In-depth review
Shaurya SBI Card
A defence-personnel card with an unusually low Rs.250 fee, 5X points on everyday categories including CSD canteen spends, and a 1,000-point welcome worth most of the fee. It is a genuinely good-value entry card for armed-forces members — provided you know points are worth only Re.0.25 each.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹250 in vouchers, points or cashback in year one — usually conditional on a first spend within 30–90 days
1.25% on Dining
5X Reward Points (5 RP per Rs.100, ~1.25%) on dining, movies, departmental stores, grocery and CSD canteen spends, capped at 5,000 points a month CUMULATIVELY across all of them, then 1 RP per Rs.100.
1.25% on Groceries
5X Reward Points on grocery and departmental store spends (5 RP per Rs.100, ~1.25% at 4 RP = Re.1) — shares the 5,000-point monthly ceiling with dining and movies.
Annual Fee Waiver
Fee of ₹250 + 18% GST (₹295 all-in)/yr fully waived when you spend ₹50,000/year
Insurance Cover
Complimentary personal accidental insurance cover of Rs.2 lakhs — a RuPay-network benefit this card carries (registration may be required).
For defence personnel who want a genuinely low-cost everyday rewards card — first-time armed-forces cardholders and CSD-canteen, dining and grocery-heavy households.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 11 Oct 2026. Rates assume 1 pt = ₹0.25. How we value points →
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | reward points | 1.25%5 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | ₹1,250one cap shared with Groceries |
| Groceries | reward points | 1.25%5 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | ₹1,250one cap shared with Dining |
| Other | reward points | 0.25%1 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
Dining: 5X Reward Points (5 RP per Rs.100, ~1.25%) on dining, movies, departmental stores, grocery and CSD canteen spends, capped at 5,000 points a month CUMULATIVELY across all of them, then 1 RP per Rs.100.
Groceries: 5X Reward Points on grocery and departmental store spends (5 RP per Rs.100, ~1.25% at 4 RP = Re.1) — shares the 5,000-point monthly ceiling with dining and movies.
Other: 1 Reward Point per Rs.100 on all other categories (~0.25% at 4 RP = Re.1).
Earns nothing on: Fuel · Rent · Government & Tax · EMI Conversions · 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) | ₹295 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹295 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 2.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
| Add-on card fee | Free |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹850/yr in total.
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs.500 and Rs.3,000; max Rs.100 per statement cycle.
Complimentary personal accidental insurance cover of Rs.2 lakhs — a RuPay-network benefit this card carries (registration may be required).
Should you get it?
- Best for: Defence personnel wanting a low-cost everyday rewards card, Heavy CSD canteen, dining and grocery spenders, First-time cardholders in the armed forces
- Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on Dining (1.25% back).
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Very low Rs.250 annual fee, waived at just Rs.50,000 annual spend
- 5X Reward Points on everyday dining, movies, grocery, departmental store and CSD spends
- 1,000 welcome Reward Points (₹250) cover most of the ₹295 all-in first-year fee
- Built for defence personnel with CSD canteen spends counted at 5X
✕ Cons
- Eligibility is limited to armed-forces / defence personnel
- Base earn of ~0.25% is minimal; points are worth only Re.0.25 each
- No lounge access — it is a basic entry card
- Rewards are basic outside the 5X categories — 1 Reward Point per Rs.100 on all other spends
Eligibility & documents
Documents required
- 📄PAN card
- 📄Aadhaar / address proof
- 📄Defence service ID / proof of service
- 📄Income proof (salary slips or ITR)
- 📄Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Pay your card outstanding with Reward Points (4 RP = Re.1)
- 🎁Redeem Reward Points against gifts from the SBI Card rewards catalogue
What your SBI Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Capped at 60,000 pts/month from Apr 2026
Vouchers & merchandise
Eligibility is limited to defence personnel, and outside the 5X categories the base earn is only ~0.25% with points worth ₹0.25 each and no lounge access.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the Shaurya SBI Card for?
What does the 5X reward cover?
Is there a welcome benefit?
Do I get the accident insurance on this card?
How has the Shaurya SBI Card changed over time?
Has the Shaurya SBI Card been devalued recently?
When did the Shaurya SBI Card's fees last change?
How did the Shaurya SBI Card change in 2024?
The bottom line
A well-judged entry card for the armed forces — a ₹250 fee a welcome bonus nearly erases, 5X on the categories a defence household actually spends on, and an easy ₹50,000 waiver. It won't build a travel-rewards empire and the base rate and 3.5% forex are real caveats, but as a low-cost everyday card for eligible defence personnel it is an easy recommendation.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 3 earn rules, 2 of them capped, 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 Shaurya SBI Card 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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Guides and reviews related to this card.
Shaurya SBI Card
A defence-personnel card with an unusually low Rs.250 fee, 5X points on everyday categories including CSD canteen spends, and a 1,000-point welcome worth most of the fee. It is a genuinely good-value entry card for armed-forces members — provided you know points are worth only Re.0.25 each.
Shaurya Select SBI Card
The step-up defence card: a first-year-free Rs.1,499 card for armed-forces members that adds 4 domestic lounge visits, concierge and milestone vouchers up to Rs.7,000 on top of 2.5% on CSD canteen, dining, movies, grocery and departmental stores (0.5% elsewhere). Good if you spend enough to waive the fee at Rs.1.5 lakh. Its 5X is twice the entry Shaurya's, whatever the shared marketing suggests.
SBI Card Unnati
An FD-backed starter card that is free for its first 4 years, aimed at people building a credit history. Rewards are bare-minimum — 1 point per Rs.100 (~0.25%) plus Rs.500 cashback at Rs.50,000 spend — so hold it to establish credit, not to earn. Remember it is not lifetime free; the fee starts in year 5.
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 2019 · last change Apr 2026
2026
- ▼ RedemptionObserved 26 Feb 2026 · Effective 1 Apr 2026
Statement-credit redemption capped & blocked into 4,000-point multiples
Unrestricted statement-credit redemption, any point quantity→Max 60,000 RP/month; redeemable only in multiples of 4,000
Effective 1 April 2026, SBI Card capped statement-credit redemption at 60,000 Reward Points per card per calendar month and required redemptions in multiples of 4,000 points, removing partial/small redemptions. The 4 RP = ₹1 (₹0.25/point) conversion rate is unchanged. Applies to the Shaurya SBI Card (only Air India SBI Signature and the two PhonePe SBI variants are exempt).
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
2025
- ▼ FeeEffective 1 Nov 2025
1% fee on third-party education payments & wallet loads
No surcharge on education/wallet-load spends→1% fee on 3rd-party education fees & wallet loads over ₹1,000
In its system-wide fee revision effective 1 November 2025, SBI Card added a 1% fee on education-fee payments made via third-party apps/aggregators (Paytm, PhonePe, Razorpay, etc.; direct school/college website or campus POS payments stay free) and a 1% fee on digital-wallet loads exceeding ₹1,000. Applies to the Shaurya SBI Card.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
2024
- ▼ RewardEffective 1 Jun 2024
Government transactions stop earning reward points
Earned→Excluded
From 1 June 2024, government-related transactions (MCC 9399 and 9311 — tax, fines and government-service payments) on the Shaurya SBI Card no longer accrue reward points. Date corrected 2026-08-06 from 15 July to 1 June 2024: the card's own T&C booklet says "W.e.f. 01 Jun 2024". 15 July 2024 is the APOLLO card's date, and had been copied across.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ RewardObserved 1 Mar 2024 · Effective 1 Apr 2024
Reward points removed on rent payments (MCC 6513)
Base RP earned on rent payments→No RP on rent payments (MCC 6513)
SBI Card stopped awarding Reward Points on rent payments coded under MCC 6513, effective 1 April 2024 for standard cards. As an RP-earning SBI-branded card, the Shaurya SBI Card was covered; combined with the ₹199 processing fee, rent became a fully unrewarded, fee-bearing spend.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
2022
- ▼ FeeEffective 15 Nov 2022
Rent-payment processing fee introduced (₹99, later ₹199)
No rent-payment processing fee→₹99 + GST (raised to ₹199 + GST from 17 Mar 2023)
SBI Card began levying a ₹99 + GST processing fee on every rent-payment transaction from mid-November 2022, then doubled it to ₹199 + GST effective 17 March 2023. Applies system-wide, including the Shaurya SBI Card.
Verification: CardAdvisor Research · 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/sbi-shaurya#value-timeline">Shaurya SBI Card value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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