Best Credit Card Promotions (2018) – CapitaLand Vouchers, Free Luggage, Cashback & More
I have to admit, I’m a complete sucker for credit card promotions. These days, banks are so desperate to get new customers that they practically rain CapitaLand vouchers, Takashimaya vouchers, NTUC vouchers, cashback and other forms of free money on us.
And in my household, we’d rather die than spend a cent at the Samsonite store, because duh, that’s what credit card free luggage promotions are for.
Okay, enough grandmother stories for now. Let’s cut the crap and get straight to what you’re here for… the best credit card promotions in Singapore.
Best credit card promotions Singapore 2018
| Bank | Open to | Credit card promotion | Expiry |
| Citibank | New signups via MoneySmart | $200 Takashimaya / NTUC / CapitaLand vouchers | 6 Nov 2018 |
| UOB | First 600 new signups | $150 cashback with min. spend $1,200 in first month | 16 Oct 2018 |
| HSBC | New signups | $100 cashback OR free luggage with min. spend $600 in first month + bonus $50 Grab credit for online application (by 31 Oct) | 31 Dec 2018 |
| CIMB | New signups | $120 cashback with min. spend $400 in first 2 months | 31 Dec 2018 |
| Citibank | New signups | Up to $120 cashback ($20 for each month you spend $200, up to 6 months) | 31 Dec 2018 |
| Standard Chartered | New signups | $100 cashback | 31 Dec 2018 |
| Amex True Cashback Card | New & existing signups | $20 NTUC vouchers + $60 CapitaLand vouchers with min. spend $500 in first month | 31 Dec 2018 |
| DBS Live Fresh Card | New signups | $50 cashback with min. spend $600 in first month | 30 Nov 2018 |
| HSBC | Existing cardmember | $50 cashback with min. spend $600 in first month | 31 Dec 2018 |
| Standard Chartered | Existing cardmember | $20 cashback | 31 Dec 2018 |
| Maybank | New signups, must get 2 credit cards at the same time | Free luggage with min. spend $500 in first 2 months | – |
Citibank credit card promotion
If you’re new to Citibank credit cards, hurry up and sign up through MoneySmart to get $200 CapitaLand vouchers, $200 Takashimaya vouchers or $200 NTUC vouchers, no questions asked and no minimum spend required. These are the eligible cards:
Card Benefits
- 8% cash back at food & beverage outlets, supermarkets, food & groceries delivery (including Deliveroo, honestbee, RedMart) and Grab rides globally (valid till 6 Apr 2018)
- Up to 20.88% fuel savings at Esso and Shell, and 8% cash back at other petrol stations
- Total minimum retail spend of S$888/statement month to get 8% cash back, capped at S$25 per category (Dining, Grab rides valid till 6 Apr 2018, Groceries, Petrol). For retail spend less than S$888 and/or other retail spend categories, 0.25% cash back is awarded, no cap
Card Benefits
- >S$600 total spend/month - 10% rebate on M1 recurring bills
- S$300-S$599 total spend/month - 3% rebate on M1 recurring bills
- Less than S$300 total spend/month - 0.5% rebate on M1 recurring bills
- 0.3% rebate on all overseas spend and local retail spend
- Up to 1% Citi Rebate on purchases at M1 stores
Card Benefits
- S$1 = 1.2 Citi Miles (Local spend)
- S$1 = 2 Citi Miles (Overseas spend)
- Earn up to 7 Citi Miles per S$1 spent on Agoda.com/bonusmiles and 3 Citi Miles per S$1 spent on expedia.com.sg/bonusrewards
- Citi Miles never expire
- Priority Pass™ membership gives you access to more than 600 airport lounges twice a year
- Receive 10,000 Citi Miles upon membership renewal and payment of annual fee
- Complimentary Travel Accident Insurance up to S$1,000,000 coverage, Medical Assistance Programme and Travel Inconvenience Coverage
Card Benefits
- 10X Rewards (10 points or 4 Miles) for every S$1 spent on Shoes + Bags + Clothes at Online, Retail or Department stores, locally and overseas
- Enjoy discounts of up to 50% at Foodpanda, Lazada, Zalora, Reebonz, and more
- S$1 spent = 1 Rewards point (All other spend)
Separately, Citibank is also offering $20 cashback per month for every month you spend at least $200, up to 6 months i.e. $120. This isn’t quite as worth it, since you have to spend money before you can see the rebates. Also note that you cannot combine this with the $200 vouchers promotion.
UOB credit card promotion
UOB is running a credit card sign-up promotion for all UOB credit cards except the UOB PRVI Miles Card, which has a separate 10,000 air miles promotion.
If you’re new to UOB credit cards, you can get a super generous $150 cashback if you spend $1,200 in the first month. However, note that it’s limited to the first 600 new cardholders. As far as I know, there’s no way to tell if you’re one of them, so try at your own risk.
Card Benefits
- Up to 5% cash rebate on all spend for spend above S$2,000/month per quarter (up to 3.33% cash rebate for spend of $500 or $1,000 monthly)
- Up to 10% additional SMART$ rebate with UOB SMART$ Rebate Programme
Card Benefits
- 8% or 3% cash rebate at Cold Storage, Market Place, Jasons, Giant, and Guardian. Minimum spend: S$800/S$400 per month respectively
- 3% cash rebate on ALL contactless transactions and selected recurring bills. Minimum spend: S$400/month
- Cash rebate cap: S$50/month, no cap on SMART$ earned at SMART$ Merchants.
- Base rate: 0.3% cashback on spends less than S$400 and on all other spend
Card Benefits
- 16%* cash rebate on weekend Dining, both local and overseas
- Get up to 10% cashback at Hareloom Bistro Modern offers
- 3% cash rebate on weekday Dining
- 0.3% cash rebate on all other spend
- Minimum spend of S$600 per statement month for 16% and 3% rebate, otherwise 0.3% rebate earned on all spend. Total rebate capped at S$60 per month
Card Benefits
- Enjoy 2% rebate at Metro, World of Sports and Winter Time
- Enjoy 3% rebate at bYSI, ColorWash, Crocodile, DHL, and Sephora
- Enjoy 5% rebate at Tissot
Card Benefits
- 5X UNI$ on your shopping (local & overseas)
- UOB Lady's LuxePay Plan: 6 or 12-month installment plan with no interest or processing fees
- Up to 10% SMART$ rebate at over 400 participating merchant outlets
HSBC credit card promotion
Like everyone else, HSBC is also running a credit card promotion to entice new signups. Apply and charge $600 in the first month to get either $100 cashback or free luggage. They’re also dangling an extra $50 Grab credit for those who sign up online through their site.
If you’re an existing HSBC customer, you can still enjoy $50 cashback – not too bad.
There are only 3 HSBC credit cards to choose from so deciding should be a cinch:
Card Benefits
- 1.5% Cash Back on all purchases with no minimum spend / 2.5% Cash Back on all purchases with $2,000 minimum spend per month. Capped at $70 per month
- For HSBC Advance banking customers: 2.5% Cash Back on all purchases with no minimum spend / 3.5% Cash Back on all spend with S$2,000 minimum spend per month. Capped at S$125 per month
- 1st year principal card annual fee waiver for non-HSBC Advance banking customers / Perpetual principal card annual fee waiver for HSBC Advance banking customers
- Perpetual supplementary card annual fee waiver
Card Benefits
- 5% or 3% cash rebate on all grocery spend (with min. $800 or $400 spend/month for all three months in the quarter)
- 5% cash rebate on Recurring Mobile/Cable TV/Internet Bill Payment (with min. $400 spend/month for all three months in the quarter)
- 5% or 3% cash rebate at all Shell and Caltex stations (with min. $800 or $400 spend/month for all three months in the quarter)
- 2% or 1% cash rebate on dining (with min. $800 or $400 spend/month for all three months in the quarter)
- S$60 cap per account per quarter
Card Benefits
- 5X Rewards points (or 2 air miles) per $1 spent on Online, Dining and Entertainment transactions
- Includes airline/movie/concert tickets, hotel/travel/taxi bookings, food orders, insurance premiums, and online shopping sites
- Excludes brokerages/securities and money payment/transfer websites
CIMB credit card promotion
Those new to CIMB credit cards can sign up online to get $120 cashback. There’s a minimum spend but it’s very easy to hit – just spend $400 on your new credit card within the first 2 months to get the cashback payout.
CIMB only has 2 credit cards for ordinary income levels: the CIMB Platinum Mastercard gives you 10% cashback on travel, healthcare and beauty, while the CIMB Visa Signature gives you 10% on dining, nightlife and foreign currency spending.
They’re both pretty good provided you can meet the rather troublesome minimum spend requirements.
Standard Chartered credit card promotion
StanChart has one of the best promotions for new sign-ups. Upon card activation, you should get $100 cashback, no minimum spend required. They haven’t forgotten their existing customers either. Existing cardmembers can still get $20 cashback if they sign up for another StanChart card.
Card Benefits
- 3% cashback on all foreign currency spend (inclusive of the 1.5% cashback) for the 1st 3 months upon card approval
- 1.5% cashback on all other eligible spend
- No cashback cap and no minimum spend
- Doubles up as your ez-link card with the EZ-Link facility enabled on it
Card Benefits
- 3% cashback on all online spends in foreign currency and vPost spends
- 2% cashback on all online spends in local currency, contactless and mobile payments
- 1% cashback on all other retail transactions
Card Benefits
- $1 = 1 point
- $1 = 2 points (at least $1,000 spend per month)
- Up to 15% off total bill at over 100 participating restaurants with The Good Life®
It’s also available for the new Standard Chartered Rewards credit card – read all about it in our review.
American Express credit card promotion
American Express is running a credit card promotion where you can get $60 CapitaLand vouchers when you sign up for the Amex True Cashback Card and swipe $500 in the first month.
The promotion is open to existing cardmembers, except those who cancelled their Amex card in the last 6 months.
Card Benefits
- Apply through MoneySmart from 22 Mar - 19 Apr 2018 to get S$100 worth of Grab OR NTUC Vouchers. Application must be approved by 3 May 2018. Submit your (i)Contact Details and (ii)14-digit Reference Number on the Thank You Page upon completion at this link before 19 April 2018. T&Cs
- 1.5% Cashback on any purchase you make, anytime
- 3% Cashback for the first 6 months up to $5000 spend
- Enjoy first year fee waiver
- Eligible for use with Apple Pay
DBS credit card promotion
Since hardly anyone in Singapore is “new to DBS”, I was quite surprised that DBS/POSB actually has sign-up promotions.
But if you sign up for the DBS Live Fresh Card, you can get $50 cashback if you’re new to DBS credit cards. You need to spend a minimum of $600 in the first month, which is the minimum spend of the card anyway.
Card Benefits
- 5% cashback on online shopping and when you pay using Visa payWave, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Android Pay through your Card
- Additional 5% cashback for the first 6 months with S$600/month min. spend when signing up within 8 Jan - 31 Mar 2018, Cashback cap at S$60/month
- Lazada: 20% off storewide for new shoppers with ‘DBS2017’; Valid till 31 Dec 2018
- Expedia: 20% off eligible hotel bookings with ‘DBS10EXP’ at checkout; Valid till 31 Jan 2019, and travel till 30 Apr 2019
- Base rate: 0.3% on all other spend
Maybank credit card promotion
Maybank is giving away free luggage (Samsonite Orfeo 69cm Spinner) to anyone who signs up for CreditAble (their credit line service) and 2 credit cards.
Note that you’ll have to spend at least $500 on your credit cards or withdraw from your CreditAble account within the first 2 months to get the free luggage. For foreigners, this minimum goes up to $700.
Here are the eligible Maybank credit cards:
Card Benefits
- Up to 3.33% cash rebates on local spend with a min. spend of S$300/month OR S$1000/month each quarter for S$30 OR S$100 cash rebate
- 0.3% cash rebates on overseas spend
Card Benefits
- Up to 8% cash rebate on groceries, shopping, dining, food deliveries, petrol, and entertainment spend
- Up to 8% cash rebate on bus, train, and taxi rides
- 8% or 5% cash rebate with minimum spend of S$1000/S$500 per month respectively. Cash rebate cap at S$600/year
- Get 0.3% cash rebate on all other spend with no cap on cash rebates
Card Benefits
- Get a Samsonite Orfeo 69cm Spinner (worth S$420)
- 1.6% Unlimited cash rebate on all local spend
- No minimum spend and no cash rebate cap
Card Benefits
- Earn 3.2 air miles (8X TREATS Points) for every S$1 spent on dining, petrol, taxi fares and hotel bookings at Agoda.com/horizon
- Earn 2 air miles (5X TREATS Points) for every S$1 spent on air tickets, travel packages and foreign currency transactions
- Minimum spend: S$300/month
- Capped at 30,000 Bonus TREATS Points per month
- Earn 0.4 air miles (1X TREAT Point) with no minimum spend amount
- Complimentary lounge access with minimum spend of S$400
- Complimentary Travel Insurance up to S$1,000,000
So many credit card promotions! Is there a catch?
You can’t blame us for liking free stuff. If your storeroom is so full of free luggage from credit cards that it could double as a Samsonite warehouse, you might be wondering if there’s a catch to all these freebies.
Well, there IS one drawback to signing up for all the credit card promotions – you’ll get disqualified from getting more freebies in the future.
That’s because banks and comparison sites like us usually offer the best giveaways for new sign ups. Usually this is defined as people who either:
- Have never ever owned a credit card from that bank, OR
- Cancelled their card at least 12 months ago
So if you’re thinking of gaming the system by cancelling your card and re-applying, tough luck!
Another thing to note is that some banks are more generous than others. If you’re lucky, you’ll get vouchers or cashback or luggage immediately upon card approval.
However, but some banks require you to spend a minimum (say, $600 in the first month) AND make you wait a few months before you can even smell the freebie. So, be sure to read the T&Cs, and only sign up when you’re confident you can hit the minimum spend.
Did we miss out any credit card promotions? Good things must share – tell us about them in the comments!
Related articles
The Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Singapore 2018
The Best Cashback Credit Cards in Singapore 2018
The Best Rewards Credit Cards in Singapore 2018
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Tags: Credit Cards, NLW1828P03
