In-depth review
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.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
0.25% on Other
1 Reward Point per Rs.100 spent (~0.25%). Cash advance, balance transfer, Flexipay and fuel do not earn points.
Milestone Bonus
~₹500 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
For first-time cardholders and SBI fixed-deposit holders building or rebuilding a credit history with minimal cost and easy approval — not for anyone who already has good credit.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 1 Oct 2026. Rates assume 1 pt = ₹0.25. How we value points →
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | reward points | 0.25%1 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
Other: 1 Reward Point per Rs.100 spent (~0.25%). Cash advance, balance transfer, Flexipay and fuel do not earn points.
Earns nothing on: Fuel · Rent · Government & Tax · Cash Advances · EMI Conversions
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 1 Oct 2026.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹589 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | Free |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹1,100/yr in total.
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs.500 and Rs.3,000; max Rs.100 per statement cycle.
Rs.500 cashback on annual spends of Rs.50,000.
Spend milestone
- ₹50,000 a year₹500 of value
Should you get it?
- Best for: First-time cardholders building a credit history, SBI fixed-deposit holders wanting a low-commitment card, Anyone shifting everyday spends to cashless payments
- Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on everyday spends (0.25% back).
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- No annual fee for the first 4 years
- Rs.500 cashback on Rs.50,000 annual spend covers everyday use
- FD-backed issuance makes approval easy for those building credit
- Simple entry card to go cashless with SBI
✕ Cons
- Requires a lien on an SBI fixed deposit of Rs.25,000 or more
- Only 1 Reward Point per Rs.100 (~0.25%) — a bare-minimum earn rate
- Fuel, cash advance, balance transfer and Flexipay earn no points
- Rs.499 fee kicks in from the 5th year; it is not lifetime free
Eligibility & documents
Documents required
- 📄PAN card
- 📄Aadhaar / address proof
- 📄SBI fixed-deposit proof (Rs.25,000+)
- 📄Income proof (salary slips or ITR)
- 📄Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Redeem Reward Points against gifts from the SBI Card rewards catalogue
- 🎁Rs.500 cashback auto-credited on reaching Rs.50,000 annual spend
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
It requires a lien on an SBI fixed deposit of ₹25,000 or more, earns only ~0.25%, and is not lifetime free — the ₹499 fee kicks in from year 5.
Frequently asked questions
Is the SBI Card Unnati lifetime free?
Do I need a fixed deposit to get it?
What rewards does it earn?
What does not earn rewards?
How has the SBI Card Unnati changed over time?
Has the SBI Card Unnati been devalued recently?
When did the SBI Card Unnati's fees last change?
How did the SBI Card Unnati change in 2024?
The bottom line
A credit-building tool, plain and simple — FD-backed, easy to approve and free for four years, with a small ₹500 cashback milestone as its only real reward. Use it to establish a credit history at minimal cost, watch for the ₹499 fee that starts in year five, and graduate to a proper rewards card once your score supports it.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 1 earn rule, the spends listed as earning nothing and 2 recorded perks.
Last updated 1 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the SBI Card Unnati are taken from SBI Card's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page. Last updated 1 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.
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 2017 · 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 SBI Card Unnati (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 SBI Card Unnati.
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 SBI Card Unnati no longer accrue reward points, in line with SBI Card's wider exclusion across its portfolio.
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 that carried no pre-existing rent exclusion, the SBI Card Unnati was covered; combined with the ₹199 processing fee, rent became a fully unrewarded, fee-bearing spend.
Verification: SBI Card ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ FeeEffective 15 Mar 2024
Minimum Amount Due (MAD) calculation revised
From 15 Mar 2024 SBI Card revised the portfolio-wide Minimum Amount Due formula to 100% of GST + EMI + fees/charges plus 5% of (finance charge + retail spends + cash advance) + overlimit, and where 5% falls short of the finance charge the MAD becomes 100% of finance charges. It does not change the total owed but raises the minimum payable, so it hits SBI Card Unnati holders who revolve a balance; it does not touch rewards.
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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Source: <a href="https://cardadvisor.in/cards/sbi-unnati#value-timeline">SBI Card Unnati value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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