All cards / HDFC Bank
HDFC PhonePe Ultimo
HDFC PhonePe Ultimo is PhonePe's upper co-brand RuPay card, layering spend-gated domestic lounge access on top of the everyday cashback earning of the Uno variant. Like Uno, it's sourced and managed entirely through the PhonePe app, and its welcome benefit is five ₹200 scratch cards on the first UPI-on-credit-card transactions — making it a reasonable step-up for PhonePe users who spend enough to regularly clear the ₹75,000 quarterly lounge threshold.
Annual fee
₹999
Joining fee
₹999
Reward type
cashback
Base reward rate
1%
Card network
RuPay
Card tier
Mid
Who this card fits
Best suited to applicants who clear the standard eligibility bar whose spend is concentrated in travel, utilities. Its annual fee waives if you can comfortably clear the spend threshold.
Rewards & benefits
- Rewards rate: 1% base rate
- Domestic lounge access: 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year (2 per quarter), unlocked only in quarters where spend reaches ₹75,000
Benefits by category
- ✈️ Travel
8 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year (2 per quarter), unlocked only in quarters where spend reaches ₹75,000
- 🏨 Hotel
Up to 2,000 reward points a month on everyday spends — utilities, bill payments, flights, hotels, online shopping and UPI Scan & Pay — giving a broad earning base beyond just PhonePe's own services
- ⛽ Fuel
1% fuel surcharge waiver at fuel stations across India
Eligibility
- Minimum monthly income: ₹25,000
- Employment: salaried, self-employed
- Age: 21–65
Fees & charges
- Spend-based waiver: Waived on annual spend of ₹2,00,000
- Rewards redemption fee: Reward points redeem as statement credit at no charge
- Fuel surcharge waiver: 1% fuel surcharge waived on transactions between ₹400 and ₹1,00,000, capped at ₹250 per statement cycle
- Cash advance charges: 2.5% of the withdrawn amount or ₹500, whichever is higher; interest accrues from the date of withdrawal with no interest-free period
Benefits
- Welcome benefit of 5 PhonePe scratch cards worth ₹200 each for the first 5 UPI-on-credit-card transactions (applications from 1 Aug 2026; only where the joining fee applies)
- 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits a year (2 per quarter), unlocked only in quarters where spend reaches ₹75,000
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver at fuel stations across India
- Up to 2,000 reward points a month on everyday spends — utilities, bill payments, flights, hotels, online shopping and UPI Scan & Pay — giving a broad earning base beyond just PhonePe's own services
Pros
- + Domestic lounge access (2 visits/quarter) layered on top of everyday cashback earning
- + Welcome benefit of 5 scratch cards worth ₹200 each on the first 5 UPI-on-credit-card transactions
- + Broad 2,000 points/month earning cap spans utilities, bills, flights, hotels, online shopping and UPI
- + 1% fuel surcharge waiver adds incremental savings on fuel spend
- + Fully app-managed experience for existing PhonePe users
Cons
- − Lounge access requires hitting a ₹75,000 quarterly spend threshold — it is not a standing complimentary benefit
- − Application is only possible through the PhonePe app, not HDFC's own channels
- − Reward categories list is empty at the base level, so most value comes from the flat monthly points cap rather than category multipliers
Best for