AU Small Finance Bank and Paytm announced the Paytm AU SFB Credit Card on 21 October 2026 in Mumbai. The lifetime free RuPay card offers up to 2% rewards on eligible Paytm UPI spends and 5% rewards on Paytm Travel and Paytm Gold purchases. Its headline feature is family lounge access, with up to 12 complimentary visits a year for up to four members travelling together on eligible flights booked through Paytm.
What Is the Paytm AU SFB Credit Card?
The Paytm AU SFB Credit Card is a co-branded RuPay credit card issued by AU Small Finance Bank and distributed through Paytm. It is lifetime free with no joining fee and no annual fee. The card links credit spending with the Paytm app for UPI payments, travel bookings and gold purchases.
A co-branded credit card is a card jointly offered by a licensed bank and a non-bank brand. The bank issues the card, manages the credit limit and handles settlement, while the brand provides the customer platform and reward ecosystem. In this partnership, AU Small Finance Bank is the issuer and Paytm, owned by One97 Communications Ltd headquartered in Noida, is the distribution and rewards partner. The card runs on RuPay, the domestic card network of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The product is designed for mobile first users who pay mainly through QR codes and apps. It combines two ideas that are usually separate in India. Everyday UPI spends earn rewards, and family air travel earns lounge comfort. Most Indian lounge cards cover only the primary holder. This card extends entry to family members travelling together.
Rewards, Family Lounge Access and Charges
The Paytm AU SFB Credit Card carries zero joining fee and zero annual fee, with no hidden charges announced at launch. Reward points accrue on eligible spends made through the Paytm ecosystem. Points can be redeemed for Paytm Gold at ₹1 per point, and also for vouchers, bill payments and other listed benefits. Redemption value makes the reward rate easy to track, because one point equals one rupee in gold value.
The reward structure places the highest value on travel and gold, and steady value on daily UPI use. Eligible Paytm UPI spends include everyday merchant payments such as groceries and cab rides made by scanning Paytm QR codes. Paytm Travel covers flight and related bookings made inside the Paytm app. The table below summarises the announced rates.
| Spend category | Reward rate |
|---|---|
| Eligible Paytm UPI spends | Up to 2% rewards |
| Paytm Travel bookings | 5% rewards |
| Paytm Gold purchases | 5% rewards |
| Recharges, bill payments and other eligible uses | 1% rewards |
The defining benefit is family airport lounge access. Cardholders get up to 12 complimentary lounge visits in a year when they book eligible round trip flights through Paytm. Up to four family members can enter together under the same benefit. Entry uses a QR based system generated in the Paytm app, so no separate physical lounge card is needed. Access remains subject to applicable terms and eligibility conditions, including the requirement that the qualifying flight booking be made through Paytm.
How to Apply for the Paytm AU Credit Card
The Paytm AU SFB Credit Card application is fully digital inside the Paytm app. The applicant opens the Paytm app and searches for Credit Card. After that, the applicant selects the Paytm AU SFB Credit Card, taps Apply Now and fills in personal details. The process is completed with KYC verification and bank approval. Applicants can track application status and manage billing through the Paytm app and AU Bank channels.
What Is AU Small Finance Bank?
AU Small Finance Bank is India’s largest Small Finance Bank and a listed Scheduled Commercial Bank headquartered in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It commenced banking operations on 19 April 2017 after receiving a licence from the Reserve Bank of India under Section 22(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. It received in principle approval on 7 August 2025 to transition into a Universal Bank.
The bank traces its roots to AU Financiers, founded in 1996 by Sanjay Agarwal to lend to small entrepreneurs and underserved borrowers in rural and semi urban areas. In September 2015, AU Financiers was among ten entities that received in principle approval to set up a Small Finance Bank. It changed its name to AU Small Finance Bank in April 2017 on commencement of banking business.
A Small Finance Bank is a differentiated bank licensed by the Reserve Bank of India to provide basic banking to unserved sections, small farmers, small businesses and low income households. A Scheduled Bank is a bank listed in the Second Schedule of the RBI Act, 1934, which gives it access to RBI liquidity support and places it under full RBI supervision. AU SFB meets that standard, which answers the common question about safety and status in simple regulatory terms. Deposits and operations are regulated like other commercial banks.
AU SFB has grown rapidly through branch expansion and merger. The amalgamation of Fincare Small Finance Bank into AU SFB took effect on 1 April 2024, the first merger among Small Finance Banks. The combined franchise crossed 1 crore customers and a balance sheet of about ₹1.2 lakh crore at the time, with more than 2,350 touchpoints across 21 states and four Union Territories. On 7 August 2025, the Reserve Bank granted AU SFB in principle approval to become a Universal Bank, the first Small Finance Bank to receive such approval in over a decade. Final transition requires meeting capital norms, a satisfactory five year track record and RBI due diligence.
Why RuPay Credit Card on UPI Matters
RuPay is India’s domestic card network, operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). NPCI, established in 2008 and headquartered in Mumbai, also operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the instant payment system that moves money between bank accounts through QR codes and mobile apps. A RuPay credit card on UPI links the credit account to a UPI ID, so the user can scan any UPI QR and pay from the credit limit without carrying the physical card.
The Reserve Bank approved this linkage in June 2022. RuPay is the only card network permitted for credit payments on standard merchant UPI. This matters for scale, because UPI QR acceptance reaches small shops where card machines are absent. NPCI fixed nil Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for RuPay credit on UPI transactions up to ₹2,000, which encouraged small merchants to accept such payments. MDR is the fee a merchant pays to accept a digital payment. In August 2024, NPCI also directed issuers to maintain parity in rewards for RuPay credit transactions on UPI and on card, except where the issuer earns no interchange.
The Paytm AU SFB Credit Card uses this rail directly. Rewards apply to Paytm UPI spends, so a grocery scan earns the same ecosystem value as an online booking. For users, the benefit is wider acceptance. For merchants, the benefit is higher consumption without heavy acceptance cost on small tickets.
RuPay vs Visa vs Mastercard: Which Is Best?
No single network is best for every use. The right choice depends on where the payment is made. The table below sets out the practical difference for Indian users.
| Feature | RuPay | Visa and Mastercard |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership and processing | Domestic network by NPCI, processing in India | International networks with global acceptance |
| UPI linkage for credit cards | Supported, credit limit can be used on UPI QR | Not supported on standard merchant UPI |
| Best use case | Daily QR spends, UPI rewards, domestic offers | International travel, global e commerce, overseas lounge networks |
| Merchant cost on small UPI tickets | Nil MDR up to ₹2,000 on eligible transactions | MDR framework does not apply, as UPI credit is not enabled |
For a user who spends mainly through UPI in India, a RuPay card adds utility that Visa and Mastercard credit cards cannot match on QR. For frequent international travellers, a Visa or Mastercard companion card still helps because of wider acceptance abroad.
Paytm Card Portfolio and Co-branded Precedent
Paytm is the consumer brand of One97 Communications Ltd, founded in 2000 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and headquartered in Noida. Paytm began as a mobile recharge platform in 2009 and grew into a payments ecosystem covering UPI, wallet, Soundbox for merchants, ticketing, travel and financial distribution. The parent company was listed on Indian stock exchanges in November 2021.
Paytm has built its credit card business only through partnerships, because it is not a bank and cannot issue cards itself. The first major launch was the Paytm First Card with Citibank in May 2019. Paytm then partnered with SBI Card in 2020, followed by HDFC Bank, to widen distribution among salaried and new to credit users. In May 2023, Paytm, SBI Card and NPCI jointly launched the next generation Paytm SBI RuPay credit card to push credit inclusion through UPI. Paytm also offers Paytm Postpaid, a credit line on UPI built with partner banks including Suryodaya Small Finance Bank.
The AU SFB partnership extends this line in two ways. It gives AU SFB access to Paytm’s large mobile base at a low acquisition cost. It gives Paytm a lifetime free RuPay product that is fully usable on UPI QR, with a family travel hook that earlier Paytm cards did not offer. For the market, it signals deeper collaboration between Small Finance Banks and fintech platforms in the unsecured credit space.
Significance for Digital Payments and Credit Inclusion
The Paytm AU SFB Credit Card links core policy priorities into one product. The first is wider use of RuPay, which keeps card processing within India and supports the domestic payments ecosystem. The second is growth of credit on UPI, which brings formal credit to QR based shops where debit and cash still dominate. Credit inclusion follows, because a lifetime free card with UPI rewards lowers the entry barrier for first time borrowers with a mobile footprint but a thin credit file.
For AU Small Finance Bank, the card supports its shift toward a larger retail franchise ahead of its planned Universal Bank transition. A differentiated card helps the bank reach young urban customers beyond its traditional strength in rural and semi urban lending. Fee free pricing and gold linked redemption make the value clear without complex milestone charts. For Paytm, travel linked lounge access increases flight bookings inside its own app, which raises repeat use across payments, travel and gold.
Competition will test the promise. India’s co-branded market already includes strong RuPay options from SBI Card, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak and Bank of Baroda. Reward caps, merchant exclusions and lounge eligibility terms will decide real value. Users should read the most important terms and conditions on reward eligibility, the definition of eligible round trip bookings and the annual lounge limit before applying.
Key Takeaways
- The Paytm AU SFB Credit Card was announced on 21 October 2026 by AU Small Finance Bank and Paytm as India’s first family lounge access RuPay card.
- The card is lifetime free with no joining fee and no annual fee.
- It offers up to 2% rewards on Paytm UPI spends and 5% rewards on Paytm Travel and Paytm Gold purchases.
- It provides up to 12 complimentary lounge visits per year for up to four family members on eligible round trip flights booked through Paytm with QR based entry.
- AU Small Finance Bank, headquartered in Jaipur, commenced operations on 19 April 2017 and received in principle approval on 7 August 2025 to become a Universal Bank.
- RuPay is operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (established in 2008, Mumbai), and RuPay is the only network enabled for credit cards on UPI since June 2022.
