As against all this, what do the other credit card players offer?

ANZ offers Silver and Gold cards for variety. Stanchart offers a little more with three categories: Gold Standard, Executive and Classic. Citibank, the biggest player in the Indian credit card market, scores over others in variety with Mastercard, Visa Card, Gold Card, Diner's Club Card and International Card (only for corporates). Hongkong Bank is notdoing badly either with Classic, Gold and International (both business and personal). So, SBI, with a single card, has to do a lot of catching up on variety.

The next is the annual fee. The annual fee for ANZ Silver is Rs 700 and that for ANZ Gold Rs 1,500. Stanchart has set its fee at Rs 2,000 for Gold Standard, Rs 1,100 for Executive Card, and Rs 700 for Classic. A Citibank cardholder pays Rs 750 for an ordinary Master or Visa Card as annual fee, Rs 2,000 for a Gold Card and Rs 3,500 as the first membership fee for a Diner's Club Card. The annual fee for a Diner's Club Card comes down to Rs 2,500 from the second year onwards. The Hongkong Bank annual fee for the Gold Card is Rs 1,500 and that for the Classic card, Rs 500. Here, SBI's done well in keeping its annual fee at Rs 500, the lowest among all the issuers, though sharing that position with Hongkong Bank's Classic.

The cost of maintaining supplementary credit cards is another deciding issue in opting for a brand. Again, this fee varies from bankto bank. ANZ issues an additional card at Rs 300 per annum to a Silver Card holder, while it offers a supplementary Gold Card at Rs 750 per year. Stanchart, on the other hand, gives out a Gold Standard add-on card at Rs 1,000 per annum; an additional Executive Card at Rs 500 per annum and a supplementary Classic at Rs 350 per annum. Citibank's ordinary Master and Visa Card holders can have add-on cards at an annual fee of Rs 350 per card, whereas Gold Card holders can avail of the facility at a much higher annual fee of Rs 1,000 per card.

In the case of Hongkong Bank, a Classic add-on card is available at Rs 200 per annum, and a Gold add-on at Rs 500 a year. SBI's annual fee of Rs 250 for a supplementary card is lower than most, but certainly not the lowest--Hongkong Bank, with an annual fee of Rs 200 for its Classic add-on card, is ahead of SBI in the `supplementary' race.

Income eligibility, which is again a significant consideration, varies quite a bit in range from one issuer to another. You areeligible to hold an ANZ Silver if your annual income is at least Rs 84,000 (for the salaried) per annum and Rs 50,000 (for the self-employed) per annum. Those aspiring for an ANZ Gold must have a minimum yearly income of Rs 2,40,000. Stanchart has kept its minimum income norm at Rs 1,20,000 per annum (salaried) and Rs 1,00,000 per annum (self-employed) for its Gold Standard card; Rs 90,000 (salaried) and Rs 50,000 (self-employed) for Executive Card; Rs 60,000 (salaried) and Rs 50,000 (self-employed) for Classic. Citibank has fixed its minimum annual income slab at Rs 60,000 (salaried) and Rs 50,000 (self-employed) for the Mastercard and Visa Card; Rs 1,08,000 (salaried) and Rs 84,000 (self-employed) for Gold; and the same eligibility as in Gold for the Diner's Club Card. SBI's income eligibility at Rs 75,000 (salaried) and Rs 60,000 (self-employed) is reasonable, but not the most attractive. Both Stanchart and Citibank have a more modest eligibility limit. But the point to be remembered here is that incomeeligibility is just meant for screening, and not the only determining factor.

Some of the other things such as the credit limit, interest-free credit and extended credit depend on a number of variables, thereby ruling out a straight comparison. And the rest, like the accident insurance cover, is not really the prime consideration of a credit card customer. Fringe benefits like discount coupons for shopping, reward points for free airline tickets and holiday packages are potential winners, but not so prevalent in India yet, thereby eliminating another comparison.

Finally, the issue of accessibility. This is important, particularly in this land of holidays. Check out whether a credit card is widely accepted or not, advises Vijay S Mehta, chief consultant, CCMC. Mehta adds: ``If you're travelling to the remote corners of the country, a credit card from an Indian issuer helps because of its wide network.''

In this context, the SBI Card will win hands down. Not only is the SBI Card expected to be accepted bymerchants all over the country, but it will also guarantee easy access to cash. Even though its ATMs are limited in number, an SBI Card-holder can just walk up to any designated State Bank branch for cash withdrawal. With 8,873 SBI offices already operating in the country, the SBI Card is sure to ride piggyback on the bank's accessibility.