Best Credit Card Promotions (2019) – Free Luggage, CapitaLand Vouchers & More

I have to admit, I’m a complete sucker for credit card promotions. These days, even the best credit cards in Singapore 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 in Singapore for new sign-ups

Bank / credit card	Credit card promotion	Minimum spend	Expiry
Citibank	$250 Grab / $250 via PayNow	—	1 Nov 2019
Citibank	$120 cashback	$1,200 in 3 months	31 Dec 2019
Standard Chartered	$280 via PayNow / up to 5% cashback	—	30 Nov 2019
HSBC	$150 cash back / free luggage	$800 in 1 month	31 Dec 2019
UOB	$180 cashback or 10,000 miles	$1,000 in 1 month	31 Dec 2019
POSB Everyday Card	$120 cashback	$800 in 2 months	31 Mar 2020
DBS Live Fresh Card	$100 cashback	$600 in 1 month	31 Mar 2020
Amex True Cashback Card	$150 cashback or 3% cashback	$5,000 in 6 months (total)	—
OCBC	$50 cashback	—	30 Nov 2019
Maybank	Free luggage	$300 for 2 months	—
Amex CapitaCard	Free luggage	$3,000 in 3 months (total)	—

If you’re a new customer to these banks, you’ll qualify for the above freebies. Existing customers usually don’t qualify, though some banks are kind enough to offer a small token gift. We’ll cover the promotions for existing customers as well (if any) below.

Credit card promo for free luggage

If you are gunning for a free luggage when you sign up for a credit card, you can look to HSBC, Maybank and Amex CapitaCard.

Credit card promo for cashback

Cashback is the most common form of credit card promotion. After all, cash in king! Right now, the top banks giving out cash for sign-ups are Citibank, Standard Chartered and HSBC.

 

Citibank credit card promotion 2019

If you’re new to Citibank credit cards, hurry up and sign up through MoneySmart to get $250 in Grab vouchers or via PayNow, no questions asked and no minimum spend required. These are the eligible cards:

• Citibank Cash Back Card
• Citibank PremierMiles Card
• Citibank SMRT Card
• Citibank Rewards Card

Can’t decide which to get? Might we suggest the Citi Cash Back Card, which is probably the best cashback card in town for petrol and dining.

Separately, Citibank is also offering $120 cashback if you spend $1,200 on your card in the first 3 months, but that’s obviously not quite as worthwhile. You have to sign up on Citibank’s website (not MoneySmart) and the eligible cards are:

• Citibank Cash Back Card
• Citibank SMRT Card

The Citibank PremierMiles and Citibank Rewards cards also have welcome promotions, but in the form of points/miles instead. 

Any promo for existing customers? No.

 

Standard Chartered credit card promotion 2019

Shopping vouchers are great and all, but what’s even better is the $180 in cold hard cash if you sign up for the Standard Chartered Unlimited credit card through MoneySmart. You get $120 in CASH from us and then an extra $80 cashback from StanChart (for new to bank customers) with no minimum spend at all.

You do have to be new to Standard Chartered cards to qualify, and you have to fill up a claim form in order to get the cash reward from MoneySmart. Once again, it’s limited to just the one:

• Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card

If you’re looking at Standard Chartered’s other credit cards, their promo for new sign-ups isn’t too shabby either. Upon card activation, you get a free $80 credit in your account, no minimum spend required. Sweet.

Eligible cards are:

• Standard Chartered Rewards+ Card
• Standard Chartered Spree Card
• Standard Chartered Platinum Visa/Mastercard

Any promo for existing customers? Yes, get $20 cashback if you sign up for another Standard Chartered credit card.

 

HSBC credit card promotion 2019

Like everyone else, HSBC is also running a credit card promotion to entice new signups. Apply by 30 Sep 2019 and charge $800 in the first month to get either a whopping $150 cashback OR free luggage.

Plus, if you sign up using SingPass to submit your data to HSBC, you can get an extra $20 worth of Grab rides on top of that.

Eligible credit cards:

• HSBC Visa Platinum Credit Card
• HSBC Advance Credit Card
• HSBC Revolution Credit Card

Any promo for existing customers? Yes, $30 cashback if you spend $800 in the first month on your new HSBC card.

 

UOB credit card promotion 2019

UOB is running a credit card sign-up promotion for all newcomers to UOB credit cards: a generous up to $180 cashback for spending $1,500 in the first month.

To get the full $180, you need to apply for a new credit card and open a UOB One Account.

Of course, this being UOB, there’s a catch. You need to be one of the first 1,000 people to spend that amount, and there’s no way to tell if you’re one of them at the point of spending. 

Most UOB credit cards are eligible for the promotion, except the UOB PRVI Miles Card and the new UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card, which have their own miles promotions.

Any promo for existing customers? No.

 

POSB / DBS credit card promotion 2019

I doubt there are many Singaporeans who are “new to DBS”, but just in case you’ve never owned a POSB/DBS credit card before, they’re running a couple of promotions for newcomers.

You can get $120 cashback if you sign up for the POSB Everyday Card and spend at least $800 in the first 2 months, or…

$100 cashback with the DBS Live Fresh Card if you spend at least $600 in the first month. (Which also happens to the minimum spending requirement for regular cashback anyway, so it works out.)

Any promo for existing customers? No.

 

Amex credit card promotion 2019

American Express is running a credit card promotion where you can get 3% or $150 in cash, credited to your bank account, if you’re new to Amex.

Just sign up for the Amex True Cashback Card through MoneySmart and charge $5,000 within the first 6 months. (You also get 3% cashback on the first $5,000 spent in the first 6 months.)

The other Amex card with a promo for newcomers is the Amex CapitaCard. You get free American Tourister luggage with a minimum spend of $3,000 in the first 3 months, so not quite as worthwhile. 

Any promo for existing customers? The Amex CapitaCard offer is open to existing customers.

 

OCBC credit card promotion 2019

OCBC may be at the bottom of the list because it’s not offering a 3-digit welcome bonus, but its sign-up promotion is a very simple and straightforward.

New-to-bank customers get $50 cashback in their accounts with no minimum spending requirements.

Any promo for existing customers? No.

 

Maybank credit card promotion 2019

Maybank is giving away free American Tourister luggage to anyone who signs up for CreditAble (their credit line service) and any 2 credit cards.

You’ll have to spend at least $300 on your credit cards within the first 2 months to get the reward. For foreigners, this minimum goes up to $400.

Any promo for existing customers? No.

 

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, $1,000 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!