SBI Foreign Travel Card: Features, rewards, charges, offers and more

The SBI Foreign Travel Card is one of the most widely used travel cards in India, allowing users to load multiple currencies onto a single card and make secure, convenient payments while traveling internationally.

The State Bank of India (SBI) offers a special forex, the SBI Foreign Travel Card (SBFTC), carrying up to nine major currencies on one card.

Foreign travel card vs credit card

Many believe a forex travel card to be the same as a credit card. While you can get many travel benefits, like hotel bookings and lounge access, on a decent credit card, it’s not the same as a travel card made specifically for international travel.

The key difference lies in the payment structure: You make transactions from your credit card first and then pay the bill, while travel cards work like debit cards, allowing you to make payments and withdraw cash abroad without worrying about exchange rate fluctuations.

A foreign travel card is a prepaid card that offers a secure and cost-effective alternative to cash or a card for travelling abroad. Some of the salient features of a foreign/forex card are locked exchange rates, secure payments, ATM withdrawals, etc.

SBI Foreign Travel Card: Variants

• Single Currency VISA Foreign Travel Card: The Single-Currency SBFTC supports eight foreign currencies, including US Dollar (USD), Pound Sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Japanese Yen (JPY), Saudi Riyal (SAR) and Singapore Dollar (SGD)
• Multicurrency VISA Foreign Travel Card: This Multi-Currency SBFTC supports nine foreign currencies, including US Dollar (USD), Pound Sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Saudi Riyal (SAR), Singapore Dollar (SGD) and UAE Dirham (AED).
• Multicurrency MasterCard Foreign Travel Card: This Multi-Currency SBFTC supports seven foreign currencies, including US Dollar (USD), Pound Sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Singapore Dollar (SGD) and UAE Dirham (AED).

A single currency foreign travel card is one in which you can load any available currency on the card. Alternatively, cardholders can load all available currencies on a single card using the multi-currency card.

SBI Foreign Travel Card: Features and benefits

• The card can be used to withdraw local currency from international ATMs.
• Users can pay at shops, restaurants, hotels, etc., through Point of Sales (POS terminals) by tap, swipe or chip.
• Cardholders can shop online globally for travel bookings, gadgets and more.
• The card can be used in most countries, except for India, Nepal and Bhutan.
• Users will get an SMS alert and an Email alert for every transaction.

Benefits of the SBI Foreign Travel Card:

• Reloading: You can reload anytime through YONO and YONO Lite (SBI’s mobile banking application).
• Add-on cards: You can get add-on cards for family members easily. A user can get a maximum of two add-on cards.
• Exchange rate: SBI offers competitive foreign exchange rates.
• Offers: You can get exclusive international deals and discounts.

SBI Foreign Travel Card: Charges

• One-time issuance fee: ₹100 + GST
• ATM Withdrawal Fee: $1.75 (or equivalent) per transaction
• Reload fee: ₹50 per load
• Refund (cash out): ₹100 + GST per request
• Add-on card fee: ₹100 + GST
• Cross-Currency Charges: 3% of the transaction amount + GST
• Withdrawing cash from a Branch abroad (Manual Cash Transaction): 1.5% of the withdrawal amount + GST
• Card Sent by Other Bank (if card is left behind at another bank's ATM or POS): $15 or equivalent in other currencies, or the actual amount, whichever is higher, subject to service availability by the acquiring bank.

Global Customer Assistance Services fee provided by VISA:

• Lost or stolen card report: $35 or equivalent in other currencies
• Cash or card replacement: $175 or equivalent in other currencies
• Miscellaneous enquiries: $5 or equivalent in other currencies

Other charges:

• The first deduction will be after three months of the expiry date.
• If the cardholder claims the balance after 3 months of expiry, the balance will be refunded after deduction of the annual expiry charge.
• If the balance in the card is below USD-5/GBP-5/Euro-5/AUD 5/CAD5/JPY-500/SAR-20/SGD-6/AED-20, after the expiry of the card, the cardholder will not be able to claim it.

Reloading

Transaction limit

Offers

• A free International SIM card with up to 6 GB data, 60 minutes of talk time, and 30 days of validity. The offer is valid up to March 31, 2026.
• A free International Youth Travel Card for SBFTC holders with global discounts on travel, dining and shopping.
• Upon spending $1000 or more with the card, you can get a PVR/INOX voucher worth ₹1,000.
• A free International Student Identity Card (ISIC) with student benefits worldwide.
• Zero surcharge on cash withdrawals at All Point ATMs. You can find these ATMs on https://www.allpointnetwork.com/locator
• Some other exclusive benefits, depending on the country you’re visiting. You can check them on SBI Bank’s website.

Before you get a travel card of any kind, make sure you check all the terms and conditions, charges, daily limits, helpline and customer services, card replacement fee, international SMS alert charge, inactivity fee and cross-currency markup to be aware of everything you’re signing up for.