Standard Chartered Smart credit card is an entry-level cashback card. With 2% cash back on online spending, this can be a good choice if you are into cashback credit cards. Here is a review of the new Standard Chartered Smart credit card with its rewards and benefits.
Fees and Charges
The joining and annual fees are in line with other entry-level credit cards. We also get a spend-based fee waiver.
| Joining Fee | Rs 499+GST for existing SC customers NIL for new to SC customers |
| Welcome Benefit | None |
| Annual Fee | Rs 499+GST |
| Annual Fee Waiver | Rs 1.2 Lakhs spend in a membership year |
Cashback
| TYPE OF SPEND | CASHBACK | CAP |
|---|---|---|
| Online Spends | 2% | Rs 1000 per month |
| Offline Spends | 1% | Rs 500 per month |
| Fuel Spends | 0% | NA |
Unlike the popular Axis Bank Ace credit card, we have a cap on the cashback here. We can spend up to Rs 50000 per month each in online and offline spending before we hit the max caps. This is more than enough for average spends.
Fuel spends do not get any cashback on the Standard Chartered Smart credit card. Today, most cashback cards exclude government payments, wallet and insurance payments for cashback. But the SC Smart credit card continues to provide 2% cash back on all online spends. This makes it worthwhile to get the Smart credit card for cashback on these transactions. This is also why it is listed as one of our best credit cards for wallet spending.
Benefits
3-month EMI at 0.99%/month
This is an interesting take by Standard Chartered Bank but it will not be of much use. We have Uni card and Slice card offering zero cost 3-month EMI without any processing charges. They are a better option if one is looking to get a 3-month EMI for transactions.
Extended Interest-Free Period (First 90 days only)
We get an extended interest-free period for the first 90 days after credit card issuance. What this means is we can choose to pay the ‘Minimum Amount Due’ for the first three statements. We need to pay the full outstanding amount with the fourth month’s statement without any extra charges.
Rewards Redemption
The rewards can be redeemed as cashback on the 360 Rewards portal. There is no redemption fee for the Smart credit card.
If the cashback if redeemed prior to the date of your credit card statement cycle, the cashback will be adjusted against the total outstanding. Otherwise, the cashback will be adjusted in the next statement cycle.
- Rs 1000 is the minimum cashback required for the first redemption.
- Subsequent redemptions can be in multiples of Rs 500.
Final Thoughts
Being an entry-level credit card, Smart offers two key features – simple cashback on spending and redemption as a statement credit. This is in line with what we get on other entry-level credits today. It is also better than the DigiSmart credit card from Standard Chartered as get rewards on all spends on this card.
But, we do have a few other options to consider for cashback credit cards. Some of the other options are Axis Ace, Flipkart Axis, and SBI Cashback credit card. Each of these has its pros and cons and offer better cashback in some categories. But the advantage of SC Smart is that it offers cashback on all spends except fuel. This is the USP of the Smart credit card. So if you want cashback without worrying about where you are spending it, then go for the SC Smart credit card.
