There is no such thing as having no time to go shopping, at least not in Singapore.
Thanks to the various online shopping portals open to Singaporeans, there’s nothing stopping you from making a purchase or two while standing in a sardine can MRT cabin on your commute to work, or sneaking in a shopping spree at the office when your boss’s back is turned.
You can now buy virtually anything online, from clothes, books and electronics to groceries and your next holiday.
If you’re going to go broke shopping online, the least you can do is to find a credit card that will reward you handsomely while you’re at it. Here’s what to consider when picking a credit card.
Transaction fees
Unless you’re buying from local sites all the time, some of your transactions are likely to be in foreign currencies.
Credit card transaction fees aren’t the same across all banks. Here is a guide elsewhere on MoneySmart to the various charges your bank might be slapping on you.
So take some time out to compare transaction fees. While rewards will often cancel out the transaction fees, in the event that you’re torn between using two cards just pick the one with the lower transaction fees.
Additional discounts
Other than the usual benefits (air miles, cash back or rewards points) your credit cards offer you, don’t forget to check for additional discounts, often tied to the various online merchants. For instance, credit cards often offer discounts for booking flights and hotels on portals like Expedia and Agoda from time to time.
Vouchers and freebies
Stay up-to-date on what freebies and vouchers your cards are offering so you don’t miss out. For instance, $10 coupons are being offered to customers who pay for their Qoo10 purchases using their Citi Rewards card. The same card also offers $6 off when you spend at least $60 on Lazada’s Express Storefront using the code CITIEXP, as well as $20 Zalora credit when you spend at least $200.
Cashback, rewards and air miles
After taking into account any special seasonal promotions, you’ll want to consider the rewards your card doles out on a permanent basis. For instance, many cards offer cashback or a more generous air miles/rewards points conversion rate when you shop online.
So, which cards to use?
Here are some of the cards that can benefit you as an online shopper on Lazada, Zalora or Qoo10.
- Citibank Rewards Card – You get a generous 10x rewards points for every dollar spent on shoes, bags and clothes online, as well as in department and retail stores, whether in Singapore or overseas
- Shopping and Online Spend, including Food Delivery and Groceries
- S$1= 10X Points
- Grab and Gojek
- S$1= 10X Points
- All Other Spend
- S$1 = 1 Point
Apply and Spend $500 to get a Nintendo Switch OLED (worth S$549) OR 15,000 KrisFlyer miles (worth one-way ticket to Bali) OR S$300 Cash via PayNow. PLUS stand a chance to win a ROLEX or PlayStation 5!!! T&Cs apply.
- UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Card – Get 10x rewards points or a generous 4 air miles per dollar when you spend on online purchases and entertainment, as well as whenever you use Visa PayWave.
- on Online Shopping, Entertainment & Contactless Payments
- S$5 = 10X UNI$
- on All Other Spend
- S$5 = 1X UNI$
- Rewards to Miles Conversion
- 1 UNI$ = 2 Miles
- Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum Visa Credit Card – Prefer to get cashback instead of rewards points/air miles? This card offers up to 7% on eligible online spending (subject to minimum spending of $600 a month), 10% on SpeedPost Priority Service package and 20% off vPost deliveries.
- OCBC Frank – This is another good one for cashback. You get 6% cashback on online spending if you spend $400 (excluding online spending, NETS FlashPay and Auto Top-Up spending) in a month.
- Cash Back
- Up to 10%
- Cash Back Cap per month
- S$100
- Min. Spend per month on Total Purchases
- S$800
Once you’ve figured out which cards to use for your purchases, you can feel a little better about spending all your money on online shopping on Lazada, Zalora or Qoo10. It might even make sense to start doing your groceries online via services like RedMart and Amazon Prime Now, since the rewards can make it even cheaper than going to the supermarket.
Which credit card do you usually use for your online shopping? Share your recommendations in the comments!
A big fan of Lazada? Check out Lazada promo codes before you check out!