Standard Chartered Credit Cards 2026: Smart, EaseMyTrip and Ultimate

Which Standard Chartered card suits you

Think of the range as five answers to five habits. Pick the habit that eats most of your monthly spend, then check the cap, because SC's caps is where the real value get decided.

If you shop online a lot: Smart

Online spends on Smart earn 2% back with a ₹1,000 ceiling per statement cycle, and everything else 1% with a ₹500 ceiling, so each cap fills at ₹50,000 of spend (₹1,000 divided by 2%, and ₹500 divided by 1%). Since 21 August 2024 the caps are applying to you and your supplementary cards together. Say you spend ₹15,000 online and ₹10,000 offline a month: that earns ₹300 plus ₹100, or ₹400 a month and ₹4,800 a year (₹400 times 12). Redemption opens only when ₹2,500 has built up, and it goes in steps of ₹1,000, so this spender waits about 7 months for the first redemption (₹2,500 divided by ₹400 is 6.25). The ₹499 renewal fee is reversed on ₹1,20,000 of yearly spend, and new SC customers get the first-year fee waived.

If you book flights and hotels: EaseMyTrip

The EaseMyTrip card earns 10 points per ₹100 on airline and hotel bookings made on the airline's or hotel's own website, app or outlet, worth ₹0.25 a point, so 2.5%. Bookings on EaseMyTrip itself earn only 2 points per ₹100, the same as other spends (0.5%). What EaseMyTrip give instead is instant discounts with the card's code: 10% on domestic flights up to ₹1,000, 10% on international flights up to ₹5,000, 20% on domestic hotels up to ₹5,000 and on international hotels up to ₹10,000, and ₹125 off bus tickets of ₹500 or more, once a month per category. Book one international hotel in a year with full discount, the ₹350 fee is recovered many times. For another travel co-brand, see the MakeMyTrip card on our ICICI Bank hub.

If you want no fee: Platinum Rewards

Applied for online, Platinum Rewards has no joining or annual fee as per its terms. It earns 5 points per ₹150 at fine dining outlets and on fuel, and 1 point per ₹150 elsewhere, at ₹0.25 a point. That is about 0.83% on dining and fuel (5 times ₹0.25, divided by 150) and only around 0.17% on rest (₹0.25 divided by 150). It is the SC card with the lowest published income bar, ₹20,000 a month gross. For more no-fee options, compare the range on our IDFC FIRST Bank hub.

If you spend steadily on everything: Rewards

The Rewards card earns 4 points per ₹150 on retail spends, and 4 bonus points per ₹150 on the part of your spend above ₹20,000 in a cycle, with bonus points capped at 2,000 a cycle. The bonus cap is reached at ₹75,000 above the ₹20,000 mark (2,000 divided by 4, times ₹150), so at ₹95,000 a cycle (₹75,000 plus ₹20,000). A point is worth ₹0.25 in the catalogue or ₹0.20 as statement credit, so catalogue is more better. From the second year the ₹1,000 fee is reversed on ₹1,50,000 of yearly spend, and if it isn't, you get 4,000 points (₹1,000 at ₹0.25) when you pay it.

If you spend big and travel: Ultimate

Ultimate earns 5 points per ₹150 at ₹1 a point, but only 3 points per ₹150 on utilities, supermarkets, insurance, rent, schools and government payments since 2 April 2023, which is 2% (3 divided by 150). Duty-free stores gives 5% cashback up to ₹1,000 a cycle instead of points. The ₹5,000 renewal fee comes back as 5,000 points worth ₹5,000, so the fee is mostly coming back to you, the GST on it is the real cost. It needs ₹2,00,000 of gross monthly income.

Standard Chartered fees and charges

SC's tariff is same for almost every card, which makes this section short to explain but worth reading line by line. GST is extra on all charges.

Interest and late fee

All SC cards charge 3.75% a month (45% a year), and the bank lists instant credit card variants at 1.99% a month (23.88% a year). Carrying ₹25,000 for a month at 3.75% costs ₹937.50 (3.75% of ₹25,000) plus GST. SC's minimum due is whichever is highest among three figures: 5% of what the statement shows, the sum of instalments, interest, fees, any over-limit amount and 1% of principal, or ₹250.

Late fees follow statement-balance slabs since 1 May 2024:

On top of the slab, SC adds ₹100 when the minimum due goes unpaid two months running or longer. So a ₹12,000 statement left unpaid for a second month costs ₹1,300 in late fees that month (₹1,200 plus ₹100). Very easy to avoid, by just setting up auto-debit of the minimum.

Cash, forex and the spend-type fees

• Cash at an ATM: 3% of the amount, minimum ₹300, with 3.75% a month interest from the day you withdraw. ₹5,000 in cash costs ₹300, as 3% of it is only ₹150 which is below minimum.
• Overseas transactions: 3.5% on all cards except Ultimate, which charges 2%. ₹80,000 abroad costs ₹2,800 on Smart (3.5% of ₹80,000) against ₹1,600 on Ultimate (2% of ₹80,000).
• Rent (MCC 6513): a 1% processing fee plus taxes since 2 April 2023.
• Railway surcharge: ₹25 or 2.5%, whichever is higher, so a ₹600 ticket attracts ₹25 because 2.5% of ₹600 is only ₹15. Petrol surcharge: ₹10 or 1%. Both may vary by the acquiring bank.
• Over-limit: 2.5% of the amount over the limit, never less than ₹500 an instance.

The tariff we read lists no fee on wallet loads or on utility payments, which is less than many banks now charge. Fuel surcharge relief varies: Rewards reverses the 1% on ₹400 to ₹2,000 fills up to ₹400 a cycle, Ultimate waives it up to ₹1,000 a cycle, and Smart, EaseMyTrip and Platinum Rewards list no waiver.

Small service charges that add up

SC also lists small service charges: ₹299 to repay in cash at a branch, ₹500 for a bounced cheque, ₹99 a month for a paper statement if you also get an e-statement, ₹199 for a branch service request and ₹49 for phone banking through an agent instead of the IVR (not on Visa Infinite and Ultimate). Redeeming rewards costs a ₹99 handling charge. Use the app and IVR, and these fees mostly goes away.

Standard Chartered card changes, 2024 to 2026

SC's dated card changes in the documents we read cluster in 2024. We found none for these five cards dated 2025 or 2026, so the 2026 item below is an RBI rule that applies to every bank, SC included.

• 1 May 2024, all SC cards: late fees moved to the statement-balance slabs shown in the fees tab, with ₹1,200 the top slab above ₹10,000. A balance of up to ₹100 carry no late fee at all.
• 1 May 2024, Smart: cashback redemption began to need a balance of at least ₹2,500, in multiples of ₹1,000, against ₹1,000 in multiples of ₹500 earlier. Light spenders now wait longer to cash out.
• 21 August 2024, Smart: the 2% and 1% cashback caps started applying at client level, primary and supplementary together. A family that used two Smart cards to earn two sets of caps get only one now.
• 25 August 2024, Ultimate: overseas spends began to be charged a 2% forex mark-up at posting, replacing the earlier 3.5% mark-up followed by a separate 1.5% cashback. The net cost is the same 2% (3.5% minus 1.5%), but you now see it at once.
• 15 October 2024, EaseMyTrip: international lounge access ended, inside and outside India, and domestic access changed from 1 visit a quarter to 2 a year. That is 4 a year earlier, now only 2.
• 1 July 2026, RBI rule for all lenders: credit information is now reported to bureaus as on the 9th, 16th, 23rd and last day of each month. A paid-off SC balance can show up on your credit report faster than before.

Older changes still shape the cards: since 2 April 2023 SC charges 1% on rent and Ultimate earns only 3 points per ₹150 on utilities, supermarkets, insurance, rent, schools and government payments. If you are holding an SC card from before 2024, check the lounge and cap rules again because many have changed.

Eligibility and how to apply

Where you live is matter first. SC issues cards only in its credit card sourcing cities, and every application goes through credit and policy checks. Age limits are 21 to 65 for Smart, Platinum Rewards and Ultimate, and 18 to 65 for EaseMyTrip and Rewards.

Income is published for only two cards: Platinum Rewards asks for a gross monthly income of ₹20,000 and Ultimate ₹2,00,000. For Smart, EaseMyTrip and Rewards the bank says only "stable monthly income", without any number given. Keep in mind that the Platinum Rewards lifetime-free offer and Smart's first-year waiver are for new SC credit card customers only.

Documents are an identity proof (passport, voter ID or government ID), PAN, an address proof such as Aadhaar, a driving licence, passport, voter ID, NPR letter or NREGA job card, and one recent passport-size photo. Salaried applicants add latest month salary slip. Self-employed businessmen add their latest income tax return with the computation of income, or certified financial statements, plus proof that the business is continuing; self-employed professionals add the latest return and the same continuity proof.

Platinum Rewards can be applied for online with video KYC. For Smart, Ultimate and Rewards the card pages tell you to go to a branch or ring the contact centre. To weigh SC's cards against another foreign bank's, see our HSBC India hub, or shortlist with the card finder.

Rules that protect you when you apply

Approval is SC's decision, and the RBI's 2025 Directions set out how it must treat you along the way.

• Before you sign, you get a Key Fact Statement; if SC declines, it owes you the specific reasons in writing.
• A card arrives only with your explicit yes, written or digital, and no upgrade or limit increase happen without it.
• SC can't report the new account to credit bureaus until you activate the card.
• A closure request must be completed within seven working days after dues are cleared, or SC pays you ₹500 a day.
• Your billing cycle can be shifted at least once to a date you choose.

Standard Chartered customer care

SC's personal banking lines are open 8 am to 8 pm: 66014444 with your local STD code in front, 044-47628444 or 080-49248444. Emergency services such as blocking a lost card or reporting an unauthorised transaction run 24x7, and unauthorised transactions can be reported on the toll-free number 1800 258 6465. RBI rules require an immediate block once you report a card lost, with a confirmation sent to you.

Because SC charges ₹49 for phone banking through an agent and ₹199 for a service request at a branch, it is better using the IVR, app or online banking for routine things like statements and limit queries. Visa Infinite and Ultimate holders are not charged the ₹49. Pay your bill online too, paying cash at a branch cost ₹299.

For a billing dispute, write to the bank with the transaction details. A reply with reasons is due within 30 days, and a transaction you report as fraud stays free of charges till the matter is settled. If no answer in 30 days or the answer is not fine, you can complain to the RBI Ombudsman, which costs you nothing.