What is the best cash rewards credit card

When deciding what’s the best credit card in Singapore to get.

You usually have to decide between earning points, miles or cashback.

With points, you’ll often find that you need to accumulate something to the tune of 40,000 points (or $4,000 spent) just to get some eco-friendly reusable coffee cup.

And with miles, if you aren’t a frequent traveller or big-spender, it’ll be hard to obtain that elusive first-class ticket.

Which… brings us to cashback credit cards which basically give you ‘free’ money.

Let’s find out which is the best cashback credit card, shall we?

Disclaimer: The various credit cards all have their respective terms and conditions. So please read through them before deciding which credit card to get! Note that information is accurate as of 15 January 2022 and that promotions are subject to change without prior notice.

TL;DR: Best Credit Cards for Cash Back (2022) in Singapore

These are the best cashback credit cards that you should be using:

If you’re wondering how I put together this list…

I basically took advantage of invested countless work hours on research.

So the next time you walk into a bank or any credit card roadshow, this will be you:

You’re welcome.

Click to Teleport

• No-frills credit card with no minimum spend, no exclusions and virtually no cashback cap.
• Daily expenses (min. monthly spend of $600)
• Big-ticket items
• Groceries, Petrol, Food Delivery & more.

Why Would The Banks Give Us Free Money?

The answer is in the fine print.

Most cash rewards programmes have a minimum spend requirement and a cashback cap.

So while a card might offer you a generous 20% cashback.

You’ll probably need to spend something like $50 a month to qualify.

And the maximum amount of cashback you can probably get is $10,000 monthly.

FOR EXAMPLE ONLY, PLEASE.

No such card exists.

But most consumers do not take the time to read the fine print.

So there is a chance that they might use a credit card under the impression that the cash rewards programme is more generous or applicable to a broader range of expenditure than they actually are.

And how many of us really track how much we spend to truly maximise our cashback rewards?

There are also plenty of consumers who might be under the impression that they can ‘afford to’ spend more because they’re getting cashback.

WRONG!

That’s awful news if you can’t make the payment on time.

The banks will charge high-interest rates (~25%) on credit, and the late fees for balances that are carried over are usually damn siao.

The lesson to take away here?

Only get a credit card if you are conscientious about your spending habits and can make payments for your credit card bills on time.

Please don’t chase credit card bonuses if you don’t need to spend on anything.

Which Is The Best Cashback Credit Card For Me?

To make your life easier, I decided to sort the various cashback credit cards into different categories that I think people would care about:

• No-frills credit card with no minimum spend, no exclusions and virtually no cashback cap.
• Daily expenses (min. monthly spend of $600)
• Big-ticket items
• Groceries, Petrol, Food Delivery & more.

I’ve also listed the following:

• Cashback rate
• Monthly minimum spend
• Maximum cashback cap.

That’s not all.

As a value-added service, I’ve also included links to real user reviews left by our SeedlyCommunity to help you better decide which cashback credit card should you apply.

Another essential thing to note is that there is no objectively best credit card.

The best credit card is the one that compliments your spending habits and allows you to maximise the cashback you can earn.

In fact, I’ll be updating this article pretty often.

So if you’re a cashback credit card fanatic, you might wanna save this article for future reference.

What Are the Best Cashback Credit Cards With No Minimum Spend

If you are looking for a straightforward credit card with no minimum spend requirement, no caps and no exclusions.

The choice is clear.

AMEX True Cashback or UOB Absolute Cashback Card + GrabPay Mastercard

A combination of the AMEX True Cashback Card (1.5% cashback) or the UOB Absolute Cashback Card (1.7% cashback) with the GrabPay Mastercard (up to 1.2% via GrabRewards points) just works.

Here are the basic stats for these cards:

By stacking this combination, you can get up to 2.9% cashback on most of your transactions which beats out most of the other unlimited and no minimum spend cards on the market.

Let me break it down for you.

Layer 1: AMEX Credit Cards — AMEX True Cashback or UOB Absolute Cashback Card (Up to 1.7%)

On the first level, you will get up to 1.7% cashback when you top up your GrabPay card with the UOB Absolute Cashback Card.

No need to stress about which Merchant Credit Card (MCC) code your transaction falls under as you straight up get 1.7% cashback with no caps, no minimum spend and no exclusions.

This means 1.7% cashback on all transactions that accept GrabPay and the GrabPay Mastercard.

We have chosen these two cards as they are the only cashback credit cards in the market that still give you cashback on GrabPay top-ups.

The best part? You’ll avoid Grab’s $1 Visa GrabPay top-up fee with these cards.

You might be wondering, which card should you use?

If you do not have an AMEX credit card, you should apply for the AMEX True Cashback card first, as the card has generous sign-up promos.

AMEX True Cashback Card Promo

New sign-ups will receive a sign-up gift of either the Apple AirPods (3rd Generation) (worth $269) or $160 cash.

In addition, they will get to enjoy 3% or double the cashback for the first six months. But note that there is a $5,000 spend cap.

After your welcome bonus, you will continue to earn 1.5% cashback on all eligible purchases with no minimum spending and no earn cap.

AMEX True Cashback Card Requirements

Do take note of AMEX’s application requirements:

• You’re over 21 years of age. Supplementary Card applicant should be over 18 years of age.

• For Singapore Citizens and Residents, you have earnings that provide an income of over $30,000 p.a.

• For Expatriates, you have earnings that provide a minimum income of over $45,000 p.a.

If you already have an AMEX credit card, you should apply for the UOB Absolute Cashback Card as it gives a marginally higher cashback of 1.7% compared to the AMEX True Cashback Card’s 1.5% cashback.

UOB Absolute Cashback Card Promo

If you are a new UOB cardmember, the bank also offers a sign-up promotion.

The first 100 new-to-UOB Credit Cardmembers per calendar month who successfully apply for a UOB personal credit card from 1 January 2022 to 28 February 2022 and spend a minimum of $1,500 within 30 days from the card approval date will get to enjoy a $150 cash credit. Terms and Conditions apply.

UOB Absolute Cashback Card Requirements

• Minimum 21 years old
• For Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents
  • A minimum annual income of $30,000 is required OR
  • Fixed Deposit collateral of at least $10,000#
• For Foreigners
  • A minimum annual income of $80,000 is required OR
  • Fixed Deposit collateral of at least $10,000#

#Terms and conditions apply. Please visit UOB Branches for more information on secured card applications. Supporting documents (NRIC or passport) will be required.

Layer 2: GrabPay Card — Mastercard With up to 1.2% Cashback in GrabRewards Points

After topping up your GrabPay wallet, you would have received up to 1.7% cashback on any GrabPay transactions if you discount the new user sign up bonuses.

As you can see below, there are a wide variety of places where you can use GrabPay and the GrabPay Card.

You can also use the GrabPay wallet at AXS, which will allow you to earn cashback on condominium and membership fees, insurance premiums, IRAS tax payments, season parking, town council and utility bills.

But, note that you won’t get any GrabRewards points for AXS transactions.

In addition to the 1,7% cashback, any eligible transaction you make with GrabPay earns you up to 6 GrabRewards points for every $1 spent.

As these GrabRewards points are worth approximately 0.2 cents each, you can earn up to 1.2% cashback ($0.012/$1) on the platinum tier.

For context, you need to earn this amount of GrabRewards points to unlock each tier:

Member: 0 points

Silver: >300 points

Gold: >1,200 points

Platinum: >4,500 points.

Also, as long as you complete one (1) cashless Grab transaction* a month, the validity of all your points extends by 6 months.

GrabPay Card Promo

Grab also often runs GrabPay Power Up Challenges, where you can unlock bonus GrabRewards points if you fulfil all the campaign’s requirements within a set time period (usually one month).

Here’s an example:

But according to Grab, here are the exclusions you need to take note of:

GrabPay Wallet Exclusions and GrabPay Wallet Exclusions

Activities or transactions, or part thereof, that DO NOT earn GrabRewards points include but are not limited to:

• Redemption of rewards from the GrabRewards catalogue using GrabRewards points
• Campaigns and promotions (unless stated otherwise; individual campaign terms and conditions apply)
• Transactions via cash
• Select Transport services: GrabHitch
• Select GrabExpress services: 4-hour delivery, multi-stop delivery
• Booking/Order fare component covered by promo/reward
• Tolls, surcharges and booking fees
• Driver tips
• Purchase of GrabGifts
• Purchase or renewal of Grab Subscriptions/Packages
• Top up of GrabPay Balance
• Peer-to-peer transfer of GrabPay Balance
• Transfer-in or withdrawal from GrabInvest
• PayLater instalments
• PayNow payments via GrabPay
• Hotel & Accommodation bookings made via the in-app Hotels tile
• Attraction bookings made via the in-app Attractions tile

Transactions made via/with GrabPay Wallet or GrabPay card related to the following:

• Bank or third-party mobile/payment wallets, including but not limited to FavePay, PayLah!, PayPal, Singtel Dash, ShopeePay, Lazada Wallet, Boku, Coda Payments
• Multi-currency wallets, including but not limited to YouTrip, Revolut and TransferWise
• Buy-Now-Pay-Later service providers, including but not limited to Atome, Hoolah, Pace, Rely
• Investment or brokerage platforms
• Cryptocurrency platforms
• Remittance service providers
• Bill payment service providers or aggregators, including but not limited to AXS
• Virtual or gaming credits service providers, including but not limited to Razer Gold
• EZ-Link card/app top-up
• MCC 5960 – Direct Marketing Insurance Services
• MCC 6011 – Financial Institutions – Manual Cash Disbursements
• MCC 6012 – Financial Services
• MCC 6300 – Insurance Sales, Underwriting and Premiums
• MCC 6536 – Money Send Intra country
• MCC 6537 – Money Send Intercountry
• MCC 6540 – POI Funding Transactions
• MCC 7299 – Miscellaneous Personal Services
• MCC 7399 – Business Services Not Elsewhere Classified
• MCC 8062 – Hospitals
• MCC 8211 – Elementary and Secondary Schools
• MCC 8220 – Colleges, Junior Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
• MCC 8241 – Correspondence Schools
• MCC 8244 – Business and Secretarial Schools
• MCC 8249 – Vocational Schools and Trade Schools
• MCC 8299 – Schools and Educational Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
• MCC 8398 – Charities
• MCC 8611 – Religious Organisations

Otherwise, this card combo is pretty sweet.

For more information about these cards (e.g. eligibility requirements, exclusions, annual fees and real user reviews), you can click the links below:

• AMEX True Cashback Card (1.5% cashback)
• UOB Absolute Cashback Card (1.7% cashback)
• GrabPay Mastercard.

Additionally, we also have additional information for you here at Seedly on the best Mastercard Credit Cards.

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What Are the Best Cashback Credit Cards for Daily Expenses

However, if you spend more than $600 a month on your credit card, you can earn a bit more cashback with either the DBS Live Fresh Card, OCBC FRANK Card or UOB EVOL Card.

DBS Live Fresh vs OCBC FRANK vs UOB EVOL

Realistically, we would start with the assumption that you make an effort to split your credit spend between contactless and online spending equally and ignore the ‘any other spend’ category as it is hard to hit.

At first glance, the UOB EVOL card seems to be the winner with its high 8% cashback rate.

But upon close examination, you will not be able to hit an effective cashback rate of 8% as you are limited by the monthly cashback caps for online and contactless spend categories, which add up to $40 per month ($20 per category). This means you only get cashback for $500 spent each month.

Let’s say you look at your monthly statement and realise you spend only about $600 per month. Your effective cashback rate is still 6.67% ($40/$600), which is pretty decent but not 8% as advertised.

If you spend more than ~$667 per month, your effective cashback rate drops to 5.99% ($40/$667), which is lower than OCBC FRANK’s 6% cashback rate.

As for DBS Live Fresh and OCBC FRANK, you will not be exceeding the cashback cap by hitting the minimum spend if you split your credit spend between contactless and online spending equally.

With that in mind, you should pick these cards based on how much you spend on your credit cards each month:

• $600 to ~$667: UOB EVOL
• ~$667 to ~$834: OCBC FRANK.

But, you might also want to consider applying for the DBS Live Fresh if you spend quite a bit at the following Green Merchants as the cashback stacks on top of the mobile and online spend categories:

DBS will occasionally release this Power Up Your Savings campaign where you get an additional 8% cashback if you manage to hit your assigned monthly spend goal:

For more information about this card (e.g. eligibility requirements, exclusions, annual fees and real user reviews), you can click on the links below:

• DBS Live Fresh Card
• OCBC FRANK Card
• UOB EVOL Card.

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Planning a wedding?

Need to renovate your brand new BTO?

Planning to get a laptop?

Check out these cards to save BIG:

Citibank Credit Cards: Citi SMRT Card

For any big-ticket online purchases, you’ll want to get the Citi SMRT Credit Card.

With this card, you’ll get a pretty decent 5% cashback rate on the following spend categories:

• All supermarkets and grocery stores
• Taxi and public transport rides (including private-hire rides)
• Online purchases (excludes mobile wallet and travel-related transactions*).
  • *Travel-related transactions include but are not limited to transactions that bear the following MCCs:
    • MCC 3000 to 3350 Airlines, Air Carriers
    • MCC 3351 to 3500 Car Rental Agencies
    • MCC 3501 to 3999 Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts
    • MCC 4112 Passenger Railways
    • MCC 4411 Cruise Lines
    • MCC 4511 Airlines, Air Carriers (Not Elsewhere Classified)
    • MCC 4722 Travel Agencies and Tour Operators
    • MCC 5962 Direct Marketing – Travel-Related Arrangement Services
    • MCC 7011 Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts (Not Elsewhere Classified)
    • MCC 7512 Car Rental Agencies (Not Elsewhere Classified).

Citi SMRT Card Monthly Minimum Spend and Cashback Cap

But note that you will need to spend at least $500 a month to unlock this 5% cashback rate (SMRT$).

Note that redemption of SMRT$ for shopping vouchers and cash rebates has to be performed online or via SMS.

If your total monthly statement of retail purchases falls below $500, the eligible rebate rates will be reduced to 0.3%.

The beauty of this card for big-ticket online purchases lies in how Citi arranges the cashback cap. Remember to use the card directly to pay for your stuff, as the card does not support mobile wallets. This card should not be used for travel transactions too.

Unlike most cards with a monthly cashback cap, the Citi SMRT card has an annual cashback cap of $600.

This means that at any point within 12 months, you can spend up to $12,000 and get 5% or up to $600 cashback on eligible spending.

Note that the annual cashback cap resets every 12 months. So you might want to apply for the card now as the earlier you apply, the faster it refreshes the cap.

For example, if you only need to buy your big-ticket 9 months later, you can fully utilise the $12,000 cap with 3 months till the cap is refreshed. 

Citi SMRT Card Promo

Also, Citi is offering a $120 cashback welcome offer for new Citibank card members who apply for the Citi SMRT card from now to 30 January 2022.

However, they will have to spend at least $1,200 within the qualifying period to unlock this bonus cashback.

FYI: “Qualifying Period” refers to the period starting from the Eligible Card approval date to the end of that calendar month (“First Month”) and three full calendar months immediately after the end of that First Month. For example: if the Eligible Card is approved on 12 February 2020, the Qualifying Period will be from 12 February 2020 (i.e. card approval date) to 31 May 2020 (i.e. three full calendar months starting from January), both dates inclusive.

For more information about this card (e.g. eligibility requirements, exclusions, annual fees and real user reviews), you can click this link: Citi SMRT Credit Card.

UOB Credit Cards: UOB One Card

The Citi SMRT card may be suitable for online transactions, but there’s a gap when it comes to in-store transactions.

That’s where the UOB One Card comes in.

If you are planning to make big purchases in the coming months and are willing to do a bit of planning, you can consider the UOB One Card.

This is because the card offers a relatively high cashback rate of up to 5% on almost all purchases. But, keep in mind that this is a flat rate and that the minimum spending requirements are relatively high.

Here is an infographic that explains how this works:

In addition, to the quarterly rebate, you will stand to receive additional cashback from these categories:

• Shopee: +5% Cashback
• Grab (Excludes mobile wallet top ups): +5% cashback
• Singapore Power Utility Bills: +1% cashback.
• UOB Travel: +5% cashback

Here’s an example of how this works:

For the example above, the person qualified for the quarterly tier rebate as they spent precisely $2,000 each month for the whole quarter (3 months) and got $300 cashback.

In addition, the person also spent on these additional categories and got $68 more.

But if you find it hard to meet the high spend requirements and have a mortgage loan, you might want to consider using the UOB One Card with these payment services:

UOB One Card Promo

Also, suppose you are looking for a new user promo. In that case, UOB is offering new UOB cardmembers a Secretlab TITAN Evo 2022 in Royal NEO™ Hybrid Leatherette, with a limited edition magnetic head pillow designed in collaboration with Fiona Fussi, worth $619 when you sign up for a UOB One Credit Card.

To qualify for the reward, make a minimum spend of $3,000 within the first 30 days of card approval.

But the promotion is only valid for the first 200 new-to-UOB cardmembers per promotion month.

This promotion is valid until 21 January 2022; terms and conditions apply.

For more information about this card (e.g. eligibility requirements, exclusions, annual fees and real user reviews), you can click this link: UOB One Card.

Alternatively, the UOB Absolute Cashback and GrabPay Card combination work for big-ticket purchases too.

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What Is the Best Cashback Credit Card For Groceries, Petrol, Food Delivery and More

Everybody needs to visit the supermarket to get stuff like milk, diapers, bananas, soy sauce, bread… You get the picture.

Even driving out will command petrol which cost money. And for days that you are too tired to cook, you might order food delivery from time to time.

Why not save a bit while making these necessary purchases.

Enter the Maybank Family and Friends Card.

Maybank Credit Cards: Maybank Family and Friends Card

With this card, you can earn 8% cashback globally on these 5 cashback categories from 1 April 2021. To get the 8% cash rebates, cardholders need to spend a minimum of $800 per calendar month. But even if you do not hit this minimum spend, you can still receive unlimited 0.3% of rebates.

There is also a total cashback cap of $125 ($25 for each category).

Maybank Family and Friends Card Promo

In addition, new to Maybank credit card members can get a Garmin vívomove Style worth $469 with Maybank Credit Cards and CreditAble.

Simply apply for a new Maybank Credit Card and CreditAble, and charge to your Credit Card and/or withdraw from your CreditAble Account a minimum of $300 for each of the first two consecutive months upon approval.

Note that this promotion is limited to the first 2,000 qualifying applicants. Subsequent qualifying applicants will be rewarded with a $100 cash credit that will be credited to their activated Eligible Card accounts.

For more information about this card (e.g. eligibility requirements, exclusions, annual fees and real user reviews), you can click this link: Maybank Family and Friends.

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So… What’s Your Go-to Cashback Credit Card?

Have a favourite cashback credit card?

Believe that you’ve found a way to game the cashback credit card system to get the most amount of cashback?

Share with the community on Seedly lah…

Related Articles:

• Best Credit Cards for Women Singapore 2022
• A Singaporean’s Guide to Visa Credit Card Surcharge Fees

About Kenneth Fong

I threw all of my money into the longkang once... because I wanted to see my cash flow.

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