SBI Card Launches Invite-Only Aurum Metal Card

SBI Card finally has a metal flagship. Aurum is the issuer’s long-awaited answer to HDFC Infinia and Axis Magnus: invitation-only, metal, and carrying a 40,000-point welcome bonus — worth roughly ₹10,000 at the card’s 0.25-rupee-per-point redemption rate.

The lounge proposition needs a second read. Unlimited international lounge access sounds generous until you clock that domestic visits are capped at four a quarter. For a super-premium Indian card, that’s backwards — most cardholders clear four domestic lounge visits before they see a single international terminal.

Then there’s the velvet rope. No public application: SBI made you wait for an invite just to get in the door, borrowing the Infinia playbook of scarcity-as-marketing.

Our take: solid card, muddled positioning. A ₹10,000 welcome bonus and metal in the wallet are real, but a domestic lounge cap on an invite-only flagship undercuts the flex. If the invite lands, take it for the bonus — just don’t expect it to dethrone Infinia or Magnus in anyone’s spreadsheet.