Hands-on Experience with SC Ultimate Credit Card

By | March 1, 2023

Ultimate credit card is flagship offering from Standard Chartered Bank with top notch reward rate on regular spends. The card catapulted into Super Premium category as soon as it got launched. USP of this card is no exclusions whatsoever (till now) to RPs earning capability on any kind of spends category, EMI spends included.

Ultimate was being issued on Mastercard World platform since last few years. Due to Mastercard ban, issuance was on hold. Starting February 2022, SC has tied up with Visa and started its issuance under Infinite variant. Personally Ultimate Visa Infinite variant looks far better than its Mastercard World counterpart.

Note that this article is all about my hands-on experience with the card, if you’re looking for detailed review, please check out: Standard Chartered Ultimate Credit Card Review.

The Card

SC Ultimate Credit Card
SC Ultimate Credit Card

SC Ultimate looks stunning in reflective Visa Infinite logo complementing the golden black theme. Deserves a place as one of the best looking card in the industry.

Joining Fees

  • Joining/Renewal Fee: Rs 5000+GST
  • Welcome Bonus: 6000 RPs within 60 days after payment of joining fee (Value: INR 6000)

Note: I received joining benefit of 6000 RPs post 50 days of joining fee

Reward Points

  • 5 reward points on every INR 150 spent (1 Reward Point = INR 1)
  • In reality, you get 1 reward point on every INR 30 spent making it even better
  • Reward Rate: 3.3%
  • Reward redemption fee of 99+ GST applicable
  • Best part is- you can redeem RPs as soon as the transaction gets posted, need not wait for statement generation
  • GVs currently available include options among Grocery, Fashion, Jewellery, 5 Star Hotel chains, Travel brands/ categories (amazon, flipkart GVs are not an option though)

That means this card stands on par with HDFC Infinia & HDFC Diners Black. Infact, its better than those two, considering SC Ultimate card has ability to redeem for gift vouchers at face value (1RP= INR 1)

Note: RPs can’t be redeemed for statement credit or Miles transfer

How to Get?

Easiest way to get SC Ultimate is based on your existing SC credit card with a credit limit in the range of 4 Lakhs. As you might know, I upgraded to SC ultimate from SC Smart credit card which I recently got hands-on and it was a smooth experience.

If you are new to SC, C2C basis other bank cards having limit of 5 lacs n older than 12 months may help. Call SC customer support if you are planning C2C basis other bank cards, as few readers have complained of applications being rejected and hurting CIBIL too.

Note: If you hold Citibank or HSBC credit cards with 4L+ limit, chances of approval basis C2C application are higher

Limitations

  • LTF Ultimate is near impossible unless you are HNI with SC (no point wasting time n energy on this )
  • Spend based waivers not applicable (you can always ask for waiver and SC may consider basis high spend sometimes)
  • Fuel surcharge waiver is not applicable (though you earn regular RPs)
  • PP offer of 1 visit pm upon spending 20K last month is unattractive for a card of this status
  • Visa Infinite offers on BookMyShow (quota is seldom available now a days)
  • Less merchant offers
  • No membership or tie-up of any kind
  • Amazon, Flipkart GVs as redemptions option is not available

Bottom Line

Devaluations in perks of erstwhile highly rewarding credit cards is the flavour of the season. Now a days almost all card issuers have started limiting RPs earning capability to only select categories. Wallet, Fuel, Rent, Government Services, Insurance spends are few of them.

This card comes on top in the sense that you need not worry where to use it, at the same time giving one of the highest regular reward points benefit available out there.

304 thoughts on “Hands-on Experience with SC Ultimate Credit Card

  1. Shiznit

    Is anyone able to convert their mastercard to Visa variant ?

    1. Deepak Kumar

      Block and replace card….new card will be issued of visa variant.

      1. Vikash Singh

        Block option will not change your card variant. As Master card can be issued to existing card holders. But to cross check your words i blocked and raised request for re-issue and guess what new card in app is showing withing one hour and new one is still the same Master card variant.

    2. Satish Singh

      Yes, today I have raised request to convert my Mastercard World Ultimate card version for Visa Infinite over phone-banking. It has been approved and will be dispatched within 7 days. It took them 5 minutes to conclude while keeping me on hold. But no other challenges. I have been satisfied by this card and use as alternate to my HDFC Diners card.

      1. Vikash Singh

        What you exactly told to executive and they agreed? As in my case they abruptly refused to change the card variant.

      2. Shiznit

        How did you manage that? What did you tell them?

  2. vaibhav

    will definitely get sc Ultimate in next 1 to 2 year , depend on the spend .. cause o have so many card having sc with no amazon, flipkart voucher to get make little difficult, but can get 500 yearly one

  3. Prashant Gupta

    This is one of the best credit card and I am using along with infinia. Have redeemed lots of points for Croma.

  4. MT

    i can confirm you can redeem points as soon as they are posted

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Knew it, just that I didn’t verify by redeeming. Good to get confirmation from you.

  5. Naga V

    What is the procedure to apply card to card basis ?
    My application is rejected twice online. Did not want to take a chance again by applying online.

  6. R

    The best card indeed, even better than Infinia.

    I got it and using since 1 month and I surrendered my infinia and Amex charge card.

    My monthly spends are almost 2 lacs.

    1. PRAMTESH

      Very rare to see someone surrenders Infinia.
      If it was chargeable. Should have approached the bank to make it LTF.

  7. Sandeep

    Hi Satish,
    While Card looks good on most front but with fewer merchant offers, which in general are better than 3.3%, less likely that anyone would use it for big purchases or festive shopping, grocery shopping, bill payments etc. But good to use for payments like rent, education fee, nps, or any other payments where there are no merchant/payment mode based offers. What’s your thought ……

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Sandeep
      This card is indeed meant to be used wherever there are no merchant offers. Or if you can’t use merchant offers due to partner bank card not available.

  8. Ananth Krishna

    No previous relationship with SC. Applied and got DigiSmart in Jan 22 with limit of 3.3L. In Feb 22 applied for Ultimate. Application for Ultimate was simple just did 1 Rs transaction to verify existing Digismart card. Card was aprooved and delivered in a week. Very smooth process. Using it for all offline transactions due to its 3.3% reward rate. I am able to see points in portal in 3-4 days after transaction. Did not try redemption process yet.

    1. Mohd Altamash

      But limit should be 4 lakhs i think to apply ultimate.

  9. ManzB

    For me except for 10X spends for which I use DCB, I normally use this one for anything and everything alongwith Axis Vistara Infinite. U have the MC variant which has a great feature of unlimited domestic lounge access. Add on cards are considered separate with a different card no.

    Also the availability of quite a few good GVs helps a lot for redemption. I normally use it for Bigbasket, ShopperStop etc. A 3.3% without any discrimination is excellent.

  10. Prateek Gupta

    SC card department is really very stupid. I hold an existing SC CC with limit 3.84L as well as a HDFC Regalia with limit 10.45L. I applied for the SC Ultimate and gave docs for both the criteria. SC made a query to my CIBIL and later on rejected the application stating internal bank policies.
    I even wrote to their card services division quoting malpractise and reason for rejection but no luck there as well.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Dear Prateek
      You choose wrong path to apply as a fresh card. Instead, you could have applied it via existing SCB card, that would have been far easier with better chances of approval.
      Getting Ultimate as a fresh application is not that easy. Apply basis existing cc, they don’t even do CIBIL enquiry too if I am correct.

      1. Prateek Gupta

        So, do u think I should apply again(last rejection happened 20 days ago) and this time specifically mention that I want to apply using my existing Digismart card ?

        1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

          No need to mention anything. Once you opt for apply now tab on website, it will ask whether you are existing customer. Once you opt for the same, the process is very simple n self explanatory.
          For better understanding, please read the review of SC Smart cc on this website posted 1 month back

  11. SP

    It’s indeed ultimate CC. I have it since 2016, I don’t remember last time I paid for money on clothes.

    All in all best CC to own.

  12. Varun

    I have a SC Platinum Rewards card having a limit of around 2L, but my ITR is well above the 24L requirement. Attempts to upgrade my credit limit and eventually get to the Ultimate have failed. Any suggestions how I can get hold of this card?

  13. Vikram

    I got this card in Oct 2017 and back then it was Visa Infinite variant only. Soon both variants became available. Now due to the MC ban it’s back to Visa Infinite only.

  14. Vishal Masand

    I currently hold a SCB Priority card issued LTF.. Can I upgrade SCB Ultimate LTF ??

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      LTF Ultimate never heard off. You may ask for waiver of annual fee near due date basis high spending.

      1. Karthik N

        I believe it is not Ultimate LTF . There is free Visa infinite CC for SC priority banking customers which is trimmed down version of Ultimate.
        There is free Visa infinite debit card as well for SC priority customers

  15. Rishabh

    I still feel for Online txns BoB Eterna Card is the best in the market, getting 3.75% cashback as reward on almost all the online txns since more than a year.
    And rewards redemption as Statement cashback is the best value in comparison to voucher redemptions.

    For offline Txns SC Ultimate can be considered but personally I prefer Axis Ace since 2% statement cashback is better than 3.3% rewards for me personally.

    I had used SC Ultimate last year but closed it on renewal last year end after having better savings with Eterna.

    I would suggest to go for Eterna if your spends are more on online.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal

      Rishabh
      BOB Eterna is a good card, but comes with lot of limitations. Accelerated RPs limit is paltry for target customers. Base reward rate is low and annual fee is not compensated if waiver criteria not met.

      1. Rishabh

        Hi Satish,

        Not sure about everyone but for me, I am very happy with Eterna so far since last 1.5years.
        Though there is a max cap of 5000 bonus points which roughly cover online txns upto 35000 per month with return of 3.75% as statement cashback, it is a decent limit which covers average monthly spend for many including rent.

        Addition to this, bonus points are applicable on No Cost EMI txns too which gets credited upfront for whole amount in first month.
        Lastly the merchant offers are quite good for BoB compare to Standard Chartered since last 2 years as BoB seems to be quite aggressive now a days.
        Upto 2k discount on Amazon, 3k discount on Tata Cliq, etc.

        While for Standard Chartered Ultimate case, based on my experience of usage, bank exclude this card from many of the offers like accelerated rewards etc.
        But ya for offline txns still ultimate is best.

        Also I failed to meet fee waiver criteria by 50-60k, wrote an email to the team and they happily reversed the annual charges.

        1. Ajit

          Hi Rishabh. How much is the waiver criteria for SC Ultimate?

          1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

            His reference was with BOB Eterna. SC Ultimate has no waiver criteria unless an UHNI with them or spent very high (maybe 20-25L+, no guarantee here as well)

    2. Naga V

      If there are any exclusions for online transactions for BOB Eterna, Could you please let me know. I hold BoB Eterna, little worried if all Online transactions are considered for 5x rewards?

      1. Abhi

        So far been getting 15X (technically its not 5X) on wallet loads like paytm (direct or via uber) and mobikwik, rent payments on redgirraffe-payzapp as well as Cred, shopping on credstore, payment checkout via Credpay, as well as offline restaurant spends. And I love doing those 160-170 kind of transactions as that’s considered alike 200 for RPs.

        1. Naga

          Great 👍
          I assume all general online transactions as you covered mostly and not only specific to e-comm.

        2. Dhrumil Parekh

          Do you mean BoB Eterna or SC Ultimate?

    3. A2Z

      Same here, I prefer Axis ACE for 2% no-nonsense statement credit for offline spends
      For wallet based spends prefer SC Ultimate
      Was holding BOB Select, tried getting additional card Eterna but they goofed up
      Sales executive was wrong in saying multiple cards possible from BOB
      Hence application got rejected

      1. Ramprabhu

        Paytm Wallet is charging 2.30 % while loading through CC. Mere 1% I can save from it. Does Paytm charge less for SCB Ultimate wallet load?

  16. Darshan

    I have an existing SC credit card. But the reward rates on the reward portal seem to be 4 points = 1 rupee.

    Does it change when ultimate card is selected?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Yes, if holding multiple cc once you change it to Ultimate reward ratio becomes 1:1

      1. A2Z

        Big catch is since few years SCB changed the way we redeem points!
        Points across cards are not accumulated anymore like before. Earlier thru this we could redeem other card RP also for 1:1. In the process SCB goofed up and even made redemption for Ultimate Addon card also separate & segregated.
        Now one has to accumulate points across addon card as well separately.

  17. Rampy

    Been using this card (Visa Infinite variant) for 4-5 years. But for non-partner offer purchases, I use this for all my spends. Have got most of my electronics from 3+ years from Croma, using these points. No confusion card.
    I agree with the pain point in getting this card. Been trying to get it for my elder brother who has 12+ lakh limit on DCB & Citi+ SC Titanium with 3+ lakh limit via upgradation process (1₹ transaction) & C2C basis. But, either we don’t receive response from Bank after application or just gets reflected!

  18. Ashish Nikhare

    Are there any 5X or 10X Reward Points offers or Portal on SC Ultimate for earning accelerated Reward Points apart from the base 3.3% just like Infinia ?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Mostly during 4th quarter, SC runs 5X offer on payment of insurance premium for its non cashback cards limited to 2000-3000 RPs

  19. Ashish Nikhare

    Can someone post a detail step by step process of “How to upgrade to SC Ultimate from Digismart ?”

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Please read SC Smart cc review by clicking the link on this page. I hope it is same as what you want.

  20. Muthu

    Reward redemption fee of 99+ GST applicable. Is it applicable for e-voucer also? please confirm. What are the worth e-vouchers available for ultimate card? Is there SPAR, BIGBAZAAR voucher available?

      1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

        Useful GVs available are–
        Bigbasket, Cleartrip, Croma, Decathlon, Hyatt, Kalyan Jewellers, Lifestyle, Max, Nykaa, Pantaloons, Pepperfry, Shoppers Stop, Tanishq, Titan, Westside etc.

  21. Enthusiast CC

    I applied online for the SCB Ultimate card last week.
    The application got struck for long time. No application number was provided.
    No one contacted from the bank.

    Seeing such a stupid & careless attitude from bank, I decided not to proceed with the card. I applied for IDFC card and they were prompt in approving the card & VKYC was also a breeze.

    This card is only for select few who have contacts in the bank or with the sales persons. Definitely not for the common man who prefers to apply online.

    1. Naga V

      In my opinion, they are not approving if a person holds multiple credit cards in excess. It automatically rejects and they seems to be quite strict. Nothing related to income or cibil.

      1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

        Probably not true. Because at the time of application, I was already holding 10 credit cards. Still it went smoothly.

  22. Ankit B

    I have a SC Ultimate Mastercard variant. Would love to get the Visa infinite variant. Anybody knows how to do this?

    1. Harshit

      I recently got the SC Ultimate Visa variant. Prior to this, I was holding the SC Ultimate MasterCard variant as well as a LTF Manhattan Platinum. Application was a breeze using their online system. I just choose the existing relationship / credit card holder option in the process; a transaction of INR 2 on my Manhattan Platinum card and the SC Ultimate Visa variant card was in my hands in less than a week’s time.

      The drop down list of existing SC credit cards does not include SC Ultimate MasterCard variant. Maybe you can select others and do a transaction of INR 2.

      1. MadMax

        What happened to your SC masterworld variant.Did it got deactivated automatically or you are holding both variants.

        1. Harshit

          The MasterCard variant still works. Just added some funds to my Mobikwik wallet with the card. Just as an FYI, I have switched my spends to the Visa variant.

          Planning to hold both the variants for now. Will most likely cancel the MasterCard variant once it comes up for renewal.

  23. Mudit

    @Satish
    Thanks for the article. Looks like this card is better than HDFC for all regular spends.
    Would you know if we get RPs fro EMI transactions also ?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Thanks for the appreciation.

      Should get RPs on EMIs too as nothing is mentioned under exclusion.

  24. PK

    I tried applying for this card on a card to card basis at the branch and online. They both said that this card cannot be applied on card to card basis and it is not issued to self employed people and will only be issued to salaried people.

  25. Saurabh

    Why there is no mention of makemytrip 10k cashback joining benefit ? Is that not available for everyone ? I called customer care and they said it is still applicable (on my newly approved card).

    Don’t have much experience with SC customer care. But I know many like HDFC customer care are well known for giving wrong information sometimes.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      10K MMT cashback has been replaced with 6000 RPs as joining benefit

  26. Sekar

    I have applied for this card couple of weeks and got rejected stating that I haven’t met their internal policies. I’m holding SCB Titanium for more than 8 years with limit less than 2L! I’m surprised that they are increasing credit limit once in 3-4 years. Should I need to wait for another few years to increase my limit and apply again as they clearly said C2C basis is not possible now. They are offering me to upgrade to Manhattan but apart from Supermarkets I don’t find anything useful in Manhattan and I’m happy with my Titanium as most of my utility and petrol expenses are spent in that card and they are saying once your application got rejected we need to wait minimum 6 months to apply again!
    Will my CIBIL score get hurt once my application got rejected ?
    Confused now.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      SC doesn’t enquire CIBIL if fresh card is applied using Re 1 authentication via existing card. Atleast this was true in my case. Fellow readers can tell their experience to help prospective SC Ultimate card seekers.

  27. vaibhav

    i sincerely love this card since i have not been able to get my hands on an infinia or diners black. Thanks to this website, and this article in 2019: https://www.cardexpert.in/standard-chartered-ultimate-credit-card-review/
    i was able to successfully make use of the many features that SC provided with the card then, especially the MMT offer. What is a downer is not being able to redeem the points to amazon or flipkart vouchers which initially i was able to. The choices to redeem points are limited but i now convert them into myntra/mmt/croma.
    Of all the cards in the market, this still gives the highest reward points on all categories; but i do have my eye on infinia for selective spends.

    I thank you Satish for all the effort you have put in, all these years; and wishes for many many more.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      @Vaibhav

      Thanks for the kind words. It really motivates to get best out of me.

  28. ARR

    Hi all,
    I tried to apply for this card many a times earlier. But, all my efforts went in vain. My desire to get this card grew stronger and stronger as it wasn’t approved easily. I strongly decided to get this card for sure.
    At last, one fine day I did decide to apply for this card in Oct,21 based on my Regalia card with a limit of 9,70,000/- through the third party. VKYC was done and it got approved. But, they gave me Platinum Rewards initially with a limit of 6,00,000/-. I later got the Ultimate through the website. I got the Master card variant with 6,000 points as a joint bonus. This was my 13th card. They didn’t do any address verification or office verification. I’m into Govt. Service. I’m very much happy with the vouchers that they offer.
    Do you suggest me to have Visa variant over Mastercard variant?

    1. Mitesh

      My appication was also rejected multiple times. Can you tell me which third party you applied.

  29. Raj Kumar

    Thank you for this article! I applied for card this 3 days ago with C2C. Today I received it with a 5 lakh limit. Now I don’t have to bother with HDFC, since they keep rejecting my CC applications for some reason.

  30. akash

    Thinking to applying for this card. could anyone tell me what are the redemption vouchers available? & reward ratio is 1:1 on redeemed vouchers ?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Reward Ratio 1:1 for Ultimate. GV options changes frequently

  31. Ashok

    Thank you Sid. Coincidentally, I upgraded my Manhattan + SC Titanium to this only 10 days ago but note that unlike other banks, SC only adds new cards to your existing credit limit so these three cards have a total credit limit of x amount. Nevertheless, conversion rate is impressive.
    I hear that this is probably the only card which allows add-on cardholder to use Airport lounges. Can we confirm if this is true. Many thanks, Ashok

    1. Sid

      I too have manhattan and 11 year old gold card, both are useless. Whenever I try to close them, SC credit my account with 2500 points and ask me too continue them. Have you requested upgrade of manhattan to ultimate or used 1Re method for new ultimate?

      1. Ashok

        No, I still have the three cards. I will try closure of Manhattan though as membership fee of 999/- plus GST for very little in return is not attractive.

  32. Gyanesh

    Comparing with Infinia :
    1) Are accelerated rewards available on SC Ultimate? For example, 5x on HDFC Smartbuy
    This changes the reward rate %

    2) Can you redeem the RP while buying airline tickets? For example, 70% via HDFC Smartbuy concierge

    3) What are the GV options currently? Even if they keep changing, what’s the current list ?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      SC generally runs targeted offers to some users from time to time that are few n far between, as per my information.

      Accelerated RPs earning capability regularly like HDFC Smartbuy platform isn’t available on SC Ultimate.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Thanks for the link. AFAIK this is agin a targeted offer sent to select users only.

  33. Gyanesh

    Thanks, so looking at redeeming the RP earned at 3.3% rate, the good thing is that the conversion ratio is 1:1 for all GV.
    Pity that this doesn’t include Amazon/FK GV.

    Its better than the normal Infinia RP (earned at 3.3% rate), where 1:1 conversion is limited to a few options only.

    Then again Infinia has the Smartbuy 5x which bumps the reward rate to 16.5% and even assuming the bonus RP are converted 1:2 for Amazon GV, that’s still an impressive 8.25% reward rate.

    Net net, Infinia is better imo.
    What do you think?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Ultimate is replacement for Infinia/ DCB non-Smartbuy spends or for those spends where HDFC doesn’t give RPs like wallet, fuel, insurance (with capping).

      For Smartbuy spends, Infinia/ DCB still holds the edge.

    2. Naga

      No other card except SC Ultimate gives a default reward rate of 3.3% with good conversion to redeem. Infinia has a bad conversion rate (0.5rs) when redeemed to GV except apple/tanishq vouchers (1 rs). Especially for very high spenders this card ultimate is useful.

      It’s better to have a mix of both SC ultimate & Infinia for maximum benefits.

  34. Pallav Sinha

    Hello,

    How do you apply for ultimate card via card to card basis? When I apply online, it asks for Gross Monthly Salary. If I enter less than 200,000 it says ineligible. In the online process I didn’t see any option to apply C2C. Thanks in advance for your help.

    Regards,
    Pallav

    1. Vicky

      Just enter any eligible gross salary, and in the next step instead of salary slip, select card to card statement. ( limit more than 4 L)
      I did the same last year and got visa ultimate.

      1. Ayush Bhargava

        I tried multiple times through their portal but the application gets stuck after clicking on processing post filling the application details and selecting card to card statement in salary slip option. I think they are not accepting new applications through card to card statement in salary slip option.

        1. Vijay

          I also faced the same issue. I posted on Twitter to their support handle and they had someone call me and updated all the details from backend. Just in a day, everything was completed. After 2 days, received a message that my card is approved.

          1. Ayush Bhargava

            I also got callback from them, as per them they are now not issuing this card on card to card basis and to individual having salary greater than 24 lacs.

  35. RAHUL M R

    I have an Infinia LTF, Baroda Eterna & Premier(LTF) , Axis Magnus ( 6.6% for 1lakh spend) and now this SC ultimate. Bit confused on which to use . I want to get some of them canceled and to keep very limited ones.

    Can someone suggest what can be the best option .

    1. Naga

      If your monthly spends are less than 1.5 lakhs, you can drop out ultimate as it’s not ltf.

      If monthly spends are more than 1.5l, I recommend to keep all cards.

      Not sure about premier, I think it’s lower to eterna.

  36. RAGIB

    With Rs 5000/- plus taxes = Rs 5900/- card fee per year you need to spend at least Rs 1,77,000/- just to make it break even @ of 1 point per Rs 30/-.

    Having Paid Infinia, my suggestion would be to skip this card until & unless your expenses are north of Rs 12+ Lpa.

    All depends on the amount spend and the categories.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      RAGIB
      1. For joining fee, they are crediting 6000 RPs as welcome bonus
      2. For renewal fee, 5000 RPs will be given

      1. RAGIB

        Wow nice. I missed that part. Sad.

        Then break even point is very very easy to achieve. Now i am also thinking to get this card. 🙂

      2. Vipeesh

        I was told that there are no bonus points for renewal (11-Aug). I anyway decided to go ahead with the card, let’s see what happens at the time of the renewal.

        1. Satish Kumar Agarwal

          Renewal Fee (2nd year onwards) Offer.
          The Ultimate Cardholder is eligible to receive 5,000 Reward Points on payment of Renewal Fees. Reward Points will be credited within 60 days after realisation of the renewal fees by Standard Chartered Bank. Where renewal fee payment is converted into balance on EMI, the cardholder will not be eligible to receive Reward Points.

  37. Abhishek

    Do we get this 3.3% reward rate on Jewellery shopping with SC Ultimate?

    For DCB my RM said I wouldn’t get any reward points on Jewellery purchase.

    1. Mouli

      SCB gives point for everything except emi. For fuel, Jewellery ,utility payments and all other categories are eligible for reward points

      1. Abhishek

        Thanks for the info Mouli 🙂

        Does anyone know if DCB also gives points for Jewellery shopping? The company website has only a few restrictions on points (insurance, wallet, fuel) but doesn’t seem to mention Jewellery.

        1. Sreetharan

          i have used DCB for jewellery a few times and it gave points always

        2. Abhi

          Have got RPs for shopping at Kalyan with DCB. There’s no RP limitation when you shop at jewelry stores with DCB. Only thing is you don’t get accelerated RPs if you buy online like amazon/flipkart. But that still qualifies for regular 1X.

        3. Ravi

          DCB gives points for jewellery purchase. I have got several times

          1. Abhishek

            Thanks for the info Sreetharan, Abhi & Ravi.

            I talked to another credit card guy at HDFC, he also said that there will be no reward point on Jewellery purchase. Maybe they all misunderstood some internal memo/policy.

      2. Gautam

        You get points for EMIs too. Points are posted upfront and not on a piecemeal basis as it happens with HDFC cards.

  38. Atul

    Redemption option on SCultimate has Statement Credit option ?
    Or Amazon voucher…is it at par to 1:1 point to INR conversion ?

    1. Mouli

      No Statement Credit and No Amazon Voucher.
      Lifestyle, Shoppersstop,MMT,Yatra,Croma and lot other are there

  39. AAJ

    Received spend based 2x points, max 5k. Good 6.6% returns for SCUltimate.

  40. Pallav Sinha

    Hello Vicky,

    Thanks for the response. When I added the salary details, the next page it asks for Salary slips and all. It didn’t prompt me for derails of card to apply card to card basis At what step does it prompt for C2C? Also C2C can be applied based on non SC credit cards?

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    Regards,
    Pallav

    1. vicky

      Hi Pallav,
      I had applied for this card around a year back, after entering the total salary, there were many options in the drop down menu( itr, salary slip, cc statement) in the next step. I uploaded my non-sc credit card having 5 lac limit.
      I had 4 year old relationship with the bank with good transaction history.

  41. Naga

    Rejected my card due to too many enquiries. Need to give a break for my cibil

  42. Ashish

    You get accelerated RPs for insurance premium payment on HDFC Diners black.

    1. Thangarajan D

      Can we get the RP for NPS payments in sc ultimate card?

  43. Mohan

    I tried applying online. Its stuck at processing and not going further. is there any customer care number where i can apply via them?
    Aslo my permanent address is not in their listed pincode. How to proceed with my application is my pincode is not in their list whereas my current residence address is in their listed pincode?

    1. Neeraj

      I applied online and for me also it got stuck in processing. Once I closed the browser, I received a call in 15 mins asking if I am applying for Ultimate card. They processed it 21st April afternoon and I got my card delivered on 23rd April morning, just within 48 hours. No previous relationship with SC in anyways but got the card approved immediately.

      1. Ayush Bhargava

        Did you apply on card to card basis or on salary basis?

  44. Chanduatla

    Ultimate-MasterCard to Visa Infinite – got in 2 days.
    Initially, I have only one card from a bank, i.e. Ultimate-master card with a credit limit of 5 Lakhs above. Through phone banking, made a new Digi card request and in 1 day, it is activated in the mobile app. through online mode, made INR 1/- transaction through Digi card and applied for Ultimate-Visa Infinite. The next day, Ultimate-Visa infinite is activated. In total 2 days, the new card is activated and I am doing transactions now with a new card. As we cannot make Ultimate Visa through Ultimate master card, the above process was followed as informed by customer care. Now needs to close Ultimate-Master card through customer care. Changed to Visa infinite as the master card was not accepted in a recent South Asia trip.

    1. Praveen Katiyar

      I recently paid my annual fee for Ultimate Mastercard variant, is bank also helping in this regard i.e adjusting fee collected for MC version for Visa version ? Or Visa will be altogether new card (with initial benefits as well ?).

      What if someone doesnot close the MC version ? Can a user keep two Ultimates ?

  45. Akshay

    I have a Infinia card with a limit of 15 lakhs+ I wanted to get the standard chartered ultimate card via c2c basis but the call centre executive refused saying its only for salaried individuals and not self employed. any non salaried person able to get this card?if yes, kindly guide on the process.

  46. LKG

    Hi, thanks for posting this nice post. I checked SC 360 Rewards website (without login as I am not their customer yet) and found all vouchers offering only 25 paisa value per reward point!! I think that should change after login basis the card held by customer. I am right? what are some good value options where one can get voucher at the rate of 1 Re. per 1 reward point? since we are at it, which credit card gives best cashback or reward value on insurance payment? I heard freecharge CC is good but not able to get it – how to get it? Thanks

  47. Kalyan

    How long does it take for the welcome bonus reward points to get credited?

    1. Phani

      1st Month Statement – Annual Fee,
      2nd Month – GST on Annual Fee,
      4th Month – Reward points reflect in the account (you can check same before generating statement). Same applies to any bonus offer provided by the company.

    2. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      As per mail received from SC, fulfilment of joining/ renewal benefit would be done within 60 days from payment of fee.

  48. DEB

    Apply For Standard Chartered Credit Cards and Get Free GOQii Smart O2 Watch
    If you have recently received a new credit card from Standard Chartered Bank, here is some good news for you.
    The Standard Chartered Credit Cardholders can get GOQii Smart O2 Watch making a single transaction worth Rs. 1,500 or more within the first 30 days of card issuance. The offer has been launched as an introductory benefit for the new cardholders and it is only valid till May 31, 2022.

    Terms and conditions:
    The Offer is only open to customers who have submitted the application for an Eligible Credit Card electronically on the Banks webpage or mobile application during the Offer Period. Applications not submitted in the manner stipulated by the Bank will not qualify for the Offer.

    The Offer will be applicable on any one of the first Eligible Credit card issued to the Qualified Client on or before the end of the Offer Period.
    A Qualified Client must spend a minimum of Rs 1,500/- (Rupees One Thousand Five Hundred Only) in a single transaction on any one Eligible Credit Card within 30 days of card issuance. This Offer cannot be combined with any other offer from the Bank.
    The following transactions will not qualify for meeting the spends criteria:

    ATM cash withdrawals, fee payments, transaction which is either unsuccessful or cancelled/rejected by the Bank, transactions which are followed up with partial or full reversals or transactions that are cancelled by the card holder.

    Fulfillment timeline:
    Within 60 working days from the transaction date, the Bank will send the GOQii Smart O2 watch to the registered mailing address of the Qualified Client meeting the Offer terms.

    1. Manoj Singh

      its time to apply for SC ultimate card. But I already have 2 credit card, Visa infinite and super value titanium credit card. if I upgrade, will this offer apply as well?

      1. DEB

        SC INDIA CHAT CONSULTANT STATED THAT IT IS ONLY FOR NEW CUSTOMER APPLYING SC CARDS

  49. Sateesh Guptha

    In jan-2022 I have applied this on C2C basis with their tete callers. But, it got rejected. They have told that it was rejected due to loans. But, I have felt it is not correct since I don’t have many loans. Yesterday(May 15) , I have again connected to tele caller whatsapp number and asked whether I will get ultimate card or not and I told that my incremented salary is 24LPA. He said definitely it will get approved. So, I have tried again by sending my pay slip to the agent this time. He finished the application process. That’s it….. Finally:

    The card is approved !!!. Now I am waiting for vkyc. Finally the verdict is : Don’t apply this by C2C basis( The same is mentioned in the above article). If the salary is 24LPA , then the process will be smooth to get this card.

    1. Aims

      I also applied earlier on card to card basis and got rejected. Today i spoke to customer care and told him about this and he mentioned that i can take the request and you will get the card in 1 week.
      Its actually card upgrade and not new card application is what he mentioned. I applied. Lets see…

      1. Aims

        And i already see the new approved ultimate card in the app 👍

        1. Aims

          Received the card today and activated it.
          The interesting things i was told by customer care
          1). This card is an upgrade to existing titanium card. And the titanium card will be disabled after 30 days
          2). Only the primary titanium card will be disabled and the supplementary card will stay active 😄 (cant believe its true)
          3). The existing reward points from titanium card needs to be consumed before it gets disabled and cant be converted to ultimate card with any conversion rate

  50. Pratik

    Dear Satish,

    Having a Smart cc with 4L or above limit; if we apply for an upgrade to Ultimate, would the 4L limit be sufficient to apply (even if the annual income is less than 24L as per Ultimate criteria) ?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Very good chances of upgrade. Try via INR 1 OTP authentication during online application

  51. Kapil

    But they have worst customer support in the credit card industry if there is some issue with you or any help needed from the standard chartered then make sure you have one-two hour for every call you are about to make with customer care. also they don’t know how to deal with issue always ask to senior as well.

    So advice is go with the best always do not fall in trap of lucrative offers.

    1. vivek

      true worst customer care for credit card
      They are my employer though still feel they are worst

  52. Hrishikesh

    Hi I hold Mastercard variant of Ultimate for many years. But in last one year the card is denied at two lounges for access. First one was Chandigarh lounge and second one is Dehradun airport bird lounge. But both these lounges accepted my Yes bank priority first master card. Also I did not find mention of lounge access on ultimate website anymore. Have they stopped this? Would
    Like to know details.

  53. Anubhav Sharma

    Got first statement for the card recently and wanted to enquire about annual fee as only 5k was charged. Went through this thread and got my query answered already.

    For people confused about C2C and ITR application, SC has a very strange criteria and I quote – ‘C2C application is not allowed in Delhi/Mumbai but allowed in Bangalore’. I had filled partial form and got a call from CC team who issued this card on my existing ICICI Sapphiro with 6.5 lacs limit. They refused initially for C2C as my KYC document had Delhi address but on knowing that I am in Bangalore, they processed it and within 3 days I had my card
    Strange policy but true (TIP – Confirm OTP and PIN while applying online and close the form, when internal CC team calls ask them a way around)

  54. Abhi

    Now that mastercard ban has been withdrawn, will be interesting to see which variant will be issued now. Not just SCU but other cards also.

  55. Pratik

    Does Ultimate card give reward points on wallet load as well?
    Also while redeeming the points for jewellry does it have an option to buy gold coins from those jewellers? As generally gold / silver coins are excluded in GV of jewellers.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Yes to wallet load
      No to Gold coin via GV

  56. Sai Raghavendran

    Is the SC Ultimate Visa card accepted in BLR 080 lounge?

      1. Nikhil

        Yes, accepted on 13th august morning time! Don’t if they stopped after that

  57. Sanju

    How to get ads on card/supplementary card for a family member ? We applied through the link, no one approaches from bank to take the application further.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Same happened with me. Even though you are able to apply for Supplementary cards online, nothing will happen.

      Only way is to visit SC branch with both persons kyc docs

      1. Ram

        I sent an email asking for the procedure to apply for Add on card for my wife.

        This is the reply I got

        “A primary customer can apply for an additional credit card in his own name. Both cards will share a common credit limit and be billed for in the same statement. The procedure to apply for an add on card is detailed below:

        Please log on to apply.standardchartered.co.in/credit-card

        Ø Click “YES” if you hold an existing card

        Ø Declare the card type you are currently holding with us

        Ø You will be guided to do a transaction for INR 5.00 on the card to authenticate your request

        Ø Once applied, the system will also prompt you the status of the request whether the request is successful/failed

        On a successful attempt; your request for add-on card will be processed within 7 working days.”

        Now I’m confused. Will they not issue Add-on cards on individual’s name? How will they get OTP’s to their mobile number?

        This seems like I’m applying for two cards but not for Add-on cards as done by other banks.

  58. Hari

    Siddharth, SCB has launched ease my trip co-branded travel credit card.

  59. Sahil Gupta

    What is the validity of reward points earned?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      I suppose, it’s 3 years from earn date

      1. Mahadev

        Not anymore Satish ji. There is some tweak. I lost 2700 rewards points on 30Jun2022. When I asked SCB helpline, I was informed that 6 months since year earned is the validity of rewards points.
        I am little confused with this logic.
        I have SC Ultimate since early 2019.
        This is first time I noticed something like this.

        1. Sudheep

          “For Credit cards, points expiry for is 36 months from the date of issue of points.

          For Savings Account/Debit cards, Reward points earned in the period of 1st Jan to 31st Dec will expire on 30th June of the subsequent year”

          this is what SCB Website says.

  60. Shree Vardhan Mundhra

    I am an SCB HNI customer. They don’t waive the annual fee. What they do is give you around 5000 points instead which you can redeem at 1:1 for any of their redemption options.

    1. Pavan Krishna

      Is 5000 rewards points just for the second year or for every year when we pay annual fee we get those 5000 points ?

      1. Anupam

        Every year on renewal you get 5k points on paying annual fee + GST

  61. Manoj Singh

    What are the redemption options on sc ultimate card

    1. Anupam

      Mostly gift cards, hardly ever you will find Amazon GC. Croma, Shopper Stop, FabIndia, Westside etc

      1. Prashant Gupta

        I have always redeemed for Croma when i have many points. Best value for money.

      2. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

        For couples, if wanna become happy in life, those Bluestone/ Joyalukkas/ Senco/ Kalyan Jewellers/ Tanishq GVs are best choices 😀.
        Even Amazon GVs will pale in front of above GVs.

  62. Kaustubh Barve

    I applied on the website and entered salary below the minimum required and it was promptly declined. Later a RM called me to verify the salary verbally and informed me that I am not eligible. However I informed him that I have an AMEX with 4Lac limit, he said they said that Pune is not eligible for C2C but asked me to send statement nonetheless. Later he called back and said he will get product approval and asked me to complete the application and VKYC. The card was then approved within hours of VKYC, yet to receive it so not sure about the Limit and Master/Visa variant. No prior SCB relationship or cards, also this will be my first card on the Infinite platform

  63. Rahul

    I have applied for the card with VKYC done on Saturday. Lets see how long they take to approve and deliver the card.

    1. Rahul

      Funny thing SC customer care status check says invalid input.

      I dont know how it can be invalid if all the steps including Vkyc is complete

  64. Rahul

    Got the card today.. Fast considering just two days it was saying invalid input

  65. Mani

    Hi I have recently got this card. But the card was sent to my Aadhaar address where I was residing while applying but got shifted to different location in same city. The courier person said they won’t deliver to old address since I don’t reside there and asked to talk to the bank where it will be returned . I don’t have any prior relationship. Can someone please help on how to proceed further for delivery of the card ? Thanks

    1. Anshul

      You can update the office address to your new residential address through internet banking. And then make the communication address as office address. Then block and replace the card. It will be delivered to your new address.

      1. Mani

        Thanks for the response Anshul. There were three addresses – Residential, Office and Permanent. I have actually changed the permanent address to the new one and also gave permanent address as option for mailing address. I will try reaching out to customer care or bank to deliver to this address.

      1. Mani

        Thanks Anupam for the reply. Yes I have tried to call but couldn’t proceed to flow which would trigger directly talking to CC. Any inputs on that would help ? Also are there any phone contacts for branches directly. I could find email contacts but not for phone.

        1. SS

          Try this 1860 500 1111
          Select language and validate the info again and goto credit card , listen all the detail then you will get option to speak with cc

          1. Mani

            Thanks for the reply SS. I was able to reach to 040-66014444 and they have accepted the request to deliver to the new address.

        2. Anupam

          I think on the call first you have to choose language, then select option 4 and then option 9 to speak to customer care.

          1. Mani

            Thanks anupam again for the help. Yes i have followed the same and also set the tele pin for the card. They have accepted to send it to new address

  66. Deepak Kumar

    If u have updated new address in aadhar then update records in bank and then card will be delivered to your new address. Second option is that call customer care to deliver this card to your nearest bank branch and take it from there.

    1. Mani

      Thanks Deepak for the suggestion but haven’t updated aadhaar yet. But I was able to change permanent address and made it mailing address. I am hoping to request delivery to this without blocking and replacing since that might be waste of plastic and also incur charges. On that note, can anyone please let me know the charges for the replacement ?

  67. Akash singh

    Just go to local office of courier and collect from there by showing tracking sms and id proof, have collected multiple times like this from india post, bluedart and delhivery.

    1. Mani

      Thanks for the suggestion Akash. The issue here was the delivery executive said they will return to the bank branch. Also the new location is quite far from the old location. So wasn’t sure if it will be available at the branch even if I travel there. Anyhow they have taken the request to deliver the permanent address which is the new one. Thanks again everyone for the help. And thanks sid and sathish for this platform to sharing the experiences and helping each other.

  68. Thomas

    SCB Ultimate 1500 points on 75000 spend online, 5X on other cards offer live

  69. Alok

    I just applied it on INR 1
    Transaction Status SUCCESS
    Standard Chartered Credit Card Applied for Ultimate Credit Card
    Payment Amount (Re. 1) 1.00
    After this what is the stage. This is what i see..
    Congratulations! Your card has been authenticated susscessfully.
    You will be updated via SMS on the processing of your application. Standard Chartered Bank reserves the right to deny this application.
    Let us see if they will approve it or not

    Day before they upgraded the card SC Titanium card to eazy my trip card but not received the card yet but already reflects on my App.
    Also i had offer to increase limit to 326000 which was taken up by the phone banking rep but subject to approval this happened after 9 years , my previous CLI used to happen in year or once in 1.5 yrs and limit was struck at 261000 for 9 years. even this is not yet increased all gave consent but received message subject to approval. If it is subject to approval why do they send message to increase it.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Wait for 2-3 working days. If approved it will be shown in app within 3-5 working days.
      Credit limit increase at Citibank also happens like this. Once you accept their pre-approved LE offer, a bank executive follows your LE file for real approval and hence it takes 3-5 working days post giving consent. And don’t get surprised, LE maybe denied too.

      1. Alok

        Thanks Satish, Yes i received the message yesterday that CLI was increased as per the offer 3,26LKhs.

  70. Alok

    Last time i had mentioned that had applied through that exisiting customer 1 re verification . I received SMs from std chtd stating Ultimate declined due to internal policy. But however which they had upgraded to ease my trip co branded card , as they say but i presume it is new. Now i see three different card Manhattan , std chtd super titanium and ease my trip and is a combined limit 2,17L.

    but what surprised me was they sent priority pass which gives two complimentary access to lounge international and states if we have add on card even the add on card member gets 2 complimentary access . which is quite good after exhausting 2 complimentary access will be charged USD 32 per visit and how many guests accompany you individually.

    This card gives 20% discount on ease my trip for flights and hotels and others it is 10% . They still have not confirmed on the CLI offer that i applied but received msg stating by 31 Oct it will be processed and outcome will be messaged. usually CLI gets reflected immediately on other cards it is strange that std chtd takes time to reflect ..

    Let us see

  71. vadakkus

    Hi, is there a way to apply on C2C basis for this card? I have one card with a CL of 5L+ and another with CL of 6L+.

    Also, I live just one pincode away from a serviceable area. Actually, the funny thing is that the opposite side of the road I live in serviceable, while my side is not!

    I used to have two SCB CCs earlier – Titanium and Platinum Rewards one which expired in 2011 and the other which I cancelled in 2018.

    So is there a way I can get the SCBU card? Will walking in to the branch help?

    1. Raj

      You can apply online for C2C basis.

      I would suggest providing the pin code that works if it’s just one Pincode away and try your luck.

      My application didn’t went through when applying online. An SC agent called me after sometime and processed my application. They may be more eager to complete your application than you.

      1. srikkanth

        are you sure on this c2c option for sc ultimate as sc has become too stringent in issuing cards on c2c and for self employed.. If you have got one through this route could you please elaborate the developments in getting card and from which city ?

    2. Mugunthan

      I think, SCB mostly reissues the cancelled cards in the past. I have got SCB cards reissued after 2 years just by calling CC.

  72. Rahul

    I got a one plus buds from SC ultimate. I dont know if it was part of welcome offer, the staffer hadnt informed.

    1. Nikhil

      I received instead a Goquii smartwatch. But quite happily surprised nonetheless as this I was unaware about this offer while applying.

      1. Rupesh

        Congrats 🙂 When did you apply for the card? I got the card two months back and I didn’t get gift ?

        1. Nikhil

          It took some time, I think I received it after 3 months after receiving the card. I did not do any follow-ups as I was not aware about this offer.

  73. Korem

    I have faced Standard Chartered Ultimate being denied access to Guwahati lounge (not that it’s much to speak of) and Bengaluru premium lounge (got access to regular lounge though for INR 25, but premium lounge had better food)

    1. Kunal

      I presume you mean the 080 lounge at Bengaluru airport. I was able to get access with Ultimate card’s visa variant just last month. I guess Mastercard may not be accepted

  74. Mukund

    Has anyone recently been able to apply for this card online? Application gets stuck in processing button stage and not able to move forward. There is no helpline number for SC cards and email / twitter isnt getting me anywhere either . Any suggestions?

    1. Rahul

      Their agent will call you and process application. In my case the card got delivered pretty soon 3-4 days itself

      1. Mukund

        Hi Rahul,

        Can you give me a contact number of the agent who processed your card

        No one has called me and no reply via email / Twitter either

        1. Rahul

          Sorry the number is not there in history anymore as this happened in august end

  75. Anil

    I recently applied for credit card and it’s one of the best credit cards. The forex charges need to be corrected here. There’s no cashback anymore. It’s direct 2%.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Just reverified under card detailed tncs–
      Reduced Forex Markup – Terms and Conditions
      i. All overseas transactions are levied with a 3.5% transaction fee. Cardholder is eligible for a cashback of 1.5% of the transaction fee amount on the overseas transactions. The cashback amount effectively reduces the forex mark up charged to 2%.
      ii. Cashback will be credited within 60 days from date of transaction.

    2. Chandrasekhar

      It is still 3.5%+GST and you get 1.5% cash back after 60 days, of course, your 3.3% rewards. 2 weeks back went to international travel, and the same was observed. So no change is required in the article!!

  76. Ashutosh

    Any recent C2C success? I am based out of Delhi and my employer is in Hyd. Which pin code should I use for C2C app?
    Is there an option to select credit card statement as proof anymore? I have icici rubyx with 11L limit but I dont have a payslip of 2L/month.

    1. Avinash G

      Last Month. With my Regalia and Amazon Pay ICICI with 3.6L & 5L respectively. Shared both when they asked. I am from Mumbai. I guess your credit history/CIBIL matters a lot. Because my payslip is nowhere near 2Lac, it’s not even it’s 40%.🫢 Have a cibil of par 800 though. Never missed full payment in a decade, may be that helped.

    2. NABENDU MONDAL

      Hi I guess the Information provided may not be completely correct on some of the recent posts that Card on Card is not allowed in Mumbai and Delhi.

      As of the December 2022 this is the information . I applied for Ultimate CC in Mumbai pin code with Office Address provided of Bangalore .

      Events Dec 1 : Thursday

      1. Apply online on SC Website for Ultimate Credit Card
      2. Apply salary as Rs. 2 lacs inspite of lower Salary . In one of the later steps it asks for Proof of Income mention Card Statement or Card on Card as an option
      3. You will be instantly confirmed whether application is approved or not with a Application Number
      4. Few mins later you will be requested to share your Card Statement . I had a card with 6 lacs so not sure of the lower limit. Card statement was to be shared.
      5. Received a call or SMS to Share Aadhar OTP to verify . And they took the details for completing the application.
      6. Received a link from Standard Chartered for VKYC you only need your PAN Card

      Dec 2 : Friday

      VKYC completed on the link shared by SC

      Dec 3 : Saturday

      Got a Temporary ID and Password using which we need to create our login credentials. Registered on SC App

      Dec 5 : Monday

      Virtual Card got generated

      1. Hitesh Kumar

        same process i followed, c2c basis regalia 9 lac limit got the card of 85k limit. i am from hry where card is not deliverable, delivered to a friend in delhi. atleas I have a card and get climbed to higher limit

    3. Darshdeep Singh Grewal

      Apply lower variant credit card offline like Smart or Digismart on C2C basis, if you get credit limit above 4 lakhs, then use 1 rupee method to get this card.

  77. Sharath K

    Can we convert the reward points against statement credit?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Nope. Small note added in article for clarity.

  78. neil

    can i close my platinum rewards (with a very low limit) and apply afresh for ultimate (card to card basis)? any pointers for this? thanks!!

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      C2C application success isn’t guaranteed. Is your Platinum Rewards card LTF? If you close your card relationship, SC may not approve new card before 6 months.

      Try mailing SC with your highest limit card and ask for Ultimate card or use Re 1 OTP authentication to apply it online and see what happens.

      1. neil

        Satishji,

        I applied using the Re 1 authentication but it was declined. I also called up the phone banking but they declined both – existing low limit card and also card to card basis. Where should i email for the c2c basis request?

        Thanks!

        1. Satish Kumar Agarwal

          I suspect that will work, as existing card is having low limit. C2C generally works for new customers having other card limit of 4-5L+.

          Only option for you as per my experience is initiating SC relationship banking account and build from there, if at all this suits you.

          Alternatively if you existing card is little old (1+ year), use your SC card regularly and request LE via uploading income docs and see what happens.

  79. Mukund

    Can the reward points be redeemed for flight tickets — either via some internal flight booking system like how hdfc has smartbuy or vouchers ( at 1:1) on MMT, EMT etc

  80. Anoop

    Hi,
    I’m holding SCB Ultimate. Recently applied scb smart cc for wife through the scb website. Video KYC was completed on 21st Nov’22. Post which there is no update on the card. Customer care is saying we cannot fetch the status as its applied online. On ivr application number is told to be invalid, no option online to track the request, and mail sent to cc only give templated irrelevant response and no proper update on the status.
    Anyone faced any such experience from SCB.. any info on how to track it will be helpful.
    Thanks

  81. Pulkit

    after VKYC also, its been 7days, i have not got temporary id and password? how many days it has taken for you generally?
    Their support is poor, everytime i raise a ticket, they tell your ID is not registered please send an email through registered id. Does anybody has faced this issue?

  82. Vaibhav

    Any restrictions for reward points on government transactions on SC Ultimate like Income tax, TDS or NPS. ??
    Already hold HDFC Infinia. But restrictions on govt spends start from 1st jan in it.

    1. Deep

      Will i get reward points for paying challan while buying property ?

  83. Abhishek

    Im trying to get hold of this one ( i have infina and magnus ) but application is always stuck at processing point ? How to get through it , any tips ?

  84. Ankit Bhageria

    I got charged 30USD since I used my Priority Pass issued by StanC as part of my SC Ultimate card, when I used the priority pass on domestic premium lounge in Bangalore.

    While I see that the benefits mention access of 4 visits via Visa Infinite for domestic and 1 visit per month via Priority pass for international, does that mean we cannot use Priority pass for domestic lounge access in India?

    This is very weird and surprising.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      1 lounge visit this month is allowed via PP if you have swiped your Ultimate card for 20K+ in last month.
      Couldn’t see anywhere in tncs that domestic lounge is excluded.

      If above is the case, escalate via email.

    2. PRAMTESH

      You should have used the card. Not PP.
      Infinia PP can be used Worldwide,Including India

    3. Alok

      Ankit,

      Usually Priority Pass is meant for international Lounge access, Domestic you would get charged. but on SC Eazemy trip card -Clients will be eligible for 2 complimentary international lounge visit per calendar year using their Priority Pass. Both primary and supplementary card holders will have this access individually.

  85. Mangesh

    Priority Pass should be used only for international access for domestic it’s better to go with Visa or Mastercard.

  86. Racybhavik

    This is the latest info recd from SC on 24th Dec 2022.
    1 interesting thing is that they say there will be 1 time conversion of reward points from existing Pirority Infinite Card to Ultimate rewards, I currently have 40k Points=10k₹ but if they convert it to Ultimate as they say then it will be worth 40k. Yet to seek clarification. If anyone already knows please let me know whether conversion is done 1=1 or not.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      In SC, only Ultimate card has value of 1 INR per RP. So, upon conversion from SC Visa Infinite, if they are transferring equivalent points in 1:1 ratio, it’s huge bonus. Looks like transfer will be 4:1.

      Update your experience over this here.

      Thanks for this insight till then.

    2. Vikram

      When the SCB Ultimate card was launched I already was holding their Priority Infinite card which wasn’t very rewarding. I asked for upgrade from this card to Ultimate but I was told that they don’t offer such upgrades and instead I am eligible to hold that card too in parallel. So back then there was no conversion. I saw both cards in the menu and had to use the points separately. This was about 5 years back and things may have changed now.

      After a while I cancelled the Priority Infinite card as anyway the credit limit was shared and I wasn’t using this card at all due to the much lower reward rates. They suggested I keep it as it was lifetime free. But I insisted and had it cancelled. After all these years if still shows up in my list of cards as there’s a credit of Re 1 to it.

      1. Deepak Kumar

        There is a “Visible In” Internet Banking checkbox under Preferences, you can uncheck that and it won’t be visible in your Internet Banking anymore but it would still remain in the list of accounts.

  87. vadakkus

    So I applied for the SC Ultimate card in mid October.

    1. A week later someone from the SC call centre in Chennai called me and I had to spend nearly an hour filling in application details.
    2. Next day they called again and asked me to send across my payslip and some other documents.
    3. A week later (early November) they called and said the card was “approved” and asked to do mobile KYC. I didn’t have my Aadhaar and mobile connected so they asked me to do that.
    4. I went and connected my phone number to Aadhaar (this took another two weeks).
    5. After a week the SC contact centre (via chat) informed me that the card was approved with a CL of 3.75L.
    6. End November they called me and we went through the entire process again (including Aadhaar KYC). They then asked me to send statements of my other cards for C2C basis application.
    7. Nothing for the next two weeks. I contacted them again and was told to “be patient”.
    8. I chatted with them again today and now I am told that the card is “declined because of internal policies of the bank”! I tried pointing out that they told me it was approved earlier. They said they will call me back in 24-48 hours. I’ve heard that before, and they won’t call.

    So that’s that. Disappointed, since this is among the few cards that make sense for spends that do not get rewarded in any other way. (Which I have many – I don’t travel at all). And at the same time I got a useless HDFC Diners Privilege card that I didn’t even want approved in two weeks.

    Feel it is easier to apply and get approval for a home loan than this.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      SC Customer Support isn’t upto mark, despite being a foreign bank. Experience with others like Citibank were very good, HSBC no idea- should be good.

      I will suggest you to keep pushing them, don’t leave it like that. Best of luck.

      1. Anoop

        Hsbc customer support is nice.
        SC is horrible..
        Have applied a sc card 2 months back all kyc was done in a week but no update since then..

      2. vadakkus

        Hi Sathish,

        I didn’t leave it and escalated it and kept following up. The resulting story is unbelievable! I will add it as a new comment.

      3. Rakesh

        Hi Satish,
        I have digi credit card from Stan chart with credit limit of 3.8lacs.
        With this limit can I upgrade to sc ultimate credit card ?

  88. Karan

    Is there a way to see how many points I earned for each transaction? I can only see the cumulative points I have earned till now

    1. Varun arya

      You can see that under transactions in the rewards portal website

  89. Balaji

    I currently don’t have SCB relationship. My father (retired now) used to have a savings account but closed it few years back but he continues to hold a basic credit card with very less usage. I would like to check with the bank if they will issue me a Ultimate card before I apply online. But I’m able to find any contact details to call them up. Can someone share this please.

  90. Vikram

    This is a premium card but still their customer service is appalling, to say the least. I want to share a personal experience that I went through, that was so agonising.

    I constantly kept receiving calls to convert my transactions to EMI and for loan on card. I always paid in full and never wanted to take this. But since SCB is one of the only banks to give points even on EMI transactions, I wanted to avail it for one of my big purchases. And that’s where the pain started.

    The transaction remained unposted after a day and so I couldn’t do it online. I didn’t want to wait for long and so I called customer care. I placed a request through phone banking to convert it into EMI. I was told that it would be done within 2 weeks max. I got an SMS confirming the request being made.

    3 days later I saw a credit given to me for the amount that I wanted to convert into EMI. I thought it was done and left it at that. Another 6 days later I got 2 SMSs saying that the some request couldn’t be processed because another request was already in progress. I called up customer care and no one from the EMI team was available. So they asked me to call back 2 days later as it was weekend.

    I also noticed that the credit amount was reversed. I called them 2 days later just like they said. I was not put on line with the EMI team and instead they spoke internally and told me to wait for another 24 hours. I waited for 2 days and called back. Same response but this time it was 48 hours.

    After 2 days I again called back and again they spoke to the EMI team internally and told me that I had placed another request online and that was why this was blocked. I never did so. I asked them if they had proof of me placing another request online because my history doesn’t show it.

    They were insistent that I only placed a new request. So they suggested that I place a new request and that they will cancel the current one. I was assured it will be done in 3 working days this time. I went ahead and placed a new request.

    4 days later again credit was given for that amount. 6 days later again the credit was reversed and I called up again. Couldn’t reach EMI team. They’ve told me that I will receive a call back first thing on Monday. I’ve already been made such promises and never have I received a call so far.

    Now the only option I have is to break some investment and pay the amount off because monthly interest rates are high on CC. It was so bad an experience and so agonising that I am planning to cancel the card after all this is done.

    Never once have I received rewards points for paying annual fee without me asking. And it still takes more than 2 months at the least. It has even taken more than 3 months at least twice.

    Bottom line is, if you expect good customer service then please look elsewhere. SCB is not for you at all. This is a great credit card let down by pathetic customer service. And this is their priority baking line. Imagine their regular line then?

    1. Saurabh

      Having played around with few cases of EMIs, I can say – you shouldn’t have bothered after making the on-call EMI conversion request. They will take care of it. Most banks handle EMI conversion and cancellation in complex ways. You may see multiple credits and debits happening but eventually it will be fine by the time your statement gets generated.
      I wish the customer care guy informs in the first call itself.

      1. Vikram

        After so much follow up I finally got an answer from them as to why it never succeeded. It seems that the balance should remain as it is and I shouldn’t be using the card till the conversion happens. I was never informed this. Now the second attempt too has failed and I tried online to place a fresh request. It throws some error upon clicking the link itself. I called up customer care to place a request through phone but they’re asking me to wait for another 3 working days to see if the EMI conversion happens. I don’t understand. The 2 requests have already failed and I was never able to place a request online because upon clicking the link itself it throws an error. I don’t know what I have to wait for.

        They’ve again promised to call me back after 3 working days to take the request. I am sure they won’t. Also I’ve written an escalation email to the escalation email address I was provided. Guess what? It’s been 4 working days and I’ve not received any response. Not even an automated response or even an automated acknowledgement.

  91. Pulkit

    Applied online in Dec22. Got rejected. Now opted to Magnus

  92. Deep

    Are there any other similar credit cards that give reward points/cashback for all government spends like property purchase challan/registration charges, insurance etc., ?

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Magnus/ Reserve upto certain limit category wise.

  93. VG

    Just got my hands on the SC Ultimate MasterCard variant. Was disappointed to not get the Visa Infinite variant.
    Read above in the comments that some were able to get the Visa Inf variant by issuing DigiSmart and then upgrading to SC Ultimate Visa.
    So rang up customer service, and they informed me they no longer issue the Visa variant of SC Ultimate!
    Not sure this is true or not, can anybody confirm?

  94. AS

    How much limit are you guys getting? Got 46300 limit when I have a 5L limit in diners

  95. Mugunthan

    SCB is currently the worst bank in India.

    Since December first week, I am facing several issues.

    One is, I availed a loan on credit card within limit in net banking. Money got credited to my other bank savings account immediately. No issues. But SCB charged the loan processing fee to one of my cancelled credit cards (the card got removed from my net banking some time back, but reappeared with loan processing fee), while I had 3 more active cards.

    After my complaint, SCB removed the cancelled card again from net banking. Due to other issues, I cancelled one more card and currently having two active credit cards.

    Now it almost 20 days over. Loan processing fee and loan first month EMI are not charged at all.

    Have to see what headache I will face from SCB.

    1. Selva

      For me ! took loan over the limit of card , try to know how they report in cibil as new card or loan account or current balance in existing card , 15 days completed no relevant information about cibil reporting pattern provided , sad part on story is NODAL officers also a JOKE in SCB, Govt banks are better in india.

      1. Shivi

        +1000.

        After seeing the pathetic response of SC across all levels of escalations, in everyday banking (not to mention their phone lines being ever busy with “more than average callers” every single second), I have come to respect SBI!

  96. vadakkus

    So my application process for the SCB Ultimate card took 2+ months and ended in two application numbers and rejection. I then escalated this to the customer care head asking for an explanation. This is the resulting story.

    At first I was told that I once had a previous relationship with SCB so they are unable to issue me a new card (!). And this card ending 5138 was already cancelled in 2012. I used to hold three SCB cards earlier (Titanium, Platinum, Manhattan) but none of these ended with 5138.

    (I was also told they would raise a multi-card request in my case and someone would contact me on this. Needless to say this didn’t happen.)

    Then came the biggest surprise! This “card” ending with 5138 had a credit balance of Rs.2442 in it!

    I demanded the latest statement of this “card”, and it turned out to be an Instabuy (EMI) account that was for some reason not closed? I have no recollection of this and the bank aren’t able to provide any further details either. Anyway they offered me a credit refund and the amount was credited in three days.

    Now that this matter is closed, I again asked to further the application for the card, and this time comes another shocker. They are unable to proceed with the application because “we are not sourcing Ultimate credit card at this point of time.” (!!)

    Now this makes no sense at all. The page for the Ultimate card is still up on their website, complete with application process, and as I can see people here are still being issued Ultimate cards!

    They asked me if I am interested in any other SCB cards. I said no.

    In the end it is now three months, two applications, CIBIL score hit from 800 to 753, Rs.2442 credit refund, and no credit card. I have now escalated the entire thing to the Priority Banking head. I don’t expect anything to happen there either.

    Incredible, isn’t it. Unbelievable customer service from an “International” bank. I hold AMEX and Citi cards and after experiencing their superior customer service, I am appalled at how bad SCB is. They have no clarity on their policy, no overall view of the customer relationship history, no continuity on following up cases, and so on. Do they even use an ERP or a CRM? Or are they using Excel sheets and notepads or something? I am wondering if I should take this card at all now even if I am offered it.

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Thanks for sharing detailed experience.

    2. vadakkus

      I have raised my case with their priority banking channel and their response is the same:

      “As we informed earlier, we wish to clarify that our association with Ultimate has already been withdrawn with effect from 01 January 2023. In this regard, we regret our inability to accommodate your request.”

      This is ridiculous and an outright lie. People are clearly still being issued the Ultimate card. It is still listed on the website and can be applied for. But for me they say they are no longer issuing it. I don’t understand why they are going to such lengths to deny me the card.

      1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

        Escalate to their pno. Wait for a month. If not satisfactory, complaint to banking ombudsman.

      2. Darshdeep Singh Grewal

        Take any other SCB Card and if you get limit above 4 lakhs, take Ultimate using 1₹ method.

      3. vadakkus

        I escalated to PNO and got some generic reply. And after further follow up, yesterday I was informed that the card is approved with 500000 CL! However, today I was again informed that the card cannot be disbursed because of “technical problems” and I need to reapply!

        This is ridiculous! I am thinking of going to the Ombudsman now.

  97. Bhavin Shah

    Guys all bank and for that matter all corporates have their own processes to follow. If we understand that it is easy to get breakthrough. Just to share my own experience I have been trying to get hold of SCB Ultimate since last 2 years. But as usual same problem of low limit (Rs 2.77 lacs). Multiple requests to increase limit with submission of documents (with Monthly take home of 2.2 lacs+ and ITR of 35+) failed. Then I tried increase in limit without documents(just to try something new) and book limit was increased to 4 lacs. Applied for SCB ultimate on 23rd Jan at 7:57 PM on 23rd Jan and in less than 24 hours Card is visible on APP. Thank you all for your contributions/suggestions to this blog

    1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

      Great piece of information. And not to forget, Hearty Congratulations bro 😃

  98. Bhavin Shah

    Just to summarise the message ( which i forgot in my zeal to inform that finally i got the card)
    1) SCB is quick in approving limit increase without documents instead of with documents (which is really surprising and hence i never tried in past).
    2) Never ignore options however unlikely it seems to you. Had I applied for limit increase without documents in past i would already be enjoying benefits…..better late than never .

    One last piece of information i also got mastercard variant as against my wish for Visa Infinite( which is fine though)

  99. KJain

    Hi,

    Have few questions on this card. I also received the Master card variant.
    1. Suppose if the transaction is less than 150/-will we get points?
    2. Points are calculated based on each transaction or on total credit card statement.
    3. How many Lounges are applicable as part of Mastercard.

    1. Prashant Gupta

      1. Yes
      2. Each transaction
      3.check mastercard site

    2. Vikram

      I can answer the first 2 questions.

      (1) Yes, you will get points. SCB credits 1 point for every R 30 spent even though they say it’s 5 points for every Rs 150. Also they round up most of the time from my experience.

      (2) Points are per transaction based and not for a bill cycle. Also SCB is one of the banks that lets you use the points earned in a bill cycle even before the bill is generated.

  100. KJain

    Thank You Vikram and Prashanth. I will check and get back because currently the transaction is Unposted.

  101. Harshit

    Hey Satish,

    I noted that the bank has stopped issuing the Visa Infinite card based on comments from people who have recently been issued the card. Can you let me know which variant is better and preferable to have? I was trying to figure out the benefits of the card from the bank website but the distinction wasn’t clear.

  102. Mugunthan

    In continuation with my earlier post on Jan 23rd…

    The processing fee for my credit card loan was waived by SCB. Because the bank have charged the processing fee to one of my cancelled cards. When I complained and asked them to charge the fee to my other existing cards, they cant do anything other than nullifying the fee.

    Also, the loan EMI appeared correctly on the statement. So escaped from further head aches from SCB for the time being.

    There are lot more nuisance to post about SCB services (not related to credit card loan) since Dec 1st week. I will post later.

  103. Anoop

    SCB seems to have gone crazy..they are sending me pre-approved limit increase sms for ultimate.
    Same is also reflecting in their system while placing the request at customer service.
    But after 7 days sms received limit enhancement declined. This have already happened 3 times with 3 different limit in last 3 months.
    Not sure how their system works. Any one got any idea?

    1. Vikram

      My experience was even worse. I got an SMS about credit limit increase asking me to respond with my consent. I immediately did. But I then got a call from the bank too for the same and I gave my consent there too. I got a confirmation for the SMS request but none for the phone call request. Then in a few days I saw the new credit limit reflect in my card without any confirmation SMS.

      But I continued to receive SMS for the credit limit increase eligibility. I didn’t know what to do. After a few more days I got 2-3 SMSs from SCB stating that they couldn’t increase my credit limit for internal reasons. I also got a physical letter another few days later mentioning the same. But my credit limit is already increased. 🙂

      1. Anoop

        Atleast yor limit got increased..
        Mine is rejected all the 3 times even after they are sending the eligibility sms. Really not sure how they operate.

        1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

          It’s similar to Citibank, though service standard is far inferior to Citi.

          Once you get a pre-approved LE offer, a real person chases the file for approval. And yes, it can be declined as well.

          1. Anoop

            After dealing with SCB felt customer support of ICICI, HDFC, SBI and even Axis is much better.

        2. Vikram

          I don’t think the SMS got it done for me. It was the call from the customer care that did it. Try calling them.

          One thing I noticed is that if I call the priority banking then I at least get someone who I can at least converse with. I am not saying that they’re competent to own and address your issues. But at least these folks have decent to good communication. But if we receive a call from them then it’s mostly from the regular customer care and it’s difficult to converse with them. So I suggest you call their priority banking line and ask them for the limit increase. If you’re offer window is still open then they might be able to help you. Again, don’t be too hopeful. Just give it a try if you want the limit increase.

  104. Balaji

    I just filled up my application for the Ultimate Card and it says your credit card application is approved in principal. Does it mean it will go through pending a few checks??

    1. Balaji

      SC called me up and confirmed that application is approved. Then they collected some more information to fill up the application, processed Aadhaar OTP and confirmed that card will be processed on a C2C basis. They even tutored me as to what I need to speak during the Video KYC process. Interestingly they have calculated my annual income as 1.65 times my actual income. When questioned they are saying its calculated based on gross + existing card limits since its a C2C basis. Also the application says PPRB Ultimate MC – Is this Master or Visa. CC says it is always Visa and in case a change is needed I can go to branch and get it changed. Now waiting for Video KYC to complete.

      1. Balaji

        Completed my vkyc yesterday and today morning got all details to login to the app. Card is reflecting it. Very nice and quick process within 3 days application to completion. Have got a limit of 6L on the SC Ultimate whereas my ICICI card has 14.5L. Not bad overall. App looks clumsy when compared to imobile. Took a while to figure out where the card management options were. Also unable to figure out from the app whether it is MC or Visa. Guess have to wait for the physical card.

  105. Subin

    As per my conversation with SC today, VISA variant is no longer issued

    1. Subin

      Update:

      Spoke to customer care again, They took a request to close my MasterCard and said Visa card will be sent within 14 days

      1. Balaji

        Is there any charges for this?

        Why is visa preferred over MC?

  106. Mahesh S. Panicker

    I received a limit increase on my SC Tytanium card, and while processing the same on call, the CC informed that I have an upgrade to the SC Smart Card. On asking if I could get an Ultimate upgrade, I was told yes, after the LE is processed, I can get one and that they would call next week for the same. Was also told that the card is issued only on MC platform now and that the Visa variant is discontinued. Lets see what they do with the LE, with I should get it up to 540000, well pass the upgrade requirement for Ultimate. The CC person was confident its just a formality, but the experience of many here in recent times means I have to keep my fingers crossed.

    1. Balaji

      Can you tell me the pros and cons of MC vs VISA. Unable to decipher this from anywhere.

    2. Mahesh S. Panicker

      I got the limit increase processed successfully. Now waiting for the upgrade call that they promised.

      1. Satish Kumar Agarwal Post author

        No need to wait. Just place online upgrade request via Re 1 OTP authentication and you are good to go.

  107. Avanish Kumar

    Ultimate Experience with Standard Chartered Ultimate card . I applied for the card on line on 29th Jan’23 and recieved the card on 2nd Feb’23. Unbelievable !!! SC is so much efficient. Within few hrs after applying on SUNDAY , I got call , document submitted , Video KYC done followed by all approvals . Too good experience with Standard Chartered credit card division . On the other side , I applied for HDFC Infinia Metal card on 23rd Jan ’23 , it is still in progress ( today is 8th Feb ). They asked to send few docs by courier to Chennai office . Very poor experience . What’s the meaning of online application ?

  108. Dr.Hardik Patel

    Hi satish and Siddharth, Hi i am Dr.Hardik Patel, i have sc ultimate pre approved in sc mobile application and also receive the call for the same so is really pre approved or i have to go normal credit card application procedure? If pre approved card will instant generated after aadhar otp verification? Please reply asap

  109. Mugunthan

    Regarding SCB,

    Dont conclude talking to one CC staff. Make repeated calls. Recently I applied for SCB super value Titanium card. I made 4 calls on the same day. First 3 CC staff refused to process the card over call and asked me to apply in website. The 4th staff went ahead and issued the card over call.

    My SCB limit is 3.19 lakh. Once it increases to 4 lakh, I will try Ultimate card, but only thru call. I’m against Aadhaar OTP and Video KYC verification as a existing customer.

  110. Balaji

    Hi Satish,

    I just spoke to the CC today. They confirmed that Visa variant will not be issued even with block/close feature it will be replaced with a MC card only since this was developed as a MC product. In the middle they issued Visa because of the ban on MC by RBI. Once ban was lifted they have reverted back to MC.

    What I dont understand is why is everyone preferring Visa over MC? Is there any hidden benefits or is it just acceptability?

  111. Japjeev singh chawla

    Got this card with my existing SC CARD of limit greater than+5 lacs. Got card within 4 days of doing Rs 1 transaction. It is MC version, they said they are issuing only MC version from 1st jan 2023. Wanted to apply supplementary card, which according to CC executive, can’t be applied as issue in website also as per them you can’t apply currently offline also

  112. Dev

    What is the highest limit SCB Ultimate credit card anyone received till now?
    Do they give high limit as ICICI and HDFC bank. I have a very pathetic experience with SCB regarding credit limit. They do not increase credit limit as compared to other banks.
    Can anybody share your experience with SCB regarding credit limit.

    1. Mahesh S. Panicker

      Don’t have an SC Ultimate yet, using their Super Value Tytanium. Started off with 166000, and in less than 3 years, its up to 504000. Thre were stingy with the initial couple of limit enhancements, but have been generous since, and all limit enhances have been preapproved offers from the bank end.

    2. Harshit

      I have a limit of just over 6.5 lakhs which is shared between 3 SCB cards – Ultimate Visa, Ultimate MC and Manhattan Platinum.

      I have been using a SCB credit card since 2011 when the first limit provided by SCB was just Rs. 30k. Have been using an HDFC credit card over the same period whose limit is now 15 lakhs.

      1. SSR

        Hi Harshit,
        That’s a pretty long journey. So, I assume you have to pay annual fee for both Ultimate Visa and Ultimate MC. How does it benefit in having 2 cards with same features and paying double the fee? Just that you will have double the lounge access options by having more of same cards or anything else. Very much appreciate your sharing the thoughts.

      2. Kushal

        Sir, are you been charged for both SCB Ultimate MC and Visa variant?

    3. Bharath Sridhar

      I started with 5 lacs and has now reached 10 lacs on the SC Ultimate credit card. The latest one was 7.63 lacs to 10 lacs in the first week of Feb. All pre-approved offers.

      1. DR.HARDIK PATEL

        I am new to sc ultimate (its my first card with sc), so how do we know preapproved limit enhancement offer?

    4. Rohit Bahl

      Hi Dev,
      SCB is worst among all banks in terms of credit limit. My first CC was with SC-Platinum Rewards with a meagre limit of 30k. I used the card for nearly 5yrs.and was repeatedly asking for a decent limit which they denied. Finally, i closed my card after using for 5+yrs. Last yr. I again applied for SC card & got SC-Platinum Rewards & Smart card with a combined limit of 1.71L. During these yrs. I attained other bank cards with a min. limit of 4.5L to max limit of 8.01L.
      SC is one bank which wont give any LE offers & without that an existing customer can never apply for SC Ultimate variant. Its sad but true. Its better to go for other banks premium cards.

      1. Prashant Gupta

        It’s reverse for me started with Rs48k limit and now have Ra10.5L limit. Limit increase every 6 month automatically.

  113. Varun Arya

    Standard chartered have started acting smart now.
    The voucher available online, on the redemption portal without logging in and after logging in are different. They have removed some vouchers for redemption for the ultimate card holder like apple for example. And same for the electronic products under the redemption section. Only 18 options for ultimate card holders as against 51 for other card holders.
    In my personal opinion they are now starting to devaluate ultimate.

  114. Amandeep Singh

    Just want to share an update with you guys. I got an email from SC that from April 1, 2023 onward we will earn only 3 reward points instead of 5 reward points on every INR 150 spent and No reward points on Fuel Transactions.

    Honestly, I’m disappointed.

  115. AG

    As of today, SC has changed their points earning for the card. Starting 1st April, its come down from 5 for 150 TO 3 for 150!

    That drops their effective reward rate from 3.3% to 2%. Does anyone see any reason to use this card anymore?
    Their “Premium Support” knows nothing about what VISA ultimate is. Even a callback from escalation desk didn’t help. The BMS offer didnot work the first time I tried (1 week after receiving the card), Then it started working after 2 weeks!

  116. Rohit Bahl

    Hello,
    Yes, just received an SMS stating the same. All banks have started the cartelization ensuring they are at the same page wrt to rental payments as it is a big chunk of amount which is being used month-on-month by the cardholders and the amt. being transferred back to own account. Banks have realized now. This is just the beginning, i guess going fwd., most of the banks will not consider these payments towards monthly/annual spend based milestones.

Comments are closed.