PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card Review 2026: 10% on PhonePe Bills and Recharges, Caps & FAQs
PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card charges ₹999 and pays 10% Reward Points on PhonePe recharges, utilities and bill payments, capped at ₹1,000 a month. Caps, fees and FAQs.
The PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card pays 10% on PhonePe's own categories — recharges, utilities and bill payments — plus 5% at selected online brands and 1% on Scan & Pay. Points are worth ₹1 each.
It also carries 2 domestic lounge visits a quarter, which is unusual at this fee. Every band is capped monthly, and the caps are the thing to understand before applying.
PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card Quick Overview
| **Card type** | Payments-app co-brand card |
|---|---|
| **Best for** | PhonePe users who pay bills and recharge through the app |
| **Joining / renewal fee** | ₹999 + GST, same on renewal — renewal waived at ₹2 lakh of annual spend |
| **Network** | Visa, Mastercard |
| **Base reward rate** | **Not published by the issuer** |
| **Top reward rate** | **10.0%** — Select PhonePe categories — recharges, utilities, bill payments and travel |
| **Reward currency** | Reward Points, valued at ₹1 each |
| **Welcome benefit** | 5 PhonePe scratch cards worth ₹200 each, for the first 5 UPI-on-credit-card transactions |
| **Lounge access** | 2 domestic visits per quarter (8 a year) |
| **Forex markup** | 3.5% |
Reward Structure: How You Earn
The card earns Reward Points worth ₹1 each, so the percentages below are true cashback figures.
10% on select PhonePe categories — recharges, utilities and bill payments, capped at ₹1,000 a calendar month. 5% at select online brands including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio, Swiggy and Zomato, capped at ₹500 a month. 1% on all Scan & Pay spends, capped at ₹500 a month.
This card was unaffected by HDFC's 15 May 2026 rate change, which moved the Reward Point cards from ₹150 to ₹200 earning blocks.
HDFC publishes no general off-band earn rate for this card. The table shows 0% outside the named categories because nothing else is stated — an absence of information, not a confirmed zero.
| Spend | Effective rate |
|---|---|
| Select PhonePe categories — recharges, utilities, bill payments and travel (capped at 1,000 points a month) | **10.0%** |
| Select online brands — Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio, Swiggy, Zomato and Uber (capped at 500 points a month) | **5.0%** |
| All Scan & Pay spends (capped at 500 points a month) | **1.0%** |
| Everything else | 0.0% |
| Fuel, rent, wallet loads, government, gaming | **0%** |
The caps that actually bind
Headline rates mean little until you know where they stop. These are the limits on this card:
| Cap | Limit |
|---|---|
| Phonepe | 1,000 points per calendar month |
| Online | 500 points per calendar month |
| Scan | 500 points per calendar month |
Three separate monthly caps run at once and none of them is large: ₹1,000 on the PhonePe band, ₹500 on online brands and ₹500 on Scan & Pay. At 10% the PhonePe band fills at ₹10,000 of bill and recharge spending a month.
The maximum realisable benefit across all three bands is therefore about ₹2,000 a month.
Category Restrictions: Where You Won't Earn
- Where you earn nothing: Earns nothing at all: fuel; EasyEMI and e-wallet loading; rent, property management, maintenance and packers-and-movers; government transactions; education paid through third-party apps such as CRED, Cheq or MobiKwik (paying a college or school directly still earns); and online skill-based gaming. Points are also REVERSED if a retail transaction is later converted to SmartEMI.
- Point expiry: Reward Points are valid for 24 months from accrual and lapse thereafter — HDFC states 'Unredeemed Reward Points will expire/lapse after 2 years of accumulation'.
- Redemption fee: ₹99 per redemption.
- Phonepe cap: 1,000 Reward Points per calendar month on the PhonePe band, binding at ₹10,000 of such spend.
- Online cap: 500 Reward Points per calendar month on the online-brand band, binding at ₹10,000 of such spend.
- Scan cap: 500 Reward Points per calendar month on Scan & Pay, binding at ₹50,000 of such spend.
Fees and Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | ₹999 + GST |
| Renewal fee | ₹999 + GST |
| Finance charges | Up to 3.75% per month (45% per annum). The rate applied depends on the card variant and the cardholder's profile. |
| Interest-free period | Up to 50 days, and only if the previous month's balance was cleared in full. No interest-free period applies once a balance is revolved or a cash advance taken. |
| Minimum amount due | 5% of the total outstanding, or the sum of 100% of EMI, fees, charges, interest and any overlimit amount plus 1% of the principal — whichever is higher. Subject to a minimum of ₹200. |
| Cash advance fee | 2.5% of the amount withdrawn, subject to a minimum of ₹500. |
| Cash advance interest | Up to 3.75% per month, charged from the date of withdrawal until repayment in full. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% on the INR-converted amount for most variants; premium variants carry 2%. |
| Dynamic currency conversion | 1.75% markup on transactions made in Indian rupees at an international merchant or an overseas-registered merchant, with effect from 15 May 2026. |
| Late payment | Nil up to ₹100; ₹100 for ₹101–₹500; ₹500 for ₹501–₹1,000; ₹600 for ₹1,001–₹5,000; ₹800 for ₹5,001–₹10,000; ₹1,100 for ₹10,001–₹25,000; ₹1,300 for ₹25,001–₹50,000; ₹1,300 above ₹50,000. |
| Overlimit | 2.5% of the overlimit amount, subject to a minimum of ₹550. |
| Payment return | 2% of the payment amount, subject to a minimum of ₹450. |
| Rent payment | 1% of the transaction amount on rent payments made through third-party merchants, levied FROM THE SECOND rental transaction of the calendar month — so the first rent payment each month is free of it. Rent and property-management transactions also earn no Reward Points at all, w.e.f. 1 January 2023. |
| Wallet load | 1% on wallet-loading spends exceeding ₹10,000 in a calendar month, excluding PayZapp, with effect from 1 October 2025. The fee applies to the total wallet-loading spend for the month, capped at ₹4,999. |
| Utility payments | 1% on utility spends exceeding ₹50,000 in a calendar month for consumer cards (₹75,000 for business cards), with effect from 1 October 2025. The fee applies to the total utility spend for the month, capped at ₹4,999. |
| Education payments | 1% on education transactions made through third-party applications such as CRED, NoBroker or Cheq, capped at ₹4,999 per transaction. Education paid DIRECTLY through a college or school website, or at its POS machine, attracts no fee. |
| Fuel transactions | 1% on fuel transactions exceeding ₹15,000 for consumer cards (₹30,000 for business cards), with effect from 1 October 2025. The fee applies to the total transacted amount, capped at ₹4,999 per transaction. |
| Online skill-based gaming | 1% on online skill-based gaming spends exceeding ₹10,000 in a calendar month, with effect from 1 October 2025, applied to the month's total and capped at ₹4,999. |
| Card replacement | ₹100 plus taxes. |
| Add-on card | Nil. |
| Reward redemption | ₹99 plus taxes on redemption through the rewards catalogue. |
| EMI processing | ₹199 plus taxes on retail EMI conversion. |
| GST | 18% on all fees, interest and charges. |
Is the PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card Worth It?
At ₹999 with a ₹2 lakh reversal and 8 lounge visits a year, Ultimo is the better of the two PhonePe cards by a wide margin — 10% against 2% on the PhonePe categories, and double the monthly cap.
The caps define the card. It is built for someone whose bills and recharges run to roughly ₹10,000 a month through PhonePe — fill that band and the card works well. Spend far more and the extra earns nothing accelerated.
Scan & Pay at 1% is the quietly useful part. QR-code payments are where a lot of Indian spending happens and most credit cards earn nothing on them.
The unpublished general earn rate is a real gap. Spending outside the three named bands may earn something, but HDFC does not say what.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the PhonePe rate on PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card? 10% on select PhonePe categories — recharges, utilities and bill payments — capped at ₹1,000 a calendar month.
What else earns? 5% at select online brands including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio, Swiggy and Zomato, capped at ₹500 a month; and 1% on all Scan & Pay spends, also capped at ₹500 a month.
Ultimo or UNO? Ultimo at ₹999 — 10% on PhonePe categories against UNO's 2%, twice the monthly cap, and 8 lounge visits a year. UNO at ₹499 only makes sense if you would not fill the caps anyway.
What is a point worth? ₹1, so the percentages quoted are genuine cashback rates.
What does it not earn on? Fuel, rent, wallet loads, government payments, third-party education apps and online gaming earn nothing, and rewards are reversed if a purchase is converted to SmartEMI.
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