Ola Credit Card Launched in India in Partnership With SBI, With Up to 20 Percent Cashback

Ola has partnered the state-run SBI cards to launch Ola Money SBI Credit Card. Calling it the country's first such co-branding initiative in the segment, Ola said the move will enrich the customer experience of millions of the homegrown ride hailing platform's users. Notably though, Paytm tied up with Citi earlier this week to launch its own co-branded credit card, the Paytm First Credit Card. With these two back-to-back credit card announcements, the co-branded credit cards are once again in focus in the country, even though co-branded credit cards are hardly a new concept.  

The Ola Money SBI Credit Card, which is powered by Visa, will be available without any joining fees and is claimed to provide "seamless, flexible, and convenient payments" to the car hailing platform's customers. Ola is targeting 10 million Ola Credit Cards to be issued by 2022.

Ola users will be able to apply for, view, and manage their Ola Money SBI Credit Card directly on the Ola app with a few taps, a company statement said. Interested consumers can also enrol for the credit card on the Ola site.

Card users will also benefit from the cashback and rewards, instantly credited to their accounts in the form of Ola Money with lifetime validity which can be redeemed against Ola rides as well as flight and hotel bookings.

Ola Money SBI Credit Card cashback offers

Cashback examples shared by the company include 7 percent cashback on Ola Cab spends, 5 percent cashback on flight bookings, 20 percent cashback on domestic hotel bookings, 6 percent cashback on international hotel bookings, 20 percent cashback on over 6,000 restaurants across the country, 1 percent cashback on other spends, and finally, 1 percent surcharge waiver on all fuel transactions.

"Mobility spends form a significant wallet share for users and we see a huge opportunity to transform their payments experience with this solution," Ola Co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said.

Hardayal Prasad, MD & CEO, SBI Card said, "Through this card, we aim to address their evolving mobility spends while providing them with maximum value and unique benefits on their travel spends, especially for cab-based commute."

As we mentioned, Paytm launched a similar credit card on Tuesday, in partnership with Citi and Visa. Called the Paytm First Card, it is touted to offer 1 percent "universal unlimited cashback" to customers along with no restrictions on earning categories. While the Paytm First Card comes with an annual fee of Rs. 500, the fee is claimed to be waived if the spends exceed Rs. 50,000 per year. \

Written with inputs from IANS

Disclosure: Paytm's parent company One97 is an investor in Gadgets 360.