7 Best Credit Cards in Singapore (2021) — MoneySmart Writers’ Favourites

Here at MoneySmart we’re always going on and on about credit cards, but which ones do we actually use ourselves?

The problem is, it’s pretty damn hard to say which are the best credit cards in Singapore — different strokes for different folks, and all that. But since this article is all about us, we’re just going to pick our personal favourites instead.

Of course, since we scrutinise boring credit card terms and conditions for a living, you can be sure our recommendations aren’t just randomly plucked out of thin air. We’ll share with you our top picks and the reasons why they deserve a slot in our wallets.

7 best credit cards in Singapore 2021

Best for	Best credit cards
Online shopping	Citi Rewards Card, OCBC FRANK Card
Everyday spending	Citi Cash Back, Maybank Family & Friends, UOB One Card
Backup cashback card	Stanchart Unlimited, Amex True Cashback

1. OCBC FRANK Card  — best cashback card for online shopping

Thanks to COVID-19, a good online spending credit card is now more essential than before.

Some cashback credit cards insist on limiting their definition of online spending to clothes shopping or whatever, but not the OCBC FRANK Card. It covers everything from grocery delivery to Grab rides to your Netflix subscription.

This card gives a cool 6% cashback (capped at $25 per category) on all online spending as well as contactless payment made using your smartphone with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay or Garmin Pay.

Just these 2 categories alone can cover a significant chunk of your monthly spending, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to hit their minimum monthly spending requirement of $600.

2. Citi Rewards Card — best rewards card for online shopping

Don’t want to deal with the hassle of meeting a minimum monthly spend and tracking your expenses so as not to hit the cap?

The Citibank Rewards card is a great alternative to the OCBC FRANK card. It offers 10X rewards points (equivalent to 4 air miles per $1) on many types of online spending, including online retail, food delivery and Grab/Gojek rides.

They’re essentially giving you an ultra-generous earn rate on everything you need to survive in Singapore during Covid. You can also earn 10x rewards at offline department and fashion stores.

A rewards card is only as good as its rewards catalogue. In Citibank’s case, it is excellent — you can exchange your points for Amazon credits, Apple products or a decent selection of electronics, home appliances, watches and more.

3. Citi Cash Back Card — best everyday cashback card for drivers

Though the Citi Cash Back Card has recently cut back on its benefits, it’s one of the best in town when it comes to everyday spending.

The card covers the major expenses for most families in Singapore: 8% cashback on groceries and petrol, and 6% cashback on dining. You also save up to 20.88% at Esso and Shell.

The minimum monthly spending requirement is now $800. That’s lower than before, which is nice. Cashback is capped at $80 per month.

4. Maybank Family & Friends Card — best cashback card for families

The Citi Cash Back Card is probably best for those who drive. If you don’t drive or prefer to use a separate card for petrol, use the Maybank Family & Friends Card instead.

You don’t need a family or even friends to take advantage of this credit card, which basically rewards you with cashback for the daily necessities that keep you alive.

The card gives you 8% cash rebates on groceries, dining/food delivery, transport, data communication/online TV streaming like your phone bill or Netflix subscription, and certain miscellaneous retailers/services like pet stores, vets and Popular Bookstore.

To qualify for the rebates, you’ll need to spend at least $800 in a month. Rebates are capped at $25 per category and $125 per month in total.

5. UOB One Card — best cashback card for high spenders

The UOB One Card is pretty damn divisive. Trying to understand the mechanism for their cashback and adapt your spending accordingly feels like a full-time job in itself. But if you can spend enough each month, you are rewarded with some impressive cashback rates on all your spending.

The highest tier of cashback, a maximum of 5%, is paid out in a lump sum of $300 at the end of 3 months. The catch is that you need to spend $2,000 every month for 3 consecutive months in order to qualify.

Miss the third month and everything goes to the dogs. It also means that if you spend MORE than $2,000 per month, you don’t earn any cashback on the amounts in excess.

If that sounds like too much to spend, they have a lower tier, requiring you to spend $1,000 or $500 per month for three consecutive months to earn $100 or $50, which works out to a maximum of 3.33% cashback.

In a warped way, the UOB One card does simplify your life since it rewards you for ALL spending. If you’re a high spender who has no problem spending at least $2,000 a month on the card or are willing to consolidate most or all of your spending on UOB One, you’re in a position to reap the rewards.

6. Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card  — best cashback card for big expenses

The Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card is sort of the opposite of the UOB One Card. You don’t need to be literate or know how to count to be able to successfully use it.

It is one of several “unlimited cashback” cards in town. Such cards pay out a flat cashback rate on everything with no cap — no need to worry about minimum spending requirements, busting your cashback limit or where you should or shouldn’t use the card.

They’re thus great for big-ticket spending like wedding banquets or giving your home a makeover, basically stuff no other card will give you cashback for.

The Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card gives you 1.5% cashback on all spending. You also get 5% cashback on up to $5,000 worth of spending in your first 3 months, so it can be a good idea to sign up for the card just before incurring a big expense.

7. Amex True Cashback Card — best backup cashback card

Similar to the Standard Chartered Unlimited Card, the Amex True Cashback Card offers 1.5% cashback on all your spending, with no limit and no minimum spending requirement.

New cardmembers get 3% cashback on up to $5,000 during the first 6 months. This doesn’t sound as generous as Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback’s sign-up bonus, but it lasts twice as long.

And if you take the take the extra step to register your card every year, you get an additional 1% cashback on foreign currency spending, which includes online purchases, so 2.5% cashback in total.

Although American Express isn’t as widely accepted as Visa and MasterCard, we like this card as it’s extremely straightforward with minimal T&Cs. It covers even frequently-excluded expenses like insurance premiums, so it’s worth keeping as a backup credit card for those miscellaneous expenses.

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