SBI PRIME credit card is a premium offering from SBI Card and comes with lucrative rewards and benefits. SBI Card issues this card in Amex, Visa, and Mastercard variants. First launched in 2017, SBI Card has rejigged the benefits on this several times till now. It still retains most of the good features like accelerated rewards, lounge access, and milestone benefits. But, is it still a good credit card worth applying for? Let us review the SBI Prime credit card to find out.
Fees and Charges
| Joining Fee | Rs 2999+GST |
| Welcome Benefit | Rs 3000 Gift Voucher Club Vistara Silver Membership |
| Annual Fee | Rs 2999+GST |
| Annual Fee Waiver | Spend Rs 3 Lakhs in a membership year |
The gift voucher options for the welcome benefit are Bata/Hush Puppies, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Fashion, Shoppers Stop, and Yatra.com. So, the joining fee is well compensated with gift vouchers and the GST part is the effective outgo for the first year. The Club Vistara Silver membership is valid only for the first year.
Rewards
| Spend Category | Reward Points | Return @25p per RP |
|---|---|---|
| Dining, Groceries, Departmental stores, Movies | 10 RP / Rs 100 | 2.5% |
| Other Retail Spends | 2 RP / Rs 100 | 0.5% |
| Birthday Spends (one day before, on the birthday, and one day after) | 20 RP / Rs 100 Capped at 2000 RP per year | 5% |
| Fuel Spends | NIL | NIL |
Milestone Rewards
There are two milestone benefits on the SBI PRIME credit card. One is for quarterly spends, other one for yearly spends. So while the base reward rate is low, you can potentially get a total return of around 2% with these milestone rewards.
- Pizza Hut Gift Voucher worth Rs 1000 on spending of Rs 50,000 in a calendar quarter. At face value, this is a bonus reward rate of 2%. You can use the Pizza Hut GV to treat your family and friends. 🙂
- Yatra or Pantaloons Gift Voucher worth Rs 7000 on spends of Rs 5 Lakhs in a year. This adds a bonus reward rate of 1.4%.
Complimentary Memberships on the PRIME card
- Club Vistara Silver Membership: With this you would get the associated benefits like one class upgrade Voucher and 9 Club Vistara Points for every Rs 100 spent on Vistara flights
- Trident Privilege Red Tier Membership: 10 points for every Rs 100 spent during the stay at participating hotels and discounts on booking using SBI Prime
Airport Lounge Access
The Priority Pass that comes with SBI Card PRIME is valid for 2 years from the date of issue. It cannot be renewed post this period.
But you can always upgrade your SBI Card to another variant like ELITE to get another Priority Pass that is valid for 2 years.
| Type | Complimentary Visits | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Airport Lounge access within India | 8 visits per calendar year | Visa, Mastercard, American Express as per variant |
| Airport Lounge access outside India | 4 visits per calendar year | Priority Pass |
Other Key Benefits and Charges
- Foreign Currency Markup: 3.5%+GST ~4.13%
- Reward Redemption Fee: Rs 99+GST for gifts, statement credit and vouchers
- Finance Charges: 3.5% per month or 42% per annum
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% waiver for transactions between Rs 500 to Rs 4000. Maximum surcharge waiver of Rs 250 per statement cycle.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Quarterly and Yearly Milestone rewards on spends
- Option to redeem reward points for statement credit
- Domestic and International Airport Lounge access
Cons
- Average return on spend for a ‘premium’ card
- Continuous devaluations have reduced accelerated rewards
- The renewal fee waiver is set quite high at Rs 3 Lakhs for the rewards it offers
- Relatively high renewal fee at Rs 2999 for the benefits it offers
Final Thoughts
SBI Prime had started off as a great card when it launched. 5% uncapped rewards on bill payments and birthday spending were two of its best features. Both are gone now. Some of the devaluations have been silent with changes known only from the product page. The bigger list of cons compared to the pros above is a statement of why SBI Prime is not worth applying anymore.
We get better rewards even on cashback credit cards now. So, all the effort to spend Rs 5 Lakhs to get Rs 7000 GV as annual milestone benefit does not look lucrative.
If you are looking for simple cashback, then SBI Cashback card is a good alternate option. Or if you just want a SBI Card for the instant discount during sales, get the SimplyCLICK credit card.
Frequently Asked Questions
SBI PRIME Credit Card
3 thoughts on “SBI PRIME Credit Card”
I have this card and want to get rid of it. Any recommendations for an upgrade or a downgrade?
They have been offering me Elite, but I don’t see the point of getting that one. Definitely not worth the fees they charge.
What else could I do to not lose the credit limit?
Get SBI Cashback or SimplyCLICK
SBI, after launching the Cashback Card, has really beeing losing it a bit. Really complicated T&C across cards, general devaluation, and extra charges being imposed. The cards do not have the same level of merchant offers either as it once used to be. After a good run like a private company, SBI Card’s true Sarkari colours are really showing of late.