SBI Card PRIME vs Kotak Privy League Signature (2026)
Kotak Privy League Signature marks foreign spend up 2.0% against SBI Card PRIME's 3.5% — 1.5pp on every rupee you spend abroad, before either card earns a point on it.
Head to head
| SBI Card PRIME | Metric | Kotak Privy League Signature |
|---|---|---|
| #75 — wins this row | Our rank | #79 |
| ₹2,999/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹2,500/yr — wins this row |
| ₹3,00,000 spend | Fee waiver | ₹5,00,000 spend |
| 3.5% + GST (the base SBI tier; only "Prime NRI Secured" gets 1.99%, and that is a different product) | Forex markup | 2% (paid variant); 3.5% (free variant) — wins this row |
| up to 3.75%/mo (45%/yr) | APR | 3.5%/mo (42%/yr) |
| 0.5% | Headline earn rate | 0.5% |
| SBI Reward Points | Currency | Kotak Reward Points |
| ₹0.25/pt | House value | ₹0.25/pt † |
| e-Gift voucher worth ₹3,000 (Yatra, Bata/Hush Puppies, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Fashion, Shoppers Stop) | Welcome benefit | None — no joining bonus (free for Privy League / Black relationships) |
| 724 of 789 | Lounge doors opened | 724 of 789 |
† Kotak Privy League Signature: Kotak reward points redeem at a flat ₹0.25 on the catalogue — products, vouchers, recharges, flight/hotel tickets — with no published airline or hotel transfer partners. So the 2 RP/₹100 base is a 0.5% return; the 5X plan lifts one category to ~1.25%, and that's the ceiling. Take the cash instead and you get less: Kotak's Revised Cardholder Agreement cut this card's statement-credit rate from ₹0.25 to ₹0.20 a point on 1 June 2025, minimum 2,000 points.
Neither issuer publishes an income floor for these two. SBI Card PRIME is open to a direct application; Kotak Privy League Signature is closed to new applications, and only grandfathered holders still have it. How people actually get Kotak Privy League Signature is on its card page.
Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →
Ranking-value face-off
Everyday spend at each card's base rate plus a realistic ~20% at its best accelerator (less for narrow or capped boosters) — milestones, fee waivers and the redemption haircut all at our house ₹/point. That's why the biggest headline rate doesn't automatically win. This is the ranking model, the one that orders the board; each card page prints the earn-rate-only net annual value instead, which reads lower for any card with an accelerator (both models, side by side). Tune it to your own spend in the calculator.
SBI Card PRIME out-earns Kotak Privy League Signature at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend
SBI Card PRIME leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹5,732 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹23,150 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹23,150).
SBI Card PRIME draws above the line, Kotak Privy League Signature below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | SBI Card PRIME | Kotak Privy League Signature | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹6,820 | ₹1,088 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹5,732 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹16,640 | ₹5,425 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹11,215 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹19,460 | ₹13,013 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹6,447 |
| ₹1L | ₹22,280 | ₹14,850 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹7,430 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹25,100 | ₹16,688 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹8,412 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹27,920 | ₹18,525 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹9,395 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹30,740 | ₹20,363 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹10,377 |
| ₹2L | ₹33,560 | ₹22,200 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹11,360 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹36,380 | ₹24,038 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹12,342 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹39,200 | ₹25,875 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹13,325 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹42,020 | ₹27,713 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹14,307 |
| ₹3L | ₹44,840 | ₹29,550 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹15,290 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹47,660 | ₹31,388 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹16,272 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹50,480 | ₹33,225 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹17,255 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹53,300 | ₹35,063 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹18,237 |
| ₹4L | ₹56,120 | ₹36,900 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹19,220 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹58,940 | ₹38,738 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹20,202 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹61,760 | ₹40,575 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹21,185 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹64,580 | ₹42,413 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹22,167 |
| ₹5L | ₹67,400 | ₹44,250 | SBI Card PRIME by ₹23,150 |
Transfer reach
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
What to watch out for
SBI Card PRIME · 4 more →
- 3.5% foreign-currency markup — ELITE's 1.99% does not extend down to PRIME
- Reward Points are fixed at 4 RP = ₹1 with zero airline or hotel transfer partners
- 0.5% base earn; the 10X categories still only reach 2.5%
Kotak Privy League Signature · 5 more →
- Lounge access is spend-gated since 1-Jun-2025 — you need ₹75,000 through the card in a calendar quarter to get the complimentary visits the NEXT quarter
- Reward points redeem at just ₹0.25 — a 0.5% base, and no published airline/hotel transfers
- Cash-out was cut to ₹0.20 a point on 1-Jun-2025 (min 2,000 points) — redeem on the catalogue, never as statement credit
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, SBI Card PRIME nets ₹22,280 against ₹14,850 — a ₹7,430 gap. At ₹5L/month, SBI Card PRIME nets ₹67,400 against ₹44,250 — a ₹23,150 gap. Lounge chasers get no tiebreak here: both open 724 of 789 tracked doors.
Our standing verdicts: SBI Card PRIME — Keep; Kotak Privy League Signature — Downgrade. On our board, SBI Card PRIME sits at #75 to Kotak Privy League Signature's #79 — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Straight answers
Which is better, SBI Card PRIME or Kotak Privy League Signature?
SBI Card PRIME. It sits at #75 on our board to Kotak Privy League Signature's #79. SBI Card PRIME takes 4 of the 6 rounds we can score. SBI Card PRIME out-earns Kotak Privy League Signature at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
SBI Card PRIME or Kotak Privy League Signature — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, SBI Card PRIME nets ₹44,840 against ₹29,550 — a ₹15,290 gap. Those are ranking-value figures: everyday spend at the card's base rate plus a realistic slice at its best accelerator, net of the fee.
Which costs less to hold, SBI Card PRIME or Kotak Privy League Signature?
Kotak Privy League Signature — ₹2,500/yr against ₹2,999/yr. SBI Card PRIME waives its fee at ₹3,00,000 of spend; Kotak Privy League Signature at ₹5,00,000 of spend.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, SBI Card PRIME or Kotak Privy League Signature?
Lounge chasers get no tiebreak here: both open 724 of 789 tracked doors. Visit quotas, guest charges and spend gates are per card — the lounge map carries each one.
How current is this comparison?
Card records last re-verified against their issuers' own documents: SBI Card PRIME on 2026-08-02, Kotak Privy League Signature on 2026-07-26. Every figure on this page — the ranking values, the fee rows, the lounge counts, the transfer ratios — is recomputed from those records each time the site builds, so a devaluation changes the call the day we log it.