Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card—MoneySmart Review 2023

As Singaporeans living in a Smart Nation, heads bowed over our smartphones, our every move tracked by security cameras that are getting smarter by the day, the new Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card seems like it would be relevant to our lives.

So what makes this card so smart? Does it have bluetooth? Can it walk your dog? Nope, but it gives you a generous 6% worth of cashback on some of the most mundane transactions like your daily MRT ride or breakfast at Toast Box. Let’s see if it’s as good as it sounds.

 

What are the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card T&Cs?

Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card
Annual fee & waiver	Perpetually waived off
Supplementary annual fee	–
Interest free period	0
Annual interest rate	23.9%, 26.9% or 29.9% based on bank’s assessment of your credit profile
Late payment fee	$100
Minimum monthly repayment	1% or $50, whichever is higher
Foreign currency transaction fee	3.5%
Cash advance transaction fee	Waived off
Overlimit fee	$40
Minimum income	$30,000
Card association	Visa
Wireless payment	Visa Contactless, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Good Pay

How does the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card work?

The card serves mainly as a vehicle for Standard Chartered’s EasyPay instalment plans. EasyPay lets you split a single transaction into an instalment plan lasting 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.

With the Smart Credit Card, you get three-month interest-fee instalments. All service fees are refunded to you via cashback, making the plan totally free so long as you pay it back in full and on time.

So, if you make a $1,500 purchase and decide to pay it back over three interest-free instalments, you will pay $500 per month over three months.

Another thing to note about the card is that the interest rate is variable. Twice a year, the bank will assess your credit rating and assign you an interest rate (23.9%, 26.9% or 29.9%) based on that.

As someone who uses credit cards purely for perks like cashback, none of the above sounds relevant or exciting at all. So let’s go into the actual reasons this card might be worth your time.

If you’re a seasoned credit card hunter, you might already have noticed from the table above that the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card doesn’t charge any annual fees or cash advance transaction fees. At the very least, this saves you from having to call the bank annually begging for an annual fee waiver.

But of course, the real reason you’re still reading this is because you want to know about the 6% cashback right? More on that below.

Is the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card still offering 6% cashback on Netflix, Spotify, etc.?

Yep, it is. The card promises 6% cashback when you spend on certain types of everyday expenditure, with no minimum requirement each month. That makes it one of the only credit cards to offer such a generous cashback rate with no minimum spending required!

However, the 6% cashback is only valid till 31 Dec 2023.

The 6% cashback rate is doled out when you spend on the following in Singapore:

• Fast Food dining promotion: Burger King, KFC, Mcdonald’s, Subway
• Coffee and toast: Fun toast, Toast Box, Ya Kun Kaya Toast
• Digital subscriptions: Disney+, Netflix, Spotify, Youtube
• Daily commute: Bus and MRT

Granted, most of us do not eat at McDonald’s and Burger King every day (at least I hope not), but those who commute daily by public transport finally have a way to claw a bit of those fares back…at least until the promotion ends on 31 Dec 2023.

What other perks comes with the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card offering? 

Plenty, my friend. Some cool ones that stand out are:

• Receive S$20 or S$40 Tangs voucher or promo code with a minimum spend of S$280 and $500 respectively at Tangs
• Get S$3 off a min. spend of S$100 at Caltex on eligible transactions + 17% upfront discount
• New Atome users can enjoy S$15 off minimum spend of S$100; existing Atome users can enjoy S$10 off minimum spend of S$120

Check out the full list of promotions here.

How does the Standard Chartered Smart Card cashback work?

Actually getting your hands on that one month’s worth of cashback adds administrative bother to your life, because the cashback isn’t simply credited to your next statement.

No, Standard Chartered makes life more difficult by giving it to you in the form of 360° Rewards Points, which you can also use to redeem gifts in their rewards catalogue.

If you have no desire for dining vouchers or hotel staycations and just want to exchange your points for the cashback you were promised, $10 cashback will cost you 3,200 rewards points.

Your first batch of Standard Chartered rewards points are only valid for 3 years from the day your Smart Credit Card account is opened. So you want to be very careful to exchange all your rewards points for cashback before they expire.

Also note that is a cap on the number of bonus points you can earn each month, equivalent to about $818 worth of spending. Although, to be fair, you’d have to eat an obscene amount of McDonald’s meals to bust that limit.

Who is the Standard Chartered Smart Card for?

As the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card gives you a nice, high cashback rate on certain expenses for a month, you might want to sign up just for this promotion. In addition, you can get 6 months of Disney+ subscription for free and up to $300 cashback when you spend $350.

However, you’ll have to live with the administrate hassle of exchanging your rewards points for cashback.

Since there’s no annual fee, there’s no harm in applying for the card and then keeping it in the back of your wallet as a backup.

If you regularly use instalment plans, it can also serve as an alternative to Buy Now Pay Later services, although you should be aware that only 3 months’ worth of instalments are fee-free.

Alternatives to the Standard Chartered Smart Card

The Smart Card isn’t the only 0% installment plan credit card around. Here are some others to check out.

• OCBC Cashflo Card – 0%-interest auto-installments stretching out over 3 or 6 months. Also gives you 1% cashback on your spending if you spend more than $1,000 in a month.

• POSB Everyday Card – Under POSB’s My Preferred Payment Plan, you can get 0% interest, fee-free installments up to 6 months. The card also offers cash rebates on a number of things, including 10% on foodpanda, Deliveroo and WhyQ, 8% at Redmart, up to 8% at Amazon, Lazada and more, 5% at ShengSiong, and 3% on dining, electricity and telco bills, Watsons and Pet Lovers Centre

• Standard Chartered Spree Card – Like the Smart Card, this card gives you access to Easy Pay, too, with transactions above $200 split into 6 or 12-month interest-free installments. You’ll have to pay a service fee, though.

Thinking about getting this card? Share it with your friends.