Paytm SBI Card SELECT cuts education spends — 1% value

The Paytm SBI Card SELECT has stopped earning Reward Points on school and education spends, effective 9 Mar 2026. This change applies to eleven specific MCCs, including book shops, stationers, and gift shops, in addition to schools. The Reward Points were previously accrued at the card’s 1% value-back rate. The impact of this change is significant, given the card’s ₹1,499 fee and ₹2,00,000 annual spend requirement for fee waiver. The household bill most likely to help a Paytm user meet this spend requirement is now the one bill that pays nothing back in Reward Points. Our take: if your spend is heavily skewed towards education, consider alternative cards that continue to offer rewards in this category. Otherwise, the Paytm SBI Card SELECT still offers benefits like 5% rewards on Paytm Travel, four domestic lounge visits, and milestone vouchers worth up to ₹6 lakh, which may still make it a viable option for some users.