Get paid to stay healthy: SBI Card and Apollo HealthCo launch India’s most rewarding health credit card

In a strategic push to blend financial incentives with preventive healthcare, SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited—India’s leading pure-play credit card issuer—has partnered with Apollo HealthCo, the digital and retail healthcare arm of Apollo Hospitals, to launch the Apollo SBI Card SELECT. This premium, co-branded credit card is aimed at India’s growing cohort of health-conscious consumers and offers up to 25% value back on health-related purchases via Apollo’s platforms.

Announced on May 15, 2025, the Apollo SBI Card SELECT is a digitally accessible product, allowing consumers to apply through the Apollo 24/7 app, the SBI Card website via SPRINT, or at select Apollo Pharmacy retail stores. The card blends Apollo’s integrated healthcare offerings with SBI Card’s expansive financial platform, creating a product that rewards medical and wellness spending in a way not previously seen in India’s credit card landscape.

What Is the Apollo SBI Card SELECT and Why Does It Matter?

The Apollo SBI Card SELECT has been positioned as a one-of-a-kind wellness-first financial product that allows cardholders to receive substantial benefits when spending on healthcare categories. It provides 10% reward points on Apollo 24/7 and Apollo Pharmacy spends, plus an additional 15% in health credits, resulting in a total value-back potential of 25%. These reward points are convertible into Health Credits, which can be redeemed across Apollo’s ecosystem of pharmacies, health consultations, diagnostic services, and wellness packages.

This card represents the evolution of co-branded credit products in India—shifting the focus from retail or lifestyle consumption to essential healthcare access. With this, SBI Card and Apollo HealthCo are tapping into the pandemic-fueled behavioural shift among consumers toward health-first spending.

What Are the Core Benefits Offered by the Apollo SBI Card SELECT?

The Apollo SBI Card SELECT cardholder receives a ₹1,500 e-gift voucher as a welcome benefit, usable across Apollo 24/7 and Apollo Pharmacy. Membership to Apollo Circle is bundled in, offering discounts and priority access to a range of Apollo services, including doctor consultations and diagnostics. A complimentary 1-year FITPASS PRO Membership provides access to thousands of fitness studios and wellness classes nationwide.

Cardholders can reverse the ₹1,499 annual fee by achieving annual spends of ₹3 lakh. Those spending ₹6 lakh or more annually receive a Noise smartwatch valued at ₹7,999, while those spending ₹50,000 within the first 90 days (and on annual renewals) get a free full-body health check-up.

For frequent travellers, the card also offers four complimentary domestic lounge visits annually (one per quarter) and a two-year Priority Pass membership, with international lounge access available on a chargeable basis. Additional benefits include accelerated 2x reward points on dining, entertainment, and travel categories, plus fuel surcharge waivers up to ₹100 per billing cycle.

How Does the Card Align with the Changing Consumer Landscape?

Salila Pande, Managing Director and CEO of SBI Card, emphasized that the Apollo SBI Card SELECT responds to India’s evolving lifestyle patterns. She noted that consumers are increasingly spending on personal wellness, preventive care, and digital health services. The card, she said, reflects SBI Card’s commitment to offering “thoughtful healthcare benefits and financial rewards” to support these aspirations.

Echoing this sentiment, Apollo HealthCo Executive Chairperson Shobana Kamineni described the offering as a “revolutionary financial product” that integrates health with day-to-day financial behaviour. She positioned the product as central to Apollo’s mission to democratize healthcare access—by making it as easy to earn and redeem as routine financial rewards.

Apollo HealthCo’s massive reach through 6,500+ pharmacy stores and India’s largest digital health platform (Apollo 24/7)—with 100,000 daily medicine deliveries and 300,000 doctor consultations monthly—makes the card uniquely scalable. As healthcare becomes a more significant share of household expenditure, this initiative may signal a broader trend of embedded wellness finance.

Who Stands to Benefit from the Apollo SBI Card SELECT?

The primary target audience includes affluent, urban, health-conscious professionals who regularly spend on diagnostics, pharmacy products, preventive health checkups, fitness, and nutrition. With Apollo’s digital app ecosystem integrated into the credit card rewards model, this offering particularly appeals to tech-savvy consumers who value convenience, rewards, and health access in a single bundle.

Younger users and gig economy workers who previously found healthcare access fragmented may also find value, particularly if they already use Apollo 24/7 for consultations or diagnostics. The bundling of wellness benefits with lifestyle rewards and lounge access also positions the card as a premium lifestyle product with a healthcare-first focus, a rare combination in India’s credit card market.

How Will This Product Impact the Co-Branded Credit Card Market in India?

The Apollo SBI Card SELECT enters a niche but rapidly growing segment of purpose-driven financial products. Unlike traditional co-branded cards which focus on retail or airline partnerships, this offering taps into the ₹8 lakh crore Indian healthcare market, which is expected to grow by 12% CAGR over the next five years. The pandemic altered consumer perceptions of health spending—from reactive to proactive—which this product explicitly capitalizes on.

From a competitive standpoint, the card challenges existing credit cards offering generic lifestyle rewards by anchoring itself around health and wellness, a long-term and emotionally resonant category. By rewarding doctor visits, checkups, fitness classes, and pharmacy spends with cashback and health credits, the card integrates consumer financial activity with medical access, a trend gaining traction globally.

Sentiment Analysis and Stock Market Context for SBICARD

SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited (NSE: SBICARD) has been closely watched by analysts following a volatile start to 2025. As of mid-May, the stock is trading near ₹725–₹735 levels, recovering from a dip below ₹700 in March due to rising NPA concerns in the unsecured lending sector. However, investor sentiment has turned moderately positive following recent product innovations and signs of stabilizing credit metrics.

Brokerage reports from April suggest a ‘Hold’ to ‘Accumulate’ bias on SBICARD, with key watchpoints around its ability to expand fee income and sustain credit quality amid growing competition in the BNPL and digital credit segments. The Apollo SBI Card SELECT launch is being viewed as a differentiated product strategy to drive high-margin retail spends and deepen engagement among urban health-focused consumers.

Institutional flows have remained stable, with foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) maintaining exposure to SBICARD as part of a broader India fintech theme. Domestic mutual funds have also retained holdings in expectation of improved ROA and NIM recovery in the second half of FY26, supported by fee-based earnings.

Can This Co-Branded Card Redefine Health-Linked Spending in India?

The Apollo SBI Card SELECT appears poised to disrupt not just the co-branded credit card space, but also how Indian consumers perceive everyday healthcare expenditures. It encourages users to convert routine health expenses into structured, incentivized investments—thereby shifting the framework of how health access is funded.

For SBI Card, the launch marks a strategic evolution from transaction-centric models to ecosystem-driven engagement. For Apollo HealthCo, the partnership offers a direct revenue and customer acquisition channel into India’s burgeoning fintech universe. As regulatory tailwinds, digital health adoption, and urban wellness trends converge, the Apollo SBI Card SELECT may prove to be a compelling template for future fintech-healthtech collaborations.