Earning miles or cash rebate on your credit cards can feel like you’re getting something for free on your everyday spending. But, there are ways you can get even more. What you may not realise is that card issuers often provide various incentives for you to boost rewards for repeated business.
If you make a little bit of an effort, you can earn more benefits for less money. Here are ValueChampion’s six tips on how to do just this.
Different Categories, Different Cards
The easiest way to maximise your rewards is to use a specific card that offers the highest rate of rewards rate for specific categories of purchases like groceries, gas or dining out. It is generally optimal to carry a couple cards that offer optimal rewards in different purchase category so that they can complement one another. Though making the most of your card collection some effort on your part to remember which is most ideal for which category of expenditure, it shouldn’t be too hard to do so with 2-3 cards that you use frequently.
For example, the UOB ladies card allows you to earn miles on two selected categories of spending. If you chose travel and dining out to be your two rewards categories, all your other expenses would not earn you rewards, and to some effect, be wasted. It could then be in your interest to get a credit card like the UOB One credit card that gives upsized cashback on grocery spending. This way, most of your expenses will be captured by one card or another, and allow you to really maximise the rewards you can accumulate.
UOB Lady's Card
What makes UOB Lady's Card unique is that it allows you to select a preferred spend category, be it beauty, dining, entertainment or fashion, and accelerate your accrual of miles on the selected category
Pros
- High miles rewards (30 miles per $5 spent) on two categories of spending
- No minimum spend
Cons
- Cap of 2,800 bonus UNI$ (5,600 miles, equivalent to S$1,000 spend) per month
- Points have a 2 year expiry
UOB One Credit Card
Maximum cashback for stable budgets.
Pros
- Good fit for budgets of at least S$2,000 per month
- Easy cashback on daily spend
- Gives rebates for paying bills
Cons
- Doesn't fit inconsistent budgets
- Annual fee
Related: Guide to the Types of Credit Card Rewards: Cash Back, Points and Miles
Buy Through An Online Shopping Portal
Most banks offer an online shopping portal where you can buy from mainstream ecommerce sites like Agoda or Lazada. If you shop through these portals, you can get extra savings in cashback or even bonus miles that can be couple times higher than the usual amount that you can earn.
These portals are easily accessible through the bank’s web page for the specific card that you are using. Although it’s 1 extra step in your shopping process, it’s easy and worthwhile given the amount of savings that you can earn for a very little amount of effort.
Swipe More Often
Banks make money from merchants each time you swipe your card, and therefore reward you for using their products more frequently. Because of this, it’s usually a good idea to concentrate your spending on a few cards to satisfy their minimum spending levels and qualify for their maximum reward levels. For example, the UOB One Card can provide up to 10% of cash rebate, which is one of the highest rates in the country, but only if you continuously spend S$2,000 on the card every month. Not meeting this requirement even for 1 month can reduce your rebates dramatically.
Not only that, it’s important to note that that merchants usually embed their credit card fee into their prices. Therefore, you are effectively losing out by using cash instead of credit cards. This is especially the case in Singapore, where both merchant fees and credit card rewards tend to be much higher than other countries. For instance, best credit cards in US, UK and Korea tend to only provide 1-3% of rewards on your spending, compared to 3-5% offered by the best credit cards in Singapore. The difference can almost entirely be explained by the difference in these countries’ lower merchant fees.
Related: 3 Reasons To Own & Use A Credit Card And 1 Reason To Not Do So
Add Another Account From The Card Issuer
Banks typically use credit cards as a way to sell you more products like home loans and savings accounts. To do this, many banks offer extra rewards just by having another account at the bank. For example, DBS and UOB provide pretty high interest rates of around 4% for customers who have both a credit card and a savings account with them, under DBS multiplier program and for UOB One Account.
Pros
- Great for online travel bookings
Cons
- Those willing to pay an annual fee for more bonus miles
- Affluent travellers who are willing to pay a high fee for luxury travel perks
Use The Best Redemption
Making the most of your rewards also involves optimising how you trade them in. Card issuers may offer several different rates for redeeming your rewards points, and it pays to select the best one.
For instance, many cards let you convert your points into miles, where every mile you earn is worth roughly S$0.01 if you redeem it for short-haul economy tickets. However, this value can increase to S$0.05 or even S$0.08 if you redeem it for a business class or a first class tickets. Same logic applies to other ways of redeeming your points, so you should always check your card’s rewards program online to find details on their different redemption rates.
Related: A Guide to Redeeming Miles From Credit Card Rewards in Singapore
Take Advantage of Bonus Offers
While we don’t advise you to churn through multiple credit cards every year just to earn their bonuses, it’s usually a good idea to look out for promotional offers, especially when signing up for a new card. You often can earn tens of thousands of bonus rewards on many cards just by spending a certain amount within a certain time of opening a card.
Existing cardholders should also watch for seasonal offers, especially around the holidays. Many credit cards tend to provide special promotions in extra miles or cash rebate during high travel seasons like June and December.
If you are interested in learning more about the latest promotions, check out our results page of the best credit cards in Singapore!
Compare The Best Credit Cards in SingaporeFind Out More
Read More:
- 4 Key Questions To Ask Yourself Before Signing Up For A Credit Card
- Debit Cards vs. Credit Cards: Which One Is Right for You?
- 5 Tips to Save Money for Dining Out in Singapore
- Cash Or Credit Cards: Which Is Better To Use When Travelling?
- 3 Psychological Pitfalls to Avoid When Choosing A Credit Card
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