Are You Making Good Use of Your Credit Card in Singapore?

Credit Card Reviews in Singapore

Reasons for Owning Several Credit Cards

We may have experience owning a lot of credit cards at one stage especially when we are younger and have the minimum income to apply for one. Then, we did not apply one but many cards because they all have different advantages that we can make use of.

One distinct advantage of why I applied for many credit cards in the last was that I love to dine in restaurants. Different restaurants work with certain credit card companies to give a discount to the cardholder.

I always felt the miss when I realized I didn’t have a particular credit card when a restaurant offered a discount during payment. Thereafter, I crazily applied for many different banks’ credit cards so I could produce any cards that the restaurant asked for in order to get the promotional discount.

Credit Card Annual Fee waiver

Year after year when the credit card annual fee came, I would always call to ask for a fee waiver. Sometimes, I got the fee waiver successfully because I had been using the credit card frequently.

Sometimes the banks did not want to waive off the annual fee because they said that there was no transaction made during that year so I have to pay to keep the card.

There were a few cards that had annual fees waivers for a few years despite the fact that I did not find any good reason to use them at all. After some time, the bank got sick of me and decided not to waive my annual fee off eventually.

I cancelled all those cards that I was made to pay the annual fees. Slowly, the number of credit cards that I owned got lesser and lesser each year. I would think that was not a big deal since it was so easy to apply for credit cards, I could apply anytime I want for other cards.

Splitting of Accumulated Credit Card Points

Later, I was not motivated to apply for more new credit cards because I realized that I was actually splitting my accumulated credit card points into several cards and at the end of the service year, I did not accumulate enough points for an individual card to exchange for something free.

I thought it was rather silly to split the points all over the cards just to avoid paying the annual fees and hence, I have only a few cards now because they served bigger purposes in my life and I used them every now and then for a specific purpose.

Credit Card Reviews in Singapore

I have decided it is wiser to apply for credit cards that serve a function which you would be able to use their services for a long time and which benefit you to save some money in the long run on services that you frequently used. At the same time, you do not have to worry that you are not spending enough for the annual fees to be waived off.

I am going to do some credit cards review from time to time in some of the services and benefits which are tied to the credit card. Each credit card will offer different purposes for each individual person so you could check whether the advantages are useful to you.

I would also not be interested to include its annual fee because I think that people are not interested to pay the annual fee with a huge selection of credit cards available in the market. Users will most probably call the bank to ask for the fee waiver if possible.

And trust me, if you use your credit card every now and then, the bank is 99.9% of the time going to waive off the annual fees for you with no questions asked. What if the banks do not waive it off?

Ask yourself why are you not using the card enough and just cancel it and concentrate on using other credit cards that will give you accumulated points or credits instead.

1. POSB Everyday Card

POSB Everyday Card

POSB Everyday Card

This is my favourite card to use on all occasions because it gives a cash rebate in the form of Daily$ instead of points which I think is more practical. You can redeem your Daily$ via:-

  1. Instant Redemption at over 400 participating outlets by offsetting your purchases.
  2. Online Redemption through internet banking to redeem Comfort/ CityCab taxi vouchers OR to offset your credit card bill.

Participating Merchants

1. AirAsia.com – Travel

*Get a 3% cash rebate on your flights purchased at AirAsia.com.

  • With a minimum charge of S$ 300.00 in a single transaction and applicable on a Singapore out-bound flight excluding other add-on and other types of surcharges.
  • 0.3% cash rebate will be credited upfront and the additional 2.7% will be credited by end of the following calendar month of which the transaction was made.
2. Sheng Siong – Groceries

*Get a 5% cash rebate when you shop for your groceries at Sheng Siong.

  • Cash rebate will be awarded up to a maximum spend of S$ 1,000 (equivalent to Daily$50) at Sheng Siong per calendar month.
  • With effect from 1 March 2015, the cash rebate of 0.3% for Sheng Siong will be credited upfront and the remaining 4.7% cash rebate will be credited by the end of the following calendar month of which the transaction was made.
3. SPC – Petrol

*Save up to 20.1% on petrol at SPC.

  • May be subjected to changes of promotion.
4. Watson – Health, Beauty and Personal Care

*Get a 3% cash rebate at all Watson stores.

5. POPULAR Book Store – Books and Leisure

*Get a 1% cash rebate when you shop at POPULAR and UrbanWrite.

  • Cash rebates exclude POPULAR outlets in schools.
6. SP services – Utility Bills

*Get a 1% cash rebate on your recurring bills from SP Services.

  • 1% cash rebate for SP Services is capped at a maximum spend of S$100 per Card Account, per calendar month per respective billing organization.
  • Recurring charges are applicable only to accounts under the name of the main or supplementary cardholder.
  • With effect from 1 March 2015, the cash rebate of 0.3% will be credited upfront and the remaining 0.7% cash rebate will be credited by the end of the following calendar month of which the transaction was made.
7. Starhub – Mobile, Digital Cable and Broadband

*Get a 1% cash rebate on your recurring bills from Starhub.

  • 1% cash rebate for StarHub is capped at a maximum spend of S$100 per Card Account, per calendar month per respective billing organization.
  • With effect from 01 March 2015, the cash rebate of 0.3% will be credited upfront and the remaining 0.7% cash rebate will be credited by the end of the following calendar month of which the transaction was made.
8. Comfort/CityCab – Taxi

*Get a 1% cash rebate on your Comfort/CityCab taxi fares.

  • Usual Comfort/CityCab card transaction administration fees apply.
9. EZ-Reload

*Get a 2% cash rebate when you sign up for EZ-Reload online via www.ezlink.com.sg

  • Not applicable for concession pass holders.
10. HDB Season Parking

*Get a 1% cash rebate on your season parking renewal fees when you charge them online.

TIPS: Under the GIRO scheme for season parking renewal, you will get 2% rebate for each successful renewal.

11. 2% Cash Rebate on Overseas Spending

*Get a 2% Cash Rebate on your overseas spending.

  • Subject to a minimum total spend of S$1,000 (everything not just travel) on your POSB Everyday Card within the same calendar month and capped at Daily$10 per Card account per month (effective 1 February 2015).
  • Not applicable for transactions made overseas in Singapore dollars, for card-not-present transactions such as online transactions, mail/phone orders in foreign currencies.
  • 0.3% cash rebate will be credited upfront and the additional 1.7% cash rebate will be credited by the end of the following calendar month of which the transaction was made. Click here to see how it works.
12. 0.3% Cash Rebate on all your other spending!
13. Americaya 

*Get a 10% cash rebate on regular-priced items.

14. Camper’s Corner Outdoor Outfitters

*Get a 15% cash rebate with a minimum spend of S$ 30 on regular-priced items.

15. Crocodile 

*Get 10% cash rebate 

16. EpiCentre 

*Get a 5% cash rebate 

  • Not valid for Apple-branded products, electronics, hard disks, earphones, headphones and software.
17. Pet Lovers Centre

*Get a 5% cash rebate with a minimum spend of S$ 20 on regular-priced items.

  • Not valid for veterinary, grooming, home delivery and online services.
  • Not valid for the sale of live animals and PLC VIP Member’s discount.
  • Not valid/applicable in conjunction with PLC VIP Member’s discount.
18. Singapore Colour Centre

*Get a 10% cash rebate for developing services.

  • Valid for developing and printing, reprints, digital printing of a minimum of 30 prints.
19. Standard Photo

*Get a 10% cash rebate for developing services.

  • Valid for developing and printing, reprints, digital printing of a minimum of 30 prints.
20. Global Holidays

*Get a 1% cash rebate on all air package. 

21. 4d Magix Sentosa

*Get 15% off admission ticket.

  • Island admission and transportation charges apply separately.
  • Maximum purchase of 4 tickets.
22. Mint Museum of Toys

*Get 30% off admission ticket. 

  • Minimum purchase of 2 admission tickets, not valid for group guided tours.
23. Asian Civilisations Museum 

*Get 20% off adult admission ticket

  • Maximum purchase of 4 admission tickets.
24. Hawk Rent A Car

*Get 40% cash rebate on standard rates

25. Hock Cheong Car Care

*Get 2% cash rebate 

26. Speedy Care

*Get 2% cash rebate 

2. DBS ESSO Mastercard® Card

DBS Esso Platinum MasterCard

DBS Esso Platinum MasterCard

 

*Accumulate 1 DBS Point for every S$5 charged to the card which can be used to redeem for free fuel.

*Get a petrol discount of up to 20% on special promotions. 

Also called DBS Esso Platinum card. If you are a driver and use Esso fuel for your petrol, this card is a must for you to apply, coupled with an ExxonMobil speedpass which debits all your bills to your (preferred) credit card and go without the hassle of queuing up at the counter.

  1. Earn 1 Smiles Point for every litre of Synergy fuel purchased at any Esso station.
  2. Enjoy S$10 instant fuel redemption with as low as 300 Smiles Points earned or up to S$30 instant fuel redemption with 750 Smiles Points earned.

From DBS Esso Platinum Website

At the current time of writing, the petrol discount for this card is at 17%. I have been using this card for more than 10 years. Prior to 2014 (I was not staying in Singapore in 2014) whenever there was a special promotion, Esso Platinum card gave up to 20% of the petrol discount, the highest in the market then, better than Citibank card running their petrol promotion. I was constantly doing comparisons which one would give a better saving.

*Get 10% off Mobil 1 0W40 or 5W50 Service Package at participating Mobil 1 Car Care Centres.

*Instalment Plan for Motor Insurance and Road Tax

You can use this card to ease your financial burden by having a 12-month instalment payment plan. However, please take note of the following:-

  • A nominal administrative fee of S$ 40.00 per approved transaction applies.
  • You may download the form if you are interested in the instalment scheme or to get more information.

TIPS: Pay your Road Tax with Diners Credit Card at 0% interest rate in 3 or 6-month instalment plan of your choice in Post Offices or Road Tax Collection Centres.

3. Diners Club Sheng Siong Cobrand Card

Credit Card to Apply below S$30,000

Diners Club / Sheng Siong Cobrand Card

I have to own one of the cards because I always pay my Vehicle Road Tax using a 3 or 6-months 0% free instalment plan instead of paying the road tax one lump sum at the Post office or the Road Tax Collection Centres.

On top of that, I get to accumulate points into the card which never expire! Unused credit cards’ points would normally expire in a year’s time for other banks.

One thing I like about Diners credit card is that I use it solely for paying road tax instalments and nothing else. Every year I call them to waive off my annual fee and they always do it with no questions asked. You can refer to the full range of credit cards they have. 

Something worth the mention perhaps. Selected Diners Club credit cards can be applied even with an income below the standard minimum requirement of S$30,000.00 from other banks.

This Sheng Siong Cobrand card only requires a minimum income of S$16,000 per annum to apply but the Credit Card Limit is capped at S$500 per month. Students and National Service Full-Time (NSF) are not eligible to apply.

Under the Sheng Siong Cobrand regular card (standard minimum income of S$30,000.00 to apply), those with age 55 and above can also apply with a minimum income of S$15,000 per annum. This card will provide some savings for those who buy their groceries regularly from Sheng Siong.

Sheng Siong Benefits in their Outlets:-

*Earn 2% Rebate

  • Up to S$500 spent per month per card account on your Diners Club/Sheng Siong Cobrand $500 Limit Credit Card.

*Earn 5% Rebate (the same rate as 1. POSB Everyday Card stated above)

  • Up to S$1,000 spent per month per card account on your Diners Club/Sheng Siong Cobrand Regular Credit Card

Diners Club Privileges:-

  • Pay various bills at any AXS Station islandwide with a 3 or 6 months instalment plan available.
  • Buy-Now-Pay-Later 0% interest-free instalment plans.
  • Apply for EZ-Link Auto Top-Up with Diners Club Card.
  • Withdraw cash at any DBS, POSB & Citibank ATMs in Singapore & at over 1 million ATMs worldwide.
  • Access into hundreds of Airport Lounges in major cities worldwide; including Changi Airport Terminal 1, 2 & 3. Basic Cardholder enjoys one complimentary access per year (I should have taken advantage of it a long time ago).
  • Enjoy up to 58 days of the interest-free credit period.
  • Earn Club Rewards Points when you spend outside Sheng Siong supermarkets to redeem for free gifts, shopping & dining vouchers (S$1=1point).
  • Earn air miles with their Frequent Flyer programme partners: Krisflyer, Royal Orchid Plus, SkyMiles® & Enrich.

You can also refer to the promotions and their home page for all the participating merchants.