SBI SimplySAVE Credit Card Review

By | November 17, 2017

Believe it or not, for most people in India the word SBI is synonymous with “trust” in banking. The reasons are obvious, the amount of time it is around an the second thing is that it’s a govt. bank. Both these factors became instrumental in roping in huge number of customers when SBI decided to introduce it’s credit card services in India.

While we may be vocal in the lapses in customer care services from SBICard just as there are with other credit card companies like HDFC and Yesbank, however, no one can deny the fact that SBI with the sheer number of customers may very well be the largest credit card issuer in the country soon. I used to own a SimplyCLICK credit card but for totally personal reasons and not for much benefit, I have swapped it for SimplySAVE card.

If you consider embossed cards, no one can deny that SBI has some of the most beautiful looking cards in the industry. This card is not an exception too. The card is issued on two platforms- VISA and Mastercard. Earlier, the VISA one came with ‘VISA Platinum” written and Mastercard , came in with “Mastercard Titanium” written. I got this card just a few days ago. Since, I held a Mastercard variant of SimplyCLICK card, so when I swapped my card, I was given a Mastercard variant of SimplySAVE card.

It comes in wonderful blue colour with “₹” inside the design. It looks great. The card also flaunts the new Mastercard logo and is devoid of the “Titanium” branding.

Benefits of SBI Simply Save Credit Card:

  • The card comes with a welcome benefit of 2000 RPs if you spend more than ₹2000 within 60 days of card set issuance. This guarantees the amount of ₹500 as CB for the joining fees that you give (₹500 + GST).
  • You get 10X RPs for spends on Dining, Movies, Grocery and Departmental Stores. This is the biggest benefit of the card. If you are among the people who have the habit of purchasing stuff from local marts like Big Bazar or so, you’ll love this card for getting you flat 2.5% CB. And this is huge as no card with such low joining and annual fees allows such CB.
  • The Base Reward Earning rate is 1 RP for ₹100 spent (0.25% CB). This is not beneficial for those who spend more on other categories and online shopping. For the online expenditure, SBI SimplyCLICK Cards are more apt.
  • 1% fuel surcharge waiver across ALL petrol pumps. The upper cap of surcharge waiver is ₹100/month for txn spends between ₹500 to ₹3000.
  • Membership fee of ₹500 + GST is waived off if your annual spends are more than ₹90,000. This is quite easily achievable.
  • As with other SBI Cards, you can apply for a maximum of 2 add on cards which come for free.
  • One of the biggest benefits of the card is that you can redeem the points accrued as statement credit. The minimum points required to redeem is 2000 RPs. This is a good way to redeem the points. However, what we don’t know is whether there is any redemption fee or not.
  • One of the biggest advantages of holding an SBI Credit Card is that SBI runs 10-15% off campaigns on websites like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal etc all through the year during many sales. This kind of discounts itself warrants the need of keeping an SBI Credit Card in the wallet. I am sure many of us have used these discounts in the past.
  • Card Expert Rating: 3.5/5  [yasr_overall_rating]

 

UPDATE: As many users are mentioning there is a redemption fee of ₹99 + GST. Please ask them before redemption.

 

 

What do you think of this card? Do you consider it better for low spenders? Have you owned this card in past or plan to own it for your parents? Do let us know in the comments section below.

Author: Abhishek Roy

Abhishek is a Doctor by profession and is passionate about Technology and Photography. He pursues his hobbies during the little free time he gets and likes to make the most out of it. He has special interest in Credit/Debit Cards, Reward Points, Air Miles and Travel Hacks.

86 thoughts on “SBI SimplySAVE Credit Card Review

  1. Shubham Aggarwal

    Is the statement credit option available on Simply click too? I’m having some 7000 points available for redemption. And if not, can I take Amazon evouchers without paying 99+gst?

    Reply
  2. Saurabh

    SBI reply
    “We would like to
    inform you that 2000 reward points equal to Rs.500 cash. Multiples of 2000
    points only can be redeemed, which can be adjusted towards outstanding on your
    card account.We also hereby
    inform you that on redemption of reward points Rs.99.00 plus applicable service
    tax (as per applicable charges) will be levied on your SBI card account towards
    the redemption of reward points.”

    We wish to inform you that there would be redeemption charges of Rs.100/- plus 18% goods service tax in your will receive voucher or any gift physically, no charges for E-code voucher.”

    Reply
  3. Himanshu

    Hey abhishek, I am using simply click card for 4 months now. Loving due to i mostly shop online. Can I redeem points as statement credit? Can i hold two Sbi cards?? Do let me know. Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      I don’t think you can redeem it for statement credit. However, you can hold two cards I guess.

      Reply
      1. Anoop E S

        Can you please clarify the second point? Do they allow holding of two cards?

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          There is an option to apply online and there chose that you already hold a SBI card. They will ask for the existing card number and few details. Try doing this. It should work.

          Reply
    2. K Ghosh

      You cannot redeem points for statement credit in simply click card. You have to either choose between amazon e-gift voucher or cleartrip e-voucher. No other kinds of rewards available for simplyclick card.

      You cannot hold two unsecured cards from SBI. If you need another card you may opt for a card against fixed deposit. Advantage series cards are given against FD.

      Reply
      1. Arjun

        You can try redeeming the points for cash in mobikwik via max under redemption options.I dont think you will be charged redemption fees.But do let know.

        Reply
    3. Vinit Singh

      Yes 2 SBI cards can be held at a time …im using both simply save and simply click 🙂

      Reply
  4. valliappan

    when i tried to redeem it for cash credit they told minimum 5k points so i went with lifestyle e gift vouchers. for such gift vouchers there is no redemption fee levied. and notable thing is their 10x points calculation is a bit different so you will always get few points lesser.

    Reply
  5. Captain Bishuddha Bharatiya

    1.Abhishek why did’t you opted for SBI Prime ?
    2. Do they increase credit limit when you change the card ?
    3. How much credit limit you have ?

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      There are a few details that I want to share. 1st, each customer care representative gives a different information. The 1st time I called a representative, I was told that in my account I can only swap my existing card for SBI Yatra card or SBI Gold and More Unsecured Card (I don’t know if it is the standard card that they are talking about or not.). And then I asked if I can upgrade to SBI Prime or not, then I was told that for upgradation, the account didn’t show an option of SBI Prime card, however I can upgrade to SBI Elite as that is being shown. It sounded ridiculous to be honest. So I hung up and called another time. This time when I asked about swapping to SBI SimplySAVE, they said they can raise a request and I’ll get a decision within next 11 days. I was amazed as he said I could swap where as the previous executive said I could not. Anyways, I placed the request and the very next day I saw that the card in my account showed SBI SimplySAVE. So, I immediately understood that my swap has been approved.

      Now regarding why I didn’t take SBI Prime. SBI Prime is for someone who doesn’t have Super Premium Credit Cards or better who spends mostly on Utility bills. If that’s the case then SBI Prime will get you significant returns. The max return that you can get is 5% that is only on standing instructions. Other than that the returns are okayish. I already have Diners Black (3.33% returns on any spends) and Yes First Exclusive (2.5% returns on any spends) so it wasn’t so much of a deal for me to upgrade to SBI Prime. Plus if you spend above 3 lakh in a year on Prime, only then you can get it for free otherwise ₹3000 plus GST has to be paid. I actually took it for my Dad who does offline shopping and hence SIMPLY SAVE gives 2.5% as CB. It made sense to hold this card. Hence the choice. 🙂 I’ll may be think of upgrading to SBI Prime when I have a big need to standing instructions like house rent and all. Let’s see. And by the way, the CL is not increased. Only the card was swapped. I didn’t need any limit increase as of now.

      Reply
      1. Hari

        Even if your spends don’t exceed 3 lakhs on the Prime card still the renewal fee can be negated with SI. For example, if your rent is Rs 15000/month and Elec is 2000/month on an average you can get up to Rs.10,000/- as statement credit per Year. Less the renewal fee of 3000 + tax. You could easily save INR 6000.

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          Yes. I told you if you want to have that card primarily for utility bills then you can break even. However I pay through Diners Black which gives me flat 3.33% CB irrespective of any spends. So for me that card isn’t of much value. As SBI Prime only gives 0.25% on other spends.

          Reply
      2. Deepesh

        SBI gold & more has been re-launched as SBI simplysave
        All features are same – except fee waiver threshold has been increased from 75k to 90k

        Reply
  6. Vineet Verma

    I have a simply save card and redeemed 2000 points as credit in my next statement.
    I was charged 99 + (17. 8 cgst + 17.8 igst) but it was reversed same day. So net Rs 500 was credited in my statement.

    Regards,
    Vineet

    Reply
      1. Mohit

        Hi Abhishek Sir, Need a help regarding this.

        I got call from Yesbank and opened first account with them with 10 lacs check. He told me about lifetime free credit card himself. Sir my question is will they check my gross total income or gross turnover in my ITR for credit card application?

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          Well, in your case, the chance of getting the card is through different guidelines as you have agreed to become their Yes Fist Savings Bank account holder. Even though they will ask for the ITR or Salary Slips, tell your RM that you need the Yes First Exclusive/Preferred card LTF otherwise you’ll consider closing your account. I think they might be able to help you and get you the same.

          Reply
    1. Vineet Verma

      No, i just call customer care to redeem my points. Even CC guys told me , i will be charged 99 + ST. But when i checked my statement, 99 + ST was first debited and then credited .

      Regards,
      Vineet

      Reply
  7. Chalam

    Hi Abhishek, yeah this card is good for offline spends.
    I hold simply click visa card, which is good for online spends, which gives average 3% cb, ( with milestone achievement ).
    One thing i would like to confirm from you, wether it has domestic MasterCard lounge access or not?
    Can you call to MasterCard Helpline and confirm?
    Thank you

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      No, it doesn’t have any lounge access. I ave already confirmed.

      Reply
      1. Santosh Prasad

        Hello Sir.. I have gained a lot of knowledge by reading your posts here. Wanted to apply for SBI IRCTC credit card. I am already using SBI Simplysave card. I applied for SBI IRCTC credit card online through their site multiple times every time I got a message that an executive will contact for further processing. But no one contacts. Lodged a complaint online but still no resolution. Can you please guide is there any other way to apply for SBI IRCTC card. Is it safe to apply through bank Bazaar?

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          Yes you can apply through Bank Bazaar or any such sites. If they don’t contact then there is little you can do.

          Reply
  8. Praveen Perumalla

    My first card in my second stinct with credit cards. This has greatly improved my credit score. Close to a year back I swapped it with CLICK card after getting better cards for retail transactions. This is definitely a good card for beginners who do retail transactions in the 10x categories.

    Reply
  9. Malavkumar Patel

    I am regular reader here and i see many people chasing Diners Black or Yes First Exclusive or even HDFC Infinia for their high reward points but if you are not eligible for them then you should use loopholes and offer combination to get maximum value out of any Credit Card you have, i will give you an example below,
    I filled fuel worth Rs. 1000 in my car and saved 127 Rs. Thats cool 13% saved on Fuel.
    Firstly I filld my PayTM wallet with 1000 Rs and earned almost 7% (Rs.70) in value with American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card, Then I paid for fuel with PayTM and received 0.75% Cashback from government and there is currently offer at IOC Fuel Stations where you receive 5% cashback when you pay via PayTM,
    So total is like below when spending Rs.1000
    Rs. 70 in value when loading paytm wallet with amex pltinum travel cc
    Rs. 7.5 Cashback from government for fuel payment in non cash method
    Rs 50 Cashback from IOC PayTM Deal
    So total money saved is 127 rs if my math is correct,
    And amex plat travel is not HNI card, I got it for 13 Lacks ITR and received 3 Lacks Credit Limit.

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      You are absolutely correct. We do encourage readers to use different cards for different purposes in order to maximise the gains.

      Reply
    2. Majumdar

      Malav,

      There is no single best credit card. The choice of credit card depends on how much you earn, how much you spend, where you spend and how much you save. Plus what do you expect your earnings on CCs (RPs/cashback/airmiles/discounts) to do for you. The good thing is, like in the case of investing for the future, to begin early and put much as expense as possible on CCs (I am assuming the rewards for paying thru CCs will be substantially higher than paying thru cash/cheque)

      Regards

      Reply
  10. JR

    I have sbi credit card with low credit limit , How to get credit limit increase based on another cc.? have another cc with 3X credit limit than SBI card

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      I have yet not approached them for limit increase. Getting the limit increased requires patience. Kindly wait for auto increase if you don’t have ITR or Salary Slips.

      Reply
      1. Mohit

        Hi SIr. If ITR is approx 4.75 lacs, what according to your experience should be good credit card limit?

        I have only 50k limit. Should i go for an increase as its almost 11 months and my last ITR was 2.5 lacs on basis of which they issued me credit card.

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          Wait for 12 months and see if there is an offer of auto credit limit. If it isn’t there till say 14 months then apply with credit limit enhancing form with ITR. You will get increase.

          Reply
      1. Ashwin

        There is a Rs 99 fee for statement credit which was charged to my Prime card. It was also not reversed. No fee for e-vouchers.

        Reply
      2. Aman

        Hi Abhishek

        I too have Simply save and statement credit fee was reversed with reversal entry on same date as debit. Not sure if it should vary from card to card in SBI. Also I had request statement credit through email.

        Reply
  11. Ram

    A generic note folks, try avoiding bank bazaar or other such sites. I have tried applying a couple of cards that way and what happens is your CIBIL report will have 2 enquiry instead of one, BB does one and the bank does again. Though it’s not a big deal if other parameters of your report are excellent but still something to be aware of

    Reply
    1. Santosh Prasad

      Thanks for the info about CIBIL enquiry by BB and bank both. As 2 hard pull on CIBIL will reduce CIBIL score too much..

      Reply
    2. K Ghosh

      No, that’s not the case. Bank bazaar do make an enquiry but that is known as ‘soft enquiry’ which doesn’t affect your credit score at all. It is same when you ask for your credit score from cibil directly.

      It is the ‘hard enquiry’ of the lenders which pulls down your credit score a bit.

      Reply
  12. SH

    But why would one select this card in lieu of Stan Chart’s Manhattan card. There the CB on departmental stores is 5% (as opposed to 2.5% here), with no charges on redemption (and the ensuing drama of having it rolled back). One also gets 20% CB on Uber (capped at Rs 600 / month) provided spend is more than 15K in month. They also reverse the fee if annual spend is more than 60K (my wife has had it reversed for even lower spend). So I fail to understand the value proposition of this card.

    Reply
  13. ARVIND SWAROOP DWIVEDI

    Hi abhishek , currently i am using a sbi irctc card . How can i swap it to sbi simply click card . Can i swap my another sbi master card to sbi visa card. Please help me

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      You have to raise a request for swapping your IRCTC card to simply click. In most cases they do it. No, you can’t change MC to Visa. While swiping your card, you can ask for a Visa card, once issued, they usually don’t allow changing the franchisee from MC ti Visa or vice-versa.

      Reply
    2. Santosh Prasad

      Hi Arvind how did you apply for SBI IRCTC credit card? Can you please give advice.

      Reply
      1. Jai

        Hi Santosh Prasad, you can apply through the SBICards website “https://www.sbicard.com/”.

        Not only SBI IRCTC credit card, but you can select whichever card you want based on the requirements and eligibility conditions.

        Reply
  14. Ravi

    Has anyone swapped SBI Central or FBB cards to SimplyClick or SimplySave?

    Reply
  15. himanshu

    Any Idea about sbi simply save PRO and sbi prime PRO credit cards???

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      There is no PRO card. I haven’t seen any.

      Reply
      1. Vivek Agrawal

        My father holds one: simply save pro. idk whats the difference.

        Reply
        1. Juniper

          Difference is you get ‘no-annual-fee’ (of 499+90 GST) if you spend only 30k in previous year! As opoosed to Simply SAVE card where the limit is 1lac/year. Can you confirm how many years your father using this card ? And if he has been charged annual fees in these years (if at all).
          Also confirm if his spending in that card crossed 30k in these years. He applied it from branch or online and based on salary account/FD ? Awaiting your reply! Because I also want to apply for this card 🙂

          Reply
  16. Rakshit

    hello team

    just wanted to know your valuable opinion on the recently launched SBI air india signature card.plannig a post anytime soon?

    Regards
    Rakshit

    Reply
  17. Sujit Sonone

    Simply Save SBI Card Titanium Master Card , what Amount of sum is insured in case of accidental death ?

    What are terms and conditions ? Pls elaborate

    Reply
  18. Uday

    Hi abhishek , currently i am using a sbi simply save card . How can i swap or convert it to sbi simply click card . Please help me.

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      Call their customer care and tell them to initiate a card swap. I have done it past, it can be done. They might tell you that, there is no offer or such, but just tell them to take the request. The backend team usually processes the application.

      Reply
  19. Sumeet Gupta

    What’s the process to convert Visa card to MasterCard? And to prime from elite?

    Reply
  20. As

    Hi abhishek,

    I also have Simply Save Pro Card,

    But I’m getting 1 RP for 125 Spend &
    5x Reward for Grocery & Food,

    Why this difference?

    Reply
    1. Juniper

      It’s because you get ‘no-annual-fee’ (of 499+90 GST) if you spend only 30k in previous year! As opoosed to Simply SAVE card where the limit is 1lac/year. To compensate for 70k less spend per card, SBI Card giving you less rewards! Can you confirm how many years you’re using this card ? And if you have been charged annual fees in these years (if at all). Also share your spending in that card (approximate amount will do). Also you applied it from branch/online and based on salary account/FD. Awaiting your reply! Because I also want to apply for this card 🙂

      Reply
  21. Ashish

    Hi Abhishek,

    I have SimplySave Pro card,

    But I am getting
    1 RP for 125 Spend &
    5x on Grocery & Food,

    Why this Difference?

    Reply
  22. Ajay

    So SBI approched me for their Elite & Prime CC’s since I had an old relationship with them “Savings” and no CC’s with them. I had told them no since I had the DCB at the time and even after my downgrade to Regalia I still did not want to get Elite or Prime but everyday spends was a problem “Reached Regalia 8lac spend” so requested the new etihad card instead of the Elite and with a quick Card to Card application I got something else delevered instead.

    The suprise was not only that they had given me a simplySAVE instead of a ETIHAD but also the huge limit they gave which as almost equal to my AXIS card of almost 10Lac. Have to keep on using this card since cant take a hit like that on cibil but atleast 10x is good on a few things.

    Reply
  23. Nandakumar

    I have recently taken a Simply save advantage visa card against fixed deposit. Is there any difference from the normal simply save.Bessides does visa give any offers separately.

    Reply
    1. Himanshu Kainth

      Nandakumar,

      Just a tag difference. Advantage cards are FD based cards in SBI.

      You will get same benefits as regular variants.

      Reply
  24. uttam

    WHich are the departmental stores covered under the 10X rewards?

    Reply
  25. HARDIk

    @uttam Any departmental store whose pos machine mark themself in departmental category!

    Reply
    1. Uttam

      Thanks hardik. I recently read they’ve removed Reliance fresh as a 10x partner from Sbi prime. have they done the same for simply save as well?

      Reply
  26. MAYANK AIREN

    Hi

    Can anyone guide me where to find the option to redeem the points in the form of statement credit. I am unable to find the same.

    Reply
  27. Mickey

    Just email them from registered email id and tell them to redeem. You have to redeem points in blocks of 2,000 if I remember correctly

    Reply
    1. Uttam

      Mickey, recently read they’ve removed Reliance fresh as a 10x partner from Sbi prime. have they done the same for simply save as well?

      Reply
      1. PRATAP NAYAK

        Hi Uttam
        Even if they have removed Reliance fresh from 10X partner SBI SimplySave save gives 10X for departmental purchases. Please correct me if I am wrong.

        Reply
    1. Kishore

      Hi Mickey..

      SBI Cc department keep calling me for SBI credit card and after telling basic details and forwarding an OTP , I am getting rejected message..this happened 3 times in last 6 month’s…
      Can you help me how to get SBI credit card with card on card basis..I already had yes , kotak ,axis
      Thanks

      Reply
  28. Gokul

    I have been using simply save card from last 6 months a got an auto credit limit increase of 50% few days back. Any idea how they are giving it?

    Reply
  29. bala

    Hi all,

    Didn’t understand how sbi calculates reward points. i did purchase of 1L this month in the neighborhood grocery store and the transaction is in still unbilled status, but in dashboard it shows reward earned this month as 5500 points. no other transaction been done, looks like they give 5.5 X rewards for groceries

    Reply
  30. Juniper

    Can anyone help with the below questions I have regarding Simply Save card ?

    1) Have you ever got annual fees reversed, based on 1 lac spend? Can you confirm whether they charge 590 first (499+GST) and then reverse 499 only (net loss of Rs. 91 GST). Or they simply don’t charge anything at all if you achieved spend limit 1 lac ?
    2) Also can you confirm if statement credit charge of 117 (99+GST) billed and reversed 99 only (net loss of Rs. 18 GST) ? Are they still giving reversal now in year 2020 also ?

    Can you confirm practical examples of grocery, dining, movies and departmental stores based on your experience (real experience, not copy-paste from TnC) for SBI Simply Save Card ?

    1) Offline Medicine Shop (Apollo Pharmacy/1med/medplus/other) are eligible for 10x rewards in ‘department stores’ category ?
    2) Online Medicine Sites (1mg/Netmeds/PharmEasy/Apollo 24×7) are eligible for 10x rewards in ‘department stores’ category ?
    3) BigBazar/Reliance Fresh/More/Spencers eligible for 10x rewards in ‘grocery’ category ?
    4) Grofers/Bigbasket/Amazon Pantry eligible for 10x rewards in ‘grocery’ category ?
    5) Swiggy/Zomato/Dineout eligible for 10x reward points in ‘dining’ category ?
    6) Offline cloth stores / kirana stores falls under which category ?
    7) BookMyShow (BMS) eligible for 10x reward points in ‘movies’ category ?
    8) Yatra/MMT/ClearTrip how much reward point they give for Simply Save ?

    Any other spends which give 10x / 5x accelerated reward points based on your experience for Simply Save card ?

    Reply
  31. Bhoom

    Is there any monthly capping on 10x rewards points? Or you got full points later? Someone please answer as I’m thinking to apply for this so wanna know any capping on 10x reward point

    Reply
  32. Shivi

    With effect from 01 Mar 2022, you will earn 10 Reward Points for every Rs 150 spent on Dining, Movies, Groceries & Departmental Stores and 1 Reward Point per Rs 150 spent on other categories.

    Same for SBI SimplyClick card.

    Reply

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