Tiger BOSS Debit Card Review 2024—The First Debit Card That Gives Fractional Shares With Everyday Spending

Have you always felt that shares are too expensive to buy and haven’t bought any? Or perhaps you haven’t invested in any shares yet—which you really should, but if you’re not sure how to, you should really check out our beginner’s guide to investing—you’ll soon be able to get a share (haha see what I did there?) or more. 

The new Tiger BOSS Debit Card from Tiger Brokers (Singapore) and Wise Asia lets users earn fractional shares for every dollar spent. 

Wait, what? We know about credit cards that give cashback, miles and rewards when you spend on the card, but giving shares is a first. 

Now before you get too excited, you’re not suddenly going to get a basketload of shares and become rich. What the Tiger BOSS Debit Card offers are fractional shares.  

According to Investopedia, “A fractional share is a portion of an equity stock that is less than one full share”. So if you can’t get your hand on a high-performing stock just because it’s too expensive, now’s your chance to. 

 

Tiger BOSS Debit Card—MoneySmart Review 2024

1. Tiger BOSS Debit Card—Summary
2. Tiger BOSS Debit Card—How does it work?
3. Tiger BOSS Debit Card—Pros and cons
4. Should I get theTiger BOSS Debit Card?
5. How does theTiger BOSS Debit Card compare to other unlimited cashback cards?
6. Tiger BOSS Debit Card—Sign-up promo
7. Alternatives to the Tiger BOSS Debit Card

 

Tiger BOSS Debit Card—Is it MoneySmart?
Overall: ★★★☆☆ (3.5/5) Best for: Beginner investors who have no clue what to do or those who want to get their hands on some fractional shares on stocks that they cannot afford on their own. Good for earning without needing to think too much on how you use it because almost everything you spend on will go towards earning fractional shares. A minimal effort debit card.
Pros—What we like			Cons—What we don’t like
Lets you earn Tesla shares Minimal effort card No minimum spend No annual fee  Debit card so you don’t run into debt			Limited range of categories eligible for cashback  Extra step of needing to top up card to use it  May not always be able to earn TSLA shares. T&Cs may change in future
Tiger BOSS Debit Card
Category		Our rating		The deets
Earn rates: Cashback		★★★☆☆		Every $1 spent on eligible categories earns you one TSLA share  Exclusions include utility bills, medical and dental supplies, cigar stores, insurance, cleaning services, parking lots, hospitals, education, membership organisations, taxes, fines, government services
Earn categories		★★★☆☆
Annual fees and charges		★★★★☆		No annual fee!  $5 admin fee and 2% service fee for overseas ATM withdrawal
Accessibility		★★★★★		Be at least 18 years old
Extras/periphery rewards		★★☆☆☆		Competitive FX rates when making transactions overseas
Sign-up bonus		★★★★☆		From now till 13 May 2024, new sign ups will get:  $5 when you register and make an eligible transaction  $5 for referring a friend who uses the card to make an eligible transaction  $5 for every successful referral for you and your friend, and so on, up to 300 referees

See our credit card ranking rubric to find out how we rank credit cards.

 

Tiger BOSS Debit Card summary 

The Tiger BOSS Debit Card was launched “to address the challenges faced by new investors, particularly limited capital”, according to Ian Leong, Tiger Brokers’ CEO. 

Tiger Brokers hopes to make investment more accessible to more people, create more awareness about the compounding of wealth, and nurture a more financially informed generation of investors. This also kind of inspired the “boss” in the card name so more people can feel like a boss when navigating the financial markets and be in control of their finances. 

So by offering the Tiger BOSS Debit Card, regular folks like you and I now have a chance to get a share of more expensive stocks that would normally be out of our reach, since they require a large initial investment. 

Think of the fractional shares just like the cash back or miles that you gain when you spend on your other cards. Furthermore, there’s also no expiry date or lock up with the fractional shares earned so you can basically hold them forever. Of course, the shares are still subjected to market fluctuations. 

 

Tiger BOSS Debit Card—How does it work? 

With the Tiger BOSS debit card, you’ll earn 1% of your spend, like cash back, in TSLA (Tesla) fractional shares* for every transaction made. 

This applies to everyday spending from groceries and dining to shopping or transport rides. Some categories are not eligible for the cashback such as utilities, insurance, parking, etc. The full list is available on Tiger’s website.

So let’s say you paid $200 for your groceries using your Tiger BOSS debit card, you’ll get 1% of $200 which is $2.

To be eligible for the share, you have to earn more than $1 in cash back. So you’ve got to at least spend $100, which gives you a cashback of $1. If you haven’t earned $1 of cash back, you can accumulate your spending on the card. 

Note that the TSLA share is only during this promotion period until 30 April 2024. There’s no guarantee that Tiger will continue to give the same TSLA share after.  

Tiger BOSS debit card
Annual Fee (Principal Card)	$0
Foreign Currency Transaction Fee	Mid-market exchange rate, with a nominal fee* No conversion fees for payments made using funds from the currency wallet
Overseas ATM withdrawal fee	SGD 5 administrative fee and 2% service fee per withdrawal
Minimum Income	N/A
Card Association	Visa
Contactless Payment	Apple Pay, Google Pay

 

Tiger BOSS Debit Card—Pros and cons 

With favourable foreign exchange rates, any spending overseas is also eligible for the cashback, so that’s great news for those who like to go on shopping sprees when they’re on holiday. 

What’s more, because of its partnership with Wise, cardholders can take advantage of competitive foreign exchange rates when they spend overseas. There’s also no worry about safety because if you lose your card, you can also freeze it instantly. 

If you use it at an ATM overseas to withdraw cash though, there will be a $5 admin charge and a 2% service fee per withdrawal, so it’s probably better to just stick to card payments. 

To help you keep track of your transactions, you can opt to be notified for every transaction. 

 

Should I get the Tiger BOSS Debit Card? 

If you want to get it, the application is free. All you need to do is sign up for a Tiger Trade account and register for the BOSS card on the Tiger Trade app. The card will be delivered to you in 10 business days

If you can’t wait for the card to arrive via snail mail and just have to purchase something immediately, you can also use the virtual card. Simply add it to an e-wallet like Google Pay or Apple Pay. Make sure you top up your Tiger account first. 

While it’s a way to bring more users onto Tiger Brokers, it could be beneficial for those new to investing or those searching for a different brokerage. Check out our review of Tiger Brokers for more information.

 

Tiger BOSS Debit Card sign-up promo 

Those who sign up will receive 1% cashback in TSLA fractional shares. You have to make a successful transaction* on the card before 30 April 2024 to qualify for the TSLA fractional shares. 

During the promo period, the first eligible purchase that you make on the card gives you a $5 cash reward for you and your friend. 

As part of the sign-up promo, you’ll also get $5 for every successful referral made, provided they spend using the card and also stand a chance to win $888 for every three successful referrals. There’s also a very generous limit on referrals—you can make up to a maximum of 300 referees! 

Bear in mind that the campaign runs only for a limited time. 

*Terms and conditions apply. 

 

Alternatives to the Tiger BOSS Debit Card

Well, it’s a bit tough to compare the Tiger BOSS Debit Card to any others when it’s the first of its kind. But since you get cashback in the form of shares, we’ll compare it to some cashback credit cards. 

The OCBC INFINITY Cashback Card is an unlimited cashback credit card that gives 1.6% unlimited cashback with no minimum spend. 

The UOB Absolute Cashback Card comes with 1.7% cashback. 

Another is the Citi Cash Back+ Card with 1.6% cashback which does not expire. 

If you’re still unsure about what card to get for yourself, check out our ultimate list of credit card reviews for the low-down on credit cards in Singapore.

 

P.S. Here’s our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric

The Tiger Boss Debit Card isn’t a credit one but the rubric applies!

Is that credit card MoneySmart? Our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric
Category	Our rating
Overall	The average rating for the credit card on the whole, calculated from the ratings for the individual categories below. Plus, we’ll give you a one-liner on who we think the credit card is best suited for.
Earn rates: Air miles / Cashback / Rewards points	Air miles ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️ / Cashback / Rewards points . This category looks at the depth rather than breadth of earn rates. 5 stars means this card’s got the highest earn rates within that credit card type. 3-4 stars mean it’s average 1-2 stars reflect earn rates that are below average.
Earn categories	This category looks at the breadth rather than depth of your earnings. 5 stars: Earn with ANY spend. 3-4 stars: Earn on a large number of categories (e.g. all dining, transport and retail, but not telco bills) OR earn on 1 very broad category (e.g. all contactless/mobile payments). 1-2 stars: Earn a decent rate only on selected categories, such as fast food only.
Annual fees and charges	5 stars: $0 4 stars: $1-200 3 stars: $201-500 2 stars: $501-$999 1 star: $1,000 and up We dock a star if fee waiver is NOT allowed.
Accessibility	Minimum income requirements: 5 stars: Less than $30,000 a year 4 stars: Around $30,000 a year for Singaporeans and $40,000-$45,000 for non-Singaporeans 3 stars: $30,000-$60,000 a year for Singaporeans, $40,000-$70,000 for non-Singaporeans 2 stars: $60,000-$120,000 a year for Singaporeans, $70,000-$120,000 for non-Singaporeans 1 star: $120,000 and up for either, or both Exclusivity: We dock 1-2 stars if there is/are another category/categories that make the card exclusive and very specific to a certain clientele.
Extras/periphery rewards	These include: Travel benefits, such as airport lounge access Lifestyle benefits, such as spa privileges Dining benefits, such as complimentary AMEX Love Dining or Entertainer with HSBC subscriptions We count the number of benefits and award between 0.5 to 2 stars for each, depending on how good the perk is.
Sign-up bonus	5 stars: The gift(s), cash, or miles are the highest we see out there compared to other credit cards of the same type (miles, cashback, etc). Also easy to attain these welcome bonuses. 3-4 stars: Average but not disappointing sign-up bonus compared to other credit cards. You aren’t losing out. 1-2 stars: You are probably losing out in terms of the welcome bonus you’re getting; there are other similar credit cards with sign-up bonuses that are better or easier to attain.

 

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