This is for anyone trying to place an SBI Card product before applying, or trying to work out whether the card they hold is the right rung. It settles the order of the seven SBI cards we track, what each costs after GST, what a rupee of spend actually earns once the points are valued honestly, and who can get which.
Quick Answer: SBI Card runs four tiers: entry (SimplyCLICK ₹589, Cashback ₹1,179 a year after GST), mid (BPCL Octane ₹1,769, PRIME ₹3,539, Air India Signature ₹5,899), premium (ELITE ₹5,899) and super-premium (Aurum ₹11,799, by invitation); the Cashback card out-earns everything below Aurum on ordinary online spend.
The full hierarchy in one table
Fees are the base fee plus 18% GST. Base earn values SBI Reward Points at ₹0.25 (the rewards portal and gift-voucher rate), Air India points at ₹0.50 (Maharaja Club miles) and cashback at face value. Income is SBI Card's indicative bar for salaried applicants.
| Tier | Card | Annual fee | Base earn | Lounge access | Income bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | SimplyCLICK | ₹499 + GST (₹589) | 1 point per ₹100, 0.25% (10X at partners, 5X online) | None | Not published |
| Entry | Cashback | ₹999 + GST (₹1,179) | 5% online, 1% offline | None | ₹25,000 a month |
| Mid | BPCL Octane | ₹1,499 + GST (₹1,769) | 1 point per ₹100, 0.25% (25 per ₹100 at BPCL, 6.25%) | 4 domestic a year | Not published |
| Mid | PRIME | ₹2,999 + GST (₹3,539) | 2 points per ₹100, 0.5% (10 per ₹100 on dining, grocery, department stores, movies) | 8 domestic + 4 international a year | ₹50,000 a month |
| Mid | Air India Signature | ₹4,999 + GST (₹5,899), never waived | 4 points per ₹100, about 2% in Air India miles | 4 domestic a year; Priority Pass membership, visits charged | ₹1 lakh a month |
| Premium | ELITE | ₹4,999 + GST (₹5,899) | 2 points per ₹100, 0.5% (10 per ₹100 on dining, grocery, department stores) | 8 domestic + 6 international a year | ₹75,000 a month |
| Super-premium | Aurum | ₹9,999 + GST (₹11,799) | 4 points per ₹100, 1% (8 per ₹100 abroad) | 16 domestic + unlimited international | Not published; by invitation |
One note on sources: sbicard.com did not respond to our September 2026 audit, so these figures are as last verified on the SBI Card product pages in February and April 2026.
Why the point value matters more here than anywhere else
SBI Card's headline multipliers look generous: 5X on dining, 10X at partners, 25X at BPCL. They are less generous than they read because SBI Reward Points redeem at ₹0.25 each. Two points per ₹100 is ₹0.50 per ₹100, or 0.5%. Ten points per ₹100 is 2.5%. Twenty-five points per ₹100 at a BPCL pump is 6.25%, which is genuinely good, and the surcharge waiver on top takes it to about 7.25%.
The Cashback card sidesteps this entirely by paying rupees: 5% on online spend and 1% offline, credited automatically. That single fact reorders the SBI hierarchy for anyone who shops online. The Air India card is the other exception, because its points become Maharaja Club miles worth about ₹0.50 each.
The four tiers, explained
Entry: SimplyCLICK and Cashback
SimplyCLICK costs ₹499 + GST (₹589), reversed at ₹1 lakh of annual spend, with a ₹500 Amazon voucher on paying the joining fee. It earns 10 points per ₹100 at listed partners (Apollo 24|7, BookMyShow, Cleartrip, Dominos, IGP, Netmeds, Myntra, Yatra), 5 per ₹100 on other online spend and 1 per ₹100 offline, which at ₹0.25 a point is 2.5%, 1.25% and 0.25%. A ₹2,000 e-voucher lands at ₹1 lakh of annual online spend. No lounge access.
Cashback costs ₹999 + GST (₹1,179), waived at ₹2 lakh, and pays 5% on online transactions with no merchant or category restriction beyond the standard exclusions, and 1% offline. No lounges, no vouchers, no points to track. For a household that puts ₹20,000 a month online through the card it returns ₹12,000 a year, which is more than any other SBI card below Aurum earns on the same spend.
Mid-tier: BPCL Octane, PRIME, Air India Signature
BPCL Octane is a fuel card. ₹1,499 + GST (₹1,769), reversed at ₹2 lakh, with 6,000 welcome points. It earns 25 points per ₹100 on BPCL fuel, Bharatgas and lubricants (6.25%, plus the surcharge waiver), 10 per ₹100 on dining, grocery, department stores and movies, and 1 per ₹100 elsewhere, with four domestic lounge visits a year. Worth holding only if you fill up at BPCL.
PRIME is the general-purpose mid-tier card. ₹2,999 + GST (₹3,539), reversed at ₹3 lakh, with a ₹3,000 welcome voucher. It earns 2 points per ₹100 and 10 per ₹100 on dining, grocery, department stores and movies. Milestones add a ₹1,000 Pizza Hut voucher every quarter you spend ₹50,000 and a ₹7,000 Yatra or Pantaloons voucher at ₹5 lakh a year. Lounge access is 8 domestic visits (2 a quarter) and 4 international through Priority Pass. Four golf green-fee accesses a year and a lesson a month are included. The ₹50 lakh air accident cover was discontinued on 15 July 2025.
Air India Signature is a co-brand and sits at ELITE's fee. ₹4,999 + GST (₹5,899) with no waiver at any spend, offset by 20,000 points and Maharaja Club membership on joining and 5,000 points on each renewal. It earns 4 points per ₹100 on everything, 30 per ₹100 on Air India tickets booked directly (since March 2025) and 10 per ₹100 on Air India tickets bought elsewhere, with bonus points of 20,000 at ₹5 lakh, 30,000 more at ₹10 lakh and 50,000 more at ₹20 lakh. Points convert to Maharaja Club miles. Four domestic lounge visits a year; Priority Pass membership with visits charged.
Premium: ELITE
ELITE costs ₹4,999 + GST (₹5,899), reversed at ₹10 lakh of annual spend, with ₹5,000 of welcome e-gift vouchers from Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Bata or Hush Puppies, Yatra or Aditya Birla Fashion. The earn structure matches PRIME without the movies category: 2 points per ₹100 base, 10 per ₹100 on dining, grocery and department stores. Milestone bonus points are the card's real engine: 10,000 at ₹3 lakh, 10,000 at ₹4 lakh, 15,000 at ₹5 lakh and 15,000 at ₹8 lakh, up to 50,000 points a year, worth ₹12,500. Lounge access is 8 domestic and 6 international visits a year through Priority Pass, forex markup is 1.99%, and the golf benefit matches PRIME. The ₹1 crore air accident cover was discontinued on 15 July 2025.
Whether ELITE is worth ₹2,360 more a year than PRIME comes down to two things: the ₹8 lakh milestone and the 1.99% forex markup. The ELITE vs HDFC Regalia comparison puts it against its closest rival.
Super-premium: Aurum
Aurum is SBI Card's metal, invitation-only card at ₹9,999 + GST (₹11,799), waived at ₹12 lakh of spend. It is lifetime free for current students of IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta. The welcome package is 40,000 Aurum points (₹10,000), Club Marriott, a Wall Street Journal digital subscription, a Mint e-paper subscription and an Inflection Point Ventures membership, together valued by SBI at over ₹60,000. Earning is 4 points per ₹100 at home (1%) and 8 per ₹100 abroad (2%), with a ₹1,500 Tata CLiQ Fashion voucher in every month you spend ₹1 lakh and an enhanced earn tier at ₹20 lakh. Lounge access is 16 domestic visits a year and unlimited international through Priority Pass; golf is 16 rounds and 12 coaching sessions a year; forex markup is 1.99%. Income criteria are not published.
Which tier are you eligible for?
| Your position | Tier | Realistic card |
|---|---|---|
| First card, any income | Entry | SimplyCLICK for partner-site shopping; Cashback if you can show ₹25,000 a month |
| ₹25,000 to ₹50,000 a month | Entry | Cashback; it also beats the mid-tier on earning |
| ₹50,000 to ₹75,000 a month | Mid | PRIME, or Octane if you fill up at BPCL |
| ₹75,000 to ₹1 lakh a month | Premium | ELITE, if you travel and will hit the milestones |
| ₹1 lakh a month, fly Air India | Mid co-brand | Air India Signature |
| Existing SBI relationship, invited | Super-premium | Aurum |
Self-employed applicants map by ITR: ₹3 lakh for Cashback, ₹6 lakh for PRIME, ₹9 lakh for ELITE, ₹15 lakh for Air India Signature.
Rewards in practice across the tiers
Ordinary spend, half online and half offline, points at ₹0.25, milestones counted where reached. Category multipliers are not assumed.
| Annual spend | Cashback | PRIME | ELITE | Aurum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹3 lakh | ₹9,000 (₹1.5 lakh online at 5%, ₹1.5 lakh offline at 1%), fee waived | ₹1,500 + ₹4,000 in quarterly Pizza Hut vouchers if spend is even, fee waived | ₹1,500 + 10,000 milestone points (₹2,500), fee ₹5,899 | ₹3,000, fee ₹11,799 |
| ₹5 lakh | ₹15,000 | ₹2,500 + ₹4,000 vouchers + ₹7,000 voucher, fee waived | ₹2,500 + 35,000 milestone points (₹8,750), fee ₹5,899 | ₹5,000 + ₹18,000 in monthly vouchers if every month clears ₹1 lakh (it does not at this spend) |
| ₹10 lakh | ₹30,000 | ₹5,000 + ₹11,000 vouchers | ₹5,000 + 50,000 milestone points (₹12,500) + 6 international lounges, fee waived | ₹10,000 + ₹18,000 vouchers, fee ₹11,799 |
| ₹12 lakh | ₹36,000 | ₹6,000 + ₹11,000 | ₹6,000 + ₹12,500 | ₹12,000 + ₹18,000 vouchers, fee waived |
The Cashback row is why SBI's hierarchy is unusual: the ₹1,179 entry card earns more than the ₹11,799 flagship at every spend level on ordinary purchases. The premium cards justify themselves on lounges, forex, vouchers and welcome packages, not on earn rate.
Who should get which tier
Get an entry card if:
- You shop online; the Cashback card's flat 5% beats every points card in the lineup.
- You want a fee that disappears at ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh of spend and nothing to track.
Get a mid-tier card if:
- You want domestic lounge access and vouchers at a fee waived at ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh: PRIME.
- You fill up at BPCL every week: Octane.
- You fly Air India often and book direct: Air India Signature.
Get ELITE if:
- You spend ₹8 lakh or more a year, so both the ₹8 lakh milestone and the ₹10 lakh waiver are in reach.
- You travel internationally; the 6 Priority Pass visits and 1.99% forex markup are the mid-tier's missing pieces.
Accept Aurum if:
- You are invited and spend ₹12 lakh or more, or you are an IIM student and it is free.
Upgrade path
SBI Card upgrades are requested through the app or the helpline rather than offered on a ladder. The usual sequence is Cashback or SimplyCLICK as a first card, PRIME once income clears ₹50,000 a month, ELITE at ₹75,000, and Aurum by invitation for high-relationship customers. Because Cashback earns rupees rather than points, moving from it to PRIME or ELITE is a step down on earning and a step up on benefits; many people hold Cashback alongside the points card rather than replacing it.
Common questions
What is the order? SimplyCLICK, Cashback, Octane, PRIME, Air India Signature and ELITE, Aurum, from ₹589 to ₹11,799 a year after GST.
Which is the highest? Aurum, by invitation; ELITE is the top card you can apply for.
What are the points worth? ₹0.25, except Air India points at about ₹0.50 as Maharaja Club miles.
Income for ELITE and PRIME? ₹75,000 and ₹50,000 a month, or ₹9 lakh and ₹6 lakh ITR.
Cashback or ELITE? Cashback for earning; ELITE for lounges, forex and milestones at ₹8 lakh of spend and above.
Next steps
- SBI Cashback Credit Card
- SimplyCLICK SBI Card
- SBI Card PRIME
- SBI Card ELITE
- SBI Card Aurum
- All SBI Card products ranked
- SBI Card ELITE vs HDFC Regalia
Last verified: 2026-04-18 against https://www.sbicard.com/en/personal/credit-cards/lifestyle/sbi-card-elite.page, https://www.sbicard.com/en/personal/credit-cards/rewards/cashback-sbi-card.page and the SBI Card product pages for the other five cards; sbicard.com did not respond to the September 2026 audit.