SBI PRIME is a premium credit card that 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/Renewal Fee | Rs 2999 |
| Welcome Benefit | Rs 3000 Gift Voucher |
| Renewal Fee Waiver | Spend Rs 3 Lakhs in a membership year |
The gift vouchers options for the welcome benefit are Bata/Hush Puppies, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Fashion, Shoppers Stop and Yatra.com.
Rewards
| SPEND CATEGORY | REWARD POINTS | RETURN RATE @25 PAISE PER RP |
|---|---|---|
| Dining, Groceries, Departmental stores and Movies | 10 reward points per Rs 100 | 2.5% |
| Other Spends | 2 reward points per Rs 100 | 0.5% |
| Birthday Spends (one day before, on birthday and one day after) | 20 reward points per Rs 100
Capped at 2000 RP per year |
Milestone Rewards
- Pizza Hut Gift Voucher worth Rs 1000 on spending of Rs 50,000 in a calendar quarter
- Yatra/Pantaloons Gift Voucher worth Rs 7000 on spends of Rs 5 Lakhs in a year
Benefits
- Club Vistara Silver Membership + 1 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 + Discounts on booking using SBI Prime
Lounge Access
- 4 complimentary visits per calendar year to International Priority Pass Lounges outside India (2 visits per quarter)
- 8 complimentary visits per calendar year to Domestic Lounges in India through Visa / Mastercard / American Express depending on variant (2 visits per quarter)
My View
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.
Even the lower variant SBI SimplySAVE card gives the same rewards for a fifth of the fee. I am not sure where SBI Cards wants to position the SBI Prime in its current form. All in all, I would suggest avoiding this card and going for some other variant either in SBI Cards or others.
