Best Cashback Credit Cards 2018

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Best Cashback Rewards Card: Citi Cash Back Card

Citi Cash Back Credit Card, formerly known as Citibank Dividend Card, is one of the best credit cards for cash back because of its rebate program emphasizing food. The shining point of this card is its 8% cashback on both dining, grocery and Grab spendings. For people who tend to eat out just as often as they cook at home, Citi Cash Back serves as a convenient way of saving money on all of their meals.

Though it doesn't provide benefits for entertainment, shopping and utility expenses, Citi Cash Back card more than compensates by providing a 20.88% fuel savings on petrol and another S$120 of cash rebate welcome gift. It also has a relatively high cap on monthly cash rebate of S$100, which can add up to S$1,200 of cash rebate per year! If you are looking for a way to save money on all your meals in and out of home, Citi Cash Back card could be an excellent choice for you.

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Cashback Credit Card for Families: POSB Everyday Card

POSB Everyday Card is a decent card for families to earn savings while maintaining their health. This is because POSB Everyday Card provides up to 20% of cashback on petrol, 5% on groceries, and 3% on cosmetics and pharmaceutical needs at Watsons. Not only that, it provides up to 1% rebate on monthly recurring bills and can even double up as an EZ-Reload card. Because it provides a large amount of rebate on spending areas that compose the largest part of a typical family's budget, we recommend this card for mothers who need to take care of both their families and themselves. Its annual fee is S$192.6 and POSB waivers the first year's fee.

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Best No Annual Fee Cashback Card: OCBC 365 Credit Card

OCBC 365 Credit Card is one of the best cash rebate cards we recommend for people who want to avoid paying annual fees on their cards. Because it covers a wide variety of reward categories that are central to everyone's daily life, it can be a very cost effective way of saving on your everyday expenditures. For instance, OCBC 365 provides 6% rebate on dining, 22% on petrol, and 3% on groceries and monthly bill. It is also quite cheap to use because only S$10,000 of annual spend qualifies you for the annual fee waiver every year. In summary, OCBC 365 Card presents a cheap and convenient way of earning rewards on almost all the daily needs of an average person or family without skewing towards a specific category. If you are an average family that enjoy both cooking at home and dining out, this card will suit your lifestyle quite well.

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Best Cashback Card for Affluent Consumers: HSBC Advance Credit Card

HSBC Advance Credit Card is the best no-fee cashback card for people who can qualify for HSBC's Advance status. For Advance customers, this card perpetually waives its annual fee of S$192.6, and provides a flat rate cashback of up to 3.5%. This card is especially effective for high spenders because its cap on monthly rebate is very high at S$125, compared to S$50-70 for most other cards. However, this card loses its effectiveness for non-Advance customers, so we highly recommend that you read our detailed review to see if you can qualify for HSBC Advance program.

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Best Cashback Card for Low Income Consumers: Maybank Platinum Visa Credit Card

Maybank Platinum Visa Card is a great no-fee cashback card for low-income consumers. First, it charges no annual fee without any spending requirements. Not only that, as long as you spend S$1,000 per month (or S$300 per month), you can earn up to 3.33% in cash rebate for every dollar you spend in Singapore. Though it caps its total rebate at S$100 per quarter (S$400 per year), it's still one of the highest yielding cashback cards in the market for modest spenders with a monthly budget of around S$1,000 (or S$300).

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Unlimited Cashback + EZ-Link: Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card

Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card is an excellent choice for people who are looking for a simple flat rate card to use. Not only does it offer a flat rate of 1.5% cash rebate on everything, its cash back is unlimited so you can earn as much rebate as you spend. The biggest appeal of flat rate cashback cards is its simplicity (i.e. no need to keep track of multiple cards with different minimum spend requirements and rewards), and Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback further simplifies your life by doubling up as an EZ-Link card.

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Highest Unlimited Cashback Rewards: Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card

Maybank's FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card is an excellent choice for people who are looking for a combination of convenience of flat rate cards, high rewards rate and annual fee waiver. Maybank FC Barcelona Card's unlimited cashback is available at a rate of 1.6%, which is higher than 1.5% provided by its competing products. Not only that, this card's annual fee (S$120) is waived for simply charging S$10,000 on the card annually, while other cards tend to charge a relatively high fee of around S$180. While it doesn't come with a petrol discount, we think this card works perfectly well for those who are looking for the convenience of a unlimited cashback without the high cost.

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Best Unlimited Cashback with Amex Perks: American Express True Cashback Card

American Express True Cashback Card is a great flat rate cashback card that combines value and convenience. Like SC Unlimited Cashback Card, Amex True Cashback Card is a decent flat rate card provides an unlimited cashback of 1.5% on everything. The key difference, however, is that this Amex boosts your cashback to 3% during the first 6 months. In exchange, its annual fee is waived for 1 year, compared to 2 years for its competitor. Not only that, this could be a particularly valuable card for you if you value Amex's world-renown services like American Express Selects, Global Dining Program, 24-hr customer care and Global Assistance. It also charges the lowest foreign transaction fee among unlimited cashback cards at 2.5% vs others at 2.8% to 3.5%. Lastly, Amex True Cashback Card has no cap on cashback or monthly spend requirement, making it extremely easy to use.

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Best Online Shopping Cashback Card: DBS Live Fresh Card

E-commerce has been dominating the global tech scene for quite few years. With DBS Live Fresh Card, you can now ride the e-commerce wave even more. In our opinion, DBS Live Fresh Card is the best credit card in Singapore for online shoppers. Not only does this card reward 5% of cashback on all transactions made online or via Visa PayWave, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Android Pay, it also comes with a great welcome bonus cashback. As long as you spend at least S$600 per month on the card, DBS Live Fresh Card can help save up to S$60/month on your online transactions.

Although this card requires S$600 of monthly spend to be eligible for these benefits, we think this shouldn't be a too big of a problem due to the fact that it can be used on a diverse set of expenditure areas. Its annual fee is also relatively low around S$128.4 and is also waived for 1 year.

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Entertainment And Shopping Cashback Rewards Without Fee: OCBC Frank Card

OCBC Frank Card is an awesome entertainment rewards card that is affordable for almost anyone. Unlike a more expensive UOB YOLO Card, OCBC Frank card only charges an annual fee of S$80, and even provides an easy waiver for anyone who spends S$10,000 or more annually on the card. Its benefits include up to 5% rebate on entertainment expenses and 6% rebate on online expenses. If you are looking for ways to cut down on night life expenses without sacrificing too much, you should seriously consider getting an OCBC Frank Card.

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Best Cross-border Online Shopping Rebate Card: Standard Chartered SingPost Spree Credit Card

Standard Chartered SingPost Spree Credit Card is online shopping rebate card with a few caveats. This card work decently for people who spend relatively little on online shopping because it is one of a few cards with no minimum spending requirement. Also, this card can work well for people who like to shop with online retailers overseas, since it provides up to 3% of cashback on foreign currency online transactions & vPost purchases.

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Cashback Rewards and EZ-Link: Citibank SMRT Platinum Visa Card

Citibank SMRT Platinum Visa Card is another excellent card that provides cashback rewards and doubles up as an EZ-Reload card. The highlight of the card is probably its 7% cashback on groceries, one of the highest in Singapore. It also helps you to save some money on your morning or afternoon coffees with up to 15% rebate at various coffee chains like Starbucks.

Citi SMRT card is also more affordable than POSB because its annual fee is waived for 2 years. This is an excellent daily-use card that neatly satisfies many needs for people who commute daily on SMRT, enjoy coffee often and shop for groceries on their way back home from work.

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Cashback & Miles Rewards: HSBC Visa Platinum Credit Card

If you are looking for a well-rounded cashback credit card that can also earn air miles, we suggest you to seriously consider HSBC Visa Platinum Credit Card. Because of its 2 year waiver on annual fee of S$180, the card is quite affordable for a moderate budget. After the 2nd year, annual fee waiver is granted for those who maintain $12,500 of annual spending on the card.

HSBC Visa Platinum card's cashback offer also covers some of the essential daily needs like groceries (5%), telco bills (5%) and petrol (21%). Therefore, HSBC Platinum Card is an ideal card to use for your monthly telecom and cable bills. Not only that, it can also double up as a travel card by earning you 0.4 miles for every dollar of expenditure.

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Cashback Rewards in Singapore and Malaysia: Maybank Family & Friends MasterCard Credit Card

Maybank Family & Friends MasterCard Credit Card, from the biggest bank of Malaysia, has a unique set of offerings that make the card quite ideal for people who frequently move between Singapore and Malaysia. Its cashback of 8% on petrol, transportation and groceries applies in both countries, so you don't have to have two sets of different cards each time you cross the border. Maybank Family & Friends card is extremely easy to use due to its low annual fee and minimum spend requirements.

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Highest Flat Rate Cashback Rewards: UOB One Card

If you are looking for a flat rate cashback card, you cannot overlook UOB One Card. It has the highest flat rate of 5% cashback in the country. While it is somewhat complicated to use, it could be an excellent choice for consumers who are willing to manage their expenses closely and make effort to maximize their awards. With this card, you can earn up to S$1,200 of cash rebate per year at maximum rate of 5%.

The only caveat is that you have to spend a certain amount around S$2,000 consistently every month. Not meeting this condition for even one month could lower your cashback significantly. Given this, we think UOB One is suitable for people who have very consistent monthly expenses, i.e. families with large and recurring or fixed expenditures.

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Best Grocery Cashback Rewards Card: UOB Delight Credit Card

UOB Delight Credit Card offers the best deal in Singapore for groceries. If you don’t mind buying house brands or private labels at Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian, UOB Delight Credit Card can save up to 18% off of your grocery bills. This is because it provides 8% off on groceries, and offers another 10% discount on house brands at aforementioned supermarkets. Nicknamed a “mom card” by some, UOB Delight Credit Card addresses other parts of family life with its 3% rebate on mass transit and utility bills.

UOB Delight Credit Card is also very cheap to use, only requiring S$85.6 of annual fee that is waived for the first year. UOB is also providing a S$50 cash welcome gift for new customers at this time. These characteristics, in our view, make UOB Delight card an ideal for any big families with a lot of fixed expenses on groceries and utilities to take care of every month.

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Best Entertainment And Dining Cash Rebate: UOB YOLO Card

The UOB YOLO Card is one of the best entertainment cash rebate cards, and makes this message clear with its name. YOLO stands for “You Only Live Once,” a popular phrase epitomizing the modern carpe diem. With this card, you can save up to 8% on dining, entertainments and Grab rides. This effectively implies that almost every 11th drink or meal is free!

Not only does it provide rich cash rebate, UOB YOLO Card also provides many nightlife perks to help you fully enjoy the YOLO lifestyle. Because its motto is “Eat. Drink. Play. Repeat,” UOB YOLO Card facilitates this lifestyle with drink specials and priority que at the hottest bars and clubs in Singapore. If YOLO if your life motto, we think you will like this card.

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No-Fee Cashback Card for Travel: CIMB Visa Infinite Card

CIMB Visa Infinite Card could be quite valuable for travellers on a budget. While its rebate on local expenses (1%) is on the low end of the spectrum, this card's rebate for travel, overseas and online foreign currency expenditures (2%) is actually quite high. Not only that, CIMB provides other valuable travel perks like low foreign currency transaction fee of 1% (vs 2.5-3.5% from other banks), complimentary lounge access and travel insurance. All of these benefits come with zero annual fee, making this card an ideal choice for budget-minded travellers.

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Best Dining Cashback Rewards Card: CIMB Visa Signature Card

CIMB Visa Signature Card is a great credit card for foodies. Because it charges no annual fee, requires no monthly minimum spend and rewards 10% rebate on dining expenses, it's a great card to use specifically for dining while using other cards for other daily necessities. The only caveat to this card is that its 10% rebate on dining is capped at S$60 a month and requires a monthly spend of S$500 and 8 monthly transactions worth S$30 each. However, this should not be a major problem for most people who go out for dinners and drinks once or twice a week.

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CIMB Platinum MasterCard Credit Card: Highest Rebate on Health & Beauty

CIMB Platinum Mastercard Credit Card is a great credit card for those who spend a lot of money on health, beauty & wellness. Because it charges no annual fee, requires no monthly minimum spend and rewards 10% rebate on health, beauty & wellness, it's a great card to use specifically for these expenses in conjunction with using more general purpose cards for other daily necessities.

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CIMB World MasterCard Credit Card: No-Fee Credit Card for Golfers

CIMB World MasterCard Credit Card is a great no-fee cashback card for avid golfers. First, CIMB World MasterCard offers 1% cashback on all local and overseas spend so you can save while golfing in Singapore and in other countries. On top of this, they also provide complimentary green fees at 40 golf courses around SE Asia. Finally, you can enjoy all of these benefits free of charge since its offered with no annual fee.

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Summary of Best Cashback Credit Cards 2018

Below, we've prepared a summary of our picks for the best cashback credit cards for 2018.

Compare the Best Cashback Cards by Dollar Value

To help you find the best cashback rewards credit card, we have prepared a chart below organizing cashback cards by 2-year dollar value*. We have estimated an average Singaporean's monthly expenditure patterns through research to model out likely savings from credit cards. Assuming an average person spends S$2,000 every month, the best cashback credit cards in Singapore return over S$1,500 to S$2,000 in cash rebate over 2 years after netting out annual fees. Do note, however, that these values can vary widely depending on your unique spending habits, so you should be sure to read our reviews to assess if a card is right for you.

When Are Cashback Cards Better Than Mile Awards Cards?

You have probably seen different variations of promotional phrases like "3% cash back," "2 miles on all dining and restaurant bills," and so on. Without a firm grasp of what these things are worth, however, sifting through hundreds of offers to choose what you want can be a daunting process. To help you get a firm grasp of these concepts and effectively compare them to decide which type of card is best for you, we have prepared the following guide.

Cashback, Points and Miles: What's the Difference?

The biggest difference among cashback, points, and miles is the flexibility they provide to consumers. While all three things work in the same way, they have distinct characteristics.

Cash back rewards are the most flexible and easiest to grasp. Cash back cards simply return a certain percentage of expenditures back to the consumer, often in form of statement credit.

Miles can be redeemed for free flights at various airlines designated by the card issuer. Depending on how you redeem them, a mile's worth can vary somewhere between S$0.01 to S$0.08. Generally, miles used for longer and more expensive flights are worth more than miles redeemed for shorter and cheaper flights. Globally, most people tend to redeem miles at conversion rate of around S$0.01 per mile.

Points can be redeemed for different prizes and services at locations designated by the card issuer. While exact worth of points depends can vary depending on the card issuer, points generally function like coupons and discounts (effectively similar to cashback). Reward points can also be easily converted into miles for a small fee.

Who Should Prefer Cashback To Miles?

Whether your credit card collects frequent flyer miles or points, you have to keep in mind that they are worth nothing unless you redeem them. However, cashbacks are valuable pretty much immediately when you receive them. Therefore, the first thing you should consider when deciding between award miles and cashback is how often you travel. If you don't travel at least once a year, earning cashback may be significantly more beneficial than earning miles because you may not have many chances to put miles to use.

How to Compare Rewards Rates of Cashback Cards and Miles Cards

In order to accurately compare different credit card types, it is important to measure their rewards rates to allow for an apples-to-apples comparison. A reward rate basically represents a card’s efficiency – how much money does it give you back given the amount you spend? For instance, if one card provides me 8% of my bill in rebate, while another only yields 5%, I would always prefer the former. This comparison is difficult to do between cashback cards and mile cards because miles cards or point cards do not have clear rewards rate, while cashback cards do. We have to calculate the rewards rate in those cases.

To figure out a credit card’s rewards rate, one must first calculate the worth of its miles or points. To do this, on must determine out how many points (or points) are needed to redeem for a certain prize. Dividing the dollar value of that prize by the number of points needed yields the value of dollars per point (or mile). The product of this figure and the number of points (or miles) you get per S$100 spent equals the rewards rate. We have collected data to calculate value of miles, which generally range from 1 cent to 8 cents per mile. Value of points will differ depending on the issuing bank's policies.

Lastly, each card will offer differently structured reward programs. For example, some cards will rebate 10% on dining, but will only yield 0.2% on other expenses. By understanding how your own monthly expenses are generally distributed across different categories, you can apply the aforementioned principle to calculate how much money you can save by using any given card.

This analysis can help you accurately evaluate which card will result in the highest benefits for your budget.

*ValueChampion calculates the dollar value of rewards based on S$2,000 of monthly spending. We sum the value of points, miles and cashback in dollar terms and subtract the annual fee over a 24-month period. The estimates here are ValueChampion's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.