Synopsis: SBI Card will revise the transaction fees and alter certain rules for credit card usage from November 1,2025. This article discusses what’s changing and how the cardholders will be impacted.
SBI Card is a major player of credit card issuer in India it offers a wide range of cards tailored for different spending habits, including education, travel, shopping, fuel etc. SBI Card has announced changes in the fee structure and wallet payments on certain transactions which will be effective from 1st November, 2025.
What’s changing?
- Starting from 1 November 2025, SBI Card will apply a 1% fee on wallet top-ups and on education-related payments made through third-party apps.
- These fees will be applied only to certain transactions which were processed without any particular extra charge.
- The charges of 1% may vary depending on the card variant and the payment platform involved.
Who is Impacted and How much?
- The SBI Credit Card holders who frequently use their credit card for digital wallets top ups, load money for others or make bill payments, or use the card to pay for school/college fees via third-party apps.
- 1% charge will be applicable if the wallet load transaction is more than Rs. 1000.
- No fee will be charged if the payments are made directly to the institution’s official or Point of Sale terminals on campus.
- Cash payment fee is charged for Rs. 250
- Payment dishonored fee charges is 2% for minimum Rs. 500.
- SBI Card levies Rs. 200 as cheque payment fee.
- Cash advance fee at international and domestic ATMs is 2.5% for minimum transaction of Rs. 500.
Also read: RBI Update: Silver to Be Accepted as Collateral for Loans Starting April 2026
Why is SBI Card making this Change?
- Transaction costs and merchant-category risks have been evolving for credit-card issuers; passing some of that cost or risk to cardholders in specific categories is a trend.
- The revisions may also reflect regulatory pressures, changing payment behaviour, or desire to manage credit-card usage in non-traditional categories (wallet loads, education payments).
- SBI Card has made other changes earlier in 2025 on rewards for gaming and government spends indicating a broader strategy of tightening rules.
What Should You do Now?
- Go through your past 3-6 months transactions of credit‐card statements to identify how many wallet loads or education-category payments you made using the SBI Credit Card.
- If you have made frequent and unavoidable transactions, then consider the 1% as an extra factor cost for your budget, or consider alternate payment methods like bank transfer, use of a debit card that might avoid the fee.
- For wallet top-ups: check whether you can load via other means, or cut down the frequency/amount.
Conclusion
The changes by SBI Card on Education and Wallet loads fee from November 1, 2025 will have an impact on frequent credit card users for specific categories. This might reduce the unapproved transactions from 3rd party platforms and improve the risk management caused by fraudulent practices.
Written by Soumya M