In-depth review
PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE
The cheaper Rs. 499 sibling of the PhonePe SBI Card SELECT Black: a RuPay-on-UPI card paying 3 Reward Points per Rs. 100 on PhonePe spends, 2 on online and 1 elsewhere (1 point = Re. 1). The fee reverses at Rs. 1 lakh spend. A tidy low-fee card if PhonePe is your default payments app — but no lounge at this tier.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹500 in vouchers, points or cashback in year one — usually conditional on a first spend within 30–90 days
3% cashback at PhonePe app
3 Reward Points per Rs. 100 (~3% value back) on eligible PhonePe App spends such as bills, recharges and UPI; capped 750 RP/month from Jul 2026 (insurance sub-capped 250 RP/mo); 1 RP = Re.1. No points on transactions under Rs. 100
2% on Online Shopping
2 Reward Points per Rs. 100 (~2%) on eligible online spends; cap cut to 750 RP/month from Jul 2026; 1 RP = Re.1
Annual Fee Waiver
Fee of ₹499 + 18% GST (₹589 all-in)/yr fully waived when you spend ₹1,00,000/year
Milestone Bonus
~₹3,000 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
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.
💰 CASHBACK STRUCTURE
How much you earn back on each type of spend — no points math required.
3.0%
utility bills cashback
1.0%
Base rate (all other spends)
₹750
Monthly cap (accelerated)
- 3.0% cashback on utility bills
- 1.0% on all other spends — no restrictions
- Accelerated cashback capped at ₹750/month
For heavy PhonePe App users who pay bills, recharge and scan-to-pay by UPI, and first-time cardholders who want a UPI-linked RuPay rewards card that clears the ₹1 lakh fee-reversal bar.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 11 Oct 2026.
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utility Billsonly at PhonePe app | cashback | 3% | ₹750 |
| Online Shopping | cashback | 2% | ₹750 |
| Other | cashback | 1% | ₹1,000 |
Utility Bills: 3 Reward Points per Rs. 100 (~3% value back) on eligible PhonePe App spends such as bills, recharges and UPI; capped 750 RP/month from Jul 2026 (insurance sub-capped 250 RP/mo); 1 RP = Re.1. No points on transactions under Rs. 100 · PhonePe app
Online Shopping: 2 Reward Points per Rs. 100 (~2%) on eligible online spends; cap cut to 750 RP/month from Jul 2026; 1 RP = Re.1
Other: 1 Reward Point per Rs. 100 (~1%) on all other spends, capped 1,000 RP/month; 1 RP = Re.1, redeemable for vouchers or cash
Earns nothing on: Fuel · Wallet Loads · Rent · Government & Tax · Education · Online Gaming · EMI Conversions · Cash Advances · Tolls & Road Fees · Gift Cards & Vouchers · Jewellery · Utilities outside PhonePe · Insurance outside PhonePe · UPI outside PhonePe
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) | ₹589 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹589 |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹3,900/yr in total.
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs. 500 and Rs. 3,000; maximum Rs. 100 per statement cycle
Yatra voucher worth Rs. 3,000 on annual spends of Rs. 3 lakh
Spend milestone
- ₹3,00,000 a year₹3,000 of value
Should you get it?
- Best for: Heavy PhonePe App users (bills, recharges, UPI), First-time cardholders who want a UPI-linked RuPay card, Low-fee reward seekers who clear Rs. 1 lakh a year
- Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on Online Shopping (2% back; 3% only at PhonePe app).
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- RuPay card that links to UPI, so PhonePe scan-and-pay spends still earn Reward Points
- 3% value back on PhonePe App spends and 2% on other online spends
- Low Rs. 499 fee, reversed on Rs. 1 lakh of annual spend
- Rs. 500 welcome PhonePe gift card and a Rs. 3,000 Yatra milestone voucher
✕ Cons
- July 2026 devaluation: PhonePe and online spends both cut from 1,000 to 750 RP/month (insurance sub-capped 250), other spends capped 1,000 RP/month
- No reward points at all on transactions under Rs. 100 — a real limit on a recharge-and-bills card
- Exclusions from Jul 2026 — tolls, gifts, jewellery, education, and utility/insurance/UPI outside PhonePe earn no points
- Best value needs your bills, recharges and payments routed through PhonePe
- No lounge access at this tier (that sits on the PhonePe SBI Card SELECT Black)
- Reward Points are worth Re. 1 each, so the top rate is an effective 3%, not more
- 3.5% forex markup makes it a poor card abroad
Eligibility & documents
Documents required
- 📄PAN card
- 📄Aadhaar / address proof
- 📄Income proof (salary slips or ITR)
- 📄Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Reward Points redeem at 1 RP = Re. 1 against a wide array of vouchers
- 🎁Reward Points can also be redeemed for cash / statement value
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
Best value needs your bills, recharges and payments routed through PhonePe, and there is no lounge access at this tier.
Frequently asked questions
Does the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE work on UPI?
How is the annual fee waived?
What are the reward point caps after July 2026?
How does it compare with the PhonePe SBI Card SELECT Black?
How has the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE changed over time?
Has the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE been devalued recently?
When did the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE's fees last change?
The bottom line
Nails a specific brief — a cheap, UPI-linked RuPay card that rewards the everyday payments most cards ignore, with transparent 1-point-equals-₹1 value and a fee that is easy to wipe out. If PhonePe is your default payments app it is an easy yes; for lounge access or broad online value, step up to the SELECT Black or pair it with a flat-cashback card.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 3 earn rules, 3 of them capped, 1 paid only at named merchants, the spends listed as earning nothing and 2 recorded perks. The renewal fee is conditional — it is waived on a published spend target, so the fee you pay depends on what you spend.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE are taken from SBI Card'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 SBI Card. 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 Jul 2026
2026
- ▼ RewardObserved 1 Jun 2026 · Effective 1 Jul 2026
Reward caps cut and new exclusions added
PhonePe spends capped at 1,000 RP/month; online spends capped at 1,000 RP/month→PhonePe 750 RP/month (250 insurance sub-cap); online 750 RP/month
From 1 July 2026, less than a year after launch, SBI Card trimmed the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE: the monthly reward-point cap was cut from 1,000 to 750 RP on BOTH eligible PhonePe App spends and other online spends, with an insurance sub-cap of 250 RP inside the PhonePe bucket. Several categories also stopped earning entirely - toll and bridge payments, gift cards and vouchers, jewellery, education-institution fees, and any utility, insurance or UPI transaction routed outside the PhonePe App. Corrected 2026-08-06: we had previously recorded PhonePe spends as uncapped before the change and capped at 1,000 after, which reproduced the EXISTING column of SBI notice and understated the cut.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
2025
- ▼ FeeEffective 1 Nov 2025
1% fee on third-party education and large wallet loads
From 1 November 2025 SBI Card added a 1% fee on education-fee payments made through third-party apps or aggregators (Paytm/PhonePe/Razorpay etc.; direct school/college-website or campus-POS payments stay free) and a 1% fee on digital-wallet loads above ₹1,000 - a portfolio-wide charge that is particularly relevant to a card built around the PhonePe app.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
- ◆ LaunchEffective 22 Jul 2025
PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE launched
SBI Card and PhonePe launched the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE, the ₹499 entry rung of a two-card RuPay co-brand (SELECT BLACK is the ₹1,499 tier). As a RuPay card it links to UPI, so eligible PhonePe App and scan-and-pay spends still earn - 3 Reward Points per ₹100 (~3%) on PhonePe and Pincode app spends, 2 per ₹100 (~2%) on other online spends and 1 per ₹100 (~1%) elsewhere, each point worth ₹1. A ₹500 PhonePe e-gift voucher welcome offsets the first-year fee, the ₹499 renewal fee is reversed on ₹1 lakh of annual spend, a ₹3,000 Yatra voucher lands at ₹3 lakh of spend and there is a 1% fuel-surcharge waiver; there is no lounge access at this tier.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · 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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