Standard Chartered Ultimate vs Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive (2026)
Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive vs Standard Chartered Ultimate: which wins?
₹1,14,880ranking value a year at ₹3L a month, to Standard Chartered Ultimate
Skip the duel — the board, ranked → · nothing to sign up for
Same points, and neither card transfers anywhere — the redemption catalogue is the ceiling for both, so this one is decided on earn and fee, nothing else: 3.3% at ₹5,000/yr against 0.5% at ₹2,999/yr.
Standard Chartered Ultimate out-earns Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
Every metric, row by row — 11 compared
Head to head
| Standard Chartered Ultimate | Metric | Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive |
|---|---|---|
| #17 | Our rank | closed |
| ₹5,000/yr | Fee — joining · annual (+ GST) | ₹2,999/yr — wins this row |
| None | Fee waiver | ₹4,00,000 spend |
| 2% + GST (Ultimate-specific; 3.5% on other SC cards) | Forex markup | not published |
| 3.75%/mo (45%/yr APR), same rate on cash advances | APR | not published |
| 3.3% — wins this row | Headline earn rate | 0.5% |
| StanC 360° Reward Points | Currency | StanC 360° Reward Points |
| ₹1.00/pt | House value | ₹1.00/pt † |
| 6,000 reward points (₹6,000) on fee payment | Welcome benefit | An Amazon voucher worth ₹3,000, sent within 60 days of the ₹2,999 joining fee being realised — a voucher, not points |
| 689 of 793 — wins this row | Lounge doors opened | 0 of 793 |
| ~₹2L+/month (community) | Income — salaried | not published |
† Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive: SC's closure FAQ moved unredeemed Bandhan points onto the REWARDS Credit Card at par, and the Rewards card's own FAQ prices a 360° point at ₹0.25 in the catalogue and ₹0.20 against the statement — a quarter of the ₹1.00 the Ultimate gets and the currency is housed at. So the 10-per-₹150 headline on this card is 1.67%, not 6.67%, and `earn.base` bakes that in.
Gold marks the better side of a row. House value is our ₹-per-point mark for each card's currency — the full valuation index →
The ₹ face-off at ₹1L/₹3L/₹5L a month
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.
Standard Chartered Ultimate out-earns Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
How the gap moves with spend — a 20-step sweep from ₹0.25L to ₹5L/month
How the gap moves with spend
Standard Chartered Ultimate leads at all 20 steps, but not by the same amount: ₹5,789 at ₹0.25L a month, ₹1,50,796 at ₹5L — the gap fans out with spend, widest at ₹5L (₹1,50,796).
Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive runs a 1.7% booster on Dining, movies and supermarkets, where Standard Chartered Ultimate earns one flat rate.
Standard Chartered Ultimate draws above the line, Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive below · ₹0.25L to ₹5L a month, step by step
| Monthly spend | Standard Chartered Ultimate | Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive | In front |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹0.25L | ₹4,990 | −₹799 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹5,789 |
| ₹0.5L | ₹14,980 | ₹4,400 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹10,580 |
| ₹0.75L | ₹24,970 | ₹6,601 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹18,369 |
| ₹1L | ₹34,960 | ₹8,801 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹26,159 |
| ₹1.25L | ₹44,950 | ₹11,001 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹33,949 |
| ₹1.5L | ₹54,940 | ₹13,201 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹41,739 |
| ₹1.75L | ₹64,930 | ₹15,401 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹49,529 |
| ₹2L | ₹74,920 | ₹17,602 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹57,318 |
| ₹2.25L | ₹84,910 | ₹19,802 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹65,108 |
| ₹2.5L | ₹94,900 | ₹22,002 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹72,898 |
| ₹2.75L | ₹1,04,890 | ₹24,202 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹80,688 |
| ₹3L | ₹1,14,880 | ₹26,402 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹88,478 |
| ₹3.25L | ₹1,24,870 | ₹28,603 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹96,267 |
| ₹3.5L | ₹1,34,860 | ₹30,803 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹1,04,057 |
| ₹3.75L | ₹1,44,850 | ₹33,003 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹1,11,847 |
| ₹4L | ₹1,54,840 | ₹35,203 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹1,19,637 |
| ₹4.25L | ₹1,64,830 | ₹37,403 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹1,27,427 |
| ₹4.5L | ₹1,74,820 | ₹39,604 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹1,35,216 |
| ₹4.75L | ₹1,84,810 | ₹41,804 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹1,43,006 |
| ₹5L | ₹1,94,800 | ₹44,004 | Standard Chartered Ultimate by ₹1,50,796 |
Transfer reach — 0 shared live routes
Transfer reach
Both cards earn StanC 360° Reward Points, so the partner list is identical — 0 live transfer routes each. The fight is decided on earn and fees, not reach.
Full route maps on each card page, best ₹/point routes on the optimizer →
What to watch out for — 6 points
What to watch out for
Standard Chartered Ultimate · 2 more →
- No transfer partners — the ceiling is exactly ₹1/point
- Utilities, supermarkets, insurance, rent, govt cut to 2% since Apr 2023
- ₹99 + GST per redemption; points lapse about 3 years after you earn them, in quarterly batches
Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive · 2 more →
- Withdrawn: every Bandhan variant was de-activated by 15 January 2024 and replaced with a Standard Chartered Rewards Credit Card
- SC's closure FAQ moved Bandhan points to the Rewards card at par, and SC prices that point at ₹0.25 — so the 10x rung paid 1.67%, not 6.67%
- Standard Chartered never published a lounge visit count, an operator or a room list for this card, so the map carries the benefit with no doors attached
The call
For the ₹1L/month spender, Standard Chartered Ultimate nets ₹34,960 against ₹8,801 — a ₹26,159 gap. At ₹5L/month, Standard Chartered Ultimate nets ₹1,94,800 against ₹44,004 — a ₹1,50,796 gap. Lounge chasers: Standard Chartered Ultimate opens 689 of 793 tracked doors to Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive's 0.
Our standing verdicts: Standard Chartered Ultimate — Keep; Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive — Keep. Standard Chartered Ultimate takes 5 of the 6 rounds we can score — that's the overall call. Your spend pattern can overrule us: run your exact numbers →
Common questions — 5 answered
Straight answers
Which is better, Standard Chartered Ultimate or Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive?
Standard Chartered Ultimate. Standard Chartered Ultimate takes 5 of the 6 rounds we can score. Standard Chartered Ultimate out-earns Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive at every spend level we model, from ₹25k to ₹5L a month.
Standard Chartered Ultimate or Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive — which earns more at ₹3L a month?
At ₹3L a month, Standard Chartered Ultimate nets ₹1,14,880 against ₹26,402 — a ₹88,478 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, Standard Chartered Ultimate or Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive?
Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive — ₹2,999/yr against ₹5,000/yr. Standard Chartered Ultimate waives its fee at no spend level — there is no waiver; Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive at ₹4,00,000 of spend.
Which gets you into more airport lounges, Standard Chartered Ultimate or Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive?
Lounge chasers: Standard Chartered Ultimate opens 689 of 793 tracked doors to Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive's 0. 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: Standard Chartered Ultimate on 2026-08-17, Standard Chartered Bandhan Xclusive on 2026-08-22. 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.
Verified against Standard Chartered and Standard Chartered's own documents on · the ranking model, at our house ₹/point
Every document behind this page — 9 of them, each with the day we read it
- official Product page (₹5,000 joining and ₹5,000 renewal fee, 6,000-pt welcome on fee payment, 5 RP/₹150 = ₹1/pt, 4/quarter domestic + 1 PP/month int'l on ₹20k prior-month spend)
- official Revision FAQ — the Apr-2023 cuts only: from 2 Apr 2023 utilities, supermarkets, insurance, property management/rent, schools and government earn 3 RP/₹150 (was 5)
- official Tariffs & charges
- official Rewards-points expiry FAQ — points lapse roughly three years after they are earned and are written off in quarterly batches; exact dates only in the rewards portal
- official Federal Bank migration FAQ — the card relationship (credit limit, reward points, outstanding) transfers after 31 Jul 2026; consent via I Agree / SMS ACCEPT / continued use
- community CardInsider — Visa Infinite variant discontinued
- official Bandhan Xclusive Important Information Document — the ₹2,999 fee in both years, the ₹4,00,000 spend waiver, the ₹3,000 Amazon voucher and the shelf-wide charges
- official Standard Chartered's Bandhan closure FAQ — the 15 January 2024 de-activation, the Rewards Credit Card replacement and what happened to the points
- official Standard Chartered's Bandhan card shelf as it stood in June 2023 — the accrual rates and the only mention of this card's lounge access