SBI ELITE credit card has been the top offering in SBI Card’s line up for a very long time. But, it has now been replaced by a new super premium credit card. The new SBI Aurum credit card is an invite-only card on the lines of what HDFC Bank has been doing with the Infinia. The Aurum card comes in a metal form factor with a super cool black design and gold highlights. The card sure looks premium! It comes with a joining and annual fee of Rs 10,000+GST. The base reward rate on spends is 1% but we have multiple milestone benefits like TataCliq and Taj vouchers on spends.
Eligibility
Aurum is an invite-only credit card but you can express interest on the website. To be eligible, we need an annual income of 40 LPA+.
But you can also get this card on C2C with Infinia, DCB or Magnus cards. Existing SBI Card customers also get upgrade offers for Aurum if they have ELITE or PRIME cards with a good limit.
Fees
| Joining Fee | Rs 10,000+GST ~Rs 11,800 |
| Welcome Benefit | 40,000 reward points ~Rs 10,000 Club Marriott Membership Digital Membership for Mint and WSJ |
| Annual Fee | Rs 10,000+GST ~Rs 11,800 |
| Renewal Benefit | None |
| Annual Fee Waiver | Rs 12 Lakh annual spend |
SBI Card has got the pricing right for the Aurum card. But, not the renewal benefit. There should be some renewal benefit in lieu of the annual fee even if it is 50% of the fee being paid.
Aurum is a pretty good offering for the first year with the welcome benefit. But, if your annual spends don’t cross Rs 12 Lakh then you end up paying the annual fee without any benefits.
Rewards
| All Spends | 4 RP/Rs 100 ~1% |
| Wallet Spends | No Rewards |
The 1% base reward rate is definitely less for a super premium credit card like Aurum. But, we have do milestone rewards and other benefits that make up for it to some extent.
Milestone Rewards
| Type | Required Spend | Reward | Bonus Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar Month | Rs 1 Lakh | Rs 1500 Tata CLiQ GV | 1.5% |
| Calendar Year | Rs 5 Lakh | Rs 5000 Tata CLiQ GV | 1% |
| Calendar Year | Rs 10 Lakh | Rs 10,000 Taj GV | 1% |
| Calendar Year | Rs 20 Lakh | Rs 20,000 Apple GV | 1% |
Including the milestone rewards, we get a much better reward rate on spends. If you spend Rs 20 Lakh in a year, the reward rate will be a cool 5.5%. So, if you are high spender this can be one good way to get 5%+ return on your spends. Yes, few other cards also offer this but SBI Aurum counts even government transactions and utilities for rewards. So, it is easier to hit these spends.
Rewards Redemption
The value for each reward point on the SBI Aurum credit card is 25 paise. We can redeem the rewards on the Aurum reward portal.
There is no option for statement credit. But, we can redeem the points for a variety of gift vouchers including Amazon and Flipkart. There is no reward redemption fee on the SBI Aurum credit card.
Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
- Domestic Airport Lounge Access: 4 visits/quarter with Visa/Mastercard
- International Airport Lounge Access: Unlimited visits with DreamFolks
It is wonderful to see unlimited international airport lounge access on the Aurum!
Complimentary Airport Spa Access
- Domestic Airport Spa Access: 1 visit/quarter with DreamFolks
SBI Aurum Credit Card BookMyShow Offer
Aurum credit card has one of the best benefits on BookMyShow. If you are a movie fan, then this benefit alone can recover 50% of the annual fee!
- 4 free movie tickets every month
- Maximum benefit for each ticket is Rs 250. Additional amount has to be paid by card.
- Maximum of 2 tickets can be booked within a period of 24 hrs.
We generally get BOGO offers on credit cards, but this is a benefit similar to what the ELITE card offers. There is no quota on this benefit, so you can use it anytime.
Flight Cancellation Benefit
The insurance cover on the SBI Aurum credit card also gets you flight cancellation benefits if you have used the card for booking your travel.
- Rs 3500 per ticket on refundable tickets
- Rs 3000 per ticket on non-refundable tickets
- Valid twice per year
Complimentary Golf Benefits on SBI Aurum Credit Card
- 16 complimentary golf rounds per year
- 12 complimentary golf lessons per year
Other Key Benefits & Charges
- Foreign Currency Markup: 1.99%+GST ~2.35%
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% waiver on all transactions
Final Thoughts
Aurum is the first offering from SBI Card in the super-premium segment. The fee is the same as what DCB charges now and Infinia used to charge earlier. While Aurum is not as difficult to get as DCB and Infinia, it is expected to provide high rewards with the annual fee point of Rs 10,000. SBI Card gets some of it right.
The rewards touch the 5%+ mark with milestone benefits. But, it comes with a very high spend of Rs 20 Lakh. This would mean moving all or a very high part of our spends to the Aurum. That does not make for a good case as there are many super premium credit cards that offer similar or better rewards for around the same fee.
But the Aurum surprises for good in two things. First, the unlimited international airport lounge access can be useful if you regularly travel outside India. Second, the BookMyShow offer is amazing too and can give you back some of the annual fee that you pay for the Aurum.
SBI Aurum Credit Card
2 thoughts on “SBI Aurum Credit Card Review”
If one holds a SBI card with a low limit but has the DCB/magnus with high limits ,will they consider card on card ?
Yes, they do that.