BOBCARD ETERNA Review 2026: Points That Never Expire, Unlimited Lounges, ₹2,499 Waived & FAQs
BOBCARD ETERNA has unlimited domestic lounge access, a 2% forex markup and Reward Points that never expire — the only BOBCARD with no point validity. 3 RP per ₹100, 5X band capped at 5,000. FAQs.
BOBCARD ETERNA has three things almost no other card in the range does: unlimited domestic lounge access, Reward Points that never expire, and a 2% foreign currency markup where most of BOBCARD's range charges 3.5%.
It earns 3 Reward Points per ₹100 — 0.75% at the published ₹0.25 rate, rising to 3.75% on travel, dining, entertainment and international spends.
BOBCARD ETERNA Quick Overview
| **Card type** | Premium lifestyle and travel card |
|---|---|
| **Best for** | Frequent flyers who will use unlimited domestic lounge access |
| **Joining / renewal fee** | ₹2,499 + GST, same on renewal — renewal waived at ₹2.5 lakh of annual spend |
| **Network** | Visa, RuPay |
| **Base reward rate** | **0.75%** |
| **Top reward rate** | **3.75%** — Travel, dining, entertainment and international spends |
| **Reward currency** | BOBCARD Reward Points, valued at ₹0.25 each |
| **Welcome benefit** | Complimentary 12-month FITPASS PRO membership, and a welcome perk BOBCARD values at ₹15,000, on spending ₹10,000 within 30 days of card issuance |
| **Lounge access** | **Unlimited** complimentary domestic lounge access |
| **Forex markup** | 2.0% |
Reward Structure: How You Earn
BOBCARD publishes what a Reward Point is worth: 1 Reward Point = ₹0.25 as statement cashback.
There is a second, worse channel. BOBCARD's terms separately state 'Reward Redemption value using Pay with Rewards 1RP = 15 Paisa' — ₹0.15 a point, 40% less. Both are published; the card pages advertise only the better one.
3 Reward Points per ₹100 — 0.75%. 15 Reward Points per ₹100 on travel, dining, entertainment and international spends — 3.75%.
Reward Points are earned only on transactions of ₹100 or more, per transaction rather than cumulatively. A run of small purchases earns nothing at all.
| Spend | Effective rate |
|---|---|
| Travel, dining, entertainment and international spends (capped at 5,000 points a month) | **3.75%** |
| Everything else | 0.75% |
| Fuel, rent, wallet loads, government, gaming | **0%** |
The caps that actually bind
Headline rates mean little until you know where they stop. These are the limits on this card:
| Cap | Limit |
|---|---|
| Accel | 5,000 points per calendar month |
ETERNA's points do not expire. Every other BOBCARD product expires points after 24 months; this one has no validity period at all. On a card whose minimum redemption is ₹1,000 of points — 4,000 points — that matters, because it removes the pressure to redeem badly before a deadline.
The 5X band caps at 5,000 Reward Points a statement cycle, the largest accelerated allowance in the BOBCARD range — ₹1,250 of value, binding at about ₹33,000 of qualifying spend a month.
Fuel earns nothing on any BOBCARD except HPCL Energie, alongside ATM cash withdrawals and quasi-cash.
Credit-card-on-UPI transactions earn the core rate only, never the accelerated one.
Milestone Benefits
| Spend | Benefit | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ₹50,000 a year | 10,000 bonus Reward Points | ₹2,500 |
Category Restrictions: Where You Won't Earn
- Where you earn nothing: Earns nothing at all: fuel on every BOBCARD except HPCL Energie; cash withdrawals at ATM; and quasi-cash transactions. BOBCARD names these three in Annexure 1 of its rewards terms as ineligible for BOTH core and accelerated Reward Points. Transactions below ₹100 earn nothing either (₹150 on HPCL Energie).
- Point expiry: Reward Points on BOBCARD ETERNA DO NOT EXPIRE — the only card in the BOBCARD range with no point expiry. Every other BOBCARD product carries 24-month validity.
- Accel cap: 5,000 Reward Points a statement cycle across all accelerated categories combined — ₹1,250 of value, binding at about ₹33,000 of qualifying spend a month. The largest accelerated allowance in the BOBCARD range.
Fees and Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | ₹2,499 + GST |
| Renewal fee | ₹2,499 + GST |
| Finance charges | 3.75% per month (45% per annum) on all credit cards. Micro Enterprise cards are charged 1.5% per month (18% per annum). |
| Interest-free period | 20 to 50 days, and only where there is no previous outstanding. A purchase made early in the cycle gets the longer period; one made near the statement date gets the shorter. Not available at all if the previous month's balance was not cleared in full or if cash has been withdrawn at an ATM. |
| Minimum amount due | 100% of all fees, charges, finance charges, GST and EMI amounts, PLUS 2% of retail spends and cash advances — or ₹200, whichever is higher. Revised w.e.f. 1 October 2025. Where the total amount due exceeds the credit limit and the over-limit amount is greater than the computed MAD, the MAD becomes the whole over-limit amount. Any unpaid MAD from previous statements is added to the current one. |
| Cash advance fee | 2.5% of the amount withdrawn or ₹500, whichever is higher. |
| Cash advance interest | 3.75% per month (45% per annum), charged from the date of withdrawal with no interest-free period. |
| Forex markup | 2.0% of the transaction amount on this card. BOBCARD's MITC sets the markup by product: 2% on Eterna, Tiara, Varunah Premium, ICAI, ICSI and CMA One; 2.5% on Varunah Plus; 3% on Yoddha, The Sentinel, Rakshamah and Vikram; 3.5% on everything else. |
| Late payment | Graduated by statement balance: nil below ₹100; ₹100 for ₹100–₹500; ₹400 for ₹501–₹1,000; ₹750 for ₹1,001–₹10,000; ₹950 for ₹10,001–₹25,000; ₹1,100 for ₹25,001–₹50,000; ₹1,300 above ₹50,000. |
| Overlimit | 2.5% of the amount over and above the sanctioned credit limit, or ₹600, whichever is higher. Charged only where the cardholder has given explicit consent to the over-limit facility. |
| Payment return | 2% of the payment amount subject to a minimum of ₹500 for a returned cheque. The same 2%/₹500 applies to an auto-debit or standing-instruction bounce, but only ONCE per statement cycle per card and only where the failure was due to insufficient balance. |
| Rent payment | 1% of the transaction amount on all rent payments (MCC 6513), with no minimum threshold. Non-reversible. |
| Wallet load | 1% of the transaction amount on all wallet loading transactions (MCC 6539, 6540, 6541, 6542), with no minimum threshold. Wallet loading is not permitted at all on the Micro Enterprise card. Non-reversible. |
| Utility payments | 1% of the transaction amount, capped at ₹3,000 per transaction, on utility payments (MCC 4900) of ₹50,000 or more. Non-reversible. |
| Education payments | 1% of the transaction amount, capped at ₹5,000 per transaction, on online education fee payments made through third-party apps — Cheq, CRED, Ease My Deal, MobiKwik, NoBroker, Paytm, PhonePe and SuperPe — w.e.f. 1 April 2026. Non-reversible. |
| Fuel transactions | 1% of the transaction amount on fuel transactions (MCC 5172, 5541, 5542, 5983) of ₹10,000 or more. NOT applicable to HPCL Energie BOBCARD. Non-reversible. |
| Card replacement | ₹100 per replacement card. |
| Add-on card | Nil. BOBCARD charges no joining or annual fee on add-on cards. |
| Reward redemption | No per-redemption handling fee is published. Minimum redemption is Reward Points worth ₹1,000, and redemption must be initiated through the BOBCARD Portal or mobile app. |
| EMI processing | Charged per the SmartEMI scheme selected. Purchases above ₹2,500 may be converted. |
| GST | 18% on all fees, interest and other charges. |
Is the BOBCARD ETERNA Worth It?
The ₹2,499 joining fee is waived on ₹25,000 of spend in the first 60 days — a low bar, but the fee is charged in the third statement cycle if you miss it. The ₹2,499 annual fee from year two is waived on milestone spends.
Unlimited domestic lounge access is the headline and it is genuinely uncapped — rare at this fee, and worth more than the reward rate to anyone flying monthly.
The welcome package is substantial: a 12-month FITPASS PRO membership and a perk BOBCARD values at ₹15,000, on spending ₹10,000 within 30 days. A further 10,000 bonus Reward Points come at ₹50,000 of spend in the first 60 days.
At 0.75% the base rate is modest — ETERNA's case is the lounges, the non-expiring points and the welcome benefits, not the earn rate.
Redeem as statement cashback, not Pay with Rewards.
Three charges are worth knowing before you apply. Finance charges run at 3.75% a month — 45% a year. Late payment is graduated, from ₹100 on a balance of ₹100–₹500 up to ₹1,300 above ₹50,000. And BOBCARD levies non-reversible 1% processing fees on rent, wallet loading, large utility bills and fuel above ₹10,000 — with toll and bus, railway bookings and third-party education payments added to that list on 1 April 2026.
Reward Points lapse if the card goes unused for 365 days, and are forfeited outright on closure, settlement or dues overdue beyond 90 days.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the BOBCARD ETERNA earn rate? 3 Reward Points per ₹100 — 0.75% at the published ₹0.25 rate — and 15 per ₹100 on travel, dining, entertainment and international spends, which is 3.75%.
Do ETERNA points expire? No. ETERNA is the only BOBCARD product with no point expiry; every other card expires points after 24 months.
What does ETERNA cost? ₹2,499 joining and ₹2,499 annual. The joining fee is waived on ₹25,000 of spend in the first 60 days, and the annual fee on ₹2.5 lakh of spend in the year.
How much lounge access? Unlimited complimentary domestic airport lounge access.
What is the accelerated cap? 5,000 Reward Points a statement cycle — the largest in the BOBCARD range, worth ₹1,250 and binding at about ₹33,000 of qualifying spend.
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