BOBCARD credit cards compared

Membership in the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is a hard prerequisite for this card — there's no side door for a strong income or clean credit history if you're not ICSI. What members get in exchange, though, is a genuinely loaded no-fee product: joining and renewal cost nothing, the foreign transaction markup sits at 2% versus the 3.5% BOBCARD charges elsewhere in its lineup, twelve domestic lounge entries are thrown in each year, and professional indemnity protection up to ₹5 lakh comes bundled at no extra cost. Rewards themselves are unremarkable by comparison — a flat 1 point per ₹100 spent (roughly 0.25% back) across most categories, stepping up to 5 points per ₹100 (about 1.25%) on dining, online purchases and utility payments, though all three share one combined ceiling of 1,000 points per statement cycle. Where the card actually pays off is the ₹3,999 bonus dropped into your account every quarter you cross ₹1 lakh in spend — nearly ₹1,000 in real terms. It runs on a RuPay rail tied to UPI (BOBCARD hasn't disclosed any alternate network), and a fairly long exclusion list — fuel, groceries, rent, tuition, government dues, insurance premiums — earns zero reward points regardless of category.

Bank of Baroda markets the BOBCARD Cashback as a no-frills, no-points alternative to the usual reward-point grind: every purchase converts straight into cashback that lands on the statement automatically, with nothing to redeem. Spend online within India and the card returns 5%, though that accelerated rate tops out at ₹1,500 in a month and only kicks in once you've made at least four transactions in the billing cycle; everything else you buy earns a flat, uncapped 1%. Cardholders pick between a ₹49 monthly charge or a ₹499 combined joining-and-renewal fee, and can switch between the two plans one time over the card's life. There's also a modest fuel-surcharge break — 1% waived on pump transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000, capped at ₹250 per cycle. What the card won't reward: fuel purchases, cash withdrawals or quasi-cash, anything under ₹100, and a list of merchant categories (including wallet top-ups) spelled out in Annexure 1 of the cashback terms. Lounge access isn't part of the package — this is built purely for everyday online spenders.

The Scapia Credit Card is a lifetime-free travel card designed around zero forex markup and travel rewards, issued digitally via the Scapia app in partnership with Federal Bank and BOBCARD (Bank of Baroda). Cardholders earn 20 Scapia Coins per ₹100 (~4% effective return, where 5 coins = ₹1) on flights and hotels booked through the Scapia app, and 10% coins (~2% return) on other eligible spending. Note that the RuPay variant earns half that rate (5% coins on spends of ₹500+) compared to the Visa variant (10% coins on spends of ₹20+). Following a February 2026 update, complimentary unlimited domestic airport lounge access is unlocked by spending ₹20,000 or more in the previous calendar month, while insurance, utilities, rent, and fuel transactions are excluded from reward accrual.

Positioned as the middle option in Bank of Baroda's BOBCARD lineup — a step up from the ₹500 Easy and a step below the ₹1,000 Premier — the Select card is best understood through what changes at each price point rather than through its headline numbers. The everyday earn rate stays flat at 1 reward point per ₹100 spent, exactly matching Easy, so the extra ₹250 in annual fee is really paying for a different set of bonus categories: dining (MCC 5812) and online purchases replace Easy's movie and department-store accelerators. Go up another ₹250 to Premier and you pick up a 2 RP/₹100 base rate plus airport lounge access, neither of which Select offers. On the bonus categories themselves, spending earns 5 points per ₹100 — worth roughly 1% once a BOBCARD point is valued at its standard ₹0.20 — but a shared cap of 1,000 points per statement cycle covers both dining and online together, meaning the accelerated rate runs out around ₹20,000 of combined spend in a month, capping the extra upside near ₹2,400 a year versus a ₹750 fee. Neither UPI transactions nor utility payments qualify for the 5X rate.

Built around Bank of Baroda's tie-up with IRCTC, this RuPay card rewards rail travel above everything else. Book an AC-class ticket — 1AC, 2AC, 3AC, CC or EC — and you'll pick up 16 points per ₹100 spent, worth roughly 4% back once converted. That jumps to 40 points per ₹100 (near 10%) but only inside two limited promotional stretches each year, mid-January to end-March and mid-July to mid-September, so treat the bigger number as a bonus rather than the baseline. Flight and hotel bookings made through the BOBCard SmartDeal portal add about 2% and 5% respectively, while departmental-store purchases return roughly 1% up to a 1,000-point monthly ceiling, and everything else — UPI scans included, since this is a RuPay card — sits at a modest 0.5%. Cardholders get up to four railway lounge visits annually (capped at one per quarter), a waiver on the 1% railway surcharge, and a 500-point welcome bonus after ₹5,000 in spend within the first two months. Bank of Baroda charges ₹500 to join and ₹350 each year after, both figures excluding GST. Points can be redeemed as IRCTC Travel Points at a 4:1 ratio or cashed out at ₹0.25 apiece. In practice this card earns its keep through the steady 4% rail rate rather than the flashier seasonal figure.

Step up from the standard BOBCARD Etihad Guest and every earn rate doubles — and, more notably, the foreign transaction markup drops to 0%. Spend on Etihad Airways earns 6 Etihad Guest Miles per ₹100, while everything else, domestic or cross-border, earns 2 Miles per ₹100; valued at a realistic ~50 paise per mile, that works out to roughly 3% and 1% respectively. Don't expect flexibility from the Miles — within 3 days of each statement they move automatically into your Etihad Guest account, and Etihad Guest is the only place to spend them, with no route to a statement credit or voucher. Where this card earns its keep is status: it hands over complimentary Etihad Guest Silver from your very first transaction, and a single booking on Etihad.com inside six months bumps that to Gold. On top sits a bonus ladder — 500 Miles monthly for four transactions worth ₹50,000, 4,000 Miles quarterly at ₹3 lakh spent, 24,000 Miles annually at ₹12 lakh, plus 1,000 Miles for two Etihad flights in a year. Lounge visits total 12 domestic (3 each quarter) and 8 international (2 each quarter). Annual spend of ₹5 lakh waives the ₹5,000 fee, and the card carries a 3.75% monthly finance charge.

Access to the CMA One BOBCARD is restricted to active members of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) — without that membership, no income level or credit score will get you approved. For those who qualify, though, it packs in more than most near-free cards manage: a nominal ₹1 joining fee, no annual fee at any point, a foreign-currency markup of just 2% against the 3.5% typical of other BOBCARD products, 12 complimentary domestic lounge visits annually, and professional indemnity cover worth up to ₹5 lakh at no extra cost. The earning side is where it's unremarkable — 1 reward point per ₹100 (roughly 0.25%) on general spending, stepping up to 5 points per ₹100 (about 1.25%) on dining, online purchases and utility bills, all sharing one combined cap of 1,000 points per statement. The real upside comes from the quarterly milestone instead: spend ₹1 lakh in a quarter and pocket 4,000 bonus points, worth close to ₹1,000. It's available on both Mastercard and RuPay, with the RuPay version carrying UPI support. Worth noting: fuel, groceries, rent, education, government payments and insurance are all excluded from earning rewards entirely.

Access to the ICAI Exclusive BOBCARD is restricted to active members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India — without that membership, no income level or credit score gets you in. For those who qualify, though, the card punches well above its zero-fee weight: no joining charge, no annual charge, a 2% foreign-currency markup at a time when most BOBCARD products charge 3.5%, 12 free domestic lounge visits every year, and complimentary professional indemnity cover of up to ₹5 lakh. Rewards are where it gets ordinary — 1 point per ₹100 spent (roughly 0.25%) on the bulk of transactions, stepping up to 5 points per ₹100 (about 1.25%) on dining, online purchases and utility bills, though all three categories draw from one shared cap of 1,000 points per statement. The real engine of value is the quarterly spend milestone: cross ₹1 lakh in a quarter and 4,000 bonus points land, worth close to ₹1,000. Both Mastercard and RuPay versions exist, with the RuPay card carrying UPI linkage. Worth flagging clearly: fuel, groceries, rent, education, government dues and insurance premiums are shut out of the rewards programme entirely.

The HPCL ENERGIE BOBCARD is built around a single relationship: fuel purchases at HPCL. Spend at eligible HPCL retail outlets — this covers LPG top-ups and payments through the HP Pay app — and the card pays 24 reward points per ₹150, close to 4% back once points are valued at ₹0.25 each. Layered on top is a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000, capped at ₹100 per statement, which together is where BOBCARD arrives at its advertised 'up to 5% savings' figure. Both perks are restricted to HPCL pumps that appear on the eligible-merchant list HPCL provides to BOBCARD, a rule tightened from 15 July 2026 onward — fuel bought anywhere off that list earns nothing beyond the base rate. Utility bills and departmental store purchases earn a more modest 10 points per ₹150 (about 1.7%), while every other category earns just 2 points per ₹150 (roughly 0.3%). Each of the accelerated tiers is capped at 1,000 reward points per statement cycle, so the top fuel rate effectively runs out around ₹6,250 of HPCL spend in a month. The card is RuPay-only, giving it UPI compatibility, and carries a ₹499 joining fee and ₹499 annual fee, both waived once anniversary-year spending reaches ₹50,000.

BOBCARD Easy sits at the entry end of Bank of Baroda's card lineup, aimed at first-time cardholders and people with modest spending — it's issued on RuPay (alongside Visa/Mastercard options), which means it can be tied to UPI apps. Movies and departmental-store purchases earn 5 reward points per ₹100 (working out to about 1% at ₹0.20 per point), while everything else earns 1 point per ₹100 (roughly 0.2%). The ₹500 annual fee falls away once you cross just ₹35,000 in yearly spend, and the joining fee itself is waived after ₹6,000 of spend in the first 60 days — BOBCARD is also running a time-limited lifetime-free promotion on this card for new applicants. A 1% fuel surcharge waiver applies on transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000, capped at ₹250 a cycle, and the minimum credit limit is ₹25,000. The ₹0.20 point value keeps earnings on the modest side, but as a UPI-enabled first card that costs nothing to hold, it covers the basics.

As the entry-level card in BOBCARD's pair of Etihad co-brands, the BOBCARD Etihad Guest is designed around loyalty to a single airline rather than broad everyday earning. Spend on Etihad Airways brings in 3 Etihad Guest Miles per ₹100, while all other domestic and cross-border spend earns just 1 Mile per ₹100. At a realistic valuation of roughly 50 paise per mile, that base rate lands around 0.5% — thin for a card carrying a ₹2,500 fee, and the figure worth scrutinizing before anything else. Flexibility isn't part of the deal: Miles move automatically into the cardholder's Etihad Guest account within 3 days of each statement and can be redeemed nowhere but Etihad Guest, ruling out statement credit, vouchers or any transfer-out option. Layered on top is a bonus ladder — 250 Miles monthly for four transactions adding to ₹25,000, 2,000 Miles quarterly at ₹2 lakh spent, 12,000 Miles annually at ₹7.5 lakh, and 500 Miles for two Etihad flights in a year. Etihad Guest Silver status is on offer but isn't handed over automatically — it requires a transaction on Etihad.com within six months of getting the card. Lounge visits total 8 domestic (2 per quarter) and 4 international (1 per quarter) each year. The ₹2,500 annual fee waives once yearly spend hits ₹3 lakh, forex markup sits at 1%, and the finance charge runs at 3.75% a month.

BOBCARD Prime falls into the secured-card category — you get it against a fixed deposit of ₹30,000 or more, and issuance is guaranteed with no income documentation needed, since the deposit itself serves as collateral rather than a salary slip or credit track record. Per BOBCARD, the only applicants turned away are those flagged as CIBIL-delinquent. There's no joining fee and no annual fee, a combination that makes this a genuinely sustainable tool for building credit history rather than a card that gets dropped once fees kick in. Reward-wise, it keeps things simple: 2 points per ₹100 across every spend category, and since Bank of Baroda pegs each Prime point at ₹0.20 for cashback, the effective return works out to around 0.4%. Fuel purchases earn zero points, though the standard 1% fuel surcharge waiver remains in place. The card comes exclusively on RuPay, giving it UPI compatibility, and its eligibility window is notably broad — 18 to 85 years old. Think of it less as a rewards card and more as a credit-builder that happens to come with free UPI access.

Issued by BOBCARD (Bank of Baroda) but run entirely through the Uni app, the Uni GoldX is a lifetime-free RuPay card built around a single idea: turning everyday spending into digital gold. Every eligible purchase returns 1% as Uni Coins that convert into 24K gold and never expire, and that rate jumps to 5% when you shop through the in-app Uni Store. Because it runs on RuPay, it plugs into any UPI app for scan-and-pay purchases, and it skips the usual foreign-transaction markup entirely while still offering the standard 1% fuel-surcharge waiver (capped at ₹500 on spends up to ₹7,500). The GoldX effectively replaces Uni's earlier NX Wave product, carrying forward the same app-first management but now centred on gold-backed rewards instead.

Snapdeal's co-branded BOBCARD ties its best rewards to a single retailer and carries a flat ₹249 fee. Spending through the Snapdeal website or app earns 20 reward points per ₹100 spent (roughly 5% once you value a point at ₹0.25), and BOBCARD does not publish any statement cap on that tier, marketing it as unlimited. A second, lower tier covers other online shopping and departmental stores at 10 RP per ₹100 (about 2.5%), but that one tops out at 2,000 reward points in a statement cycle. Everything outside those two categories falls back to 4 RP per ₹100 — close to 1% — which is still a solid base rate for a card in this fee bracket. Because it's RuPay-only, cardholders can link it into UPI apps, though UPI transactions only ever earn the base rate and don't count toward the welcome bonus or activation reward. New cardholders get Snapdeal vouchers worth up to ₹500 for using the card within the first 30 days, plus 500 bonus reward points for crossing ₹5,000 in spend within 60 days. The trade-off is the fee itself: both the ₹249 joining charge and the ₹249 annual renewal apply every year with no spend threshold that waives or reverses them. Fuel purchases don't earn any reward points on this card.