SBI SimplyCLICK vs HDFC Millennia Credit Card: Points or Cashback Online

Fees: ₹499 against ₹1,000, with the same waiver bar

With 18% GST, SimplyCLICK cost ₹588.82 in year one (₹499 plus ₹89.82) and Millennia ₹1,180. Both welcome gifts more or less hand the fee back: SBI sends the ₹500 Amazon Pay gift card code within 21 days of the fee being paid, and HDFC credits 1,000 CashPoints. After that, both renewals disappear once you put ₹1 lakh a year on the card, a little over ₹8,300 a month (₹1,00,000 divided by 12), so for an active user neither card costs anything from year two.

The redemption fees work in opposite ways. SBI charges ₹99 plus taxes each time you take points as statement credit, and since 1 April 2026 only in blocks of 4,000 points, which is ₹1,000 of credit. One fee therefore covers a big lump: ₹116.82 (₹99 plus 18%) on ₹1,000 or more. HDFC charges ₹59 (₹50 plus 18%) per cashback request but allows only 3,000 CashPoints a calendar month, so a heavy user end up paying it six or seven times a year.

Charges when things go wrong

Interest is identical at 3.75% a month. Late fees differ a little: on a ₹15,000 bill a missed minimum costs ₹950 with SBI and ₹900 with HDFC, and SBI adds ₹100 more if the minimum stays unpaid two cycles running. Cash withdrawals cost 2.5%, at least ₹500, on both, with interest from the first day.

On special fees, SBI charge 1% on every wallet load above ₹1,000 and on education paid through apps, plus a flat ₹199 on each rent payment, and from 1 December 2026 adds 1% on fuel above ₹50,000 a cycle and transport above ₹30,000. HDFC's wallet fee starts only above ₹10,000 a month, and on rent it takes 1% of the amount, which is ₹150 on a ₹15,000 rent against SBI's ₹199. Every fee of both banks is on our SBI Card and HDFC Bank pages.

Rewards: three online shoppers, worked through

SimplyCLICK in rupees

Four points make ₹1 as statement credit, so a point is worth ₹0.25. That turns 10 points per ₹100 at partners into 2.5%, 5 points on other online spends into 1.25%, and the 1 point per ₹100 offline into a thin 0.25%. The 5X rate on general online spends is capped at 10,000 points a calendar month, after which it's back to 1 point per ₹100, but that cap only bite at ₹2 lakh of such spends a month (10,000 divided by 5, times ₹100). The 10X partner rate has no cap. Points expire after 24 months.

Some small print matter. Utility bills paid on SBI Card's own app or site get only the base point, Cleartrip and Yatra bookings made through affiliate links don't get 10X, GyFTR vouchers earn 10X only through SBI's own GyFTR page, and 10X applies only when you pay in rupees. Fuel, rent, government payments, wallet loads, gaming, EMI and cash earn nothing.

Millennia in rupees

One CashPoint is ₹1 on the statement, or ₹0.30 on SmartBuy travel. The 5% rate stops at 1,000 CashPoints in a calendar month and the 1% rate has its own cap of the same size. Fuel, rent, wallet loads, EMI, government payments, app-paid education and online gaming earn none, and paying through SmartBuy or PayZapp only earn 1%.

The milestones

SimplyCLICK gives a ₹2,000 Cleartrip or Yatra e-voucher (SBI picks which) when annual online spends reach ₹1 lakh, and a second ₹2,000 at ₹2 lakh. Millennia gives a ₹1,000 voucher, or a domestic lounge visit, for every calendar quarter with ₹1 lakh of net spends.

Worked examples

"Shared" apps are BookMyShow, Myntra, Swiggy and Tata CLiQ; "Millennia-only" are Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato and Uber; "SBI-only" are partners like Cleartrip, Yatra, Netmeds and Apollo 24x7. Bills go through SBI Card's app for SimplyCLICK. Fees are waived in all three cases, since each person spends over ₹1 lakh a year.

Light. SimplyCLICK: 300 points on the shared apps (10 per ₹100 on ₹3,000), 200 on the Millennia-only apps and 50 on other online (5 per ₹100), 60 offline and 20 on bills, so 630 a month and 7,560 a year, worth ₹1,890 at ₹0.25. Online spends of ₹96,000 a year (₹8,000 times 12) fall just short of the first voucher. Less one ₹116.82 redemption that is ₹1,773, and only one 4,000-point block can be cashed this year, the rest carry over. Millennia: 5% of ₹7,000 is ₹350 and 1% of ₹9,000 is ₹90, so ₹440 a month, ₹5,280 a year, and ₹5,162 after two ₹59 requests. Millennia win by a mile here.

Typical. SimplyCLICK: 600 points from the shared apps, 200 from Millennia-only, 1,000 from SBI-only partners (10 per ₹100 on ₹10,000), 200 from other online, 60 offline and 20 on bills, so 2,080 a month and 24,960 a year, worth ₹6,240. Online spends of ₹2,88,000 a year (₹24,000 times 12) earn both ₹2,000 vouchers, and after one redemption the year is worth ₹10,123. Millennia: 5% on ₹10,000 is ₹500 and 1% on ₹22,000 is ₹220, ₹720 a month and ₹8,640 a year. Quarters of ₹96,000 (₹32,000 times 3) miss the ₹1 lakh milestone by a whisker, and three requests cost ₹177 (3 times ₹59), leaving ₹8,463.

Heavy. SimplyCLICK: 1,000 points on the shared apps, 600 on Millennia-only, 1,200 on SBI-only (10 per ₹100 on ₹12,000) and 400 on other online, plus 90 offline and 30 on bills, make 3,320 points a month, 39,840 a year, worth ₹9,960, and with ₹4,000 of vouchers the year comes to ₹13,843 after one redemption. Millennia: 5% on ₹22,000 would be ₹1,100, but the cap hold it to ₹1,000, and 1% on ₹32,000 adds ₹320, so ₹1,320 a month and ₹15,840 a year. Every ₹1,62,000 quarter (₹54,000 times 3) brings a ₹1,000 voucher, and six requests cost ₹354, leaving ₹19,486.

So SimplyCLICK only wins in the middle, where a big share goes to its own partners and Millennia's quarterly voucher is just out of reach. Shift that money to Amazon or Flipkart, or spend enough to pass ₹1 lakh a quarter, and Millennia pull ahead again.

Benefits: thin on both, so the small things count

Neither card is meant for travel and the benefits list are short. Neither has complimentary lounge access as a standing feature; the only route is Millennia's quarterly milestone, where one domestic lounge visit can be taken in place of the ₹1,000 voucher. SimplyCLICK lists no lounge access at all.

Foreign spends

Both charge 3.5% plus GST on foreign currency spends. A ₹20,000 purchase from an overseas online store costs ₹826 extra on either (₹700 of markup plus ₹126 of GST). SimplyCLICK's 10X rate also needs the payment to be in rupees, so a partner booking charged in another currency don't get it.

Fuel

SBI waives the 1% surcharge on fills of ₹500 to ₹3,000, up to ₹100 a statement cycle; HDFC does it on ₹400 to ₹5,000, up to ₹250. A two-wheeler rider filling ₹500 at a time is covered by both, but a car owner putting ₹3,500 in the tank get the waiver only from HDFC.

Welcome gifts and milestones

• SimplyCLICK: a ₹500 Amazon Pay gift card after the first-year fee is paid, then ₹2,000 Cleartrip or Yatra vouchers at ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh of annual online spends.
• Millennia: 1,000 CashPoints for the paid joining fee, then the ₹1,000 voucher or lounge visit for each ₹1 lakh quarter, which can add up to ₹4,000 in a year.
• Insurance: neither card lists any cover.
• Network: SimplyCLICK can be used wherever Visa or Mastercard are accepted; HDFC's pages don't state Millennia's network.

The vouchers is where the real extra value sits on both cards, so it pays to know which threshold you are near before the year ends.

Eligibility: SBI publishes less, HDFC publishes more

SBI Card is open about the process but not about income. It asks for a stable income without naming a number, and its card finder files SimplyCLICK under monthly income below ₹50,000, which is a browsing filter and not a rule. HDFC names a gross ₹25,000 a month for salaried applicants and an ITR above ₹6 lakh for the self-employed, that being the figure in its FAQ, although the bank's eligibility page show another number for the self-employed.

For a first card, SBI's route has one extra door. Since 23 September 2026, SBI fixed-deposit holders can apply on SBI's YONO app for the secured Advantage variant of SimplyCLICK, a useful start for someone with thin credit history. HDFC's FD-backed route runs through its Pixel cards in the PayZapp app, not through Millennia.

Approval stays with the issuer. The RBI's rules make the bank or NBFC check your independent financial means and the limits you already hold, and a rejection must come with specific reasons in writing. Apply once, read the reason if refused, and fix that before next try. Our guide to cards without a credit history covers the secured route in more detail.

Verdict: follow the apps you already use

Pick HDFC Bank Millennia if

• Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Swiggy or Uber take most of your online money;
• you spend offline as well, where 1% beat SimplyCLICK's 0.25%;
• you cross ₹1 lakh in a quarter, so the ₹1,000 vouchers keep coming.

Pick SimplyCLICK SBI Card if

• you book travel on Cleartrip or Yatra and buy medicines on Apollo 24x7 or Netmeds;
• your online spends cross ₹2 lakh a year, for both ₹2,000 vouchers;
• you want the lowest fee of the two, ₹499, and a gift card that covers it.

Holding both

Because both fees are low and both can be waived at ₹1 lakh, some people carries the pair: Millennia for Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Uber and the shared apps, SimplyCLICK for Cleartrip, Yatra, Netmeds and Apollo 24x7. The catch is that splitting spends make each waiver harder to reach, so it only works if each card still gets ₹1 lakh a year.

Or neither

If most of your card spend is offline, at grocery shops and restaurants, a flat cashback card serve you better than either; see best online shopping cards and cards for beginners. Millennia's other match-up is Millennia vs CASHBACK SBI, and the credit cards hub lists everything else.