Utkarsh Rhodium Review 2026: 24% Interest — Half What Its Cheaper Siblings Charge
Utkarsh Rhodium costs ₹4,999 from year two, waived at ₹5 lakh. It pays 1.25% cashback, gives 4 lounge visits a quarter, and charges 24% a year — the lowest in Utkarsh's range. Full review.
Utkarsh Rhodium is free in the first year and costs ₹4,999 from the second, waived on ₹5 lakh of annual spend.
It pays 1.25% cashback and gives 4 lounge visits a quarter. But the number that distinguishes it is the interest rate.
Utkarsh Rhodium Credit Card Quick Overview
| **Card type** | Premium cashback card |
|---|---|
| **Best for** | Someone who will clear ₹5 lakh a year, or who ever carries a balance |
| **Joining / renewal fee** | Nil joining, ₹4,999 + GST renewal — renewal waived at ₹5 lakh of annual spend |
| **Network** | Mastercard |
| **Base reward rate** | **1.25%** |
| **Reward currency** | Cashback, valued at ₹1 each |
| **Lounge access** | 4 domestic visits per quarter (16 a year) |
| **Forex markup** | 3.0% |
Reward Structure: How You Earn
1.25% cashback on all eligible transactions, credited against the statement.
One thing this review deliberately ignores. Every Utkarsh credit card page shows the line '1 reward point on every ₹100 spends on debit card' under a 'Rewards' heading. That is a debit card promotion displayed on the credit card pages — it appears identically on all five — and it is not this card's earn rate.
| Spend | Effective rate |
|---|---|
| Everything else | 1.25% |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Upi | 500 points per calendar month |
The lowest interest rate in the range, by a wide margin
At 2% a month — 24% a year — Rhodium charges roughly half what SmartGen does and well under the 3.5% to 4% a month typical of Indian credit cards.
For anyone who carries a balance, that gap dwarfs the 0.25 percentage points of extra cashback over SmartGen. On a ₹1,00,000 revolving balance it is about ₹1,600 a month against ₹3,000.
Utkarsh prices interest inversely to the annual fee
This is the most useful thing to know about the range, and it is easy to miss:
| Card | Annual fee | Interest |
|---|---|---|
| **Rhodium** | ₹4,999 | **2% a month (24% a year)** |
| Eternal | ₹1,999 | 3% a month (36%) |
| **SmartGen** | ₹199 | **3.6% a month (43.2%)** |
A cardholder who revolves a balance pays nearly twice the rate on the cheapest card as on the dearest. The annual fee effectively buys down the borrowing cost — so if you ever carry a balance, the expensive card is the cheap one.
16 lounge visits a year
4 per calendar quarter at select airports — generous for the fee level, and not conditional on a previous quarter's spend the way several issuers in this dataset make it.
Two cashback ceilings, twenty times apart
| Transaction type | Monthly cap |
|---|---|
| **UPI** | **₹500** |
| Non-UPI | ₹10,000 |
Which one binds depends on how you pay, not what you buy. At 1%, the ₹500 UPI ceiling is reached at ₹50,000 of UPI spending a month; the non-UPI ceiling would need ₹10 lakh.
On Utkarsh's UPI-oriented cards, the small ceiling is the one that matters.
Charges
Late payment is ₹500 flat on Rhodium, Eternal and SmartGen. Over-limit is ₹500 or 2.5%, whichever is higher. Cash advance is 5% or ₹500, and the cash limit is 20% of your credit limit.
The interest-free period is up to 50 days. E-statements are free; a physical statement costs ₹50.
A 1% fuel surcharge is refunded on transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000 — Utkarsh notes the surcharge is levied by the merchant's bank, not by it.
Worked example
Spend ₹45,000 a month. At 1.25% that is ₹562 of cashback monthly, ₹6,750 a year, and ₹5,40,000 of annual spend clears the ₹5 lakh waiver — so the ₹4,999 fee disappears and the cashback is kept in full. Against Eternal at the same spend you earn identically, pay ₹1,999 less in fees but 12 percentage points more on any balance carried.
Category Restrictions: Where You Won't Earn
- Where you earn nothing: Fuel and cash withdrawals earn no cashback.
- Point expiry: Not applicable — this card pays cashback, which is credited rather than accrued.
- Upi cap: Cashback on UPI transactions is capped at ₹500 per statement month.
Fees and Charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Joining fee | Nil |
| Renewal fee | ₹4,999 + GST |
| Finance charges | Set per card: 2% a month (24% a year) on Rhodium, 3% (36%) on Eternal, 3.6% (43.2%) on SmartGen, and 3.5% (42%) on Wish and superCard following the 21 June 2026 revision. Utkarsh prices interest inversely to the annual fee. |
| Interest-free period | Up to 50 days on Rhodium, Eternal and SmartGen; up to 45 days on Wish and superCard. |
| Minimum amount due | 5% of the outstanding amount, plus any previous unpaid minimum dues, plus the entire amount of any EMI instalments due, plus 100% of fees, interest, charges and taxes. Where the total amount due is ₹100 or less, the minimum amount due equals the total. |
| Cash advance fee | 5% or ₹500, whichever is higher, on Rhodium, Eternal and SmartGen. On Wish and superCard, 5% or ₹25 whichever is higher domestically, and 5% or ₹500 internationally. |
| Cash advance interest | On Wish and superCard, 2.5% a month (30% a year) for ATM withdrawals and transfers to a bank account, effective 21 May 2026 — LOWER than the 3.5% charged on unpaid purchase balances, which is the reverse of the usual position. On the other cards, charged at the card's revolving rate. |
| Forex markup | 3% on Rhodium, Eternal and SmartGen; 3.5% on Wish and superCard. Utkarsh's Key Fact Statements describe the 3% as applying 'using Visa currency conversion' even on cards whose stated association is Mastercard or RuPay — an internal inconsistency in the documents. |
| Late payment | ₹500 flat on Rhodium, Eternal and SmartGen. On Wish, 10% of the outstanding amount capped at ₹1,250. On superCard the charge is tiered by credit limit: nil below ₹100, 5% of the outstanding below ₹2,000, and 10% capped at ₹1,250 at ₹2,000 and above. |
| Overlimit | ₹500 or 2.5% of the over-limit amount, whichever is higher, minimum ₹500. |
| Fuel transactions | Fuel surcharge is levied by the merchant's bank rather than by Utkarsh. A 1% surcharge refund applies on transactions between ₹400 and ₹5,000. |
| Reward redemption | Not applicable — cashback is credited against the statement. |
| EMI processing | Wish and superCard have separate Transaction EMI terms; the processing fee is not stated in the readable sources. |
| GST | 18% on all fees, charges and interest. |
Is the Utkarsh Rhodium Credit Card Worth It?
Clear ₹5 lakh and the card is free. That spend also earns ₹6,250 of cashback at 1.25%, so a cardholder who reaches the threshold is ahead twice over.
If you never revolve and will not clear ₹5 lakh, Eternal pays the same 1.25% for ₹1,999 with a ₹1.5 lakh threshold.
If you do revolve, Rhodium is the cheapest card Utkarsh issues despite being the most expensive to hold.
The forex markup is 3%.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I waive the Utkarsh Rhodium annual fee? ₹5 lakh of annual spend waives the ₹4,999 fee. The first year carries no joining fee and no annual fee at all.
What lounge access does Utkarsh Rhodium include? Complimentary access at select airports up to 4 times in a calendar quarter — 16 visits a year.
Is there a cap on Utkarsh credit card cashback? Yes, and there are two. Cashback on UPI transactions is capped at ₹500 per statement month; cashback on non-UPI transactions at ₹10,000. On UPI-focused cards the ₹500 ceiling is the binding one.
Which Utkarsh credit card has the lowest interest rate? Rhodium, at 2% a month (24% a year) — roughly half what SmartGen charges at 3.6% (43.2%). Utkarsh prices interest inversely to the annual fee, so the most expensive card is the cheapest to borrow on.
Cards Mentioned in This Article
