SBI Prime Credit Card Review
SBI Prime Credit Card, a premium card launched in 2017, is one of the most popular Credit cards from SBI. The design of this card gives a premium feel. With accelerated rewards, this card gives decent return in the form of reward points. Let us look into the details of this Credit card.
Fees
Joining Fee
Rs 2,999 + GST (18%), You get welcome gift voucher worth Rs 3,000 (from one of the following: Bata, Hush Puppies, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Fashion, Shoppers Stop and Yatra.com)
Annual Fee
Rs 2,999 + GST (18%) (Waived off on annual spends of Rs. 3 Lakhs)
Apply using this link and get gift voucher worth Rs 500 on making your first purchase worth Rs 500 using the card.
Eligibility for SBI Prime Credit Card
Applicant must be of the age 18-70 years of age. No specific income criteria mentioned by SBI.
Benefits
Reward points
- Normal spends (0.5 %): 2 reward points per Rs 100.
- Dining, Groceries, Departmental stores and Movies (2.5 %): 10 Reward Points per Rs 100.
- BigBasket(3.75 %): 15 Reward Points per Rs 100.
- Standing instructions of Utility Bills payments (5 %): 20 Reward Points (up to a maximum of 3000 points per year) per Rs 100.
- On your birthday, earn 20 reward points per Rs 100.
January 2021 update: The maximum bonus points which you can earn on your birthday is capped at 2000 per year.
1 reward point is equal to Rs 0.25 and can be redeemed against the card outstanding.
Quarterly Milestone benefits
On spending Rs 50K in a quarter, you get Pizza Hut voucher worth Rs 1,000.
Annual Milestone benefits
On spending Rs 5L in a year, you get Yatra.com/Pantaloons voucher worth Rs 7,000.
Memberships
- Complimentary Club Vistara Silver membership (as confirmed by one of my friends, this is only for the first year).
- Complementary Trident Privilege Red Tier Membership.
Airport Lounge Access
- Domestic: 2 visits per quarter
- International: 4 visits per year using Priority Pass
Golf Access
4 complimentary rounds on Green Fees and 1 complimentary golf lesson per month per year at select courses in India
Drawbacks
Given that this is a Premium card, the normal reward points (0.5%) you can earn with this card are not that good. There are many entry level credit cards in the market which give better reward rates than this card. Also, if you are not able to meet the annual fee waiver criteria, you have to pay the full annual fee and you won’t even get any renewal benefits.
Should you get it?
If you are able to get the quarterly and annual benefits by spending 5L a year (assuming 1L out of that is in dining), you get a total benefits of Rs 15,500 (including Rs 1000*4 Pizza Hut vouchers and a Rs 7000 pantaloons voucher), which is a decent 3.1% reward if you use the vouchers, plus you get the annual fees waived off. If you don’t, then this card is not for you and you can go for other Premium Cards in the market, such as HDFC Regalia which has better options for accelerated rewards (via SmartBuy). Even some of the entry level cards such as American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card give more rewards than SBI Prime, if used properly.
Let me know your thoughts or queries on the SBI Prime credit card in comments below. Want me to review any other cards? Let me know in the comments below or using the Contact Me section of this website.
Hi! I’m Gaurav, a Software Engineer by profession and a credit card enthusiast by heart. I love earning reward points and cashbacks from credit cards and giving ‘gyaan’ on credit cards and personal finance.