SBI Unnati Credit Card (2026) Review

Not a rewards card and not meant to be. If you have no credit history — a student, a new earner, or someone rebuilding after a default — six months of on-time payments here is the cheapest route to a score that unlocks real cards.

The SBI Card Unnati is issued by SBI Card on the RuPay network and is secured against a fixed deposit, so it asks for no income proof and no credit history. That structure is what makes it available when nothing else is, and it is also what caps what it can pay you back.

At a glance

Issuer	SBI Card
Network	RuPay
Joining fee	Nil
Annual fee	Lifetime free
Effective return	0.5%
Reward type	Reward points
Forex markup	3.50%
Lounge access	0 domestic · 0 international
Minimum income	Not required
Minimum credit score	Any
Best for	Building credit history from zero

Updated 15 Aug 2026 · sbicard.com

The full cost

Charge	Amount
Joining fee	Nil
Annual fee	Nil
GST on annual fee (18%)	Nil
Total annual cost	Nil
Fee waiver threshold	No waiver offered
Forex markup	3.50% + GST on the markup
Fuel surcharge waiver	Yes, 1% (capped)
Finance charge if you revolve	Typically 3.5%/month — about 42% a year

Updated 15 Aug 2026 · sbicard.com

The 18% GST on the annual fee is the number most comparisons quietly omit. On this card it changes nothing, because the fee is nil — but on any card you compare it against, a ₹2,500 fee is really ₹2,950 a year. Our credit card reward value calculator nets the rewards off against the fee and its GST, which is the only comparison that decides anything.

How we scored it

Credsir rating	2.0 / 5
Rewards	0.5
Fees	5.0
Perks	0.0
Accessibility	5.0

Rewards carry 40% of the weight, perks 25%, fees 20% and accessibility 15%. The score is computed from the fields above, not assigned — the full working is on our methodology page. A 2.0 here is not a warning: the card scores full marks on fees and on accessibility, and near zero on rewards and perks, which is exactly what a secured entry card is supposed to look like.

What works, what does not

What works

No income or credit score requirement — backed by your own FD
Free for the first four years
Reports to bureaus, so it builds a genuine credit history

What does not

Requires locking up a fixed deposit
Very low reward rate
Credit limit capped at a share of the FD value

The fixed deposit behind it

Because the limit is a share of the deposit you pledge, the deposit itself is part of the deal. It keeps earning its contracted rate while it is pledged, so the rate you open it at matters — compare it against the best FD interest rates before you lock the money up, rather than accepting whatever the branch offers on the day.

Eligibility

Age	21–60 years (typical)
Income	Not required
Credit score	Any
Documents	PAN, Aadhaar, income proof
Welcome benefit	Cashback on meeting the first-year spend milestone

Who this is for, and what to do next

Use it as a stepping stone rather than a destination. Once the bureau has six to twelve months of on-time payments on file, the cards that actually pay you become reachable — the mechanics of that are set out in how to improve your credit score, and the alternatives at that stage are covered in best first credit cards for people with no credit history.

Everything else SBI Card issues, including the cards worth graduating to, sits on the SBI Card page. SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited is a separate listed company from State Bank of India, which is why the two have separate pages here.

Effective reward rate is our own blended estimate for a typical spend mix — not the accelerated rate an issuer advertises on one category. Annual fees are shown before the 18% GST that is charged on top. Verify current terms on the issuer’s site before applying; card terms change without notice.

Sources

SBI Card — sbicard.com (primary source) — as of 15 Aug 2026