ASSAM RIFLES THE SENTINEL BOBCARD Review 2026: Lifetime Free, 0.5% Base, 2.5% Accelerated & FAQs
ASSAM RIFLES THE SENTINEL BOBCARD is lifetime free for Assam Rifles personnel and earns 2 Reward Points per ₹100 — 0.5% — with 5X on dining, entertainment, travel and international spends capped at 1,000 points a month. FAQs.
ASSAM RIFLES THE SENTINEL BOBCARD is lifetime free for Assam Rifles personnel — no joining fee and no annual fee — and earns 2 Reward Points per ₹100, 0.5% at BOBCARD's published rate.
It comes with domestic lounge access, a FITPASS PRO membership and an Amazon Prime milestone.
ASSAM RIFLES THE SENTINEL BOBCARD Quick Overview
| **Card type** | Defence-segment card |
|---|---|
| **Best for** | Assam rifles personnel |
| **Joining / renewal fee** | Nil, same on renewal |
| **Network** | Visa, RuPay |
| **Base reward rate** | **0.5%** |
| **Top reward rate** | **2.5%** — Dining, entertainment, travel and international spends |
| **Reward currency** | BOBCARD Reward Points, valued at ₹0.25 each |
| **Welcome benefit** | 500 bonus Reward Points on spends of ₹5,000 or more within 60 days of card issuance |
| **Lounge access** | 2 domestic visits per quarter (8 a year) |
| **Forex markup** | 3.0% |
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.
2 Reward Points per ₹100 — 0.5%. 10 Reward Points per ₹100 on dining, entertainment, travel and international spends — 2.5%.
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 |
|---|---|
| Dining, entertainment, travel and international spends (capped at 1,000 points a month) | **2.5%** |
| Everything else | 0.5% |
| 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 | 1,000 points per calendar month |
The 5X band caps at 1,000 Reward Points a month across all accelerated categories combined — ₹250 of value, binding at ₹10,000 of qualifying spend.
Lounge access is conditional on a minimum spend that BOBCARD states but does not quantify on the uploaded page. The visit count is published; the condition is not.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ₹1 lakh a year | 12-month Amazon Prime membership | ₹1,499 |
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 are valid for 24 months from the date they are earned on most BOBCARD products. Points on BOBCARD ETERNA do not expire.
- Accel cap: 1,000 Reward Points a month across all accelerated categories combined — ₹250 of value, binding at ₹10,000 of qualifying spend.
Fees and Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | Nil |
| Renewal fee | Nil |
| 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 | 3.0% 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 ASSAM RIFLES THE SENTINEL BOBCARD Worth It?
Lifetime free with a 0.5% base and a 2.5% accelerated band is a strong package at zero cost. There is no fee to recover, so every point is upside.
The milestone is a 12-month Amazon Prime membership on ₹1 lakh of spend within 90 days of issuance — worth about ₹1,499, and achievable at roughly ₹33,000 a month.
The welcome package adds 500 bonus Reward Points on ₹5,000 of spend in 60 days, plus a 12-month FITPASS PRO membership.
Eight domestic lounge visits a year — 2 a quarter — round it out.
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 does ASSAM RIFLES THE SENTINEL BOBCARD cost? Nothing. BOBCARD's page states 'Lifetime Free. No Joining & Annual Fee' for Assam Rifles personnel.
What is the earn rate? 2 Reward Points per ₹100 — 0.5% — and 10 per ₹100 on dining, entertainment, travel and international spends, which is 2.5%.
What is the accelerated cap? 1,000 Reward Points a month across all accelerated categories combined — ₹250 of value.
What is the milestone? A 12-month Amazon Prime membership on ₹1 lakh of spend within 90 days of card issuance.
Is the lounge access unconditional? No — BOBCARD states it is subject to a minimum spend, but does not quantify the threshold on the uploaded page.
Cards Mentioned in This Article
