Fee
₹499,LTF
Annual Fee:
₹499 + GST (Waived on ₹2 Lakhs annual spend)
Type
UPI, Rewards & Co-branded Credit Card
Return
0.2% to 7.5% Value Back
Rating
Payment Network
Rupay
The credit card landscape in India continues to evolve around UPI integration, and the City Union Bank (CUB) SalarySe Level UP Credit Card enters the arena with a highly distinct proposition. Offered in partnership with SalarySe, this card comes in both a Virtual-only and a Physical + Virtual configuration, running on the RuPay network to allow seamless merchant UPI payments.
The “Sweet Spot” for this card is highly specialized: it is tailor-made for salaried individuals who can plan their highest-value shopping or utility payments on the first and last days of the calendar month. By hitting a minor spend threshold during ordinary days, you unlock an extraordinary reward rate that matches or beats some of the most premium super-card products in India.
Eligibility, Income & Applying for the SalarySe Level Up Credit Card
Serviceable Criteria: Available to individuals meeting City Union Bank’s standard internal credit profiling and geographical merchant limits.
Income Requirement: Primarily aligned with salaried professionals via the native SalarySe ecosystem.
Apply for the SalarySe Level Up Credit Card
Fees
the card introduces a unique “Choose Your Variant” structure:
Lifetime Free Card: Joining Fee: NIL | Annual Fee: NIL
Paid Card: Joining Fee: ₹500 + GST | Annual Fee: ₹500 + GST
The Annual Fee Waiver Hack (Paid Variant)
The recurring fee of ₹500 on the Paid variant is fully waived if your total retail outlays cross ₹2,00,000 within the preceding anniversary year.
💡 The Insider Angle: LTF vs. Paid Variant
You might wonder why anyone would opt for the Paid variant when an LTF option exists. The answer lies in the fine print of the charges sheet:
Forex Markup: The Lifetime Free card charges a standard 2% foreign currency transaction fee, while the Paid variant drops this down to just 1%—making the Paid version an unexpectedly strong companion for international online checkouts.
Replacement Costs: Card re-issue or replacement costs ₹0 for the LTF version, but carries a ₹300 charge on the Paid network variant.
Note: Watch out for statement-cycle transaction caps. CUB levies a 1% fee on rental platforms (MCC 6513), a 1% fee on wallet loads, a 1% fee on utility bills crossing ₹25,000 cumulative per cycle, and a 1% fee on online gaming over ₹10,000.
Reward Structure (The "SCoins" System)
Rewards on this card are issued as SalarySe SCoins. The value math is completely transparent: 5 SCoins = ₹1, meaning 1 SCoin = ₹0.20 (20 Paise).
- Fuel & Auto - 0032, 2541, 4001, 5542, 5541, 5172
- Wallet - 6540
- Quasi Cash - 6050, 6051, 4829
- Cash - 6011, 6010
- Gambling - 7801, 7995, 9754
Additionally, micro offline UPI transactions under ₹2,000 executed at small merchants (turnover under ₹20 Lakhs) are fully excluded from point accruals.
Milestone & SalaryDay Multipliers (The Real Value Driver)
The card features a tiered reward path that dynamically alters how much value back you clear each month.
The Tiered Spend Framework
For normal monthly purchases, your first ₹20,000 on eligible retail channels earns 5 SCoins per ₹100 (1% return). The moment your monthly ledger hits ₹20,001, every incremental rupee spent shifts into the 10X Super Accelerated tier, giving you 10 SCoins per ₹100 (2% return).
The SalaryDay Bonus Protocol
This is where the card functions like a premium tier asset. On the 1st and last day of each calendar month, you unlock a massive 5% (Virtual Card) or 7.5% (Physical Card) reward rate on SalarySe UPI transactions.
⚠️ Critical Rules to Unlock the SalaryDay Bonus:
You must spend a minimum of ₹5,000 on ordinary non-SalaryDay dates within the billing month to unlock the bonus window.
The maximum calendar monthly spend eligible for the SalaryDay Bonus is capped at ₹15,000. This equals a maximum bonus cap of 3,750 SCoins for Virtual users or 5,625 SCoins for Physical+Virtual users per cycle.
Overall Cap: Regular monthly rewards (Base, Accelerated, Super Accelerated) are collectively capped at 10% of your total assigned credit limit per month (SalaryDay Bonus points are exempted from this cap).
Point Valuation & Redemption Sweet Spots
Unlike legacy banking portals that hide redemption values behind heavy convenience charges, managing points on this platform is streamlined:
The Ecosystem Valuation: 1 SCoin is worth exactly ₹0.20.
Where to Redeem: Redemptions are handled directly inside the SalarySe App. Points can be instantly converted to brand gift vouchers (covering over 200+ major retail partners), merchant offers, or direct cash settlement options.
Expiry Window: All accumulated SCoins carry an active lifespan of 18 months from their generation date before they expire.
Auxiliary Perks (Lounge, Fuel, Offers)
Airport Lounge Access: You receive 1 complimentary domestic airport lounge access per billing cycle via the RuPay Airport Lounge Program. To unlock this, you must spend a minimum of ₹10,000 in your previous billing cycle. Once the bill generates, your voucher is issued with a strict 30-day validity window.
Fuel Surcharge Waiver: Enjoy a 1% fuel surcharge waiver valid across all domestic fuel stations for transactions valued strictly between ₹400 and ₹3,000. The maximum fuel waiver benefit is capped at ₹300 per statement cycle. (Note: If cumulative monthly fuel spends touch or cross ₹50,000, a 1% surcharge fee applies instead).
Should You Apply for the SalarySe Level Up Credit Card?
The Math
Let’s assume you hold the Physical + Virtual Card variant and strategically optimize your monthly spending:
You spend ₹5,000 on ordinary mid-month days to unlock your bonus tracking tiers (earning 250 SCoins).
On the 1st of the month, you route a major ₹10,000 electronic transaction via SalarySe UPI (earning 3,750 SCoins under the 7.5% SalaryDay bracket).
Total spent: ₹15,000 | Total SCoins earned: 4,000 SCoins.
At a valuation of ₹0.20 per coin, your 4,000 SCoins translate into ₹800 cash/voucher value—delivering an outstanding real-world 5.33% total net return on a standard ₹15,000 budget.
Final Verdict
If you complete the majority of your transactions outside the partner app or prefer unstructured spending patterns, the low base reward rate of 0.20% will feel lackluster.
However, if you can anchor your major household expenditures or retail outlays to the first and last days of the month, the CUB SalarySe Level UP Credit Card offers one of the strongest reward pipelines available. The addition of a domestic lounge access perk (conditioned on an accessible ₹10,000 spend requirement) makes this an exceptionally strong utility asset for your wallet.
The Reward Realm Score
FAQ
All earned SalarySe SCoins remain valid for exactly 18 months from the date they are posted to your account statement before they expire.
Yes. Shopping online using your native Level UP card credentials qualifies for the 5X Accelerated Rewards tier (yielding a 1% real return) on monthly spends up to ₹20,000.
No. The 25X/37.5X SalaryDay Bonus multipliers will only unlock once you have successfully completed a minimum cumulative spend of ₹5,000 on ordinary days (excluding the 1st and last day of the month) within that operational cycle.
