Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card
The SC Smart is a clean, low-fuss flat-cashback card — 2% on every online purchase with no merchant list, 1% offline, and an unusually generous cap (₹1,000 of online cashback a month, i.e. ₹50,000 of online spend, plus ₹500 offline). At a ₹499 fee that waives at ₹1.2 lakh, it is a fair no-thinking online card. The first-year fee is ₹0 — SC's MIDC states it flatly, and the page frames it as a ₹499 fee waived as a standing Special Offer for new applicants (existing SCB credit-card holders pay the ₹499). The honest catch is not the cap, it is the rate: 2% is middling next to the SBI Cashback's 5% online (and the catalog's old "6% online" figure was the Singapore/Hong Kong version, not the India card). Hold the Smart for unrestricted breadth, not headline rate.
Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
2% on Online Shopping
2% on all online spend, no merchant list (capped ₹1,000 cashback/month ≈ ₹50,000 online spend)
1% on Other
1% offline (capped ₹500/month); no cashback on fuel or cash. Caps apply at client level, incl. supplementary cards (w.e.f 21 Aug 2024)
Annual Fee Waiver
Fee of ₹499 + 18% GST (₹589 all-in)/yr fully waived when you spend ₹1,20,000/year
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Shopping | cashback | 2% | ₹1,000 |
| Other | cashback | 1% | ₹500 |
Fees & charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹589 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | Free |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.75% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
Should you get it?
Best for: First-time card users, Low to moderate spenders
Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
Strongest value if you spend heavily on Online Shopping ( 2% back).
✓ Pros
- Strong rewards that can offset the annual fee for the right spender
- Simple, accessible entry/mid-tier card
✕ Cons
- Annual fee applies unless the spend-based waiver is met
- Fewer premium travel and lifestyle perks
Eligibility & documents
Age
18 –65 years
Min. income
₹20,000 /mo
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed
Documents required
- PAN card
- Aadhaar / valid address proof
- Latest 3 months bank statement
- Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
🎁 Cashback redeemed via the 360° Rewards portal against statement outstanding — minimum balance ₹2,500, in multiples of ₹1,000 (w.e.f 1 May 2024)
What your Cashback are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Statement credit Direct cash adjustment — no conversion
The concern At 2% online it is middling versus the SBI Cashback's 5%, and SC's shrinking India footprint is a long-term concern — its edge is unrestricted breadth, not rate.
The bottom line
The SC Smart card delivers an uncomplicated flat-cashback structure: 2% across any online platform with no merchant restrictions and a ₹1,000 monthly ceiling, backed by a ₹499 annual fee that is waived at ₹1.2 lakh of annual spend. Buyers should be aware of the exact parameters—the card offers 2% online in India rather than the 6% rate found on international editions—meaning alternatives such as SBI Cashback will yield higher totals for substantial digital spenders.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card are taken from Standard Chartered 's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page . Last verified 7 Aug 2026 . Reviewed by Devchandra Sah . Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for Standard Chartered . All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2022 · 2 changes · last change May 2024
▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed
2024 1 change — 1 cut
▼ Redemption Effective 1 May 2024
Redemption minimum raised to Rs 2,500
Rs 1,000 (then Rs 500 increments) → Rs 2,500 (then Rs 1,000 increments)
Standard Chartered raised the minimum accrued cashback needed to redeem on the Smart card from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500, redeemable only in multiples of Rs 1,000 (Rs 2,500, Rs 3,500 and so on). Earn rates and caps were unchanged — this only made it slower to cash out rewards.
Verification: Standard Chartered ↗ · Confidence: High
2022 1 change — 1 neutral
◆ Launch Effective 24 Jan 2022
SC Smart launched
Standard Chartered launched the Smart Credit Card in India — a flat cashback card giving 2% on all online spends (capped Rs 1,000/month) and 1% offline (capped Rs 500/month), no merchant list, no fuel/cash cashback. Fee Rs 499 (waived on Rs 1.2 lakh annual spend), plus a 90-day interest-free intro period on the first bill.
Verification: Standard Chartered ↗ · Confidence: High
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Source: Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card value timeline — CardAdvisor
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Quick summary
Type Entry credit card
Reward rate 1%–2%
Best for First-time card users
Joining fee Free
Annual fee ₹499
Reviewed by
Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade
Last verified 7 Aug 2026
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280 cards analysed — August 2026
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