Standard Chartered Ultimate Credit Card
Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered's premium travel play — no fee waiver at all, but genuinely strong lounge access to match.
₹5,000
Joining fee
₹5,000
Annual fee
No spend-based waiver available for the Rs 5,000 joining/annual fee; a 6,000-point welcome bonus (~Rs 6,000 value) partially offsets the first-year cost instead.
2%
Forex markup
4.5 / 5
Rating
Eligibility
Estimated minimum income: ₹90,000+/month
Estimated — not officially confirmed by the bank.
Estimated minimum CIBIL score: 760+
Estimated — not officially confirmed by the bank.
Age: 18–70
Sources disagree: The 18-70 age band is stated by the official source specifically in the context of medical insurance eligibility for the primary cardholder - may not reflect the general card application age band.
Lounge access
16 domestic / 12 international visits per year
International access is spend-conditional (quoted as 1/month); domestic quoted as 4/quarter.
Golf: 12 complimentary golf rounds annually (aggregator)
Visit Count Discrepancy: Official states 4 domestic visits/quarter plus 1 international visit/month via Priority Pass (requiring Rs 20,000+ prior-month spend); aggregator instead frames the combined domestic+international total as '12 complimentary visits annually' and separately values Priority Pass membership at $99.
Key features
- 5 pts/₹150 (bank states each point = ₹1)
- 5% cashback on duty-free spends
- golf privileges
Reward details
5 reward points per Rs 150 spent (1 point = Rs 1; aggregator frames this as 3.33% value-back)
Welcome bonus: 6,000 points on activation
- Renewal: 5,000 points
Category caps
- Utilities, supermarkets, insurance, property management, schools, government payments (effective April 2, 2023): reduced to 3 points per Rs 150, no monthly cap on these revised category rewards
Redemption
Vouchers and merchandise via Standard Chartered's 360° Rewards Portal
Excluded from rewards: fuel (for points, not the surcharge waiver), cash advances, returned/disputed/fraudulent transactions
- Duty-free: 5% cashback, capped Rs 1,000/cycle (aggregator) vs the separate fuel-surcharge-waiver cap of Rs 1,000/month (official) - two distinct benefits, not a conflict
- Fuel: 1% surcharge waiver instead of points, capped Rs 1,000/month
Real-world feedback
Sourced from user reviews and comparison sites (aggregator/user-sourced), not confirmed by the bank.
Praise
- 3.33% reward rate across all spends, comparable to HDFC's premium cards; strong coverage including utilities/insurance; golf benefits valued — Paisabazaar
Complaints
- Lounge access spend-based and limited to ~12 visits yearly; limited dining/entertainment benefits; golf benefits 'underwhelming' vs competitors — Paisabazaar
Sources
- Official — fees, eligibility, forex, lounge, rewards
- Aggregator — fees, lounge, rewards, sentiment