Friends, SBI Cashback Credit Card was launched last year in September 2022 and this credit card is considered to be a very good credit card even today. Till this SBI Cashback Credit Card was not launched in the market, there were many other such credit cards which were very famous like Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card, Flipkart Axis Credit Card and HDFC Millennia Credit Card etc.
Before the launch of SBI Cashback Credit Card, there was a lot of demand for these credit cards, but as soon as this credit card of SBI was launched in September 2022, for once people left all other credit cards aside and the demand for this credit card increased so much that in many places every second person had this credit card of SBI. But now in April 2023, SBI’s notification has come that SBI Bank will make changes in the features of its Cashback Credit Card and in these changes, SBI will reduce some reward points and benefits of this credit.
Therefore, in this article we will see each feature and benefit of this credit and what new changes have come in them as compared to earlier. And whatever changes SBI is going to make in its Cashback Credit Card, all these changes will be implemented from 1 May 2023. Along with this, in the end part of this article, we will also know that after the changes in the benefits and features of this credit card, does it still make any sense to take this credit card?
First, with the help of a table, we will see a quick overview of the changes in the features and benefits of this credit card and after that we will discuss all these changes in detail –
A quick overview of the changes in SBI Cashback Credit Card:
Category | Earlier Before Changes | Now After Changes |
Joining Fee | ₹999 | ₹ 999 |
Annual Fee | ₹999 from second year onwards | ₹999 from second year onwards |
Add On Fee | Nil | Nil |
Annual Fee Waived Off | Annual spends of ₹2 Lakhs | Annual spends of ₹2 Lakhs |
Caschback on Online Spends | 5% | 5% |
Cashback on Offline Spends | 1% | 1% |
Cachback on Utility Bill Payments | 1% | No |
Cashback Not Applicable Catgs. | Rent Payments, Wallet Loads, Merchant EMIs, Cash Advances, Balance Transfer, Encash & Flexipay | Rent, Wallet, Merchant EMI & Flexipay EMI, Cash Advances, Balance Transfer, Encash, Utility, Insurance, Fuel, School & Educational Services, Jewelry, Railways. See Full List |
Lounge Access | 4 complimentary Domestic Airport Lounge visits in a year (1 visit per quarter) | No |
Fuel Surcharge Waiver | 1% Fuel Surcharge Waiver across all petrol pumps in India | 1% Fuel Surcharge Waiver across all petrol pumps in India |
Detailed comparison of the changes in SBI Cashback Credit Card:
Comparison of Changes in Online Spends Based Cashback:
Earlier:
⇛ Earlier there was 5% cashback on all online spends on this credit card of SBI. Now whether you do that online spending from any e-commerce site like Amazon, Flipkart or Myntra, you used to get 5% cashback of your spending directly. But earlier the capping on this cashback was that you could earn a maximum cashback of only ₹ 10,000 in a month. Now if we understand these points carefully, then to earn cashback of ₹ 10000, you will have to spend ₹ 2,00,000 in 1 month from this credit card, only then you will be able to earn this ₹ 10,000 in the form of 5% cashback.
Now for a beginner and intermediate level person, it is a big deal to spend ₹ 2,00,000 just from your credit card in a month. Therefore, we can only call it unlimited cashback because who will spend Rs 2,00,000 from his credit card in a month and even if he does, he will not do it every time.
⇛ Now earlier there was a small restriction of SBI bank on this online spending that one could not earn cashback on spending online in some categories. These categories were like this – Rent Payments, Wallet Loads, Merchant EMIs, Cash Advances, Balance Transfer, Encash & Flexipay etc. Now these are such categories on which hardly any credit card gives cashback or reward points.
Now:
⇛Like before, this card still gives you 5% cashback on every online spending but the capping of the amount of this cashback has been reduced. Earlier you could earn a maximum cashback of ₹ 10,000 in a month, for which you had to spend ₹ 2,00,000 in a month from your card to reach the capping of this cashback amount. But now the capping of this cashback amount has been reduced to ₹ 5,000. Now to reach this capping, you will have to spend ₹ 1,00,000 in a month from your card.
Now due to reduction in this benefit, we do not feel that beginners and intermediate level employees have suffered any loss. Because spending one lakh rupees just from your credit card in a month is a big deal and you can ask yourself this question also. Therefore, this change should not make much difference to us, but if your spending from this card is more than Rs 1 lakh in a month, then it can be a drawback for you.
⇛ Now earlier there were restrictions in some categories on online spending on this credit card that if you do online transactions with your card in these categories, then you will not get this 5% cashback. Now SBI Bank has also added some more categories to these categories. The categories added are as follows –
- Jewellery
- School & Education Services
- Utilities
- Insurance Services
- Card, Gift, Novelty & Souvenir Shops
- Member Financial Institutions/Quasi Cash
- Railways
Now, although this list is quite long, we have shown only some important and commonly used categories. You can see this complete list here.
Apply SBI Cashback Credit Card before the exclusive offer ends
Now these changes can make a difference to you and all of us. Because we all keep making payments related to the categories we have told you about. Now our Utilities Bills, Insurances, Railways, School & Education are such classes from which we keep doing related transactions and if earlier we used to get 5% cashback in all these varieties and now it has been stopped, then this can be another negative point of this credit for us.
Apart from this, now you can decide by looking at this complete list as per your needs and how much these things oppose you for this credit card.
Comparison of Changes in Offline Spends Based Cashback:
Earlier:
Earlier you used to get 1% cashback on all offline spends on this credit card. You can spend whatever you want offline with this credit card and you will definitely get 1% cashback.
Along with this, 1% cashback was also available on all your utility bills like Electricity Bill, Water Bill etc. Now this was a very good benefit which you used to see in this card earlier because this benefit is rarely seen in credit cards.
Now:
⇛ You still get 1% cashback on all offline spends on this card.
⇛ The 1% cashback you get on Utilities bills has also been stopped, about which we have told you above. And this is also a drawback of this credit card.
Comparison of Changes in Lounge Access:
Earlier:
In this SBI Cashback Credit Card, earlier you used to get 4 complimentary Lounge Access i.e. you used to get 1 lounge access per quarter.
Now:
Earlier you used to get 4 complimentary Lounge Access in a year from this credit card, but now SBI Bank has abolished the entire system of Lounge Access from this credit card, that is, now you will not get any Lounge Access in this credit card.
Now this has also been a big devaluation of this credit card because for the people who keep visiting airports or are frequent travelers on flights, this credit card no longer holds any special significance for them.
Comparison in remaining categories:
Earlier:
⇛Its joining fee was ₹ 999 and your annual fee was waived for the first year and from the second year onwards you had to pay ₹ 999 annual fee every year.
⇛Apart from this, your Annual Fee was waived off if you spend ₹ 2,00,000 in a year on this credit card.
⇛On this credit card also you get 1% Fuel Surcharge Waiver like all credit cards but for this your Minimum Transaction Value should be ₹300 and Maximum Transaction Value should be ₹5000 and you can take maximum Surcharge Waiver of ₹100 in a month.
Now:
This Joining and Annual Fee is the same as before and to get your Annual Fee Waived Off, you will have to spend ₹2,00,000 in a year. Apart from this, terms and conditions related to Fuel Surcharge Waiver are also same.
Why SBI Cashback Credit Card reduced its features and benefits?
SBI Cashback Credit Card earlier used to give a lot of benefits to its users, especially cashback, but now SBI Bank has reduced the cashback on this credit card and has also imposed some capping and restrictions on it. The main reason for this could be that with the introduction of this credit card, the demand for the popular credit cards based on reward points and cashbacks had completely reduced because earlier these popular credit cards used to give you 5% cashback only on shopping at some of their tie-up companies, but this credit card of SBI has started giving you direct 5% cashback on online spends on all platforms. No other credit card gives you this cashback.
Now, like ICICI Bank’s Amazon Pay credit card gives you 5% cashback on shopping on Amazon and Axis Bank’s Flipkart credit card gives you 5% cashback on shopping on Flipkart and Myntra and HDFC Bank’s Millennia Credit Card gives you 5% cashback on shopping on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and some of its Tie-Up Companies. You get limitations in all these credits, but now this Cashback Credit Card of SBI Bank tells you that you can buy goods online from wherever you want, I will give you 5% cashback. This is the reason why this card of SBI is in such high demand.
Now SBI Cashback Credit Card has become so much in demand that lakhs and crores of people have purchased it. You can guess its demand from the fact that SBI Bank had to temporarily stop the issuance of this credit card twice. Maybe that’s why SBI Bank has reduced the features of this card.
Even after so many changes, should we take the SBI Cashback Credit Card?
This Cashback Credit Card of SBI is still a super credit card in its category of credit cards. And as we have told you earlier that every credit card is not for every customer. Banks launch any credit card only by targeting certain types of customers, so now you have to see whether this credit card makes any sense for you even after all the changes mentioned in this article. Is this card still giving you any benefit on the thing on which you spend the most? After figuring all this out, you can apply or decline this credit card.
Apply SBI Cashback Credit Card before the exclusive offer ends
Now apart from this, this card is also giving you 5% cashback on majority online spends like Shopping, Food Delivery, Movies, Hotel Booking etc. Now the thing about its annual fee is that you can get it waived off by spending two lakhs in a year. Therefore, if you spend even 15 to 20 thousand rupees per month through this card, then this card will become like a lifetime free credit card for you because your annual fee will be waived off.
Now there is also a possibility that SBI may devalue this card again after 5-6 months, so keep this card as long as you are able to use it for free and when you feel that this card is no longer free for you or its money is increasing, then in that case you can close this card.