Reliance SBI Card Review 2026: 2.5% on AJIO and JioMart, ₹2,250 Milestone, the UPI Catch & FAQs
Reliance SBI Card costs ₹499 and pays 2.5% on AJIO and JioMart, 1.25% at Reliance Retail stores and on dining, with a ₹2,250 voucher at just ₹80,000 of Reliance spend. But UPI payments are excluded. Full maths, fees and FAQs.
The Reliance SBI Card is a ₹499 retail co-brand paying 2.5% at AJIO and JioMart online, 1.25% at Reliance Retail stores and on dining and movies, and 0.25% on everything else. Only the dining and movies band is capped, at 5,000 Reward Points a statement cycle. The fee is reversed at ₹1 lakh of annual spend, and a ₹500 welcome voucher covers year one outright.
Its standout feature is the milestone: a ₹2,250 Reliance Retail voucher at just ₹80,000 of Reliance Retail spend. That is a 2.8% return on the threshold — better than the card's own earn rate on the same purchases, and the two stack.
The catch to know: UPI payments are excluded from both Reliance rates.
Reliance SBI Card Quick Overview
| **Card type** | Entry retail co-brand — Reliance Retail |
|---|---|
| **Best for** | Regular AJIO, JioMart and Reliance Retail shoppers |
| **Joining / annual fee** | ₹499 + GST, same on renewal — reversed at ₹1,00,000 of **total** annual spend |
| **Network** | Visa, Mastercard or RuPay |
| **AJIO and JioMart online** | **2.5%** — 10 Reward Points per ₹100, uncapped |
| **Reliance Retail stores** | **1.25%** — 5 Reward Points per ₹100, uncapped |
| **Dining and movies** | **1.25%** — 5 RP per ₹100, capped at 5,000 RP/statement cycle |
| **Everything else** | **0.25%** — 1 Reward Point per ₹100 |
| **Reward value** | ₹0.25 per point (4 RP = ₹1) |
| **Welcome benefit** | ₹500 Reliance Retail voucher + ₹3,200 of discount vouchers |
| **Milestone** | **₹2,250 voucher at ₹80,000 of Reliance Retail spend** |
| **Lounge access** | None |
Eligibility Criteria
SBI Card publishes no age or income threshold. Approval rests on its own assessment of income, credit history and internal scoring. Indian residency and a valid PAN are required. Add-on cards are free.
UPI Payments Are Excluded From Both Reliance Rates
The condition most likely to cost you money, and SBI states it twice — "except on UPI Payments" appears against both the AJIO/JioMart rate and the Reliance Retail store rate.
Pay at a Reliance Retail store by scanning a QR code and you drop from 1.25% to the 0.25% base rate — a fivefold cut. Swipe, tap or enter the card details and you keep the accelerated rate.
On a card built around a retailer whose tills actively push UPI, this matters. Use the card as a card, not through a UPI app.
The Milestone Is the Best Thing About This Card
A Reliance Retail voucher worth ₹2,250 at ₹80,000 of Reliance Retail spend in a year.
Run the arithmetic: ₹2,250 on ₹80,000 is a 2.8% return on that spend — more than double the 1.25% the card pays on the same purchases in Reward Points. And the two stack, so a cardholder doing ₹80,000 a year at Reliance takes roughly 4% combined on it.
₹80,000 a year is about ₹6,700 a month at Reliance stores — a realistic figure for a household doing its groceries at Reliance Fresh or Smart. That accessibility is what makes this card better value than its ₹2,999 PRIME sibling for most people, whose equivalent milestone needs ₹3 lakh of Reliance spend.
One thing to get right: the milestone is measured on Reliance Retail spend only, while the fee reversal is measured on total annual spend. They are different bases, and someone spending ₹1.2 lakh a year with only ₹40,000 at Reliance gets the fee reversal but no voucher.
Reward Structure
| Spend | Points | Effective rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| **AJIO and JioMart online** | 10 RP per ₹100 | **2.5%** | **None** |
| **Reliance Retail stores** | 5 RP per ₹100 | **1.25%** | **None** |
| Dining and movies | 5 RP per ₹100 | **1.25%** | **5,000 RP / statement cycle** |
| Everything else | 1 RP per ₹100 | **0.25%** | **None** |
| Fuel, property rental, wallet upload | Nil | **0%** | — |
The dining and movies band is capped at 5,000 Reward Points per statement cycle, after which 1 Reward Point per ₹100 continues. It binds at ₹1,00,000 of such spend a cycle. The AJIO/JioMart and Reliance Retail bands are not covered by that cap — SBI's T&C caps dining and movies alone and is silent on the Reliance-brand rates.
One modelling note: the participating Reliance Retail store list is published in a separate PDF. The main recognised brands are Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends, Reliance Smart and Reliance Fresh; other Reliance formats may or may not qualify, and comparison tools will score them at the base rate.
Welcome Benefit
Two parts, and only one is a cash equivalent:
- A ₹500 Reliance Retail voucher on payment of the joining fee
- Additional discount vouchers worth ₹3,200 for participating Reliance Retail stores
Both delivered within 30 days of joining-fee realisation.
The ₹500 voucher covers the ₹499 fee exactly — year one is free for anyone who pays the fee. The ₹3,200 figure is larger but softer: discount vouchers are not cash equivalents. Their realisable value depends on a discount structure SBI does not publish and on your buying enough at qualifying stores to use them.
Note that both the welcome and milestone vouchers are redeemable only at participating Reliance Retail stores. If you would not shop there anyway, their value to you is well below face.
Worked Example
Illustrative, at ₹22,000 a month — ₹2.64 lakh a year, clearing both the fee reversal and the milestone:
| Category | Monthly spend | Rate | Points | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJIO and JioMart online | ₹3,000 | 2.5% | 300 | ₹75 |
| Reliance Retail stores (card, not UPI) | ₹7,000 | 1.25% | 350 | ₹87.50 |
| Dining and movies | ₹3,000 | 1.25% | 150 | ₹37.50 |
| Everything else | ₹7,500 | 0.25% | 75 | ₹18.75 |
| Fuel, rent, wallet | ₹1,500 | 0% | 0 | ₹0 |
| **Monthly total** | **₹22,000** | **875** | **₹219 — 1%** |
Annual tally:
| Reward Points earned | ₹2,628 |
|---|---|
| Milestone voucher (₹84,000 of Reliance spend clears ₹80,000) | **₹2,250** |
| Welcome voucher (year one) | ₹500 |
| **Year-one total** | **₹5,378** |
| **Steady state** | **₹4,878** |
| Annual fee | **₹0** (reversed at ₹1 lakh total spend) |
| **Effective return** | **1.85% of spend** |
Note that the milestone is nearly as large as everything the card earns from spending — ₹2,250 against ₹2,628. On a ₹499 card, clearing ₹80,000 at Reliance is the single most valuable thing you can do.
Where You Won't Earn
SBI names the base-rate exclusions: fuel, property rental and wallet upload, plus cash advances.
| Excluded | MCCs |
|---|---|
| Fuel | 5172, 5541, 5542, 5983 |
| Rent and property management | 6513, 7349 |
| Wallet loading | 6540, 6541 |
And functionally, any Reliance purchase paid by UPI — it earns the 0.25% base rate.
The fuel surcharge waiver is the whole fuel benefit: 1% reversed on transactions between ₹500 and ₹3,000, capped at ₹100 per statement cycle.
SBI's range-wide transaction fees apply: ₹199 per rent payment, 1% on wallet loads above ₹1,000, 1% on utility payments once the cycle total passes ₹50,000, and 1% on education payments through third-party apps. Rent and wallet loads are *excluded from rewards and carry their own fee*.
Fees and Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | ₹499 + GST |
| Renewal fee | ₹499 + GST, reversed at ₹1,00,000 **total** annual spend |
| Add-on card fee | Nil |
| Finance charge | 3.75% per month — **45% per annum** |
| Interest-free period | 20 to 50 days; none if any part of last month's bill is unpaid |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
| Cash advance fee | 2.5%, minimum ₹500 |
| Fuel surcharge waiver | 1% on ₹500–₹3,000, max ₹100 per cycle |
| Late payment | ₹100 to ₹1,300 by balance |
| Overlimit | 2.5%, minimum ₹600 |
| Reward redemption fee | ₹99 on physical products, statement credit and physically-sent vouchers |
| GST | 18% on all of the above |
The ₹99 redemption fee matters on a card this size — redeeming 875 points (₹219) for a physical product leaves you ₹120. Redeem in larger blocks, or against the outstanding.
Standard vs Reliance SBI Card PRIME
| **Reliance SBI Card** | Reliance SBI Card PRIME | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | ₹499 | ₹2,999 |
| Fee reversal | ₹1,00,000 | ₹3,00,000 |
| AJIO and JioMart | 2.5% | **5%** |
| Reliance Retail stores | 1.25% | **2.5%** |
| Accelerated band | Dining, movies | + entertainment, domestic airlines, international |
| Base rate | 0.25% | **0.5%** |
| Welcome voucher | ₹500 (+₹3,200 discounts) | ₹3,000 (+₹11,999 discounts) |
| **Milestone** | **₹2,250 at ₹80,000 Reliance spend** | ₹8,750 at **₹3,00,000** Reliance spend |
| Lounge | None | None |
Break-even on the ₹2,500 fee difference, on the AJIO/JioMart rate alone: ₹1,00,000 of annual spend there.
But look at the milestone thresholds. The PRIME's rises nearly fourfold, from ₹80,000 to ₹3 lakh of Reliance Retail spend. For most households the ₹499 card's milestone is achievable and the PRIME's is not — which often makes the cheaper card the better one in practice, despite the halved rates.
Is the Reliance SBI Card Worth It?
Yes, for any regular Reliance shopper. ₹499 reversed at ₹1 lakh, a ₹500 welcome voucher that covers year one, and a ₹2,250 milestone reachable on ₹6,700 a month at Reliance — the card costs nothing and returns real money.
Yes, if you shop on AJIO or JioMart. 2.5% uncapped at both is solid for an entry card.
The milestone is the reason to hold it. ₹2,250 at ₹80,000 of Reliance spend is a 2.8% return on that threshold, stacking on top of the 1.25% earn rate.
No, as a primary card. A 0.25% base rate is among the weakest in SBI's range, and there is no lounge access or insurance.
Use the card as a card. UPI payments are excluded from both Reliance rates — a QR scan at the till costs you 80% of the benefit.
Prefer this to the PRIME unless your AJIO and JioMart spend exceeds ₹1 lakh a year and your Reliance Retail spend can reach ₹3 lakh. Otherwise the cheaper card's achievable milestone wins.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the annual fee of the Reliance SBI Card? ₹499 plus GST, on joining and renewal. The renewal fee is reversed at ₹1,00,000 of total annual spend. A ₹500 welcome voucher covers the joining fee in year one.
What is the reward rate? 2.5% at AJIO and JioMart online, 1.25% at participating Reliance Retail stores and on dining and movies, and 0.25% on everything else. The dining and movies band is capped at 5,000 Reward Points per statement cycle, after which 1 Reward Point per ₹100 continues. It binds at ₹1,00,000 of such spend a cycle. The AJIO/JioMart and Reliance Retail bands are not covered by that cap — SBI's T&C caps dining and movies alone and is silent on the Reliance-brand rates.
Do UPI payments earn the accelerated rate? No. SBI excludes UPI payments from both Reliance rates — the exclusion appears twice on its page. Paying at a Reliance store by QR code drops you to the 0.25% base rate.
What is the milestone benefit? A Reliance Retail voucher worth ₹2,250 at ₹80,000 of Reliance Retail spend in a year — about ₹6,700 a month. That is a 2.8% return on the threshold, stacking on top of the 1.25% earn rate.
Is the milestone measured on total spend? No. The milestone needs ₹80,000 of Reliance Retail spend; the fee reversal needs ₹1,00,000 of total annual spend. Different bases.
What is the welcome benefit worth? A ₹500 Reliance Retail voucher, covering the fee in year one, plus "additional discount vouchers worth ₹3,200". The second figure is a headline — discount vouchers are not cash equivalents and SBI does not publish the discount structure.
Can I redeem the vouchers anywhere? No. Both the welcome and milestone vouchers are redeemable only at participating Reliance Retail stores.
Does the card offer lounge access? No. Neither Reliance SBI card has a lounge programme or insurance.
Cards Mentioned in This Article
