SBI and IndiGo Launch New Co-Branded Credit Cards

It seems that two things have recently become quite interesting and dynamic for credit card enthusiasts in India, the changes in airport benefits (including lounge access) and the wave of new credit card launches, especially from SBI Card, which has been rolling out one co-branded card after another.

After Apollo, PhonePe, Flipkart, and Tata Neu, SBI Card has now partnered with IndiGo. The all-new SBI IndiGo Credit Card and SBI IndiGo ELITE Credit Card are officially open for applications. This latest partnership has resulted in two offerings tailored to different customer segments: the SBI IndiGo Card with an annual fee of ₹1,499 + GST, and the premium IndiGo SBI ELITE Card with a higher annual fee of ₹4,999 + GST.

These new cards also mark another strategic partnership for IndiGo, which has already launched co-branded credit cards with Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDFC First Bank. With this move, IndiGo further strengthens its presence in the financial space, while giving its customers more ways to benefit from their loyalty to India’s most popular airline.

Both the SBI IndiGo Credit Cards are available on the Mastercard and RuPay platforms. Let’s know more about these latest offerings from SBI Card.

About IndiGo SBI Card

Annual Charges – ₹1,499 + GST | Welcome Benefit – 2,500 IndiGo BluChips

One of the most rewarding aspects of the new IndiGo SBI Credit Card is that it offers free airport lounge access across airports in the country, a benefit that was even missing from the premium IndiGo IDFC FIRST Credit Card. Given below is the transparent reward rate offered by this card.

About IndiGo SBI Card ELITE

Annual Charges – ₹4,999 + GST | Welcome Benefit – 5,000 IndiGo BluChips & 1 6E Eats Voucher

The IndiGo SBI Card ELITE is a premium co-branded airline card that comes with several benefits, including both international (six visits each year) and domestic airport lounge access (eight visits each year), a feature especially useful for frequent flyers. In addition, the card offers a decent reward rate on spends made with IndiGo.

One major difference between the premium IndiGo SBI Card ELITE and the basic IndiGo SBI Card is that the ELITE variant offers insurance benefits, which can be very useful during emergencies. These include coverage for up to ₹3,000 per ticket on 4 flight cancellations, and up to ₹72,000 for loss of check-in baggage.

No reward points will be earned on utility, government transactions, rental, fuel, gaming, and insurance with both of these cards.

Bottom Line

IndiGo is the largest airline in the country, and as such, these cards are bound to generate interest in us all. All those who often fly with the airline can earn great rewards with these cards, along with additional benefits such as airport lounge access. Even those with high spends can take advantage of these cards as they offer BluChips as milestone rewards.

With airport lounge access, milestone benefits, and standard BluChip reward earnings, these cards tick the usual boxes expected from an airline co-branded credit card. What remains to be seen is how they perform against other recently launched products. A detailed review and comparison of both the SBI IndiGo Credit Cards will be available soon.

In the meantime, many are left wondering, with SBI’s strict issuance criteria and a cap on the maximum number of cards a user can hold, what exactly does the issuer aim to achieve by launching so many co-branded credit cards?

It seems that SBI Card is working overtime to expand its footprint in the credit card space with multiple new launches, fresh designs, and broader partnerships.