Below are Sri Lankan credit‑card options known for being the most affordable because they either charge no annual fee or explicitly offer annual‑fee waivers. I’ve listed the key waiver condition and a source — terms, eligibility and promotions change, so confirm the exact current terms with the bank before applying.

1. CDB credit cards (Standard / Gold / Platinum / World etc.) — lifetime annual‑fee waiver (no annual fee for primary and supplementary cards shown on CDB site). CDB also lists low/no annual fees in its tariff table. (CDB.lk)

2. LOLC “SAVI” credit card (Savi / Savi Government Employees) — marketed as a lifetime free card (no joining fee and no annual fee) for the target segments (government employees / pensioners / specific state‑sector groups). Check eligibility (many SAVI variants are for state sector employees). (LOFC.lk)

3. LOLC Swairee (LOLC product announcements) — launched as a card with no annual renewal fee for cardholders (product has promotional language about no recurring annual fee / lifetime membership fee structure). Confirm final terms with LOLC. (dailymirror.lk)

4. People’s Bank — selected cards with annual‑fee waivers (e.g., the Vanitha Vasana Visa Platinum shows lifetime annual fee waiver subject to usage conditions; People’s Bank also advertises first‑year waivers and other affinity‑card waivers). Verify the exact spend/usage criteria listed by the bank. (peoplesbank.lk)

5. Seylan Bank — some Seylan credit‑card variants show waived joining fees and low or waived annual fees (their published tariff table lists cards with waived joining/low annual fees such as the Mastercard Freedom). Check the specific card page for current tariffs. (seylan.lk)

6. HNB — some HNB cards (e.g., HNB Mastercard World, Club Infinite and certain co‑branded cards) show lifetime annual‑fee waivers or waivers conditional on annual/monthly spend — HNB tariff sheet lists which card types have lifetime waivers or waiver conditions. Confirm which card and the spend criteria that apply to you. (HNB.net)

Notes and tips

• “Lifetime free” or “waived” offerings often have eligibility limits (e.g., only for government employees, certain deposit/loan customers, or require minimum annual spend). Always confirm eligibility before applying. (LOFC.lk)
• Promotional waivers (first year free, joining fee waived) are common — but ongoing waivers may require minimum annual spending or other conditions. Read the bank’s tariff sheet or ask them to send the terms in writing. (HSBC.lk)
• If you want the absolute cheapest (zero recurring cost), look first at cards explicitly advertised as “lifetime free” (CDB, LOLC SAVI and some LOLC products above). If you’re eligible for affinity / profession cards (BOC, state‑sector, doctors, teachers etc.), those can also be free or heavily discounted. (CDB.lk)

If you want, I can:

• Compare 3 specific cards side‑by‑side (fees, interest rate, minimum spend for waiver, benefits) if you tell me which ones interest you; or
• Pull the current tariff pages for 3 banks and summarise exact waiver conditions (I’ll fetch the latest bank pages and quote the exact spend thresholds).