Aditya Birla SBI Card SELECT Review 2026: Worth ₹1,499?

The Aditya Birla SBI Card SELECT is worth its ₹1,499 fee only if a good part of your clothing budget already goes to Aditya Birla Group stores like Pantaloons and its sister chains. Its 10% accelerated rate on those brands and 5% on dining are strong, but outside that ecosystem it earns a plain 1%, so most people will get more from a general-purpose card.

Who this card is for

This is the upgraded tier of SBI's Aditya Birla co-brand. It targets shoppers who buy from Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail brands often enough that the base card's 5% rate feels like money left on the table. SELECT doubles that headline rate, adds a dining category and adds domestic lounge access.

If you shop at those brands two or three times a year, the base Aditya Birla SBI Card at ₹499 is the more sensible pick, or you can skip the co-brand entirely. SELECT makes sense for families who dress almost entirely from the group's stores and eat out regularly.

Fees and fee waiver

Feature	Aditya Birla SBI SELECT
Joining fee	₹1,499 + GST
Annual fee	₹1,499 + GST
Fee waiver spend	₹2,00,000 a year
Base reward rate	1%
Accelerated rate (Aditya Birla brands)	10% (monthly cap applies)
Dining	5% (monthly cap applies)
Forex markup	3.5%
Domestic lounge	Complimentary access
International lounge	Not listed
Minimum monthly income	₹25,000

The ₹2 lakh waiver works out to about ₹16,700 a month. That's reachable if this is your main card, but not if it only comes out at Pantaloons. Remember that 18% GST applies to the fee, so the real cost is about ₹1,769 a year. SBI's spend-based reversal works the same way across its range; our SBI annual fee waiver guide explains which spends count.

Reward structure, with a worked example

BestCard's data shows three earn rates:

• 10% in the accelerated category, which is built around Aditya Birla Group fashion brands
• 5% on dining
• 1% on everything else

Both accelerated categories have a monthly cap. SBI publishes the cap amounts in the card's terms, and they change from time to time, so check them before you count on the full rate for a big festive purchase.

Example: ₹20,000 a month

• ₹4,000 at Aditya Birla brands × 10% = ₹400
• ₹3,000 on dining × 5% = ₹150
• ₹13,000 on other spends × 1% = ₹130
• Monthly value: ₹680, or about ₹8,160 a year

That's a comfortable return on a ₹1,769 fee (including GST), and at ₹2.4 lakh a year you'd also clear the waiver. If the monthly cap stops you earning the full 10% on a heavy shopping month, the number drops. Plan bigger wardrobe purchases across months if you're close to the cap.

Example: ₹10,000 a month, light brand spend

• ₹1,000 at Aditya Birla brands × 10% = ₹100
• ₹1,500 on dining × 5% = ₹75
• ₹7,500 other × 1% = ₹75
• Monthly value: ₹250, or ₹3,000 a year

Here you earn ₹3,000 against a ₹1,769 fee you won't get waived (₹1.2 lakh is below the ₹2 lakh bar). The net gain of about ₹1,200 is thin, and a lifetime-free card would beat it.

Lounge access and other benefits

SELECT includes complimentary domestic airport lounge access, which the base card doesn't have. The data doesn't list a fixed visit count, and SBI has been adding spend conditions to lounge access across its range, so read the latest terms before you plan a trip around it.

The other benefit is a bigger welcome voucher from Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail brands than the base card offers. If you were going to shop there anyway, that voucher covers a good part of the first-year fee.

There's no international lounge access, and the 3.5% forex markup is standard, so don't use this card abroad. A zero-forex card is far better for that; see our zero forex markup roundup.

Pros and cons

Pros

• 10% accelerated rate at Aditya Birla fashion brands, double the base card
• 5% on dining is useful on a mid-tier card
• Domestic lounge access
• Larger welcome voucher

Cons

• ₹1,499 fee is three times the base card's
• Value is concentrated in one retail group
• Only 1% outside the accelerated categories
• 3.5% forex markup

Eligibility

BestCard's data lists a minimum monthly income of ₹25,000. Salaried and self-employed applicants can apply. SBI Card will check your CIBIL history, existing card limits and repayment record. If you're new to credit, a card with a lower bar may get approved faster.

How it compares with alternatives

Aditya Birla SBI Card (base): ₹499 fee, 5% in the same brand category, 0.5% base, no lounge access, ₹15,000 income requirement. Better for occasional shoppers.

SBI Cashback Card: ₹999 fee, 5% cashback on online spends (capped at ₹2,000 a month), 1% base, ₹2 lakh waiver. It pays as statement cashback, not points, and works on almost any online store. For most people who shop across Myntra, Amazon and Ajio, this is the better card. Our SBI Cashback review covers it in depth.

ABC AU Pro Credit Card: a different Aditya Birla co-brand from AU Small Finance Bank at ₹999, with 3% on dining and online shopping, 1.5% base cashback and a lower 2.5% forex markup. It's a flatter, more predictable earner if you want the Aditya Birla name without heavy brand loyalty.

You can put any of these side by side on /compare.

Verdict

The Aditya Birla SBI Card SELECT is a good card for a narrow group of people. If you spend ₹3,000 to ₹5,000 a month at Aditya Birla brands and eat out regularly, it returns several times its fee and clears the ₹2 lakh waiver without much effort. If you don't, the 1% base rate and ₹1,499 fee make it a poor everyday card.

If it fits how you shop, apply for the Aditya Birla SBI Card SELECT through SBI Card. These figures come from BestCard's latest card data, but issuers change caps and benefits often, so check SBI Card's site before you apply. Not sure it's the right fit? The card matcher will rank cards against your actual spending.