My journey with SBI Vistara Prime application

[bonheur]

I was trying to apply for the SBI Vistara Prime card after a convo with forum members here. My online application on Sprint got stuck just before KYC as SBI doesn't think I'm eligible. FYI, I have a pretty good credit score, already hold Cashback with 3.75L CL, and meet all other publicly available eligibility criteria. Also the CB is the only SBI card that I hold.

Today I got a call from their CS team saying the reason this card is denied was that I'm already holding a higher-end card (Cashback!) so I can't apply for the Vistara directly. They gave me two options:

1. Pick a lower-end card, use it for 3 months, and then re-apply for Vistara. Among the default alternative options I'm getting on Sprint page, the only ones I've heard about are SimplySave and IRCTC (both Visa/RuPay), the rest are co-branded cards that I couldn't care less about.
2. Wait for 3 months and directly try re-applying for Vistara again.

Of course they couldn't give me a guarantees that either of these methods will definitely work, but their suggestion was to go with 1. They also did admit that applying offline would have increased my chances of getting this new card (as @Walter White had also recommended in the other thread).

Given your experience getting SBI cards approved, which of these options should I go for? Do you think I should try my luck offline right away anyway?

PS: Also, before someone suggests me to get the Axis Vistara instead, I recently got the Magnus so I'm still under the cooldown period, and getting SBI core card will give me more diversity.

Edit 25/11/23: Updated thread title to reflect how this thread evolved over time.

 

[ALOAK]

No

I was trying to apply for the SBI Vistara Prime card after a convo with forum members here. My online application on Sprint got stuck just before KYC as SBI doesn't think I'm eligible. FYI, I have a pretty good credit score, already hold Cashback with 3.75L CL, and meet all other publicly available eligibility criteria. Also the CB is the only SBI card that I hold.

Today I got a call from their CS team saying the reason this card is denied was that I'm already holding a higher-end card (Cashback!) so I can't apply for the Vistara directly. They gave me two options:

1. Pick a lower-end card, use it for 3 months, and then re-apply for Vistara. Among the default alternative options I'm getting on Sprint page, the only ones I've heard about are SimplySave and IRCTC (both Visa/RuPay), the rest are co-branded cards that I couldn't care less about.
2. Wait for 3 months and directly try re-applying for Vistara again.

Of course they couldn't give me a guarantees that either of these methods will definitely work, but their suggestion was to go with 1. They also did admit that applying offline would have increased my chances of getting this new card (as @Walter White had also recommended in the other thread).

Given your experience getting SBI cards approved, which of these options should I go for? Do you think I should try my luck offline right away anyway?

PS: Also, before someone suggests me to get the Axis Vistara instead, I recently got the Magnus so I'm still under the cooldown period, and getting SBI core card will give me more diversity.

No you can these sbi care are nuts every customer they say different things I applied when I had sbi prime normal to Vistara prime they gave me after much fight. They have a habit of rejecting unnecessarily to create demand for card. Dint believe the care catch a sales rep will do it for you. Sbi care isnuseless bunch of idiots who don't know the product itself and call center Mgr don't even come for escalation pass the buck.

 

[ALOAK]

Sbi have a habit of approving for chors.their npa is very high actually

 

[Vikaas]

I’m trying to work it out with an offline agent but can’t proceed before the existing application is either closed or processed. Please share your experience.

I have applied from sprint.. Physical KYC and 2 call verification And card approved in around 6 days.. Nothing extra just like any other sbi card application

 

[Vikaas]

No

No you can these sbi care are nuts every customer they say different things I applied when I had sbi prime normal to Vistara prime they gave me after much fight. They have a habit of rejecting unnecessarily to create demand for card. Dint believe the care catch a sales rep will do it for you. Sbi care isnuseless bunch of idiots who don't know the product itself and call center Mgr don't even come for escalation pass the buck.

True.. I hold cb and vistara card application was very smooth.. Like super fast process... They just asked me about previous card limit.. But as par this thread they denied vistara because of cb card ...2 months ago they rejected my dad's cb card saying he already hold 1 sbi card so can't get 2nd.. Like seriously

 

[Nishan11]

I’m trying to work it out with an offline agent but can’t proceed before the existing application is either closed or processed. Please share your experience.

How you are planning to close existing application in sprint ?

I am in same situation, I left application incomplete due to not getting preferred card, but somehow application number generated which I never got.

Now when I am trying to apply offline, I am being asked to call customer care or mail to close existing application on sprint.

I have called customer care & he said he's closing from his side & I can apply offline after 24th July 2023. Let's see, will call again on 25th July to cross check before applying.

Edited***

 

[4uziaul]

How you are planning to close existing application in sprint ?

I am in same situation, I left application incomplete due to not getting preferred card, but somehow application number generated which I never got.

Now when I am trying to apply offline, I am being asked to call customer care or mail to close existing application on sprint.

I have called customer care & he said he's closing from his side & I can apply offline after 24th July 2022. Let's see, will call again on 25th July ti cross check before applying.

You mean July 2023

 

[bonheur]

How you are planning to close existing application in sprint ?

I am in same situation, I left application incomplete due to not getting preferred card, but somehow application number generated which I never got.

Now when I am trying to apply offline, I am being asked to call customer care or mail to close existing application on sprint.

I have called customer care & he said he's closing from his side & I can apply offline after 24th July 2023. Let's see, will call again on 25th July to cross check before applying.

Edited***

Sprint doesn't have any option to cancel so it has to be through CC. I've written them an email and still waiting to hear back. Which CC number did you call?

 

[Nishan11]

Sprint doesn't have any option to cancel so it has to be through CC. I've written them an email and still waiting to hear back. Which CC number did you call?

Number was mentioned in their SBI card. website. Toll free number was always busy. So called on other number which is chargeable.

CC said they have initiated cancelation of application & by 24th july it should be canceled.

Yesterday got mail from CC that my request is initiated & they will update me by 31st July.

 

[bonheur]

I was trying to apply for the SBI Vistara Prime card after a convo with forum members here. My online application on Sprint got stuck just before KYC as SBI doesn't think I'm eligible. FYI, I have a pretty good credit score, already hold Cashback with 3.75L CL, and meet all other publicly available eligibility criteria. Also the CB is the only SBI card that I hold.

Today I got a call from their CS team saying the reason this card is denied was that I'm already holding a higher-end card (Cashback!) so I can't apply for the Vistara directly. They gave me two options:

1. Pick a lower-end card, use it for 3 months, and then re-apply for Vistara. Among the default alternative options I'm getting on Sprint page, the only ones I've heard about are SimplySave and IRCTC (both Visa/RuPay), the rest are co-branded cards that I couldn't care less about.
2. Wait for 3 months and directly try re-applying for Vistara again.

Of course they couldn't give me a guarantees that either of these methods will definitely work, but their suggestion was to go with 1. They also did admit that applying offline would have increased my chances of getting this new card (as @Walter White had also recommended in the other thread).

Given your experience getting SBI cards approved, which of these options should I go for? Do you think I should try my luck offline right away anyway?

PS: Also, before someone suggests me to get the Axis Vistara instead, I recently got the Magnus so I'm still under the cooldown period, and getting SBI core card will give me more diversity.

A quick update on my original post.

I got in touch regarding my application with SBI call centre agents and they tried to get internal approvals for me on the original application for an upgrade from SimplySave to Vistara Prime, but I still received the SimplySave card. I got that card closed within a month of receiving it.

But the call centre team had promised to help me get this card after the cooling period is over, and exactly 3 months later to the day they called me on their own! They had been able to pull most of my details from the previous online application, and then proceeded to get me to verify the details on call.

I had read here that many people didn't get their existing Club Vistara membership ID correctly mapped to their SBI Vistara card despite their phone and emails correctly matching. It appears the SBI application has a form input for entering the loyalty number. During the application, I told the agent to ensure my mapping is correct, and they themselves asked me my CV ID and added it to the loyalty section. I don't know if it actually helped, but at least the agent did their bit.

During one of the calls post approval, I got a call to ask me if I'd like to choose a limit between my new and old cards, or would I like it to be done automatically. Since I've read here that limit split is no longer being entertained by SBI, I opted to split the limit myself as per my needs.

The card arrived exactly within a week of my new application and I was super relieved to see my correct CV ID printed on the back of the card.

I hear a lot of bad things about SBI customer care, but with both my Cashback card support and now the Vistara application process I've had nothing but fantastic experiences with them.

 

[viznu99]

A quick update on my original post.

I got in touch regarding my application with SBI call centre agents and they tried to get internal approvals for me on the original application for an upgrade from SimplySave to Vistara Prime, but I still received the SimplySave card. I got that card closed within a month of receiving it.

But the call centre team had promised to help me get this card after the cooling period is over, and exactly 3 months later to the day they called me on their own! They had been able to pull most of my details from the previous online application, and then proceeded to get me to verify the details on call.

I had read here that many people didn't get their existing Club Vistara membership ID correctly mapped to their SBI Vistara card despite their phone and emails correctly matching. It appears the SBI application has a form input for entering the loyalty number. During the application, I told the agent to ensure my mapping is correct, and they themselves asked me my CV ID and added it to the loyalty section. I don't know if it actually helped, but at least the agent did their bit.

During one of the calls post approval, I got a call to ask me if I'd like to choose a limit between my new and old cards, or would I like it to be done automatically. Since I've read here that limit split is no longer being entertained by SBI, I opted to split the limit myself as per my needs.

The card arrived exactly within a week of my new application and I was super relieved to see my correct CV ID printed on the back of the card.

I hear a lot of bad things about SBI customer care, but with both my Cashback card support and now the Vistara application process I've had nothing but fantastic experiences with them.

Gotta love SBI, they have really upped their game
I believe credit still goes to GE who managed it before the Carlyle Group

 

[bonheur]

To continue the story, I got timely credit of the welcome voucher + Silver tier status within a week of the first month's bill payment. Bill paid on 19/11, SR raised automatically by system on 23/11, tier upgraded on 25/11. I've heard of this as well not go so smoothly for some people.

 

[AlphaCAT]

Gotta love SBI, they have really upped their game
I believe credit still goes to GE who managed it before the Carlyle Group

Carlyle exited from SBI Crds around 18 months back by selling their entire stake of 3%.