12 Best No Annual Fee Credit Cards in Singapore (2023)

no-annual-fee-credit-card
Image: Jack Harlow/Tenor

Every year, you call that number on the back of your credit card, fumble with the answering machine’s 1,000 options and then finally after lots of hair-pulling frustration get to speak to a real human being in order to request a credit card annual fee waiver.

Rinse and repeat for ALL your cards. Otherwise, cancel your credit card.

Sick of the hassle, you start browsing “no annual fee credit card” articles. However, most articles lead you to credit cards with 2 or 3 year annual fee waivers. Umm… that’s not exactly a “no annual fee credit card”.

When times are bad, banks may tighten their belts and start charging users annual fee despite good banking relationships and prompt and full payments.

If you don’t want to be at the mercy of the banks’ whims and fancies, here is a list of the real, true blue credit cards with no annual fees—for life.

Best No Annual Fee Credit Cards in Singapore (2023)

    1. No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    2. CIMB Credit Cards with No Annual Fee
    3. Standard Chartered No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    4. DBS No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    5. HSBC Credit Cards No Annual Fee
    6. UOB No Annual Fee Credit Card
    7. OCBC No Annual Fee Credit Card
    8. GrabPay Card
    9. Trust Credit Card
    10. Credit cards with 1, 2, or 3 years fee waiver

 

1. Credit Cards in Singapore with No Annual Fees

There are few credit cards in Singapore with straight up no annual fees. Among the banks, CIMB is best known for their no annual fee credit cards.

Otherwise, your next best option includes digital bank credit cards such as Trust credit card, and digital provider credit cards such as Revolut, GrabPay cards etc.

You’ll also find an assortment of debt consolidation or credit line credit cards with no annual fees such as the Citi Double Cash, Citi Diamond Preferred etc. The majority of these cards don’t come with attractive rewards, miles, or cashback programmes. We will skip those unless they have some kind of benefits for you.

Of course, the trusty old debit cards charge no annual fees as well.

$0 Annual Fee Credit Cards Annual Fee Minimum spend (per month)
CIMB World Mastercard $0 $500 (for unlimited 2% cashback)
CIMB Visa Signature $0 $800 (for 10% cashback, capped at $100/month)
CIMB Visa Infinite $0 $2,000 (for unlimited 2% cashback)
CIMB AWSM Card $0
Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card $0
DBS SAFRA Card (for SAFRA members) $0 $500 (for 3% cash rebate)
HSBC Revolution Card $0
HSBC Premier Mastercard $0 $600 (for 5% cash rebate)
UOB Professionals Platinum Card (for profession associations) $0
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite (for OCBC Premier Banking) $0
GrabPay Mastercard $0
Trust Credit Card (Visa) $0

 

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2. CIMB No Annual Fee Credit Cards

There are 4 CIMB credit cards in Singapore with no annual fees. They are namely:

  • CIMB World Mastercard
  • CIMB Visa Signature
  • CIMB Visa Infinite
  • CIMB AWSM Card

CIMB World Mastercard

CIMB logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
Unlimited 2% cashback
Unlimited Cashback on the following categories (Wine & Dine, Online Food Delivery, Movies & Digital Entertainment, Taxi & Automobile, Luxury Goods)
Up to 2%
Min. spend per month to qualify for 2% Unlimited Cashback
S$1,000
Cash Rebate cap
Unlimited
MoneySmart Exclusive:

Get S$370 Cash via PayNow OR $400 Amazon SG Gift Card OR a Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (worth S$575) when you apply and spend a min of S$988. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2023

The CIMB World Master is a pretty basic and entry-level cashback credit card suitable for everyday use.

The amount of cashback you get depends on how much you spend:

  • Spend below $500, get 1% unlimited cashback on selected categories
  • Spend $500, get 2% unlimited cashback on selected categories

The selected cashback categories are: wine, dine, online food delivery, movies, digital entertainment, taxi, automobile, and luxury goods. It’s a weird mix of categories, but who’s complaining when there are that many?

There’s also a 1% unlimited bonus cashback with a minimum spend of S$2,500 per month from now till 31 Oct 2023. That means you can get up to 3% cashback with the CIMB World Mastercard till end Oct 2023.

This CIMB World Mastercard replaces the well-loved CIMB Platinum MasterCard (ceased 31 May 21) which offered 10% cashback (capped at $100 a month and $20 per category) with $800/month minimum spend.

Annual fee is free for life, which saves you from having to call them up and beg them to waive annual fees!

CIMB Visa Signature

CIMB logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
Up to 10% cashback
Cash Back on Beauty & Wellness, Online Shopping, Groceries
10%
Min. spend per month
S$800
Cash Back Cap per month
S$100
MoneySmart Exclusive:

Get S$250 Cash via PayNow OR an Apple AirPods 3rd Gen (worth S$261.40) OR a Nintendo Switch Lite (worth S$309) when you apply and spend a min of S$988. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2023

CIMB Visa Signature offers a very generous 10% cashback (capped at $100 a month and $20 per category) on beauty and wellness, online shopping, groceries, pet shops, vet services and cruises. Almost anyone can benefit from the grocery and online shopping cashback, and if you often go to spas or have a pet, the card becomes even more attractive.

The main drawback is that the minimum spending requirement of $800 is quite high. The good news is that from now till 31 Oct 2023, that minimum spend is lowered to $600.

On the bright side, the card charges no annual fees indefinitely, so it is truly free to use.

CIMB Visa Infinite

CIMB logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
Unlimited 2% cashback
Unlimited cashback on Travel, Overseas & Online Spend in Foreign Currency
2%
Min. spend per month
S$2,000
Cash Rebate cap
Unlimited
MoneySmart Exclusive:

Get S$250 Cash via PayNow OR an Apple AirPods 3rd Gen with Lightning Charging Case (worth $261.40) OR a Nintendo Switch Lite (worth S$309) when you apply and spend a min of S$988. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2023

Th CIMB Visa Infinite is pretty generous with its cashback—on top of a base 1% cashback, you get an additional 1% cashback on travel, overseas spending, and online spend in foreign currency. All unlimited (infinite, right?) cashback, of course. The only catches are:

  • This card requires you to have an annual income of $120,000, so it’s definitely not entry-level.
  • The bonus 1% cashback requires a minimum spend of S$2,000/month.

CIMB AWSM Card

The CIMB AWSM Card, on the other hand, is an entry-level credit card with annual income of $18,000 onwards (under 35 years old). You’ll earn 1% unlimited cashback on 3 categories:

  • Dining & entertainment
  • Online shopping
  • Telecommunications: Singtel, M1, Starhub, Circles.Life, and MyRepublic only

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3. Standard Chartered No Annual Fee Credit Card

Standard Chartered logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
EARN SMARTPOINTS | Earn up to 6% Cashback
Cashback from Netflix, Spotify, fast food joints and more. *T&Cs apply.
6%*
Annual Fee
S$0
Minimum Spend
S$0
MoneySmart Exclusive:

[SmartRewards | Your Points, Your Choice 🫵🏻]
 
Choose ANY gift at our Rewards Store, including:
 
1. Nintendo Switch Lite (3,090 SmartPoints)
2. Apple AirPods 3rd Gen (2,720 SmartPoints)
 
Or any other combination of gifts, by earning 3,100 SmartPoints.
 
Alternatively, you can also choose to get $250 Cash via PayNow. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2023

The Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card is a cashback card that gives you 6% cashback on fast food dining, coffee and toast, digital subscriptions and on your daily commute (Bus/MRT). There’s no minimum spend requirement, and of course no annual fees.

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4. DBS No Annual Fee Credit Card

DBS logo
on Local MasterCard contactless transactions
3% Cash Rebate
on Online Transactions
3% Cash Rebate
Spend to SAFRA Points Conversion
S$1 = 1 SAFRA Point

According to this handy summary of credit card annual fees from DBS, there’s only 1 DBS credit card with no annual fees—the SAFRA DBS Card. This card charges no annual fee as long as you are a SAFRA member. With a minimum spend of $500 per month, the card will give you:

  • 3% cash rebate on your local Mastercard contactless transactions (including bus/train rides via SimplyGo)
  • 3% cash rebate on online transactions
  • 0.3% cash rebate on all other retail transactions

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5. HSBC No Annual Fee Credit Card

There are 2 HSBC credit cards with no annual fees.

The HSBC Revolution Credit Card best known for its 10X reward points no longer charges annual fees! You can earn 10X Reward points (equivalent to 4 miles or 2.5% Cashback) on online purchases and contactless payments, or 1X Reward point for all other types of spending.

HSBC logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
Enjoy Instant Approval* | MoneySmart LUCKY DRAW
on Online Spend and Contactless Payments
S$1 = 10X Points
on All Other Spend
S$1 = 1X Point
for every 10 Points
Earn 4 Miles
MoneySmart Exclusive:

[MONEYSMART LUCKY DRAW | REFERRAL]
Stand a chance to win an Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS), 41mm (worth S$599) when you successfully apply for an eligible HSBC Credit Card through MoneySmart.
 
Refer friends and family to boost your lucky draw odds. The more you refer, the better your chances! T&Cs apply.
 
Plus get a Samsonite ZELTUS 69cm Spinner Luggage (worth S$680) or S$150 Cashback from HSBC when you meet the min. spends of S$1,000 upon card approval required and provide marketing consent. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 15 Dec 2023

Alternatively, the HSBC Premier Mastercard gives you 5% cash rebate (capped at $150) on dining, groceries, petrol, transport—both locally and overseas —when you spend a minimum of $600 per month.

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6. UOB No Annual Fee Credit Card

There’s only 1 card in the entire UOB credit card universe that doesn’t charge annual fees…the UOB Professionals Platinum Card.

It’s largely unheard of, but the UOB Professionals Platinum Card is reserved for members of professional associations such as:

  • Alumni Association
  • Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA)
  • Law Society of Singapore
  • Singapore Medical Association (SMA)
  • The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
  • The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES)

You get dining discounts, fuel discount, and UOB$ cashback at selected merchants and retail outlets.

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7. OCBC No Annual Fee Credit Card

The OCBC Premier Visa Infinite is an exclusive credit card for OCBC Premier Banking customers and doesn’t charge its members annual fees.

Benefits include 16 OCBC$ reward points per $5, and 28 OCBC$ reward points per $5 foreign currency spend

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8. Grab Pay Card—Mastercard

If none of the above bank-issued credit cards tickled your fancy, you’ll find no annual fee cards with digital finance and bank providers such as the GrabPay Card. While you don’t get the conventional dining, shopping, or travel benefits like you would with usual credit cards, you get to earn GrabRewards points. However, we should warn you that as of 8 May 2023, your GrabPay card will only earn you GrabRewards Points at F&B merchants—and only selected F&B categories too. Here are their merchant category codes:

  • 5811-Caterers, 5451-Dairy Products Stores
  • 5814-Fast Food Restaurants
  • 5812-Eating places and Restaurants
  • 5462-Bakeries
  • 5813-Drinking places (Alcoholic Beverages), Bars, Taverns, Cocktail lounges, Nightclubs and Discotheques
  • 5441-Candy, Nut and Confectionery Stores.

ALSO READGuide to Merchant Category Codes: 15 Companies in Singapore with Surprising MCCs


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9. Trust Credit Card

Founded in collaboration with Standard Chartered Bank and NTUC, the new Trust credit card doesn’t charge you any annual fees.

Key benefits currently include enjoying up to 21% savings on FairPrice Group (FPG) groceries and food spend when you hit a minimum monthly spend of S$350. The way this is calculated is pretty confusing though, and this rate is only till 31 Oct 2023. Here’s a breakdown of how you get 21%, from Trust themselves:

trust-credit-card-promotional-savingsImage: Trust

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10. Credit cards with 1, 2, or 3 years fee waiver

There’s a bunch of us out there who only get a credit card to enjoy the credit card sign-up promotion. Shortly after we receive our new Apple Watch or Sony wireless headphones, we cancel the card to restart the 1-year countdown until you’re considered a new-to-bank customer again, eligible for a new welcome gift.

If that’s you, then you aren’t going to need a lifetime annual fee waiver anyway. 1 year is enough, and 2 or 3 years should be plenty. In that case, here are some cards with a 1, 2, or 3 year annual fee waiver that you can consider getting.

Credit cards with first year annual fee waived

Standard Chartered logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
EARN SMARTPOINTS | LUCKY DRAW 🎉🎉
Cash Back on Eligible spend
Up to 1.5%
Min. Spend per month
S$0
Cash Back Cap per month
Unlimited
MoneySmart Exclusive:

[SmartRewards | Your Points, Your Choice 🫵🏻 ]
 
Choose ANY gift you want at our Rewards Store including:
 
1. Apple iPad 10.2-inch Wi-Fi 64GB (9th Gen) (5,040 SmartPoints)
2. Nintendo Switch OLED (5,000 SmartPoints)
3. Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (4,990 SmartPoints)
 
Or any other combination of gifts, by earning 5,040 SmartPoints.
 
Alternatively, you can choose to get up to S$350 Cash via PayNow*T&Cs apply.
 
PLUS, stand a chance to win a Panerai Radomir Quaranta Timepiece (worth S$8,700) OR 16,490 SmartPoints (worth an iPhone 15 Pro, 128GB in the Rewards Store) OR 5,990 SmartPoints (worth an Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS), 41mm in our Rewards Store) when you apply through MoneySmart. T&Cs apply. Check out our past Lucky Draw winners here.

Valid until 30 Nov 2023
American Express logo
Online Promo
Convenience & Perks for Frequent Flyers
Local Spend
S$1 = 1.2 Miles
Overseas Spend
S$1 = 2 Miles
on Eligible Grab transaction, capped at $200 per month
S$1 = 3.2 Miles
UOB logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
FLASH DEAL | LUCKY DRAW
Base Earn Rate
S$5 = 1X UNI$ (or 2 miles)
Category of Choice
S$5 = 15X UNI$ (or 30 miles)
Min. Spend
S$0
MoneySmart Exclusive:

[FLASH DEAL | LUCKY DRAW]
Get EXTRA S$50 Cash via PayNow when you apply and spend a min. of S$1,000 per month for 2 consecutive months from card approval! T&Cs apply.
 
PLUS stand to receive a Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M2 Chip 256GB (worth S$1,899) or a Google Pixel 8 Pro, 128GB (worth S$1,549) or a Sony PlayStation®5 Disc Console (worth S$799) when you sign up through MoneySmart and meet the eligibility criteria! T&Cs apply.
 
PLUS receive up to S$350 Cash Credit from UOB when you are the first 200 new-to-UOB customers who successfully apply for an eligible UOB Credit Card and spend a min. of S$1,000 per month, for 2 consecutive months from the card approval date. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2023

 

Credit cards with 2-year annual fee waiver

HSBC logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
Enjoy Instant Approval* | MoneySmart LUCKY DRAW
Cash Back on Dining, Groceries, Petrol
5%
Cash Rebate Cap per quarter
S$250
Min. spend monthly in a calendar quarter
S$600
MoneySmart Exclusive:

[MONEYSMART LUCKY DRAW | REFERRAL]
Stand a chance to win an Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS), 41mm (worth S$599) when you successfully apply for an eligible HSBC Credit Card through MoneySmart.
 
Refer friends and family to boost your lucky draw odds. The more you refer, the better your chances! T&Cs apply.
 
Plus get a Samsonite ZELTUS 69cm Spinner Luggage (worth S$680) or S$150 Cashback from HSBC when you meet the min. spends of S$1,000 upon card approval required and provide marketing consent. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 15 Dec 2023
OCBC logo
MoneySmart Exclusive
High Spend on Dining
Cashback on Everyday Dining
5%
with min. spend of $1,600 per month
Unlock up to $160 Cashback
with min. spend of $800 per month
$80 Cashback per month
MoneySmart Exclusive:

Get a Samsung 27-inch M5 Smart Monitor (worth S$554) OR a Apple AirPods 3rd Gen (worth S$261.40) OR S$280 Amazon SG Gift Card OR S$250 Cash via PayNow when you apply and spend a min. of S$500 in Qualifying Spend within 30 days of card approval. T&Cs apply

Valid until 30 Nov 2023

 

Credit cards with 3-year annual fee waiver

Maybank logo
Online Promo
Earn up to 8% Cashback
globally on 5 preferred cashback categories PLUS all other Malaysian Ringgit spend
8%
cashback on all other spend
0.3%
Fee Waiver
3 years annual fee waived
ICBC logo
Cash Back on Local Spend
1.5%
Cash Back on Overseas Spend
3%
Annual Fee Waiver
3 years

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