Use OLA Money SBI Credit Card: Hands-On Review & Benefits

This review is written by our reader Ankit Malhotra, who recently tried the newly launched OLA Money SBI credit card.

This piece does not repeat the card’s core features and benefits already covered in the official launch article. Instead, it focuses on real-world, day-to-day experience with the card and how the product behaves in practice.

Ola appears to be using this card to grow the Ola Money user base, drive rewards redemption, and collect demographic and transaction data to refine pricing and operational models.

Application Process

Both my colleague and I, already holding SBI SimplyClick cards, applied for the OLA Money SBI card within a month of each other—my colleague in late August and I in late September. Applications submitted via the Ola app typically take 10 to 30 days for processing and delivery.

My colleague, whose SimplyClick limit was Rs. 3 lakh, had documents collected within two days and received the new card within about 10 days with a Rs. 2 lakh limit.

In my case, with an existing SimplyClick limit above Rs. 5 lakh, document collection happened only after about two weeks. SBI Cards called to say they would reduce my existing credit limit and reassign the balance to the Ola Money card. I was allowed to choose the exact split, and the card arrived roughly two weeks after that.

The Design

The card’s design is simple and broadly appealing. However, it picked up noticeable scratches from POS usage in a relatively short time, more than I would expect from similar cards.

Things to Know

Welcome offers for new cardholders—such as a 3-month DineOut Gourmet Passport, a 10-day Cult.Fit membership, and discounts on ClearTrip and TataCliq—are delivered by SMS within two weeks of the first transaction. These offers have short validity periods, so use them promptly.

I used the card to book a domestic hotel on ClearTrip without entering any coupon code, as suggested by the terms on the SBI Cards page. However, there is inconsistency across sources: Ola’s support page listed one coupon code (“ABC”) while the app expects “OLACC.” This mismatch suggests coordination issues. Ola Money support has since committed to credit the promised cashback within a week.

I also observed a few Ola Money payments at merchants like FreshMenu and MagicPin going through without OTP after the wallet had been used previously at the same merchant. Ola’s team responded quickly: a Senior Product Manager called within a day to explain they are simplifying authentication for logged-in customers at certain trusted merchants and will work with partners to close integration gaps.

Wallet acceptance for Ola Money remains limited compared with Paytm and even newer players such as Amazon Pay, which reduces the card’s practical usefulness outside a narrow set of merchants.

Customer Care

Ola Money’s customer care is primarily email-based (support [at] olamoney.com or care [at] zipcash.in) and lacks phone support. This approach can undermine user confidence in reward fulfilment and issue resolution.

For customers who plan to use the card mainly for Ola rides, there are additional concerns: a significant number of drivers reportedly cancel digitally paid trips without penalty, creating poor user experience and wasted time.

Changes to OLA Money Card

• Cashback on Ola rides: 15% (previously 7%)
• Monthly capping: Rs. 1,000 (previously Rs. 500/month)
• Welcome offer: None (previously Rs. 500)

These changes apply to customers acquired after Nov 15 up to Nov 15, 2020 (likely for the first year) and may be revised again. The signup bonus of Rs. 500 is no longer being provided, which partly explains the adjustment.

Existing users who joined for the original Ola spend benefits may feel shortchanged, since these changes arrived roughly six months after the card’s launch.

Advanced users who hold multiple premium cards and spend extensively on Ola might still find value—up to about Rs. 12,000 annual savings at 15% cashback versus Rs. 6,000 at 7%—if they accept the trade-offs: a new reward redemption channel with limited acceptance, uncertain customer care, and potential conflict with benefits on other high-fee cards.

Because these adjustments were implemented without wide announcement, there is a concern that Ola could adjust ride pricing or other variables for heavy-spending customers or specific cardholders. Monitoring future pricing and terms is advisable.

Verdict

For regular commuters, the math can work in favor of this card. People who spend modest daily amounts on Ola rides could recover the card’s annual fee and earn meaningful cashback—making it a reasonable entry-level card into the SBI Cards ecosystem if you can use the Ola and ClearTrip offers.

Compared with some other SBI cards that deliver widely varying returns (0.25%–2.5%), the OLA Money SBI card provides simpler, more consistent returns around 1% for general spends, provided you track terms and select redemption partners carefully.

To improve the product, Ola should invest in reliable customer care, ensure drivers accept digital payments consistently, and expand wallet acceptance so transactions are smoother and more predictable.

Overall, I rate the card 3 out of 5. The rating reflects decent value for select users, but weaknesses in product planning, early changes to benefits, and underwhelming customer support suggest waiting and watching unless you can clearly use the 15% Ola and ClearTrip benefits.