Reliance SBI Co-branded Cards: Do Discount Vouchers make up for the Low Reward Rate?

The features and benefits offered by Reliance SBI co-branded credit cards are as follows:

Co-Branded Discount Vouchers as Welcome Bonus

These SBI Card and Reliance co-branded credit cards offer Reliance Retail welcome vouchers on joining fee payment. The base variant comes with a voucher worth Rs. 500, while the PRIME variant users get a Rs. 3,000 voucher.

Apart from these welcome vouchers, cardholders can also avail additional discount vouchers worth Rs. 3,200 via Reliance SBI Card and worth Rs. 11,999 via Reliance SBI Card PRIME at the participating stores. The detailed voucher values with their corresponding brands are as follows:

Generally, the welcome benefits offered on credit cards simply match in value to the respective card joining fee but in case of these Reliance SBI co-branded cards, the welcome voucher value surpasses the fee by a wide margin. However, the benefit comes in the form of 9 different vouchers across 9 Reliance Retail brands and you can utilise the complete value of these discount vouchers only after spending at least Rs. 18,193 via Reliance SBI Card, or Rs. 94,245 via Reliance SBI Card PRIME. There is a minimum purchase value for each voucher adding to the terms and conditions.

Up to 10 Reward Points on Your Spends

The table below shows the reward earning per Rs. 100 for different type of spends:

Here, you can redeem the accrued reward points at the following rewards redemption value: 

1 Reward Point = Rs. 0.25

The rewards program here is quite basic despite the accelerated rewards rate on co-branded spends since the redemption ratio of the reward point to their monetary value is 4:1. So, Reliance SBI Card users can save 1.25% via rewards, while PRIME cardholders can earn 2.5% value. In a market where co-branded online shopping cards are giving up to 5% flat cashback with partner brands along with 1-2% value across all other spends, the reward rate of Reliance SBI Cards stand too low. Even offline retail co-branded cards are giving better value, for example- Shoppers Stop HDFC Credit Card, where the earning rate is 6 points per Rs. 150 and the value of 1 Point is Rs. 0.60.

Reward Value Comparison: Reliance SBI Card vs Axis Ace vs HDFC Millennia

Disclaimer: Here, we have taken the base variant of Reliance co-branded cards as the annual fee is at par with the other two cards. Despite the other two compared cards offering extra benefits on select brands, we have considered their base value-back rate for a fair comparison.

As seen from the table above, the Reliance SBI Card is offering a lower value despite the accelerated earning on its partner brands like AJIO and Jio Mart, whereas Axis Ace is offering a higher value on the same purchase. HDFC Millennia also gives almost the same value for these purchases.

Now, if we also consider the additional advantages offered by these cards. For instance, if in the above example for Axis Ace, the user pays the utility bill via Google Pay and makes dining spends on Zomato or Swiggy, the value-back for these two categories will be even higher at Rs. 250 and Rs. 160, respectively. Similarly, HDFC Millennia also has several practical partner brands across segments including Amazon, Flipkart, BookMyShow, Swiggy, Myntra, etc., shopping on which will give a higher value to the user than Reliance co-branded card.

Other Co-Branded Offers

Cardholders of these co-branded cards are also provided with various offers on transactions made at the participating Reliance Retail stores as given below:

Cashback Offer: 5% cashback, up to Rs. 250 per month on base card variant and up to Rs. 1,000 per month on PRIME card variant, on Jio Mart spends.

RelianceOne Offer: You can earn 1 RelianceOne point per Rs. 200 offline spends made on groceries and additional 2 RelianceOne points per Rs. 200 spent on Fashion Factory.

Discount Offer: You can also avail instant discounts on various brands as follows:

The discount offers on Reliance SBI co-branded cards are quite valuable especially for someone who regularly shops at Reliance Trends, AJIO, Centro, Zivame, Urban Ladder, Cover Story and Jio Mart. Each offer comes with a maximum discount value so in order to maximise the discount offers of Rs. 2,250 on the base variant, the cardholder would have to spend around Rs. 45,000 per month across all these brands. Similarly, to achieve the maximum discount value of Rs. 5,750 on the PRIME variant, users will have to spend Rs. 67,500 in a month. The Jio Mart Cashback Offer is quite practical as groceries make a substantial expenditure and it could be easier to maximise this benefit.

Milestone Benefits

Annual Fee Waiver: On reaching annual spends of Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 3 lakh via Reliance SBI Card and Reliance SBI Card PRIME respectively.

Reliance Retail Vouchers: You can earn complimentary Reliance Retail vouchers based on your annual spends made at the participating stores.

Voucher values on annual spends made by Reliance SBI Card users are:

• On spending Rs. 25,000 – Rs. 500 voucher
• On spending Rs. 50,000 – Rs. 750 voucher
• On spending Rs. 80,000 – Rs. 1,000 voucher

Voucher values on annual spends made by Reliance SBI Card PRIME users:

• On spending Rs. 75,000 – Rs. 1,500 voucher
• On spending Rs. 1.5 lakh – Rs. 2,250 voucher
• On spending Rs. 3 lakh – Rs. 5,000 voucher

Other Benefits

Lounge Access: Reliance SBI Card PRIME credit card users can avail 8 complimentary domestic (max. 2 per quarter) and 4 international (max. 2 per quarter) airport lounge access per year.

Movie Offer: PRIME cardholders get 1 complimentary movie ticket worth Rs. 250 per month.

Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% fuel surcharge waiver for fuel transactions between Rs. 500 and Rs. 4,000, exclusive of GST and other charges.

Both base and PRIME variants of Reliance SBI Cards come with decent co-branded benefits and can help the users save a good amount on their spends at Reliance Retail stores. Though the reward rate is low, the monthly discount vouchers would add value for those who regularly shop at most of Reliance Retail stores. Some of these brands are quite practical and the discount can be truly beneficial. For example, Jio Mart for groceries, Reliance Trends for apparel and footwear and AJIO for online spends. However, even Reliance loyalists may not visit other stores like Coverstory, Centro and Zivame frequently, which is why discounts on these brands may not be truly fruitful.

The co-branded benefits on Reliance SBI Card and Reliance SBI Card PRIME are similar, with the extent of these benefits being higher for the PRIME variant. The latter also comes with additional benefits like complimentary domestic and international lounge access and movie discount, but also charges a higher fee of Rs. 2,999 as opposed to the fee of Rs. 499 for the base variant. You can choose any of these cards based on how frequently you shop at the partner stores and how much annual fee you are willing to pay for the card.

To help you make a choice, here are a few scenarios under which the card could be the right choice for you and a few under which it may not be the best choice.

Consider getting Reliance SBI co-branded cards if:

• You frequently shop at Reliance Retail stores like Reliance Trends, AJIO, Jio Mart, etc.
• You prefer these brands and would not be willing to switch to other brands
• You typically spend a considerable amount at Jio Mart, Reliance Trends, etc. and would be able to maximise the value of monthly discount vouchers
• You already have other cards that offer you good value back across other spending categories and you are only looking to save on Reliance Retail brands

Consider other card options if:

• You are not a Reliance loyalist, instead you shop around for the right deal and then make a purchase, without inclination to any brand in general
• You are looking for a card that gives you good overall value-back

Some of the similar credit cards to Reliance SBI co-branded cards are mentioned in the table below: