing. True — but Kotak's MITC adds four capped categories that the page does not mention at all. On the Kotak Biz, points stop accruing above these levels of cumulative spend per statement cycle:

Below the threshold you earn the base 1 point per ₹100; above it, nothing. The MITC spells out the mechanic with a worked example on another card: spend ₹40,000 on utilities in a cycle where the threshold is ₹35,000 and you earn on ₹35,000, with nothing on the excess ₹5,000.

For a business routing large utility, government or insurance payments through a card, these are the numbers that actually determine what you earn.

Worked example

A self-employed cardholder spending ₹6,00,000 a year:

Against a ₹499 fee that is a net ₹3,701, or 0.62% on the spend. Take the cash redemption instead of the catalogue and it drops to ₹3,360 gross, ₹2,861 net.

The break-even is low — roughly ₹50,000 of accelerated-category spend a year covers the fee — but this is not a card that will out-earn a good consumer cashback card on general spend.

Airport Lounge Access

Domestic only, primary cardholder only, and conditional on ₹75,000 of spend in the previous calendar quarter — the highest spend gate anywhere in Kotak's range, against ₹60,000 on the Kotak Air.

That means:

• A brand-new cardholder gets no lounge access in their first quarter
• A quarter under ₹75,000 costs you the following quarter's access
• To have access all year you need ₹75,000 every quarter — ₹3 lakh a year

Kotak does not publish how many visits the entitlement is worth. The card page says only "complimentary access to select domestic airport lounges per calendar quarter", and the lounge terms confirm the spend gate without giving a count. Assume one visit a quarter until Kotak says otherwise. A ₹2 validation charge applies per visit; visits beyond the quota are charged at the lounge's own rate.

There is no international lounge access — Kotak Biz is not on the Priority Pass list.

Travel Insurance: the underrated part

Seven covers, underwritten by Zurich Kotak Mahindra General Insurance:

The conditions matter:

• Primary cardholder only. Add-on holders are not covered.
• Active card clause. Cover applies only if the card has had at least one ATM, POS or e-commerce transaction in the 90 days before the loss. A card kept in a drawer for the insurance is not insured.
• Claim documents within 60 days of intimation. Report a lost or stolen card immediately on 1800 2120.
• General exclusions for gross negligence, deliberate breach of law, and terrorism.

For a ₹499 card, ₹50,000 of card liability cover plus ₹60,000 of travel cover is the strongest thing on the table.

Surcharge Waivers

Fuel: 1% on transactions between ₹500 and ₹5,000, capped at ₹2,500 in a year — the smallest annual fuel cap in Kotak's range, against ₹3,500 on the Air and Cashback+ cards and ₹4,500 on the Air+. The card page says calendar year; the MITC says anniversary year.

Note that fuel earns no reward points on this card, and fuel spend above ₹35,000 per statement cycle attracts a separate 1% fee. So the waiver is the whole fuel benefit, and it caps out early.

Railway: 1.8% on bookings at irctc.co.in and 2.5% at Indian Railways booking counters, capped at ₹500 in a calendar year.

Kotak Biz is eligible for both waivers, which is unusual — most cards in the range get one or neither.

Fees and Charges

There is no fee waiver. The MITC gives Kotak Biz "NA" in both the joining-fee and annual-fee waiver columns, and "NA" for add-on card issuance. The ₹499 is payable every year regardless of what you spend.

The 3.50% forex markup is poor for a card that leans on travel categories and is marketed on international acceptance. If a meaningful share of your business spend is abroad, that markup will outweigh the 1% you earn on travel bookings.

Who Should Get the Kotak Biz Credit Card

Good fit if:

• You are self-employed with an ITR of ₹4.8 lakh or more and want a card that is actually underwritten for you
• Your business spend concentrates in flights, travel agents, hotels, advertising or supermarkets
• You travel domestically on business and value the ₹50,000 card liability cover and the six travel covers
• You spend ₹75,000 a quarter consistently, so the lounge access materialises
• You will redeem on the Kotak Rewards catalogue rather than for cash

Look elsewhere if:

• You are salaried — you are outside the stated eligibility criteria entirely
• You want a meaningful earn rate — 1% at best, 0.25% on general spend
• Your business spend is heavy on utilities, government payments or insurance — all capped per cycle, some quite tightly
• You spend abroad — 3.50% forex undoes the earn rate
• Your quarterly spend is lumpy — the ₹75,000 lounge gate will keep slipping away
• You always take cash redemptions — every figure here drops 20%

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this card for? Self-employed people, proprietors and partners of partnership firms, aged 21 to 65, with an ITR of ₹4.8 lakh a year or more. Salaried applicants are outside the criteria.

What is the joining and annual fee? ₹299 joining, ₹499 annual, both plus GST. There is no waiver at any spend level.

What type of card is it? A Visa Platinum card, valid internationally.

What is a Reward Point worth? ₹0.25 on the Kotak Rewards catalogue and on category redemptions such as mobile recharge and shopping. ₹0.20 in cash, reduced from ₹0.25 on 1 June 2025, with a 2,000-point minimum.

Which categories earn 4 points per ₹100? Travel and tour operators and domestic airlines, direct marketing and advertising services, supermarkets, and lodging (hotels, motels, resorts). The MITC also names Flipkart B2B.

Which spends earn nothing? Wallet loading, fuel, rent and online skill-based gaming, plus cash advances, EMI transactions, balance transfers and the bank's own fees.

Are there any category caps? Yes, and they are not on the card page. Points stop accruing above ₹40,000 of government spend, ₹50,000 of utility spend, and ₹70,000 each of education and insurance spend, measured as cumulative spend per statement cycle.

How do I get lounge access? Spend ₹75,000 or more in a calendar quarter to unlock complimentary domestic lounge access in the next quarter. Primary cardholder only. A new cardholder gets nothing in their first quarter.

Is there international lounge access? No. Kotak Biz is not on the Priority Pass list.

What insurance do I get? ₹50,000 of card liability cover and six travel covers of ₹10,000 each, for the primary cardholder only, subject to the card having been used in the 90 days before the loss.

What is the interest-free period? Up to 48 days on retail transactions — shorter than the up-to-51 days most Kotak cards offer.

Fees, rates and benefits verified against the Kotak Biz Credit Card product page, its eligibility criteria page, the Kotak credit-card MITC (including the revised rewards programme structure and the Special Benefits of Kotak Biz Credit Card section), the commercial cards insurance document and Kotak's complimentary airport lounge access terms, as at 23 September 2026. The MCCs behind the four accelerated categories are not published by Kotak and are inferred from the category names. Confirm current terms before applying.