In-depth review
BOBCARD Prime Credit Card
BOBCARD Prime is a secured card issued against a fixed deposit of ₹30,000 or more, with guaranteed issuance and no income proof required. It has zero joining and zero annual fees, links to UPI on a RuPay rail, and accepts applicants from 18 to 85. The rewards are token — 2 RP per ₹100 at ₹0.20 a point is about 0.4%, and fuel earns nothing — so judge it on access and cost, not returns.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹100 in vouchers, points or cashback in year one — usually conditional on a first spend within 30–90 days
0.4% on Other
2 reward points per ₹100 (~0.4% at ₹0.20/point) on all categories, including UPI spends. Fuel earns no reward points
Lifetime Free
No annual fee — ever. Keep this card long-term without any recurring cost.
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
1% waiver on fuel transactions, capped at ₹250/month
UPI Linked
Pay UPI QR codes from your credit line. What UPI payments earn can depend on the app you pay through, so check the rewards details.
People building or rebuilding credit — thin-file applicants, students, retirees, the newly self-employed — who can park ₹30,000 in a fixed deposit and want a card that costs nothing to hold while a credit history forms.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 11 Oct 2026. Rates assume 1 pt = ₹0.20. How we value points →
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | reward points | 0.4%2 pts/₹100 × ₹0.20 | — |
Other: 2 reward points per ₹100 (~0.4% at ₹0.20/point) on all categories, including UPI spends. Fuel earns no reward points
Earns nothing on: Fuel · Groceries · Supermarkets / convenience stores / general retail (MCC 5261/5331/5411/5499) · Rent · Wallet Loads · Government & Tax · Education · Insurance · Hospitals · Transportation / toll / bus · Charity · Fast food restaurants · Telecom
These spends earn no rewards at all — not a reduced rate, and not the base rate. They are also normally left out of any milestone or fee-waiver calculation.
Fees & charges
The numbers that matter beyond rewards — verify on the issuer site before applying. Fees below are shown inclusive of 18% GST, as of 11 Oct 2026.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | Lifetime free |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | Free |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1%, cap ₹250 |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹1,200/yr in total.
1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations across India on transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000, capped at ₹250 per statement cycle. Fuel spends earn no reward points
Should you get it?
- Best for: Building or rebuilding a credit history, Thin-file applicants with no income proof, Students, retirees and the newly self-employed
- Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on everyday spends (0.4% back).
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- No joining or annual fee — genuinely free to hold
- Guaranteed issuance against a fixed deposit, with no income proof
- Available from age 18 to 85 — an unusually wide window
- Your fixed deposit keeps earning interest while the card builds history
- UPI-linked RuPay — pay by scanning QR codes
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations
✕ Cons
- Secured card — requires a fixed deposit of ₹30,000 or more as collateral
- Token rewards — 2 RP/₹100 at ₹0.20 a point is only ~0.4% back
- Fuel transactions earn no reward points
- Supermarkets, rent, government, education and several other MCCs earn nothing
- 3.5% forex markup — not for international transactions
- Accidental-death cover withdrawn for cards issued after 15 July 2026
Eligibility & documents
Documents required
- 📄PAN card
- 📄Aadhaar / valid address proof
- 📄Fixed deposit of ₹30,000 or more
- 📄Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Statement credit / cashback adjustment (₹0.20/point)
- 🎁Online rewards catalogue (vouchers, merchandise)
- 🎁Earn reward points on UPI transactions via linked apps
What your BOB Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Standard redemption
Brand & e-gift vouchers
It requires ₹30,000 locked in a fixed deposit, and the reward programme is token — ~0.4% at ₹0.20 a point, with no rewards on fuel. Once your credit score supports an unsecured card, almost anything will out-earn it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an income proof or a credit score?
What does it earn?
What does it cost to hold?
Which network is it issued on?
Is there a welcome benefit?
How has the BOBCARD Prime Credit Card changed over time?
Has the BOBCARD Prime Credit Card been devalued recently?
When did the BOBCARD Prime Credit Card's fees last change?
How did the BOBCARD Prime Credit Card change in 2026?
The bottom line
A clean, honest credit-builder. The zero fee is the feature: your fixed deposit keeps earning interest, the card costs nothing to keep, and a payment history accrues. The rewards are close to irrelevant — 2 RP/₹100 at ₹0.20 a point is ~0.4%, among the lowest in the catalogue, and fuel earns nothing. Judge it on access and cost, not on returns.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 1 earn rule, the spends listed as earning nothing and 1 recorded perk.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the BOBCARD Prime Credit Card are taken from BOBCARD's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page. Last updated 11 Oct 2026. Reviewed by Devchandra Sah. Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for BOBCARD. All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
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Guides and reviews related to this card.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2022 · last change Jul 2026
2026
- ▼ BenefitObserved 17 Jun 2026 · Effective 15 Jul 2026
Complimentary accidental death insurance withdrawn
Air + non-air accidental death cover included→No accidental death cover
BOBCARD withdrew the complimentary air and non-air accidental death insurance carried by the Prime card, which was explicitly named in the notice. Cards issued after 15 July 2026 get no cover, and existing cardholders lose it from 25 August 2026.
Verification: BOBCARD ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ FeeEffective 1 Apr 2026
Processing fees added on toll/bus, high-value rail and third-party education spends
None→1% (toll/bus ≥₹5,000; rail ≥₹30,000; 3rd-party education apps — each max ₹5,000)
From 1 April 2026 BOBCARD applied a 1% processing fee across almost all its cards: on toll and bus (MCC 4784) spends of ₹5,000 or more, on railway bookings (MCC 4112) of ₹30,000 or more (capped ₹5,000), and on education-fee payments made through third-party apps such as CRED, Paytm, PhonePe and MobiKwik (capped ₹5,000).
Verification: BOBCARD ↗ · Confidence: High
2025
- ▼ FeeEffective 1 Jul 2025
Finance charge raised to 3.75% per month
3.49% per month (41.88% p.a.)→3.75% per month (45% p.a.)
The monthly finance charge on revolved balances rose from 3.49% to 3.75% (41.88% to 45% a year). The notice applied to all BOBCARD variants except Eterna, Eterna FD and Tiara, so Prime was included — this is the change that explains the card's current 3.75% monthly rate.
Verification: BOBCARD ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ RedemptionEffective 1 Jul 2025
Minimum redemption raised to 1,000 points
No stated minimum→1,000 points minimum
Redeeming reward points against the statement balance now requires a minimum of 1,000 points across all BOBCARD variants. On Prime's 2 RP/₹100 earn, that is roughly ₹50,000 of spend before points can first be cashed out.
Verification: BOBCARD ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▲ RewardEffective 1 Jul 2025
Utility bill payments earn reward points again
No reward points on utilities→2 reward points per ₹100 on utilities
BOBCARD restored core reward points on utility bill payments (electricity, gas, water — MCC 4900) across all variants, so Prime's flat 2 RP/₹100 now applies to utilities again. This partially reverses the July 2024 special-category cull, but only for utilities.
Verification: BOBCARD ↗ · Confidence: High
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Source: <a href="https://cardadvisor.in/cards/bob-prime#value-timeline">BOBCARD Prime Credit Card value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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