Remember all those coins you used to stash in your piggy bank when you were a kid? Well, they’re pretty a chore to use now that the government’s trying to turn this place into a cashless society. And there are a lot of methods you can make cashless payments in Singapore.
While technically any type of credit or debit card payment counts as cashless, today we’re going to focus on a few types of cashless payments that literally let you tap and pay:
- Visa PayWave or MasterCard PayPass
- Contactless smartphone payments with Apple Pay Samsung Pay and Google Pay
- NETS FlashPay top-ups
Saving 10 seconds using contactless payments is nice, but not if it means sacrificing those sweet sweet cash rebates.
So here are the best cashback credit cards for when you’re using cashless payments.
| Credit card | Cashback for cashless payments | Cashback cap | Min. spend |
| BOC Family Card | 5% for NETS FlashPay Auto Top Up (first 4 top-ups) | $40 for supermarkets, hospital bills, NETS FlashPay Auto Top-up and telco bills | $700 |
| DBS Live Fresh Card | 5% on Visa PayWave purchases (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay) |
$60 $20 on Visa PayWave |
$600 |
| UOB Delight | 3% rebate on contactless transactions via Visa PayWave, UOB mobile payment services like UOB Mighty Pay and UOB Apple Pay and NETS FlashPay Auto Top-ups | $50 | $400 |
| UOB One |
Up to 3.33% for spending min. $500 Up to 3.33% for spending min. $1,000 Up to 5% for spending min. $2,000 (quarterly flat payout) |
$50 $100 $300 (quarterly) |
$500 $1,000 $2,000 x 3 mths (quarter) |
| HSBC Advance |
3.5% if spending more than $2,000 a month
2.5% without min. Spend |
$125 | Min. spend $2,000 to get 3.5% |
| Stanchart Spree Credit Card | 2% | $60 | – |
| Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature | 1.6% | – | |
| Amex True Cashback Card |
1.5%
3% for first 6 months up to $5,000 |
– | |
| Stanchart Unlimited Cashback Card |
1.5%
3% on all foreign currency spend for the first 3 months |
||
| OCBC Frank | 3% on first two $50 NETS FlashPay auto top-up | $60 | $400 (excludes online purchases, entertainment and NETS FlashPay auto top-ups) |
Most generous cashback credit card for contactless payment by smartphone: DBS Live Fresh Card
Using Samsung Pay or Google Pay? You might not be able to take advantage of Apple Pay, but you can get a just-as-good 5% rebate from the DBS Live Fresh Card, which rewards all Visa PayWave transactions made on Apple, Google or Samsung Pay. Or you can just use the card.
Do note the minimum spending requirement of $600. The DBS Live Fresh Card also offers 5% cashback on online shopping and Grab rides though, so if you shop a lot on the internet, are booking air tickets anytime soon or are always Grabbing your way around town, you shouldn’t have any trouble meeting the minimum spending requirements.
And while a maximum cashback cap of $60 is pretty generous, there will soon be restrictions implemented. From 1 June 2018, the maximum cashback cap you earn with the DBS Live Fresh Card is $20 per month for Visa PayWave transactions, $20 per month for online shopping and Grab rides, and $20 for all other spending.
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- Cash Back on Online Spend & Visa Contactless
- Up to 5%
- Min. Spend
- S$600
- Cash Back Cap
- Up to S$75
Most generous cashback credit card for NETS FlashPay auto top-up: BOC Family Card
The generous 5% casback the BOC Family Card offers is applicable only to the first four top-ups in a month. As anyone who actually uses NETS FlashPays should know, that’s already plenty.
The $700 minimum monthly spending requirement is quite hefty, but as the card offers a whopping 10% cashback on dining and cinemas, and 5% on supermarkets, online purchases and telco bolls, amongst others, that’s a strong argument to switch to the BOC Family Card for most of your everyday purchases.
Best all-round card for a wide variety of contactless payments: UOB Delight
The UOB Delight is the best card on the market if you’re going to make contactless payments a way of life and use a variety of them.
Their 3% rebate extends to UOB Mighty Pay, Apple Pay, Visa PayWave, NETS FlashPay Auto Top-ups for MRT/LRT, public bus, Comfort & CitiCab and SMRT taxis, ERP and CEPAS-compliant car park charges.
The minimum spending requirement of $400 isn’t terribly high, and the card also offers 8% rebate at Cold Storage, Market Place Jasons, Giant and Guardian, as well as fuel savings at Shell and SPC.
Best cashback credit card for high spenders: UOB One Card
The UOB One’s claims of offering up to 5% cashback on everything you spend on is a lofty one—until you realise how complicated their minimum spending requirements are.
If you can consistently spend over $2,000 a month without having to give it too much thought, this card will give you a very decent cashback on everything, contactless payments included. If the rules are too complicated for you, it’s probably not worth the effort, because if you screw up for just one month, you lose your cashback for the entire quarter.
- Rebate on Shopee, Dairy Farm Group, Grab, SP and more
- Up to 10%
- Rebate Cap per quarter
- S$300
- Min. Spend per month
- S$2,000
Best cashback credit card for contactless payments with no minimum spending requirement: Standard Chartered Spree Credit Card
This card gets you a decent 2% cashback on contactless and mobile payments, with no minimum spending requirement.
The cashback rate may not be as attractive as some of the others on the list, but hey, at least you won’t be left staring at your credit card statement in dismay after realising you missed the minimum spending requirements by $0.50.
What is your favourite credit card for cashless payments? Share your recommendations in the comments!
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