HDFC Bank Millennia vs CASHBACK SBI Card: 5% on 10 Apps or Any Site

Fees and charges: same sticker, very different waivers

GST at 18% makes Millennia's fee ₹1,180 (₹1,000 plus ₹180) and the SBI fee ₹1,178.82 (₹999 plus ₹179.82), so the price tag is a draw. The real gap are the waiver. HDFC drops the renewal fee once you spend ₹1 lakh in the year before renewal, which is ₹8,333 a month (₹1,00,000 divided by 12). SBI reverses its renewal fee only at ₹2 lakh, about ₹16,667 a month (₹2,00,000 divided by 12). So a person spending ₹10,000 a month keeps Millennia free and pays SBI every single year.

In year one, Millennia's joining fee comes back as 1,000 CashPoints, worth ₹1,000 on the bill. SBI gives no welcome benefit, so its first-year ₹1,178.82 is a straight cost.

Charges that matter when a payment slips

Interest is the same 3.75% a month on both, and it is the number to watch if you ever roll a bill over. Using the daily formula in the card rules, ₹10,000 carried for 30 days costs about ₹369.86 (30 times ₹10,000 times 45%, divided by 365), which is more than most people earns in cashback in a month.

Late fees run on slabs. On a ₹20,000 bill a missed minimum costs ₹900 at HDFC and ₹950 at SBI; on an ₹8,000 bill it is ₹750 at either. SBI adds ₹100 more if the minimum is missed two cycles in a row, it keep adding that every cycle until the minimum is cleared.

Special fees differ in detail. Wallet loads: HDFC charges 1% once loads cross ₹10,000 in a calendar month, SBI 1% on every load above ₹1,000 since 1 November 2025. Utilities above ₹50,000 a month (a billing cycle at SBI) and education through third-party apps cost 1% on both. From 1 December 2026 SBI also take 1% when fuel passes ₹50,000 in a cycle and on transport transactions above ₹30,000. Full schedules are on our HDFC Bank cards and SBI Card pages.

Rewards: where the 5% applies and where it stops

Earn rates and caps

• Millennia: 5% at the ten merchants, capped at 1,000 CashPoints a calendar month, and 1% on other spends with a separate cap of 1,000 CashPoints. The 5% cap fills at ₹20,000 of merchant spend (1,000 divided by 5%); the 1% cap needs ₹1 lakh. CashPoints are counted in whole ₹100 steps, and anything under ₹100 get nothing.
• CASHBACK SBI: 5% on online spends with no merchant restriction, up to ₹2,000 a statement cycle, plus 1% offline up to ₹2,000, never more than ₹4,000 in one cycle. The online cap fills at ₹40,000 of online spends (₹2,000 divided by 5%). Transactions below ₹100 earn nothing here too.

What earns nothing

Millennia shuts out fuel, rent, government payments, wallet and gift-card loads, every EMI, education paid through third-party apps (since 1 September 2024) and online gaming (since 1 July 2025). SmartBuy or PayZapp payments drop even the ten merchants to 1%.

SBI's list is more longer and it hurts household spenders: fuel, wallet loads, rent, jewellery, schools and education, utilities, insurance, railways, gift shops and, since 1 April 2026, digital gaming, tolls and government payments. Whether a payment is online is decided by the indicator the network and acquirer send. Not by you.

What the rewards are worth

SBI's cashback is plain rupees, credited within two working days of the statement, and it never expire. Millennia's CashPoints are worth ₹1 each only as statement credit, with a minimum of 500 and a maximum of 3,000 a calendar month, at ₹59 a request (₹50 plus 18% GST). On SmartBuy flights, hotels or the catalogue a point fetches just ₹0.30, and unredeemed CashPoints lapse after 2 years.

Three spenders, both cards

The table treats one statement cycle as one calendar month. "Apps" means Millennia's ten merchants, which count as online for SBI as well; "bills" are phone and electricity.

Light. Millennia: 5% of ₹6,000 is ₹300 and 1% of the other ₹8,000 is ₹80, so ₹380 a month or ₹4,560 a year. Two redemptions cost ₹118 (2 times ₹59), leaving ₹4,442, and ₹1,68,000 of yearly spend (₹14,000 times 12) clear the ₹1 lakh waiver. SBI: 5% of ₹8,000 online is ₹400, 1% of ₹4,000 in shops is ₹40 and the bills earn zero, so ₹440 a month or ₹5,280 a year. ₹1,68,000 falls short of ₹2 lakh, the ₹1,178.82 fee stays, and the year nets ₹4,101.

Typical. Millennia: ₹600 from the apps plus ₹280 (1% of ₹28,000) is ₹880 a month, ₹10,560 a year. Four requests are needed because 3,000 points is the monthly ceiling, costing ₹236 (4 times ₹59), and every ₹1,20,000 quarter (₹40,000 times 3) brings the ₹1,000 voucher, ₹4,000 over the year: ₹14,324 altogether. SBI: 5% of ₹22,000 online is ₹1,100 and 1% of ₹12,000 is ₹120, so ₹1,220 a month and ₹14,640 a year, with the fee reversed on ₹4,80,000 of spend (₹40,000 times 12).

Heavy. Millennia hits its 5% ceiling exactly, since 5% of ₹20,000 is ₹1,000. Add 1% of ₹50,000, which is ₹500, for ₹1,500 a month and ₹18,000 a year; six requests at ₹59 take ₹354 and the vouchers add ₹4,000, so ₹21,646. SBI's online 5% would be ₹2,900 on ₹58,000, but the cap holds it to ₹2,000, and with ₹80 from shops that is ₹2,080 a month or ₹24,960 a year.

The pattern is easy to read. Below ₹2 lakh a year Millennia win because SBI's fee isn't waived, in the middle the two land within a few hundred rupees, and once online spends near ₹40,000 a month SBI pulls ahead, as long as that money goes to sites outside Millennia's ten.

Lounge, forex, fuel and the extras

Neither of these is travel card, and it shows. Millennia lost its free domestic lounge visits on 1 December 2023. What is left is the quarterly milestone: spend ₹1 lakh in a calendar quarter and you choose either a ₹1,000 gift voucher or one domestic lounge visit. SBI lists no lounge access of any kind on CASHBACK.

Spending abroad

Both cards add a 3.5% markup on foreign currency spends, plus GST. A ₹50,000 holiday bill costs ₹1,750 in markup (3.5% of ₹50,000) and ₹315 in GST (18% of ₹1,750) on either card, ₹2,065 in total. Paying in rupees abroad don't save you much either: HDFC charges a 1.75% currency conversion markup on such payments from 15 May 2026, and SBI applies the card's forex rate to rupee payments of ₹1,000 or more at overseas locations or with merchants registered abroad.

Fuel

Fuel earns nothing on either card, so the surcharge waiver is the whole benefit. Millennia waives the 1% surcharge on fills between ₹400 and ₹5,000, up to ₹250 a statement cycle. SBI's window is narrower at ₹500 to ₹3,000, and the waiver stops at ₹100 a cycle only. Fill ₹4,000 at a time twice a month and Millennia returns ₹80 (1% of ₹8,000), while SBI returns nothing, since each fill is above its ₹3,000 limit.

Welcome, milestones and insurance

• Millennia gives 1,000 CashPoints when the joining fee is paid, plus the ₹1,000 voucher or lounge visit for each ₹1 lakh quarter.
• CASHBACK SBI have no welcome gift, and its only milestone is the renewal fee reversal at ₹2 lakh.
• Insurance: none appears in the Millennia documents we hold, and SBI lists no cover on the card page.
• Network: SBI issues CASHBACK on Visa; the HDFC pages we read don't state Millennia's network, which hardly matter for most buyers.

Eligibility and how to apply

HDFC publishes firmer numbers. A salaried applicant needs a gross monthly income above ₹25,000, and self-employed applicants are asked for an ITR above ₹6 lakh a year. That is the figure in the card's FAQ, though the bank's eligibility page shows a different one. The same FAQ also list stricter terms for what it calls the new Millennia, age 21 to 40 and a net monthly income above ₹35,000, so read the form you are actually filling.

SBI Card doesn't publish a minimum income for any card, this one included. It looks for a stable income, a good credit score preferably between 750 and 900, and an address in a place it services; an SBI bank account isn't required, though it may help. Retired pensioners above 40 can also apply online. For documents SBI ask for PAN and a masked Aadhaar for digital KYC, and income papers like a salary slip or ITR depending on the case.

What either issuer will check

The RBI's 2025 card Directions, one set for banks like HDFC and a parallel set for NBFC issuers like SBI Card, make the lender judge your independent financial means and count the card limits you already hold elsewhere, from your own declaration or a credit bureau. Only the issuer decides; an agent can only bring in the application. If you're turned down, the issuer must give the specific reasons in writing, and that is worth reading before you try a another card.

Apply where you already bank with, if you can; HDFC says existing customers may not need to submit documents again. Our eligibility criteria guide has the general rules.

Verdict: which card for which spender

Pick HDFC Bank Millennia if

• your card spend sits between ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh a year, where Millennia's fee is waived and SBI's is not;
• most of your online money is going to Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato, Myntra or Uber and stays under ₹20,000 a month there;
• you pay phone and power bills on the card and like getting 1% on them;

Pick CASHBACK SBI Card if

• you spend ₹2 lakh or more a year, so the fee is reversed;
• your online shopping is large and scattered across sites that sit on no partner list;
• you want cashback that arrives on its own and never lapse.

Holding both

It works if you're disciplined. Put the ten apps on Millennia up to its ₹20,000 merchant cap and everything else online on SBI up to ₹40,000. Just make sure both fees get waived, otherwise ₹2,358.82 a year (₹1,180 plus ₹1,178.82) eat into the gain.

When neither suits

If your biggest spends are rent, fuel or wallet loads, neither card pays you on them and both add fees. If you carry a balance, 3.75% a month swallows any 5% very fast, it is not even close. For a wider field see our best cashback credit cards and the guide to how cashback caps work; Millennia's other rival is in SimplyCLICK vs Millennia, and grocery-heavy homes should read HSBC Live+ vs CASHBACK SBI. Everything else is on the credit cards hub.