Skip to content

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card vs CASHBACK SBI Card

Verified 9 sources

Your monthly spend

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card and CASHBACK SBI Card are ₹600 a year apart at ₹30,000 a month: ₹3,600 against ₹3,000, after fees

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card beats CASHBACK SBI Card by ₹1,400 a year at ₹75,000 a month: ₹9,000 against ₹7,600, after fees

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card beats CASHBACK SBI Card by ₹2,900 a year at ₹1.5 lakh a month: ₹18,000 against ₹15,100, after fees

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card beats CASHBACK SBI Card by ₹12,000 a year at ₹3 lakh a month: ₹36,000 against ₹24,000, after fees

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card beats CASHBACK SBI Card by ₹36,000 a year at ₹5 lakh a month: ₹60,000 against ₹24,000, after fees

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card

Axis Bank

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card

Our verdict: Keep

CASHBACK SBI Card

SBI Card

CASHBACK SBI Card

Our verdict: Keep

CASHBACK SBI Card vs Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card: which should you pick?

Two cashback cards waived at the same ₹2,00,000 of spend, ₹500 against ₹999, and the caps decide it. CASHBACK SBI pays 5% online at any merchant but stops at ₹2,000 of cashback a statement cycle online and ₹4,000 in all, and pays nothing on utilities; the Airtel Axis card pays 1% on everything with no cap, plus 25% on Airtel bills and 10% on other utility bills through the Airtel Thanks app, each tier capped at a multiple of the 1% you earned that month. Airtel Axis out-earns CASHBACK SBI at every spend level the page tests. Neither opens a lounge, since Axis withdrew the Airtel card's four domestic visits on 12 April 2026, and both charge 3.5% abroad.

At every spend from ₹25,000 to ₹5 lakh a month, Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card beats CASHBACK SBI Card, and its lead widens from ₹500 to ₹36,000 a year as spend climbs. At ₹75,000 a month the gap is mostly what each card earns on your spend: Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card returns ₹9,000 a year in rewards to CASHBACK SBI Card's ₹7,600. On the rows below, CASHBACK SBI Card has no clear edge over Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card.

CASHBACK SBI Card's ongoing earn stops at ₹2,00,000 of spend a month, where Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card's doesn't.

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card review CASHBACK SBI Card review

Side by side

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card and CASHBACK SBI Card, fact by fact
FactAirtel Axis Bank Credit CardCASHBACK SBI Card
Can you get itOpen to applyOpen to apply
Fee (joining · annual, + GST)₹500/yr✓ Better₹999/yr
Fee waiverSpend ₹2,00,000 a yearSpend ₹2,00,000 a year
Reward rate on everyday spend1.0%1.0%
PointsAxis Bank CashbackSBI Card Cashback
Our value per point₹1.00 †₹1.00 †
Transfer partnersNoneNone
Lounges it gets you into0 of 7920 of 792
Forex markup3.50%3.5%
Welcome benefitAmazon eVoucher worth ₹250 on your first transaction within 30 days of card issuance — not available on cards issued without a joining feeNot published — SBI lists no welcome or activation benefit for this card on the product record or in the T&C e-kit

✓ Better marks the side that wins a row; rows that compare unlike things are not scored. Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card is ahead on 7 of the 8 rows we can call.

More facts 8 rows
Rank, verdict, lounge visits and fine print
FactAirtel Axis Bank Credit CardCASHBACK SBI Card
Our rank#297#156✓ Better
Our verdictKeepKeep
Lounge visits in IndiaNone since 12 Apr 2026 — "Effective 12th April 2026, the Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card is no longer offering complimentary lounge access"None — the card is on neither Set A nor Set B of SBI's eligible-card lists
Lounge visits abroadNone — Axis publishes no international lounge entitlement for this cardNone published
Forex, in the bank’s words3.50% of the transaction value, plus a 3.5% + taxes dynamic-currency-conversion markup — raised from 1.5% on 28 August 2026.3.5% of the transaction amount, plus a 3.5% dynamic-currency-conversion fee; CASHBACK is in none of the MITC's reduced-markup exceptions (AURUM, Elite, Prime NRI secured, Tata Neu Infinity, Miles Elite/Prime/Miles)
Interest (APR)3.75%/mo (55.55%/yr)3.75%/mo (45%/yr) on the worked example in §1F
Income needed (salaried)not published₹1k–49k/month band — SBI's own product record tags the card with the lowest income band it publishes; no hard floor is stated
Income needed (self-employed)not publishedSame ₹1k–49k/month band — SBI's record does not split salaried from self-employed

† Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card: Statement cashback at par, credited to the card account on a 60-day cycle. Axis's own cashback T&C defines it as "money awarded in the customer's credit card account under the cashback scheme". The Zomato, Blinkit and District Movies value back is NOT this — it is credited to each partner's own wallet, carries no expiry, and Axis states plainly that "Axis Bank cashback shall not be applicable for this category".

† CASHBACK SBI Card: The unit is a rupee, not a point: SBI's own T&C says the cashback "is directly credited to the SBI Card account within two working days of the statement generation", and its FAQ says "Your Card Cashback does not expire". So ₹1.00 is floor, value and ceiling alike. What bites instead is the ceiling on EARNING it — ₹2,000 a statement cycle on online spend, ₹2,000 on offline, and never more than ₹4,000 combined.

Our value per point is what we think a point is worth when you use it well; every currency's figure and its reasoning is on points values.

What each is worth to you

A year of rewards and bonuses, after the fee
Monthly spendAirtel Axis Bank Credit CardCASHBACK SBI Card
At ₹30,000 a month₹3,600✓ Better₹3,000
At ₹75,000 a month₹9,000✓ Better₹7,600
At ₹1.5 lakh a month₹18,000✓ Better₹15,100
At ₹3 lakh a month₹36,000✓ Better₹24,000
At ₹5 lakh a month₹60,000✓ Better₹24,000
Pays for itself from₹5,000 a month✓ Better₹10,000 a month

On an everyday mix of spending (groceries, bills, travel, fuel and the rest), using each card's own rules for each kind of spend. The same figures as each card's own page.

Every spend from ₹25,000 to ₹5 lakh 20 steps
Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card and CASHBACK SBI Card at each ₹25,000 step
Monthly spendAirtel Axis Bank Credit CardCASHBACK SBI CardAhead
₹25,000₹3,000✓ Better₹2,500Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹500
₹50,000₹6,000✓ Better₹5,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹1,000
₹75,000₹9,000✓ Better₹7,600Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹1,400
₹1 lakh₹12,000✓ Better₹10,100Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹1,900
₹1.25 lakh₹15,000✓ Better₹12,600Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹2,400
₹1.5 lakh₹18,000✓ Better₹15,100Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹2,900
₹1.75 lakh₹21,000✓ Better₹17,600Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹3,400
₹2 lakh₹24,000✓ Better₹20,200Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹3,800
₹2.25 lakh₹27,000✓ Better₹22,700Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹4,300
₹2.5 lakh₹30,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹6,000
₹2.75 lakh₹33,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹9,000
₹3 lakh₹36,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹12,000
₹3.25 lakh₹39,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹15,000
₹3.5 lakh₹42,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹18,000
₹3.75 lakh₹45,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹21,000
₹4 lakh₹48,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹24,000
₹4.25 lakh₹51,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹27,000
₹4.5 lakh₹54,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹30,000
₹4.75 lakh₹57,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹33,000
₹5 lakh₹60,000✓ Better₹24,000Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card by ₹36,000
How we work out the yearly value

We put each card through the same everyday mix of spending, apply that card's own rules for each kind of spend (some earn nothing on fuel or bills), add its milestone and renewal bonuses at our value per point, and take off the fee unless that spend waives it. Bonus categories that need you to shop a certain way are not counted. Your own mix will differ: try your numbers in the calculator, or read how we value cards.

Before you choose

Transfer partners 0 and 0

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card's Axis Bank Cashback cannot be moved to any airline or hotel; CASHBACK SBI Card's SBI Card Cashback cannot be moved to any.

Every partner and ratio is on each card's page; the best value for your points is on the transfer optimizer.

Watch out 6 points

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card

  • THE FOUR COMPLIMENTARY DOMESTIC LOUNGE VISITS WERE DISCONTINUED on 12 April 2026 — this card now has no travel benefit at all
  • The 25% and 10% Airtel tiers are capped at twice and once the base cashback you earned that month — spend little elsewhere and they pay little
  • Both accelerated tiers require the Airtel Thanks app; paying the same bill anywhere else earns 1%

6 more on its page

CASHBACK SBI Card

  • The 5% caps at ₹2,000 of cashback a statement cycle, which is ₹40,000 of online spend — past that, online earns nothing until the cycle turns
  • Offline has its own ₹2,000 cap, and the T&C says aggregate cashback 'shall not exceed ₹4,000' in a statement cycle under any circumstances
  • Thirteen MCC families earn 0%: fuel, wallets, rent, jewellery, education, utilities, insurance, railways, gaming, tolls, government, quasi-cash and card fees

6 more on its page

Common questions 5 answered

Which is better, Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card or CASHBACK SBI Card?

At every spend from ₹25,000 to ₹5 lakh a month, Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card beats CASHBACK SBI Card, and its lead widens from ₹500 to ₹36,000 a year as spend climbs. At ₹75,000 a month the gap is mostly what each card earns on your spend: Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card returns ₹9,000 a year in rewards to CASHBACK SBI Card's ₹7,600. On the rows below, CASHBACK SBI Card has no clear edge over Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card.

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card or CASHBACK SBI Card: which is worth more at ₹3 lakh a month?

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card beats CASHBACK SBI Card by ₹12,000 a year at ₹3 lakh a month. Both figures are a year's rewards and bonuses on an everyday spending mix, after the fee.

Which costs less to get, Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card or CASHBACK SBI Card?

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card: ₹500/yr against ₹999/yr. Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card waives its fee if you spend ₹2,00,000 a year; CASHBACK SBI Card waives its fee if you spend ₹2,00,000 a year.

Which gets you into more airport lounges, Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card or CASHBACK SBI Card?

Both get you into 0 of the 792 lounges we track.

How current is this comparison?

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card was last checked against its bank's own documents on 29 Aug 2026, CASHBACK SBI Card on 12 Oct 2026. Every figure here is worked out again from those records each time the site is built, so a change to either card shows up the day we log it.

Get the Monday mail: every fee and devaluation that moved on these cards and the rest, in ₹.

Double opt-in, one-click unsubscribe. Privacy

Sources

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card was last checked against its bank's own documents on 29 Aug 2026, CASHBACK SBI Card on 12 Oct 2026. Every fact above comes from these 9 documents; the banks' own are marked official. A fact a bank does not publish shows as "not published", never as zero.

The documents 9 sources
  1. Official Product page — the ₹250 welcome eVoucher, 25% on Airtel bills, the 1% fuel-surcharge waiver, and the value chart showing 1% on all other spends read
  2. Official Cashback T&C effective 12 April 2026 — 1% base with no cap, 25% on Airtel capped at twice that base and 10% on utilities capped at once it, with a worked illustration read
  3. Official Revision notice effective 12 April 2026 — the lounge access is discontinued, and the flat ₹250 caps are replaced by the base-cashback multiples read
  4. Official Axis master MITC — ₹500 joining and ₹500 annual waived at ₹2,00,000, Nil add-on, 3.50% forex, and a ₹400-a-cycle fuel-surcharge refund read
  5. Official Axis Bank Credit Cards Domestic Airport Lounge Access Program — the programme document this card's lounge entitlement is read against read
  6. Official Product page — 5% online and 1% offline, the ₹999 fee both years, and the ₹2 lakh renewal reversal read
  7. Official Cashback T&C e-kit — the 5%/1% table, the ₹2,000 + ₹2,000 + ₹4,000 statement-cycle caps, and the full MCC exclusion list read
  8. Official SBI Card MITC — the ₹999/₹999 fee row with the ₹2 lakh waiver, and the 3.5% foreign-currency markup read
  9. Official SBI Card's Airport Lounge Access page (the Set A and Set B card lists) — the programme document this card's lounge entitlement is read against read

Report a wrong fact on this page