Using an SBI Credit Card? Brace yourself for a series of significant policy changes effective from April 1, 2026. SBI Card has announced a revamp of its reward point redemption policy and cashback structure, which is set to reduce the overall value for frequent spenders.
The New Reward Point Math Starting April 1, cardholders can redeem a maximum of 60,000 reward points per calendar month as statement credit. Furthermore, the redemption must now be in multiples of 4,000 points. This means if you have random points like 5,500, you can only redeem 4,000 and must wait until you reach the next milestone of 8,000 for further redemption. Premium variants like Air India SBI Signature and PhonePe SBI Cards are exempted from this monthly cap.
Cashback Devaluation The highly favored ‘SBI Cashback Card’ is also facing a hit. The maximum monthly cashback limit has been slashed from ₹5,000 to ₹4,000. This is further divided into a ₹2,000 cap on online spends and a ₹2,000 cap on offline transactions. High-value online shoppers who used to maximize their 5% cashback will now find their savings restricted.
Stricter Monitoring Beyond rewards, the alignment with new Income Tax guidelines means that credit card transactions will be more transparent to tax authorities. Any spend exceeding ₹10 lakh in a financial year will be reported to the IT department. Additionally, ensuring your PAN is linked to your credit card is now mandatory. If you have been accumulating points for a big redemption, it might be wise to act before the new fiscal year kicks in.