CUB SalarySe Level Up Credit Card Review
Card Fees:
Virtual (NIL), Physical (₹500)
Valueback:
7.5% on Salary Days
Domestic Lounge:
1 per Quarter (Spend based)
Reward Type:
Scoins (20% value)
Payment Network
RuPay (UPI Enabled)
If you are a salaried employee and looking for a RuPay (UPI enabled) Credit Card, then the CUB SalarySe Level Up Credit Card may be worth checking out. But before applying, read our complete review blog to understand the Salary Day Bonus Offer, its eligibility criteria, airport lounge perks and every key detail you shouldn’t miss. Let’s dive in!
Disclaimer: This blog contains referral links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. These rewards help support the maintenance of this website but don’t affect our review.
Eligibility, Fees and Welcome Benefit
The CUB SalarySe Level Up Credit Card is crafted exclusively for the salaried employees. If you are not salaried, you are ineligible for this card in the first place.
Eligibility Requirements
SalarySe or CUB hasn’t shared specific eligibility requirements but if you are a salaried employee with a decent income (maybe ₹25,000 and above) and a good credit history then you might get this card easily. While other factors like higher income, your spending habits might influence the decision.
Joining and Annual Fees
The Physical Variant of the CUB SalarySe Level Up Card comes with a Joining & Annual Fee while the Virtual Variant is offered as Lifetime Free.
Joining Fees
₹500 + GST
(Virtual Card is LTF)
Annual Fees
₹500 + GST
(Waived off on spends above ₹2,00,000 or more in a year)
Welcome Benefit
New applicants can earn 1,250 Scoins (worth a ₹250 Gift Voucher) on signing up with a SalarySe App Referral Code (8VTUTGHF). To claim the signup bonus successfully, the referred applicant must:
- Download and register on the SalarySe App for the very first time.
- Apply for either the Virtual or Physical Variant of CUB SalarySe Level Up Card.
- Make a transaction via the SalarySe App. (Even a ₹1 UPI payment to merchant through RuPay CC qualifies).
Checkout Offers listed in this blog for extra cashback offers.
Physical vs Virtual: Which one to apply?
City Union Bank offers the SalarySe Level Up Credit Card in two variants:
- Virtual Only
- Physical + Virtual
Feature
| Virtual Only |
Physical + Virtual |
|
|---|---|---|
| Joining & Annual Fees | Lifetime free | ₹500 + GST (₹590) |
| Maximum (SalaryDay) Reward | 5% Valueback | 7.5% Valueback |
| SalaryDay Bonus Limit per Month | Max 3,750 Scoins (worth ₹750) | Max 5,625 Scoins (worth ₹1,125) |
| Airport Lounge | Not Available | Once per month (on min spends of ₹10,000 in last month) |
| Forex Markup | 2% | 1% |
| Annual Fee Waiver | Not applicable | Waived on annual spends of ₹2 lakh or more |
Important Notes:
- SalaryDay Cap: Maximum Spends of ₹15,000 are eligible for Salary Day Bonus Rewards for both Virtual and Physical + Virtual Variant.
- Signup Bonus: Both the Virtual or Physical + Virtual variants qualify for the signup bonus of 1,250 Scoins if you have signed up for the app using a Referral Code. (Checkout our SalarySe Referral blog for completee details.)
Reward Points (Scoins) and Exclusions
The CUB SalarySe Level Up (Physical) Credit Card offers 37.5% Rewards.
The truth behind this marketing gimmick is:
- First, 37.5% rewards are Salary Day Bonus Rewards applicable only on Salary Day Spends (1st and Last of the month).
- Second, this card offers Reward Points (RPs in form of Scoins), so, you won’t get 37.5% cashback (or value back) but 37.5% Scoins that is equivalent to 7.5% worth of Gift Cards. In this section, we will share every important detail about Scoins.
Salary Days: The 1st and the last day of the month are referred as the Salary Days and transactions on these both dates are eligible for 7.5% Salary Day Bonus Rewards.
How do we earn Scoins?
Base Rewards
Earn 1 Scoin per ₹100 spent on Other UPI Apps.
(Other than SalarySe App)
Accelerated Rewards
Earn 5 Scoins per ₹100 (if current bill is below ₹20K).
Applicable on SalarySe UPI, Online and Offline transactions.
Super Accelerated Rewards
Earn 10 Scoins per ₹100 spent (if your current bill is above ₹20K).
Applicable on SalarySe UPI, Online and Offline Transactions.
Salary Day Bonus Rewards
Virtual: Earn 25 Scoins per ₹100 spent
Physical: Earn 37.5 Scoins per ₹100 spent on txns made via SalarySe UPI.
Offer applicable only on Salary Days.
Quick Note: Transactions done on Salary Days are not eligible for Base, Accelerated or Super Accelerated Rewards.
How to Redeem Scoins? What is the value of Scoins?
You can redeem Scoins either for Gift Cards or for Cash. However, the value of Scoins depends upon your choice of redemption. You get 20% value of Scoins when redeemed for Gift Card while Cash Redemption gives just 10% value.
SalarySe doesn’t lock Scoins with a minimum redemption clause. You can use the available Scoins and pay the rest amount through UPI.
Gift Cards (20% Valueback)
5 Scoins = ₹1 worth of Gift Card
Cash Redemption (10% Valueback)
10 Scoins = ₹1 Bank Credit
Thus it is recommended to redeem Scoins for Gift Cards (Amazon Pay Gift Card) as you are getting twice the value than cash.
Important Details:
- Validity: Scoins expire after 18 months from the date of issuance.
- Bonus rewards only on UPI based RuPay Card (SalarySe App UPI) transactions.
- Maximum Spends of ₹15,000 per billing cycle are eligible for SalaryDay Bonus rewards. Hence you will earn maximum –
– 3,750 RPs per billing cycle if you use virtual only card (worth ₹750)
– 5,625 RPs per billing cycle if you use physical + virtual card (worth ₹1,125) - The maximum RPs you can earn are limited to 10% of credit limit of Level Up Credit Card (excluding rewards earned on SalaryDay Bonus).
Note:
- You won’t earn any reward (other than base rewards) on Transactions below ₹2,000 at small offline merchants.
- RPs or Reward Points or Scoins are same.
Base Categories
The following are eligible for Base Rewards (earn only 0.2% or one SCoin per ₹100) but are ineligible for any other rewards:
Railways
Rent
Government services
Insurance
Education
Contracted, agricultural and transportation or transit services
Bridge fees and tolls
Telecom and post office payments
Bill payments
Transactions below ₹2,000 at small offline merchants
Restricted Categories
The following do not earn rewards and also do not count towards the ₹5,000 SalaryDay unlock requirement:
Cash
Wallets and service providers
Fuel and automobile-related spends
Quasi-cash
Gambling
12 Domestic Airport Lounge Access
The Physical Variant of CUB SalarySe Level Up Credit Card offers 12 Domestic Airport Lounge Access, once a month, subject to a modest spending criteria.
- Spending Criteria: To access lounge once a month, cardholder needs to spend at least ₹10,000 in the previous billing cycle.
- Eligible Lounges: Make sure to check the eligible list of lounges before departure.
- Access Validity: Lounge access is credited after statement generation and should be used within next 30 days.
Low Forex Markup (1% + GST):
Unlike most entry-level RuPay cards that levy a 3.5% foreign currency markup, the CUB SalarySe Physical card charges only 1% + GST on international spends, making it an unexpectedly strong choice for international online billing and overseas travel.
Cult Concludes: Is it worth Applying?
CUB SalarySe Level Up Credit Card comes with only one amazing benefit: 7.5% Value back on Salary Days. If you are salaried and was looking for a high reward credit card for UPI then you can consider applying for the suitable variant of CUB SalarySe Card.
Which One to Apply For?
- Choose Virtual if you want a zero-cost yet rewarding credit card. If you are not a frequent traveler or don’t need the lounge benefit then you can apply for the virtual variant and still get the best reward rate than any other RuPay Credit Card.
- Choose Physical if you are a cashback geek as it offers higher reward rate and reward limit on Salary Days, plus, the additional lounge perk.
You can start with the virtual one if you are hesitant to pay the fees or want to try the SalarySe Card first. You can anytime upgrade and apply for the physical variant once you want to unlock the higher rewarding experience of 37.5% rewards.
Saurabh | Founder & Content Writer at CreditCult.in
For the last 7 years, I’ve been obsessed with the Indian credit ecosystem—testing cards, deconstructing reward programs, and finding the tiny loopholes banks don’t want you to see. I don’t just write about these accounts; I use them daily to ensure the advice I give is backed by real-world results.
Looking for a more of all rounder card? Checkout our comparison blog: SBI Cashback vs SBI PhonePe Black Credit Card to find yourself the most suitable card for Online Spends.
