In-depth review
RBL Bank Apex Credit Card
A low-fee cashback card built around RBL's rewards portal: unlimited 2% back on flights, hotels, shopping and vouchers booked through the portal, a flat 1% (capped ₹500/month) everywhere else, and two milestone cashbacks worth ₹3,000 that can cover the ₹1,000 fee. The value is real only if you route bookings through RBL's portal.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹1,000 in vouchers, points or cashback in year one — usually conditional on a first spend within 30–90 days
2% cashback at named travel merchants
Unlimited 2% cashback on flights, hotels, shopping & gift vouchers via the RBL Rewards Portal
1% on Other
1% cashback on non-portal spends, capped ₹500/billing month; fuel, utilities, insurance, rent, EMI & cash excluded
Airport Lounge Access
1 domestic lounge visit per calendar quarter, unlocked by ₹35,000 of eligible spend in the previous calendar quarter — so a new cardholder gets none in the quarter the card is issued
Movie Ticket Benefit
One complimentary movie ticket a month (up to ₹100) when you book 2 or more tickets on BookMyShow
Milestone Bonus
~₹1,000 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
🎬 ENTERTAINMENT BENEFITS
Movies, OTT subscriptions and entertainment perks.
- One complimentary movie ticket a month (up to ₹100) when you book 2 or more tickets on BookMyShow
✈️ TRAVEL BENEFITS
Lounge access, miles, forex rates and travel perks at a glance.
AIRPORT LOUNGE ACCESS
4 visits/yr
Domestic lounges
₹2,000
Estimated annual value
3.5%
Forex markup
2.0%
Travel reward rate
AIRLINE / TRAVEL PARTNERS
- Domestic airport lounge access (4 domestic visits/yr, worth ~₹2,000)
- Miles on: Flights, hotels, shopping & vouchers booked on the RBL Bank Rewards Portal
💰 CASHBACK STRUCTURE
How much you earn back on each type of spend — no points math required.
2.0%
travel cashback
1.0%
Base rate (all other spends)
- 2.0% cashback on travel
- 1.0% on all other spends — no restrictions
For RBL customers who book travel and shopping through the bank's rewards portal and will chase the ₹2 lakh / ₹4 lakh milestones. If you book flights and hotels directly rather than via the portal, the everyday 1% (capped ₹500/month) is all you get.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 11 Oct 2026.
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travelonly at Flights, hotels, shopping & vouchers booked on the RBL Bank Rewards Portal | cashback | 2% | — |
| Other | cashback | 1% | ₹500 |
Travel: Unlimited 2% cashback on flights, hotels, shopping & gift vouchers via the RBL Rewards Portal · Flights, hotels, shopping & vouchers booked on the RBL Bank Rewards Portal
Other: 1% cashback on non-portal spends, capped ₹500/billing month; fuel, utilities, insurance, rent, EMI & cash excluded
Earns nothing on: Fuel · Utility Bills · Insurance · Rent · EMI Conversions · Wallet Loads · Education · Government & Tax · Cash Advances
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) | ₹1,180 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹1,180 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.99% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹6,200/yr in total.
₹1,000 milestone cashback at ₹2 lakh of eligible annual spend — first rung of the ladder
A further ₹2,000 milestone cashback at ₹4 lakh of eligible annual spend — ₹3,000 in total once both rungs are cleared
1 domestic lounge visit per calendar quarter, unlocked by ₹35,000 of eligible spend in the previous calendar quarter — so a new cardholder gets none in the quarter the card is issued
One complimentary movie ticket a month (up to ₹100) when you book 2 or more tickets on BookMyShow
Milestone ladder
- ₹2,00,000 a year₹1,000 of value
- ₹4,00,000 a year₹2,000 of value
Should you get it?
- Best for: RBL customers who book travel and shopping via the rewards portal, Spenders who will hit the ₹2 lakh and ₹4 lakh annual milestones
- Mid tier — a solid all-rounder for steady monthly spend.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on everyday spends (1% back; 2% only at Flights, hotels, shopping & vouchers booked on the RBL Bank Rewards Portal).
- Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Unlimited 2% cashback on portal travel, shopping and vouchers
- Two milestone cashbacks worth ₹3,000 a year can cover the fee
- Complimentary domestic lounge access on a modest spend threshold
- A buy-one-get-one BookMyShow movie ticket every month, up to ₹100
- Opening a new RBL Bank Savings Account waives the annual fee while the account stays open
- No reward redemption fee on Apex (waived by RBL)
✕ Cons
- The 2% cashback only applies to bookings made through the RBL Rewards Portal
- Everyday 1% cashback is capped at ₹500 per billing month
- Fuel, utilities, insurance, education, rent, wallet loads, government payments, EMI and cash do not earn cashback
- The lounge visit is gated on the previous quarter's spend, so the first quarter is always empty
Eligibility & documents
Documents required
- 📄PAN card
- 📄Aadhaar / valid address proof
- 📄Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- 📄Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Cashback auto-adjusted as statement credit
- 🎁Book flights, hotels, shopping and vouchers via the RBL Bank Rewards Portal
What your Cashback are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Direct cash adjustment — no conversion
The 2% is portal-gated and the base 1% is capped at ₹500/month; fuel, utilities, insurance, education, rent, wallet loads, government payments, EMI and cash earn nothing, so real-world return depends on funnelling spend through RBL's portal.
Frequently asked questions
How do I earn the 2% cashback?
Is the cashback capped?
What are the milestone benefits?
Which spends do not earn cashback?
Can the annual fee be waived?
Does the Apex include a movie benefit?
How has the RBL Bank Apex Credit Card changed over time?
Has the RBL Bank Apex Credit Card been devalued recently?
When did the RBL Bank Apex Credit Card's fees last change?
The bottom line
Apex is a decent low-fee cashback card if — and only if — you route bookings through RBL's rewards portal. Between the 2% portal cashback, the ₹1,000 welcome vouchers and two milestone cashbacks worth ₹3,000, an active spender clears the ₹1,000 fee comfortably. Outside the portal it is an ordinary 1%-capped card.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 2 earn rules, 1 of them capped, 1 paid only at named merchants, the spends listed as earning nothing and 4 recorded perks.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the RBL Bank Apex Credit Card are taken from RBL Bank'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 RBL Bank. 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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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 2025 · last change Jan 2026
2026
- ▼ FeeObserved Jan 2026 · Effective 7 Jan 2026
New 1% fee on large FASTag top-ups and toll payments
No FASTag or toll transaction fee→1% fee on any FASTag-loading or toll-payment transaction above ₹10,000
From 7 January 2026 RBL Bank charges a 1% fee on any single FASTag-loading or toll-payment transaction above ₹10,000, measured per transaction per card, across merchant category codes 4784, 4111 and 4131. Because the threshold is per transaction rather than a monthly aggregate, it bites on one-off large FASTag top-ups rather than on regular commuting; splitting a top-up below ₹10,000 avoids it. The fee sits alongside RBL's existing 1% charges on rent, on utility spends above ₹50,000 a month, on fuel transactions above ₹10,000, and on education payments routed through third-party apps. It is a fee on the transaction, not a change to reward earning — these categories already earn no reward points on most RBL cards.
Verification: RBL Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
2025
- ◆ LaunchEffective Dec 2025
RBL Apex launched as a portal-first cashback card
RBL Bank introduced the Apex as a low-fee cashback card (₹1,000 + tax joining and annual fee): unlimited 2% cashback on flights, hotels, shopping and vouchers booked through the RBL Bank Rewards Portal, a flat 1% on other spends capped at ₹500/billing month, welcome vouchers worth over ₹1,000, milestone cashbacks of ₹1,000 at ₹2 lakh and ₹2,000 at ₹4 lakh of annual spend, a monthly BookMyShow buy-one-get-one movie offer, and 1 domestic lounge visit per quarter conditional on ₹35,000 of eligible spend in the previous quarter. Fuel, utilities, insurance, rent, EMI and wallet loads are excluded from earning; there is no reward-redemption fee. Being a cashback card it earns no RBL Reward Points. Exact launch day undocumented — a launch video and reviews place it in late December 2025.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed
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/rbl-apex#value-timeline">RBL Bank Apex Credit Card value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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