11 Best Cashback Credit Cards in Singapore (2019)

Cash back credit cards must be the most popular kind of card in Singapore. Sure, earning points or miles is nice and all, but lots of us would rather get cold hard cash rebates, thanks.

After all, wedding banquets aren’t going to pay for themselves, truffle fries don’t grow on trees, and that new Honda HR-V isn’t going to run on your hopes and dreams. Got free money leh, who don’t want? So let’s see what are some of the best cash back credit cards in Singapore.

 

11 best cashback credit cards in Singapore (2019)

No time to read? Here are our picks for the highest cashback you can get, depending on your spending habits:

Best for	Best cashback credit cards
High expenditure	UOB One, HSBC Advance, Amex True Cashback
No minimum spend	POSB Everyday, Citibank SMRT
Day-to-day spending	Citi Cash Back, Maybank Family & Friends, DBS Live Fresh
Online shopping	DBS Live Fresh, Citibank SMRT, BOC Qoo10 Mastercard
Dining & going out	Citi Cash Back, BOC Family, UOB YOLO Card

 

Contents

1. How do cashback credit cards work?
2. Best cashback credit cards for big expenses
3. Best cashback credit cards with no minimum spend
4. Best cashback credit cards for day-to-day spending
5. Best cashback credit cards for online shopping
6. Best cashback credit cards for dining & going out

 

How do cashback credit cards work?

Before you get too excited about that hefty bonus cash rebate, remember that banks aren’t charities. They have to impose minimum spend requirements and cashback caps, or else they’ll just bleed money. So don’t get led astray by big fat cashback promises – the important details are usually in the T&Cs.

Here’s how they work:

 

Best cashback credit cards for big expenses

Cashback card	Cash rebate	Restrictions
UOB One Card	Quarterly flat payout of $50 / $100 / $300	Spend $500 / $1,000 / $2,000 x 3 months consecutively
HSBC Advance Card	1.5% or 2.5% on everything (+1% for HSBC Advance customers)	No min. spend / cap $70 ($125 for HSBC Advance)
American Express True Cashback	3% in first 6 months up to $5,000 / 1.5% on everything	None

The more money you spend, the more you stand to gain from a cashback credit card. So, whether you regularly spend a lot of money or you have one-off big expenses coming up, it’s well worth your time to research the cashback options.

 

UOB One Card

The divisive UOB One Card works differently from most cashback cards. The rebates are completely flat – either $50, $100 or $300 – and are paid out quarterly. 

To get the highest rebate of $300, you need to spend EXACTLY $2,000 each month for 3 months consecutively. Same formula applies for the $50 ($500 x 3 months) and $100 ($1,000 x 3 months) rebates. Unlike other cashback cards that reward you for spending more, there’s no point doing so with the UOB One. 

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $40,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $192.60 per year
• Supplementary Annual Fee: 1st Supplementary Card Free; $96.30 for subsequent cards
• Fee Waiver: 1 year fee waiver, perpetual fee waiver for first supplementary card
• Annual Interest Rate: 25.9%

 

HSBC Advance Credit Card

If you want a respectably high cash rebate on all purchases without having to track your expenses to a T, consider the HSBC Advance card. 

To get that lovely 3.5% rebate, you have to first become a HSBC Advance customer (easy – just credit a monthly salary of at least $3,500 to a HSBC account). You also need to spend $2,000 a month. If your spending falls below that, you still get a respectable 2.5% cashback. Rebates are capped at $125.

You can still get the HSBC Advance Credit Card if you are not a HSBC Advance customer. However, your cashback is much lower (1.5% to 2.5%) and so is your cap ($70).

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $40,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: Perpetual annual fee waiver
• Fee Waiver: 1 year card annual fee waiver / Perpetual card annual fee waiver for HSBC Advance banking customers
• Annual Interest Rate: 25%

 

American Express True Cashback Card

While they won’t give you a sweet double-digit rebate, unlimited cashback cards are good for momentous (read: expensive) life events, like weddings and home renovations, which would easily burst the cap on most other cashback credit cards. With no minimum spend or cashback caps, they are complete no-brainers to use too.

The Amex True Cashback card is currently the best of the lot, since it offers 3% cash rebate for the first 6 months, up to $5,000 spent. Subsequently, it’s 1.5% cashback on everything.

The other options are: StanChart Unlimited Cashback card (1.5% cashback), Maybank FC Barcelona (1.6% cashback, but no rebate for overseas spending),  and the ICBC Global Travel Mastercard (1.5% for local, 3% on foreign currency).

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $60,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $171.20 per year
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $85.60 per year
• Fee Waiver: 1 year fee waiver for Principal card, perpetual fee waiver for first 2 supplementary cards
• Annual Interest Rate: 24.99%

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Best cashback credit cards with no minimum spend

Cashback card	Cash rebate	Restrictions
POSB Everyday Card	5% on groceries / 3% on toiletries / 1% on telco, electricity	No min. spend / cap $50
Citibank SMRT Card	4.7% on groceries, fast food, movies, coffee / 2.7% online / 1.7% on EZ-Link	No min. spend / cap $600 (annual)

Cashback credit cards typically impose a minimum spend in order for you to earn a decent rebate, which is all fine and dandy for those with lots of regular expenses, but is real annoying for those who’re just trying to live more frugally.

These credit cards are best for those who don’t want to deal with the hassle of minimum spending requirements, but still want a decent rebate for day-to-day expenses.

 

POSB Everyday Card

The POSB Everyday Card isn’t exactly sexy, but it’s good enough for life’s basic needs. It gives you 5% store rebate at Sheng Siong and 3% at Watsons with no minimum spend at all.

If you drive, it also gets you 20.1% savings at SPC – everyone’s favourite cheap petrol kiosk. You can also get 1% rebate on your electricity (SP and selected electricity retailers) and telco (Starhub) bills.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $45,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $193
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $96.30
• Fee Waiver: 1 year fee waiver
• Annual Interest Rate: 25.9%

 

Citibank SMRT Card

The Citibank SMRT Card is a great basic cashback card for just about anyone who takes public transport, goes to Starbucks and McDonalds, and buys stuff online every now and then. I know, I’ve just described your basic everyday Singaporean.

What’s great is that there’s no minimum spend requirement (but if you exceed $300, you get a bonus +0.3% on rebates! Score). You can pair this with a dedicated credit card for your major expenses (e.g. dining) so you needn’t worry about tracking too many cards.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $42,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $193
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $96.30
• Fee Waiver: 2 years fee waiver
• Annual Interest Rate: 26.9%

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Best cashback credit cards for day-to-day spending

Cashback card	Cash rebate	Restrictions
Citi Cash Back Card	8% on groceries, dining, petrol, Grab	Min. spend $888 / cap $25 per category
Maybank Family & Friends Card	5% or 8% on groceries, toiletries, food delivery, petrol, kid stuff	Min. spend $500 or $1,000 / cap $600 (annual)
DBS Live Fresh Card	5% online & contactless payment	Min. spend $600 / cap $20 per category

If you’re in charge of running and maintaining a household, these are our picks for best cashback cards to have in your wallet at all times.

They’re good all-rounders that offer cash rebates at mundane day-to-day stuff, like buying groceries, picking up more wet wipes (again), topping up petrol, getting food delivered, and so on.

 

Citi Cash Back Card

8% cash rebate on dining, groceries, petrol and Grab rides with minimum spend of $888 each month? Huat ah! No wonder the Citi Cash Back Card is one of the most popular cashback cards around. 

But note the $25 cap in each bonus cashback category, which limits your spending to about $300 in each category. Still, spending $300/month each on dining, groceries, petrol and Grab seems about right.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $42,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $192.60 per year
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $96.30 per year
• Fee Waiver: First year fee waived for Principal and two (2) Supplementary cards
• Annual Interest Rate: 26%

 

Maybank Family & Friends Card

If one of your money-saving strategies for feeding those hungry kids is to shop for groceries in JB, then you must get this card as it’s the best for discounts in Malaysian hypermarkets (as if the favourable exchange rate wasn’t saving you enough money!).

It also covers NTUC and Cold Storage in Singapore, plus an absurd number of bonus cash back categories, making it an excellent card for families.

Sadly, there’s an annual cashback cap of $600. If you’re hitting the $1,000 minimum monthly spend for the higher tier 8% rebate, that means you can only enjoy the rebates for 8 months before you hit the cap!

Instead, you should consistently spend between $500 to $1,000 for 5% rebate every month. You won’t get the highest rebate but you won’t burst the cap either.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $60,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $180
• Supplementary Annual Fee: Free
• Fee Waiver: 3 years fee waiver
• Annual Interest Rate: 25.9%

 

DBS Live Fresh Card

If your spending habits are a bit more fluid and you don’t want to spend too much effort trying to maximise your rebates, the DBS Live Fresh Card is a pretty viable alternative.

You get 5% rebate on two main categories: (a) online spending and (b) contactless payment i.e. Visa PayWave, Apple Pay etc. That’s it. So as long as you’re buying your household needs online or tapping your card/phone at the PayWave terminal, you’re going to get some kind of cashback.

There’s a minimum spend of $600 a month and a split cap of $20 for each category (online and contactless), which is rather stingy, but oh well, that’s the price you pay for a relatively hassle-free everyday-spending card. It’s good for up to $400 online + $400 contactless each month, so still quite reasonable.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $45,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $128.40
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $64.20
• Fee Waiver: 1 year fee waiver
• Annual Interest Rate: 26.8%

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Best cashback credit cards for online shopping 

Cashback card	Cash rebate for online shopping	Restrictions
DBS Live Fresh Card	5%	Min. spend $600 / cap $20 for online
BOC Qoo10 Mastercard	10% (Qoo10) / 5% (other online spending)	Min. spend $600 / cap $80
Citibank SMRT Card	2.7% (3% if you spend $300)	No min. spend / cap $600 (annual)

Pretty much everything from makeup to toilet paper to burritos to part-time cleaners to hotel bookings can be paid for online these days. Getting a good cashback card for online spending is now more important than ever.

 

DBS Live Fresh Card

If you regularly spend $300 to $400 on online purchases, the DBS Live Fresh Card is a good option for online cashback.

Although there are credit cards advertising higher cashback on online spending – such as CIMB’s 10% cashback, for example – I picked the more modest DBS Live Fresh because I find it more versatile as it also gives cashback on contactless payment (not category- or merchant-specific). Therefore, it’s easier to hit the minimum spend of $600.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $45,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $128.40
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $64.20
• Fee Waiver: 1 year fee waiver
• Annual Interest Rate: 26.8%

 

Citibank SMRT Card

If you’re an occasional online shopper and you cannot be bothered with calculating minimum spends, the Citibank SMRT Card is also a decent. You get 2.7% on online spending, or 3% if you spend $300 and up.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $42,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $193
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $96.30
• Fee Waiver: 2 years fee waiver
• Annual Interest Rate: 26.9%

 

BOC Qoo10 Mastercard

Strictly for hardcore Qoo10 fans, the Bank of China Qoo10 Mastercard gives you 10% rebate on Qoo10 purchases… and the rebate is in Qmoney. (Other online purchases get 5% rebate.)

It also gives you rebates in a whole bunch of other categories like public transport, Grab, dining and overseas spending, so the minimum of $600 isn’t hard to meet.

The thing to be wary of is that rebates are in Qmoney instead of “real” cash, so you’re basically stuck on the platform. Rebates are also capped at $40 (for Qoo10 purchases) + $40 (for everything else).

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $190
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $95
• Fee Waiver: 1 year fee waiver
• Annual Interest Rate: 28.88%

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Best cashback credit cards for dining & going out

Cashback card	Cash rebate	Restrictions
BOC Family Card	10% on dining, cinemas	Min. spend $700 / cap $25 for dining + cinemas
Citi Cash Back Card	8% on dining, petrol, Grab	Min. spend $888 / cap $25 for each category
UOB YOLO Card	3% (weekday) or 8% (weekend) on dining, entertainment, Grab	Min. spend $600 / cap $80

No matter how broke Singaporeans claim to be, it seems that luxuries like eating good food, watching the latest blockbusters and taking Grab everywhere are totally non-negotiable.

So it’s no surprise that banks are aggressive about promoting their dining rebates cards, and these are often bundled with entertainment and/or Grab rebates. (Note: High rebates mean it’s easy to burst the cap, especially if you’re paying for a group. So watch out for that!)

 

BOC Family Card

Despite its name, BOC Family Card isn’t just for tired moms and dads to pay for infantcare and nappies. Its highest rebates (10% too) are actually for dining and movies, two things that Singaporeans of all age groups do.

You also get 5% rebates on electronics (Best Denki), toiletries (Unity, Watsons) and 3% at supermarkets, online shopping, telco bills and Grab/taxis. That’s not stunning, but the multitude of categories help hit the minimum spending requirement of $800 a month.

Unfortunately there’s a cap of $25 for dining and cinema rebates, so it takes just $250 of spending to hit the cap. But the total rebate is a pretty reasonable $80.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $60,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $150 per year
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $75 per year
• Fee Waiver: First year free for Principal and Supplementary cards
• Annual Interest Rate: 25.88%

 

Citi Cash Back Card

8% cash rebate on dining, groceries, petrol and Grab rides with minimum spend of $888 each month? Huat ah! No wonder the Citi Cash Back Card is one of the most popular cashback cards around. 

But note the $25 cap in each bonus cashback category, which limits your spending to about $300 in each category. Still, spending $300/month each on dining, groceries, petrol and Grab seems about right.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: $30,000 per year
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: $42,000 per year
• Principal Annual Fee: $192.60 per year
• Supplementary Annual Fee: $96.30 per year
• Fee Waiver: First year fee waived for Principal and two (2) Supplementary cards
• Annual Interest Rate: 26%

UOB YOLO Card

The UOB YOLO Card is squarely aimed at young’uns with no need for cashback on boring stuff like groceries, bills and petrol. Instead, it just focuses on a big fat 8% rebate on weekend dining, entertainment and Grab rides (3% rebate on weekdays).

As a bonus, you get 3% rebates on online shopping and travel bookings, because what’s a #YOLO card without those categories right?

You do need to hit the minimum spend of $600 a month to get these rebates, though that’s not difficult – just foot the bill a couple of times and get your friends to PayNow you their share.

• Singaporean Minimum Income: S$30,000
• Non-Singaporean Minimum Income: S$40,000
• Principal Annual Fee: S$192.60
• Supplementary Annual Fee: Free
• Fee Waiver: 1 year fee waiver for Principal card
• Annual Interest Rate: 25.9%

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Want to find out more about the best cash back credit cards in Singapore? Compare and apply at MoneySmart! 

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