SBI Card PRIME vs HDFC Regalia Gold 2026: Which Premium Card Earns More?

20 October 2026 · BestCard Editorial Team

ComparisonRewardsSBIHDFC

Gift vouchers and a premium credit card representing milestone rewards

SBI Card PRIME and HDFC Regalia Gold sit in the same ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 fee bracket, but they pay out in different ways. SBI PRIME is the better everyday card if most of your spend goes on dining, groceries and utility bills, and its lounge access doesn't depend on quarterly spend. Regalia Gold earns a lower flat rate but makes it back through milestone vouchers once you cross ₹5 lakh a year, and it has the lower 2% forex markup. Annual spend is the deciding factor.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	SBI Card PRIME	HDFC Regalia Gold
Network	Visa	Visa
Joining fee	₹2,999	₹2,500
Annual fee	₹2,999	₹2,500
Fee waiver spend	₹3,00,000/year	₹4,00,000/year
Base earn	2 points/₹100 (about 0.5%)	5 points/₹200 (about 1.25%)
Dining, groceries, department stores	10 points/₹100 (about 2.5%)	Base rate
Utilities	20 points/₹100 (about 5%)	Base rate
Travel	Base rate	2.5%
Brand accelerators	None listed	5X at Myntra, Nykaa, Reliance Digital, Marks & Spencer
Point value used	25 paise	50 paise (SmartBuy flights/hotels)
Forex markup	Not listed in our data	2%
Domestic lounge	8 visits/year	3 visits/quarter after ₹60,000 prior-quarter spend
International lounge	4 visits/year (max 2/quarter)	6 visits/year via Priority Pass
Min monthly income	₹50,000	₹1,50,000

Figures reflect BestCard's latest card data. Neither bank's caps on every category are fully listed there, so check SBI Card's and HDFC Bank's current terms before applying.

How the rewards actually work

SBI Card PRIME

SBI Card PRIME earns 10 reward points per ₹100 on dining, groceries and department stores, 20 points per ₹100 on utility bills, and 2 points per ₹100 on everything else. Points are worth 25 paise in our data, so the effective rates are about 2.5%, 5% and 0.5%. Redemption costs ₹99 plus tax per request, charged once per batch. You also get 20 points per ₹100 in a 3-day birthday window, capped at 2,000 bonus points a year.

HDFC Regalia Gold

HDFC Regalia Gold earns 5 reward points per ₹200 on eligible spend since 15 May 2026. At 50 paise a point on SmartBuy flights and hotels, that's about 1.25%, and BestCard lists travel at 2.5%. Myntra, Nykaa, Reliance Digital and Marks & Spencer earn 5X, capped at 5,000 bonus points a month. Grocery points are capped at 2,000 a month. The Gold catalogue values points at ₹0.65, but statement credit is only ₹0.20.

Worked example 1: ₹40,000 a month

Split: ₹6,000 dining, ₹8,000 groceries, ₹4,000 utilities, ₹5,000 travel, ₹17,000 other. Annual spend ₹4.8 lakh.

SBI Card PRIME

Dining and groceries: 2.5% × ₹14,000 = ₹350
Utilities: 5% × ₹4,000 = ₹200
Travel and other: 0.5% × ₹22,000 = ₹110
Total: ₹660 a month, ₹7,920 a year
₹4.8 lakh clears the ₹3 lakh waiver. You also qualify for the quarterly Pizza Hut voucher, since you spend ₹50,000 or more each quarter.

HDFC Regalia Gold

Travel: 2.5% × ₹5,000 = ₹125
Everything else: 1.25% × ₹35,000 = ₹437.50
Total: ₹562.50 a month, ₹6,750 a year
₹4.8 lakh clears the ₹4 lakh waiver, but misses the ₹5 lakh milestone and the ₹1.5 lakh quarterly voucher.

SBI PRIME is about ₹1,170 a year ahead here, before counting its Pizza Hut vouchers.

Shopper tapping a card on a payment terminal at a store counter

Worked example 2: ₹75,000 a month

Split: ₹10,000 dining, ₹12,000 groceries, ₹6,000 utilities, ₹15,000 travel, ₹7,000 at Myntra and Nykaa, ₹25,000 other. Annual spend ₹9 lakh.

SBI Card PRIME

Dining and groceries: 2.5% × ₹22,000 = ₹550
Utilities: 5% × ₹6,000 = ₹300
Travel, Myntra/Nykaa and other: 0.5% × ₹47,000 = ₹235
Total ₹1,085 a month, ₹13,020 a year
Plus the ₹7,000 voucher for crossing ₹5 lakh in a card year
Total: about ₹20,020 a year, plus quarterly Pizza Hut vouchers

HDFC Regalia Gold

Travel: 2.5% × ₹15,000 = ₹375
Myntra and Nykaa at 5X: 25 points per ₹200 × 35 = 875 points, worth ₹437.50 (bonus points stay well under the 5,000 cap)
Everything else: 1.25% × ₹53,000 = ₹662.50
Total ₹1,475 a month, ₹17,700 a year
Plus ₹10,000 in flight vouchers for crossing ₹5 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh, and ₹1,500 × 4 quarters = ₹6,000 for ₹1.5 lakh quarterly spend
Total: about ₹33,700 a year

At this level Regalia Gold wins by roughly ₹13,000, almost all of it from milestones.

Lounge access and travel

SBI PRIME's lounge allowance is simpler: 8 domestic and 4 international visits a year through a complimentary Priority Pass, with international visits capped at 2 a quarter. Regalia Gold offers more international visits, 6 a year, but domestic access depends on spending ₹60,000 in the previous quarter, so new cardholders get nothing in their first quarter. Regalia Gold also adds Boarding Edge, which lets you pick 2 travel perks a quarter such as a spa visit or an airport transfer.

For overseas spend, Regalia Gold's 2% forex markup is a known, low figure. SBI's markup for PRIME isn't listed in our data, so confirm it before using the card abroad. Our guide to lounge spend thresholds explains how quarterly gates like Regalia Gold's work.

Redemption

SBI PRIME points have one value in our data, 25 paise, and every redemption request costs ₹99 plus tax, so batch them. Regalia Gold has a range: ₹0.65 on the Gold catalogue, ₹0.50 on SmartBuy flights and hotels (up to 70% of a booking, 50,000 points a month), and ₹0.20 as statement credit. If you redeem Regalia Gold points for cash, its 1.25% falls to 0.5%, so the card rewards people who book travel.

Fees and waivers

SBI PRIME costs ₹499 more but is easier to waive at ₹3 lakh a year. Regalia Gold needs ₹4 lakh. Between ₹3 lakh and ₹4 lakh of spend you pay Regalia Gold's fee and not SBI's. The bigger gap is eligibility: PRIME asks for ₹50,000 a month, Regalia Gold ₹1.5 lakh.

Who should pick which

Choose SBI Card PRIME if:

Dining, groceries and utility bills make up most of your spend
You spend under ₹5 lakh a year
You want lounge visits without a quarterly spend condition
Your income is below ₹1.5 lakh a month

Choose HDFC Regalia Gold if:

You spend ₹5 lakh to ₹7.5 lakh or more a year and will hit the milestones
You shop at Myntra, Nykaa, Reliance Digital or Marks & Spencer
You redeem points for flights and hotels on SmartBuy
You travel abroad and want a 2% markup

Verdict

For moderate spenders whose money goes on food and bills, SBI Card PRIME earns more, waives sooner and has the more dependable lounge access. Once your annual spend crosses ₹5 lakh, HDFC Regalia Gold's milestone vouchers make it the better card, provided you redeem points on travel rather than as statement credit.

For more detail, read our SBI PRIME review and HDFC Regalia Gold review, or see Regalia Gold against SBI's other premium card in SBI Elite vs HDFC Regalia Gold. Our guide to milestone benefit credit cards covers how to plan spend around vouchers. You can also compare both on BestCard's compare tool.

Frequently asked questions

Is SBI Card PRIME better than HDFC Regalia Gold?

At moderate spend focused on dining, groceries and utility bills, SBI PRIME earns slightly more. Once you spend ₹5 lakh or more a year, Regalia Gold's milestone vouchers (up to ₹10,000 in flight vouchers plus ₹1,500 every qualifying quarter) usually put it ahead.

What is the reward rate on SBI Card PRIME?

BestCard's data lists 2 points per ₹100 as the base, 10 points per ₹100 on dining, groceries and department stores, and 20 points per ₹100 on utility bills. At 25 paise a point, that is roughly 0.5%, 2.5% and 5%.

Which card has the easier fee waiver?

SBI PRIME waives its ₹2,999 fee on ₹3 lakh of annual spend. Regalia Gold waives its ₹2,500 fee on ₹4 lakh.

Which card has better lounge access?

SBI PRIME gives 8 domestic and 4 international Priority Pass visits a year without a spend condition in our data. Regalia Gold gives 6 international visits a year plus 3 domestic visits a quarter, but the domestic visits need ₹60,000 of spend in the previous quarter.