It was a great year with SBI Elite card which was issued to me an year back against FD. I was lucky enough to get 3% value back before they devalued the SBI Signature card and finally ended up earning Rs.18,000 in cash back. Not just that, i used their bookmyshow offer quite often and was very happy with it. Their customer service is smooth and overall i had a great time with them.
SBI Elite Credit Card Renewal:
Well, now the renewal month came up and i need to pay a whooping 5k Renewal fee for nothing. Why the hell would i do that while i have 6 other cards in my wallet with even better reward rate?! Though i had the expectation that i can get the renewal fee waived off as i had spent a decent amount, over 5L in the previous year.
- Renewal Fee: Rs.5,000+tax
Its obvious for any credit card company to consider waiving off a well spending customer. But i wasn’t right when it comes to SBI.
Closing Sbi Credit Card Account:
One fine night, i decided to initiate the card account closure and i sent an sms: PROBLEM to 9212500888. It had always been handy many a times. I noticed that they also added a toll free number recently. So i received a callback from a cool guy by early morning (thanks for the speed) and the conversation went something like this:
- SBI Guy: How can i help you sir?
- Me: I would like to close my Card
- SBI Guy: Sure, and may i know the reason sir?
- Me: You’re charging a renewal fee but not giving back anything in return. Its unfair.
- SBI Guy: You get a lot of milestone points sir for that.
- Me: But i paid joining fee to get the benefits. Renewal fee benefit?
- SBI Guy: Sorry sir, that’s what we have for now.
- Me: Ok, please close the account.
- SBI Guy: Are you sure? Shall i close your Card account sir?
- Me: Yes, Please.
- SBI Guy: OK sir, i’ve taken up request and the account will be closed shortly.
- (I was actually in half-sleep and was thinking WTH, no retention team, nothing?!! and i asked calmly..)
- Me: So… Wil i get any callback from some other team to re-confirm?
- SBI Guy: No sir, your card account is already closed. You may cut your card into pieces. Anything else i can assist you with sir?
- Me: No Thanks!
So the card was closed and kudos to SBICARD to make account closure 100X faster than opening a new account. Lol. So, as you can see, I haven’t actually asked about “reversal” in this conversation, but i had that done already few days before and the person was clear that i won’t be getting waiver if i decide to close.
I tried that even by escalating via branch, but nothing actually worked. I wonder why they’re strict on this, typically speaking, if i close it and re-apply, i’ll get the joining benefits but it will hurt my score though. I’ve no idea how it makes sense to them.
A Note to SbiCard Team:
While my overall experience was pretty good, i had a not so good Climax. Wish they knew these basics that other MNC companies like American Express Follows:
- Retention Team: They need to put a hell a lot of advertising budget to get yet another customer like me who can spend to this level. Maybe 1 in 500 or 1000. If i’m not wrong, the acquisition cost for such a premium card with good spend should be over Rs.5,000/customer by any chance. They should at least mind about having an active retention team to negotiate. Its a heavy loss if they can’t retain a premium customer.
- Renewal Benefit: Every single card comes with a renewal benefit when we need to pay something. While they picked up the concept of renewal fee, they badly missed about adding renewal benefit to the card. It doesn’t have any major benefit like Priority Pass Free access to charge this kind of fee. Serious Flaw!
Hope it gets attention of some SBI guys who designed this card. Anyways, let my Sbi Elite card Rest In Peace 😛
Time to shift the Spends to HDFC:
Now i’m planning to shift my spends from SBI Elite to Diners Black and also avail its One on One Movie offer here on for movie spends. Hoping HDFC would consider one day or other for upgrade to the BAAP of all cards – Infinia
Lets see what 2017 holds for me!
How about your experience with SBI card renewals? Were you given waiver? Share your details in comments below.
I have recently applied for SBI SimplyClick Contactless Credit Card. Just took it because it’s costs a renewal fee of only ₹499+ ST. I applied only because SBI runs some cool offers from time to time. Besides, it’s good to hold a separate credit line. They called up and asked me why I’m not applying for SBI Elite Card when I’m eligible for it? I said I know what I need to apply for and SBI Elite Card is one of the worst card one can apply for if you consider the renewal fees. He was silent. SBI needs to come up with Lifetime Free Cards like HDFC. For me, most of my purchase goes to Diners Premium and Regalia. But I wish someday some other bank takes on HDFC head on with its line of credit card. Till then, there is not a single bank in India which can match the level of ROI that HDFC Credit Cards provide.
True that Abhishek.
I was convinced for Simplyclick and asked to even swap it. As mine was a FD based card, they weren’t able to do it.
I also thought of applying for a fresh one, but i’m more than happy to go for one more year with Elite 😀
Let’s see.
Hi Siddharth
Which card do you suggest… SBI Simply click or SBI ELITE . I have simply click card now. Have been offered an upgrade to ELITE . Is it worth upgrading ? Please do let me know your thoughts.
Go through the individual review of both these cards and see which one suits you the most. There is no comparison between the two per se!
Hello Abhishek, could you please tell me what is the minimum limit provided for The Diners Premium Card coz I had requested for an upgrade from Diners Rewards and those guys are creating Unnecessary paper work about income documents and else, even though my card has a decent limit
Well, it is actually not a problem with limit. The question they ponder over is the whole relationship value and the way you have used your credit card. If you have decent spending history with excellent payback (Never been late with the payments) then they will upgrade. A Premium Banking Relationship helps too! 🙂
I am having an SBI elite card with excellent track record and annual spends of 5 to 7 lacs on the card. I want to swap the card with a NO annual /renewal fee card as the SBI people are very fussy in resolving requests.
Hey Sid
Why do you want to upgrade yourself to infinia when Dinera Club black gives you 33% cashback on 10x partners and a cool 3.3% earn rare for normal ones. Just curious
Ashwin,
As long as 10X offer is there, Diners Black is the best of-course.
But i might have access to another Black card in my family in coming months. So then might try Infinia for me.
Lucky you eh … 🙂
I am expecting a ~11.5% return on American Express Membership Rewards card which I got lifetime free last November (as per my calculations – I plan to use points for statement credit). I would have to though limit my monthly spends on the card to Rs.4000 per month (as per their rewards offer). Still a great return! One can earn even more MR points by making the most of their promotions as well as festive season offers.
I plan to take the Amex Platinum Travel as well sometime in 2017 only if offered free for life.
How come 11.5% ? I wonder!
So I spend 48,000 by 4 spends of 1000 each for 12 months.
I earn 12,000 bonus Mr points + 960 bonus points.
That is ~13000 points on Indigo vouchers worth Rs 5200 or statement credit if I continue with the same for 16 months.
Both scenarios give a ~11.5% return!
For 16 months!!
Well, its different way of looking.
I generally see 12 months earn rate.
Sidharth,
Well I got my Regalia First today (I already have Diners Black) , although I had haggled hard for Regalia. The prime reason being international lounge access for spouse. And guess what when I checked the HDFC website they have reduced free access from 4 to 3 for RF and from 12 to 6 for Regalia itself!
Regards
Yes, the bad news of the week 🙁
Really a sad news. Lounge access reduced to 6 per annum on Regalia. Now I think what you were telling is going to be right. HDFC may launch a new card in between Regalia and Infinia
That is a really bad news… how much more will they downgrade? Truly, it doesn’t feel that Regalia is a Super Premium (as is mentioned on HDFC’s website) anymore.
Sid/Abhishek et al,
I would suggest that HDFC Jet Privilege Master Card is overall a better package than Reg or RF, although it is not advertised much, in case you are a Jet FF. It gives 4% yield (as Jet Miles) versus 1.1%-1.6% on Reg/RF (assuming that 5X ends by March 2017). Plus it gives 5 PPs (although nothing for co-applicant).
Regards
First,
4% yield possible only on 1:1 usage for JPmiles. Which is very tough.
Then,
I prefer Indigo over Jet in domestic & AirAsia/malindo for SE Asian countries.
Then comes award ticket rules & regulations.
So i feel less redemption possibilities. Though it might be good for frequent flyers on Jet 🙂
I have already considered Jetprivilege cards. Its a strict no no for me. I simply don’t like the idea of getting tied to one airline. Besides, 5X rewards points is not applicable to JetPrivilege cards.
I believe SBI card is managed by GE money, which is also MNC. So it is not about the lack of MNC culture.
January it seems is when all these devaluations happens- to paraphrase TS Eliott “January is the cruellest month”
Regards
OMG … 2 of my Go-to cards devalued this year… And Regalia has been devalued to the extent of Entry level card. Taj epicure plus membership is gone , lounge access reduced into half , Redemption value reduced … Hope they bring a new card to the market soon enough .. In HDFC Netbanking , Card Upgrade Option has been deactivated.It says that “This Facility is Temporarily not available ” for the past 2 months . All this points to a New card to be launched Soon … We can only Hope …
Citibank gives me only 48 days of interest free credit period … I’m holing Premiermiles card . Is it the same for everyone ?
Same is the case for citibank premiermiles card. My average annual spend in this card has been around 7L per year from last three years. Inasked them to wave my fee which is 3000 Rs. They said it can only be done if the relationship value is more than 50L per mo th. I said, if i had 50L in my account I wouldnt have asked for the waiver. 😀
They said, we cant waive the fees. I siad please disconti ue my card and they said OK. It was closed. Whooaaa. No point p
aying fees for reward rate of 2%.
Lol. 50L on a/c for waiver is too much.
7L spend is a good number to consider for waiver. Wonder why Citibank too is doing so.
Looks like only Amex is friendly.
Yup… Amex Simply Doubled my Credit Limit just over a phone call.. They directly connected me to the Limit Enhancement team and my call wa put on hold and my Limit was raised just like that. No more Emails, no paperwork like HDFC, No more visiting the courier office… Amex is simply Unbelievable
How is that possible with amex ?even I have an amex card ,less than 6months old ,even if it’s more than 6months old wouldn’t they ask for ITR or salary slip ,nobody. Will do it just like that
Citi offers free cards only to Citi Gold Clients. So to have a waiver on Citi cards, you need a citigold account, which needs a minimum relationship of 50L. The 50L as account balance is a wrong info. Most people acheve that status with help of combination of Loan and Demat accounts, and enjoy free Citi Prestige card as long as that status is maintained.
But Siddharth… You would have got your renewal fee waived off if u spend 10 lakhs on SBI Elite card right? Anyways thats a huge amount to spend on a single card… But considering they give 2 movie tickets free of cost without any terms and conditions (150*2*12=3600 rupees) you get most of your value back… Also they give out Unbelievable Gifts from time to time… Eg. I got JBL Charge 2 plus speaker worth 17999 as a gift for spending 1.5 lakhs in a month… So im planning to stick with SBI Elite for the next year or so…
I’m not getting such gifts.
This is possibly because i spent more in short time.
Banks give such gifts to make ppl spend “X” amount on average across cards. Beyond “X” amount, they don’t mind giving anything.
This happens with HDFC too, they give X points on Y spend.
Moreover, spending additional 5L on this card saves me ~5k here, while Diners black gets me ~16k value 😀
Siddharth – How difficult is to get a HDFC Diner’s Black Credit Card (as a second card, when one already has Regalia) ? Though I have an excellent relationship with the bank (being an Imperia customer) and a high limit on Regalia, I have not been successful on convincing the card department on issuing me Diners Black. Any pointers would be highly appreciated.
Depends on limit and usage as well.
What’s the limit & approx usage in past year?
Limit is very high on Regalia. Usage too is pretty decent with excellent repayment history. Looks like repayment history is not even considered as a criteria while deciding.
Vijay,
It is next to impossible to have both DCB and Regalia. In spite of my co being a largish customer of HDFC Bank and me holding account with them for several years with great reluctance they gave me Reg First in addition to the existing Diners.
Regards
Agree with you Majumdar. I too have faced difficulty in convincing my Imperia relationship manager. Though my limit is very high on Regalia, I have not been able to get Diners Black. I am desperate to get those 10X (especially for bill payments using smartpay)
Did you have a word with your BM? RM’s don’t usually know about these upgrades.
Actually In private banks they recruit RM from different backgrounds like insurance and auto loans and personal loans etc because of that they don’t have good idea about credit cards if they are newly joined
Citi cards are worst reward return rates for last couple of years,
very few 10X partners, I stopped using both my REWARDS card and TITANIUM Indian OIL.
I just keep them because occasionally they give excellent offer on Flight/Hotel Booking
True, i’ve seen some nice Intl Hotel offers with MMT.
Hi Siddharth,
I also have SBI Elite card and my annual spends are around 5L per annum. I was also thinking about shifting to HDFC Diners Black after reading your reviews but I am still weighing the pros and cons of both. Please let me know your views.
1. Sbi Elite cards renewal fees is cancelled out by the Bookmyshow offer more or less(I use if almost every month so that is 6k per annum). On the other hand Diners Club waives off the renewal fee on 5L spend. So that is pretty evened out.
2. Second difference is in the redemption of these points. As far as i know, redemption of points can be done only on diners club website mainly on tickets/recharges. While redemption for SBI Elite card can be done in the form of credit statement. So if one is not travelling enough, then it maybe difficult to redeem the points for HDFC cards.
3. Diner Club scores high in terms of lounge access, both domestic and international. But again, it matters only if one is travelling enough.
So in all, even for 5L annual spend, SBI elite looks like a better option to me (considering less travel and better redemption). Please let me know your views and correct me if I am wrong somewhere. Also please point out if I am missing out on any other advantages in using Diners Club.
Thanks,
Rajesh Garg
Yes, if you use BMS offer every month, you can take it. You can get the value out of 5k fee.
Diners club Black makes a big difference with 10X rewards and is in no match with any card.
Can u plz compared SBI elite with SBI prime
Hello Siddharth,
I am an HDFC Bank Preferred Customer and currently hold SBI Elite Visa Signature and HDFC AllMiles Mastercard World Credit Cards. I read your article and understand that the chances of getting the renewal charges waived off are almost none. As I have got a Visa Signature Debit Card, I am planning to discontinue the SBI Elite CC. Will it impact my credit score if I surrender the card (until now I have paid all my CC Bills on time and have never defaulted). Also, I had requested for an HDFC Regalia CC but the bank mistakenly issued me AllMiles. What is the best way to get it upgraded. My RM says I have to wait for six months and then apply. Is that the best way ?
Thanks
1. Close after 11 months
2. Yes, you got to wait for about 6 months for each upgrade with HDFC.
I also closed my SBI Visa Signature card few days ago. I sent a mail to the customer care requesting them to close my card before they charge the annual fee (2nd year) in February. I also mentioned the reason: it is not worth to pay Rs.5000 every year when they move the goalpost any time of the year (read, the spend milestones for bonus points) and no shopping voucher like the first year. After five days, I got a call from SBI with a request to reconsider my decision to close the card (but she also mentioned that they would not waive off the annual fee). When I refused to reconsider, they sent a mail confirming the closure of the card account.
I am overall happy with the value I got through points and the first year shopping voucher, but I don’t think it is worth starting the second year. I am not considering the BMS very seriously as most of the time you get many other offers like ‘buy one get one’ and other discounts on BMS.
Now, I shall divert all my credit card spending to my Regalia (LTE) and Amex Gold. I am also planning to request HDFC to upgrade my Regalia to Diners Black. Let’s see if they consider my request.
Thanks for sharing your experience Som.
I got my Diners Black just yesterday (upgraded from Regalia). Your post really did help me getting it.
Will post my experience on the Diners Black thread.. 🙂
Great. Congrats!
I am eligible for any card I guess considering my salary and working with MNC. I requested for simplyclick by SBI as I have maxgain high value home loan with them and FD’s too. Currently having ICICI RubyX credit card. Reading your post accidentally planning to really use a credit card intelligently to maximize returns and value.
SBI said take our Elite card and it is THE BEST. But I am also not convinced on paying annually 5750 as charges+taxes. Monthly expenses are around 30k to 35k. Could you please advice me the card I should get? Is it SC Manhattan as you recommended always? Called SC and they are more than happy to offer that. Please help.
Thanks,
Abhijit
Or do you suggest Dinners Black or Regalia as I understood them from your posts? Thanks!
It depends on where you spend etc. There is no single card that fits everyone.
Online shopping of clothes and groceries mainly, utility payments, dining and grocery shops. I have decided to to ahead with Elite at least for first year and then close from second as you have done. Also I have ICIC rubyx master and Amex life time free with me.
That’s the best i would say. ICICI reward rate is near to nothing on almost all cards.
Thank you Siddharth! And hats of to you for your knowledge.
Thanks,
Abhijit
I have the Elite card and as per my knowledge the renewal fee is revered if annual spend more than 8L. Plz correct me if wrong.
Its 10L i guess Ajay, but the thing is spending that extra on other card gives better rewards.
I see almost everyone here has an Amex. I tried applying but they don’t give NRIs. I recently got a confirmation for SBI elite. They don’t need income proof or such like which is strange considering its a premium card.
Read about your views on sbi signature card…howz kotak signature royal card? I am holding kotak pvr platinum card and they have offered me an upgrade..pls. help…your website has no review of kotak cards
i have limit of Rs.95000 in simply save card, if I upgrade sbi elite there is any possible to increase limit
What was the maximum limit in SBI ELITE
sir,
what is the limit of prime card , if i take 3lakhs how much i have to pay emi duration time & tax amount any one xpert pls ?
Hi All
Just wanted to know if SBI elite is good now? I already have Regalia First Lifetime Free card from HDFC.
Also I have seen in ICICI Coral Credit Card, you get 1 movie ticket free on bookmyshow but you need to book it in time slots like 1pm, 4 pm, 7 pm and it is first come first serve basis which kind of ruins the benefit. Is it the same for SBI elite too?
I am looking to have a credit card with bookmyshow movie offer. Can you guys suggest a good one?
SBI Elite has Buy One Get One offer for Book My Show movie tickets upto Rs. 500. The offer can be availed twice a month without any slot restrictions. Most of the decent cards nowadays offer BOGO on Book My Show but usually once a month and with limited slots- ICICI all variants, VISA signature all banks, IndusInd are prominent.
Yes, it’s very good card as per my experience with good return of 2.25 to 4.25%(along with Milestone benefits) as statement credit. But only thing is you need to spend 10L to get renewal fee waiver else 5K+taxes without any vouchers, if your sending is high then you can go for this card.
Hi Siddharth,
I am currently confused in selection of Credit card.
My Expense trends are as follows:
1. Annual Fuel Rs 45000
2. Annual Utility Rs 50,000
3. Annual Online Shopping Rs 50,000
4. Annual Groceries Rs 70,000/-
5. annual Hotel & Travel Rs 50,000/-
Please suggest me suitable card for my everyday use, i can bear fees of Rs 500-750 if required to have good value of my spent.
My Annual Income ITR is 7.5 Lacs
also holding IRCTC SBI Card and Axis Visa Signature Card (Simple one)
I would suggest take Amex Membership Reward Credit Card. Although joining fee is 4.5k, but can be sourced First year free, use Sid’s referral link.
On spending 90k/150k ur next year fee of 1500 get waived 50/100%.
On doing minimum 4 trxn of Rs. 1000 in a calendar month u get 1000 reward points, and 1 reward for every Rs. 50 spent. (Small trxn too gets reward points). I add money in paytm other wallet and use everywhere. Paytm load also give reward. Amex Travel offers are good.
18k/24k points can get you statement credit of Rs. 7.5k/10k.
Hope it helps.
Ya I too was shocked and didn’t believe they closed the card on call so I called them few days later to confirm 😀 This could be the fastest and seamless service SBI could ever provide, and fastest card closure I ever did. Amex, are you listening 😛
Hello everyone, few days back i got the message from HDFC that im eligible to upgrade my HDFC moneyback card to Regalia first with increased credit limit and also got a call from SBI that im eligible to upgrade my Simplysave to Elite. I have read the benefits of both the card and paying the annual fee is also not an issue but since im a newbie and havent used any premium cards i need an opinion from the experts here. Thanks in advance.
It’s depends on your total annual spending, if it’s more than 8 lakhs and more of grocery spendings, then SBI is better, which also reward points can be redeemed as statement credit else HDFC, but you can try whether you have eligibility for diners black.
@Kunal Mehta
HDFC is one giant and ‘not to be ignored’ player in CC industry.
Take LE and take Regalia First and keep upgrading to other better cards.
In my opinion, SBI Elite is hyped, if u need priority pass for self take SBI Prime/Yes First card(LTF, based on limits on other card, minimum 3L), otherwise Simply Save is also ok. Fee of 5k/10k is surely not a problem but give that fee to some deserving issuer.
Upgrade to regalia first is a must. For elite review the card and spends you will be doing…dont think it will be worth. There are better cards available.
SBI Elite is best if you are able to use 500 off on book my show and fee waiver is on 10lac + for Elite.
Regalia first is good card too and if being offered free then best take this. Also first year free it is good card and its fee waiver criteria is also 1 lac per year.
In end it depends on your usage and spend pattern. HDFC has no transparency in rewards points and offers and does not allow redemption against statement unlike SBI.
Bro, always try to climb the CC ladder.
Upgrade is Good, free upgrade even better and same with CC limit.
Definitely upgrade to Regalia First and ask if it can be updated to Regalia straight.
Regarding SBI Elite, check if it fits your need.
Do also check, SC Ultimate for similar 5k fees of SBI Elite.
Go for Sbi elite….it’s a excellent card if your annual spending is around 4-5 lakhs…..
6000/- vouchers from book my show will take care of annual charge
Plus welcome voucher and milestone bonus points are quite good
There are certain points to keep in mind while upgrading to a premium card.
1. Is the fee reasonable
2. Will I use the card to the fullest to reap all the benefits?
3. Is there a cheaper alternative available.
Unless we know your spending pattern and category you spend on no one can suggest if regalia first or sbi elite is better. Personally for me SBI Prime is a better choice than Elite. You need to remember that a bank’s top most card might not be the best for you.
Go for Regalia First. If you can, try to upgrade to Regalia instead of R First
Hi Sid,
I am using Regalia Card since the last 3 yrs. With the amount of devaluations to Regalia, Shud i ask HDFC to complimentary upgrade to INFINIA or shud i go for other premium Cards.
My Annual Spends using Regalia is almost 4L annually. My Annual spends stands around 72000 atleast.
I also use IRCTC SBI card for booking Railway Ticket for all our travel needs and ICICI bank platinum card is kept for interesting transactions where there are benefits directly linked with ICICI cards.
Hello,
Thank you for your Informative Articles.
I wish to Understand One Point here.
1. Did you Close your Elite Card account before annual charges applied and statement generated or after you got a statement with annual charges mentioned in it?
For example: Statement Generation date is 5 OCT,2020 in which annual Charges will be added.
Should I close my Card before 5 OCT ,2020 or Can I do it after 6 OCT 2020 and Pay my total Bill Excluding Annual Membership Fees?
2. I am also using SBI Elite card and have Requested to Credit Bonus Reward Point for Spending above 3 Lakh. How long do they take to credit that Reward points, if you can help me understand that.
Thank you.