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Kotak Cashback+ vs CASHBACK SBI Card

Verified 7 sources

Your monthly spend

CASHBACK SBI Card beats Kotak Cashback+ by ₹1,400 a year at ₹30,000 a month: ₹3,000 against ₹1,600, after fees

CASHBACK SBI Card beats Kotak Cashback+ by ₹3,500 a year at ₹75,000 a month: ₹7,600 against ₹4,100, after fees

CASHBACK SBI Card beats Kotak Cashback+ by ₹7,000 a year at ₹1.5 lakh a month: ₹15,100 against ₹8,100, after fees

CASHBACK SBI Card beats Kotak Cashback+ by ₹7,800 a year at ₹3 lakh a month: ₹24,000 against ₹16,200, after fees

Kotak Cashback+ beats CASHBACK SBI Card by ₹3,000 a year at ₹5 lakh a month: ₹27,000 against ₹24,000, after fees

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Kotak Cashback+

Our verdict: Keep

CASHBACK SBI Card

SBI Card

CASHBACK SBI Card

Our verdict: Keep

CASHBACK SBI Card vs Kotak Cashback+: which should you pick?

Two cashback cards waived at the same ₹2,00,000 of spend, ₹750 against ₹999. Kotak Cashback+ pays 5% on online groceries, food delivery, movies and OTT and 3% on fuel at any station, all inside one ₹750 cap a billing cycle, and 0.5% on everything else; 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. CASHBACK SBI wins under ₹4.5L a month; Kotak Cashback+ takes over from ₹4.5L, once SBI's caps bind. Neither opens a lounge.

Most people should pick CASHBACK SBI Card: it is the better card until ₹4.5 lakh a month, and only heavier spenders get more from Kotak Cashback+, ₹3,000 a year more at ₹5 lakh. At ₹75,000 a month the gap is mostly what each card earns on your spend: CASHBACK SBI Card returns ₹7,600 a year in rewards to Kotak Cashback+'s ₹4,100. We found nothing Kotak Cashback+ does clearly better than CASHBACK SBI Card on the rows below.

CASHBACK SBI Card's ongoing earn stops at ₹2,00,000 of spend a month, where Kotak Cashback+'s doesn't.

Kotak Cashback+ review CASHBACK SBI Card review

Side by side

Kotak Cashback+ and CASHBACK SBI Card, fact by fact
FactKotak Cashback+CASHBACK SBI Card
Can you get itOpen to applyOpen to apply
Fee (joining · annual, + GST)₹750/yr✓ Better₹999/yr
Fee waiverSpend ₹2,00,000 a yearSpend ₹2,00,000 a year
Reward rate on everyday spend0.5%1.0%✓ Better
PointsKotak Reward PointsSBI Card Cashback
Our value per point₹0.25 †₹1.00 †
Transfer partnersNoneNone
Lounges it gets you into0 of 7920 of 792
Forex markupnot published3.5%
Welcome benefitNot published — Kotak lists no welcome or activation benefit for this card on the product page or in its Key Fact StatementNot 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. CASHBACK SBI Card is ahead on 7 of the 9 rows we can call.

More facts 8 rows
Rank, verdict, lounge visits and fine print
FactKotak Cashback+CASHBACK SBI Card
Our rank#165#156✓ Better
Our verdictKeepKeep
Lounge visits in IndiaNone — the variant is not named in any of Kotak's three participating-lounge setsNone — the card is on neither Set A nor Set B of SBI's eligible-card lists
Lounge visits abroadNone — Kotak's lounge programme is India-onlyNone published
Forex, in the bank’s wordsnot published3.5% 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 (45.00%/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

† Kotak Cashback+: This card redeems its points at the TOP of the Kotak range — ₹1 a point against the statement, against a ₹0.25 house value across the range — but only in one direction and on one platform. Kotak's own words: "Accrued points can only be redeemed as cashback against statement outstanding. 1 point = ₹1. Minimum 500 points required for redemption", on the Kotak Unbox platform. And they die faster than the rest of the Kotak book: "Unclaimed cashback will expire in 1 year", against 24 months on the ordinary Kotak rewards programme.

† 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 spendKotak Cashback+CASHBACK SBI Card
At ₹30,000 a month₹1,600₹3,000✓ Better
At ₹75,000 a month₹4,100₹7,600✓ Better
At ₹1.5 lakh a month₹8,100₹15,100✓ Better
At ₹3 lakh a month₹16,200₹24,000✓ Better
At ₹5 lakh a month₹27,000✓ Better₹24,000
Pays for itself from₹14,000 a month₹10,000 a month✓ Better

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
Kotak Cashback+ and CASHBACK SBI Card at each ₹25,000 step
Monthly spendKotak Cashback+CASHBACK SBI CardAhead
₹25,000₹1,400₹2,500✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹1,100
₹50,000₹2,700₹5,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹2,300
₹75,000₹4,100₹7,600✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹3,500
₹1 lakh₹5,400₹10,100✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹4,700
₹1.25 lakh₹6,800₹12,600✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹5,800
₹1.5 lakh₹8,100₹15,100✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹7,000
₹1.75 lakh₹9,500₹17,600✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹8,100
₹2 lakh₹10,800₹20,200✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹9,400
₹2.25 lakh₹12,200₹22,700✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹10,500
₹2.5 lakh₹13,500₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹10,500
₹2.75 lakh₹14,900₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹9,100
₹3 lakh₹16,200₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹7,800
₹3.25 lakh₹17,600₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹6,400
₹3.5 lakh₹18,900₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹5,100
₹3.75 lakh₹20,300₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹3,700
₹4 lakh₹21,600₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹2,400
₹4.25 lakh₹23,000₹24,000✓ BetterCASHBACK SBI Card by ₹1,000
₹4.5 lakh₹24,300✓ Better₹24,000Kotak Cashback+ by ₹300
₹4.75 lakh₹25,700✓ Better₹24,000Kotak Cashback+ by ₹1,700
₹5 lakh₹27,000✓ Better₹24,000Kotak Cashback+ by ₹3,000
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

Kotak Cashback+'s Kotak Reward Points 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

Kotak Cashback+

  • All three accelerated rates share ONE ceiling of 750 points a billing cycle — about ₹750 a month, or ₹15,000 of 5% spend
  • Past that ceiling the accelerated categories earn NOTHING, not even the 0.5% base — Kotak says so in its own FAQ
  • The 5% is online only: Kotak states that offline grocery, dining and entertainment purchases earn the base rate instead

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, Kotak Cashback+ or CASHBACK SBI Card?

Most people should pick CASHBACK SBI Card: it is the better card until ₹4.5 lakh a month, and only heavier spenders get more from Kotak Cashback+, ₹3,000 a year more at ₹5 lakh. At ₹75,000 a month the gap is mostly what each card earns on your spend: CASHBACK SBI Card returns ₹7,600 a year in rewards to Kotak Cashback+'s ₹4,100. We found nothing Kotak Cashback+ does clearly better than CASHBACK SBI Card on the rows below.

Kotak Cashback+ or CASHBACK SBI Card: which is worth more at ₹3 lakh a month?

CASHBACK SBI Card beats Kotak Cashback+ by ₹7,800 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, Kotak Cashback+ or CASHBACK SBI Card?

Kotak Cashback+: ₹750/yr against ₹999/yr. Kotak Cashback+ 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, Kotak Cashback+ or CASHBACK SBI Card?

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

How current is this comparison?

Kotak Cashback+ was last checked against its bank's own documents on 26 Oct 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.

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Sources

Kotak Cashback+ was last checked against its bank's own documents on 26 Oct 2026, CASHBACK SBI Card on 12 Oct 2026. Every fact above comes from these 7 documents; the banks' own are marked official. A fact a bank does not publish shows as "not published", never as zero.

The documents 7 sources
  1. Official Kotak Cashback+ product page — the 5%/5%/3%/0.5% grid, the 750-point monthly ceiling on the accelerated legs, and the ₹1-a-point statement-only redemption read
  2. Official Key Fact Statement — Joining Fee ₹750 and Annual Fee ₹750 in two separately labelled columns, waived at ₹2 lakh of retail spend read
  3. Official Kotak Credit Cards India Lounge Programme — the programme document this card's lounge entitlement is read against read
  4. Official Product page — 5% online and 1% offline, the ₹999 fee both years, and the ₹2 lakh renewal reversal read
  5. 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
  6. Official SBI Card MITC — the ₹999/₹999 fee row with the ₹2 lakh waiver, and the 3.5% foreign-currency markup read
  7. 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

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