Apollo SBI Card Review

The one thing that the COVID-19 crisis has taught us is the importance of emergency funds and healthcare services. In such a situation, having a credit card that specializes in providing healthcare & wellness benefits is a win-win. SBI Apollo Credit Card is one such card that aims at offering healthcare benefits with Apollo Healthcare Services along with benefits on some other spending categories. Even if you are going for a regular check-up or to buy prescription medicines, you will be able to earn 3x rewards on your transactions.

Let’s have a look at this Apollo SBI Credit Card Review to help you decide whether this card will do justice to your requirements or not.

Complimentary OneApollo Silver Tier Membership

The Apollo SBI Card offers a complimentary Silver Tier Membership to the cardholders. Under this, you will be enjoying the following benefits:

• 1% of the bill amount as Health Credits (HC) at Apollo Centers
• 5% off on non-pharmaceutical products
• 10% off on pharmaceutical products
• 10% off on Apollo Branded products
• Redeem Health Credits at Apollo Healthcare Centers in 1:1 ratio

Now, this is not really a privilege as you can get it easily without the credit card. Silver Tier is the basic membership which you can get while registering through OneApollo Websites, AskApollo App or by walking into any Apollo Pharmacy Store. Even if you make a transaction above Rs. 500 at any Apollo Healthcare Center, you will get this membership for no added cost.

Rewards Program on Apollo SBI Card

Apollo SBI Credit Card gives 500 bonus reward points once you have paid the joining fee, where 1 reward point is equal to Re.1. Besides that, it lets you earn rewards across categories such as entertainment, wellness & beauty, and more.

Rewards structure:

It should be noted that reward points earned on Apollo SBI Card can only be redeemed to avail services at Apollo Healthcare Centers and other Apollo Stores. 

Get the Annual Fee Waived Off

Apollo SBI Card charges an annual fee of Rs. 499. The fee gets waived off on reaching annual spending threshold of Rs. 90,000 in the preceding year. The spend limit is set quite high as the average spending limit to waive off the fee of Rs. 499 is usually Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 60,000.

Click here to read more about Apollo SBI Card Fees and Charges

Fuel Surcharge Waiver

The Apollo SBI Card offers 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all fuel stations in the country. Nowadays, this is a common feature across all credit cards with the maximum waiver amount varying from one card to another. The maximum monthly waiver amount is Rs. 100.

Along with the benefits specific to medical facilities, Apollo SBI Credit Card users can avail common SBI Credit Card features such as EMI conversion, Easy Bill Pay, Easy Money, etc.

How does Apollo SBI Card compare with other Health & Wellness Credit Cards?

Let’s have a look at this comparison table to have a proper understanding of the benefits offered by different credit cards specialising in the same category:

Why should you get this card?

First of all, this card is suitable for those who want to own a credit card that specialises in offering medical and healthcare benefits. Secondly, as its services are central to Apollo Healthcare Centers and Stores, you should get this card if you are an Apollo user. Besides the 10% discount on select services at Apollo, this card has an accelerated rewards program that lets you earn rewards on categories such as dining, entertainment, wellness, and beauty.

Other than that, this credit card does not have much to offer. If you wish to own a credit card with extensive benefits across categories, you can choose from the best credit cards and pick the right one for you.

Drawbacks of Apollo SBI Card

As seen above, the card is only good for medical services with Apollo Healthcare. Even then, there are a few things where it could have been better.

The complimentary OneApollo Silver Tier Membership is not much of a benefit as you could avail it by simply enrolling for the program free of cost. If they had to give this benefit, they should have at least offered a Gold Tier Membership to the program which otherwise requires the user to spend at least Rs. 75,000 in a year.

The reward points cannot be redeemed for items against SBI Card’s rewards catalogue. They can only be redeemed to avail services at Apollo Healthcare Centers and related stores.

The annual fee waiver condition is set too high at Rs. 90,000 for a card that does not offer benefits across other categories. To be able to get the waiver, you will need to put more expenses on the card, where the benefits are minimal.

Bottom Line

Apollo SBI Card was the first-ever card launched in India which was targeted at medical benefits. Even today, there is only one more card in this category- RBL Practo Plus Credit Card. Though it was a good initiative by SBI Card to bring such a credit card in the market, it seems a lot of people are still not aware of it. Also, because of the co-branding, the targeted customer segment becomes more limited.