PhonePe HDFC Bank Ultimo Credit Card

Ultimo, in three points

• 10% back in reward points on bills, recharges and travel paid through the PhonePe app, plus 5% on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio, Swiggy, Zomato and Uber.
• Tight monthly caps: 2,000 points across all buckets, and 8 domestic lounge visits a year only if you spend ₹75,000 in a quarter.
• Users like the bill rewards but warn about PhonePe convenience fees, a redemption charge, and what this card does to a future core HDFC application.

Ultimo is HDFC's higher PhonePe card at ₹999 + GST. The cheaper sibling is the PhonePe HDFC Bank Uno, and SBI Card runs its own PhonePe range. Different banks, different caps.

Each bucket fills at about ₹10,000

HDFC's page confirmed the rates and caps in October 2026:

• PhonePe bills, recharges and travel: 10%, capped at 1,000 points a month, full at about ₹10,000.
• Listed online brands: 5%, capped at 500 points, full at about ₹10,000.
• UPI Scan & Pay: 1%, capped at 500 points, full at about ₹50,000.

Say you pay ₹6,000 of electricity, gas, FASTag and mobile bills on PhonePe, spend ₹5,000 on Swiggy and Amazon, and scan ₹10,000 of UPI QR codes at shops. That earns 600 + 250 + 100, so 950 points.

Points for a month's settled transactions are credited by the 15th of the next month. Users report that a late month can leave them waiting longer than usual. Our record does not state a rupee value per point.

What eats into the 10%

Three costs do not show up in the headline, and all three come from user reports:

• PhonePe sometimes adds a convenience fee when you pay a bill by credit card. Subtract it before calling the 10% a saving.
• Users report a ₹50 fee per cash redemption and a 500-point minimum. Redeem in larger batches.
• Users say payments under ₹100 earn nothing. HDFC's own terms only confirm a ₹100 minimum for the welcome benefit.

Prices on PhonePe can also be higher. One user found a flight at ₹7,311 on PhonePe against ₹6,654 on Ixigo, which wipes out the 10% on that booking. Compare before you book travel.

Fee, waiver and lounges

The ₹999 + GST renewal fee is waived if you spent ₹2 lakh in the previous year, about ₹16,700 a month. Lounge access is 2 domestic visits a quarter, each quarter you cross ₹75,000. The welcome benefit applies only if you paid the joining fee and make a transaction of ₹100 or more on the PhonePe app. Rewards on PhonePe PINCODE ended on 5 December 2025.

Before it becomes your first HDFC card

Users report that if Ultimo is your first HDFC card, getting Millennia, Regalia Gold or Infinia later becomes harder. The community advice is to take a core card first. Users applying for Ultimo also report being issued Uno instead, so read the approval screen before you accept.

Who should get Ultimo

Get it if you already hold an HDFC core card and pay around ₹10,000 a month of bills on PhonePe without convenience fees. Users who max out bill payments on PhonePe say it gives solid value despite the tight caps.

If it would be your first HDFC card, start with HDFC Millennia. If you want larger PhonePe caps, users lean toward the PhonePe SBI Card SELECT BLACK.

Credit Card Information Compiled by: Abhijeet Kumar | Reviewed by: Anmol Ratan Sachdeva