Credit Card Strategies for Cashback Users in Singapore
As we enter 2023, it’s time to reflect on the good old days of 2022 when credit card stacking was all the rage. We enjoyed high cashback rewards from topping up Amex to Grabpay to Grabpay to Jipay to EZ Link wallet. However, with the demise of Amex for UOB absolute cashback, Grabpay and Jipay, and the uncertain future of EZ Link wallet, it’s time to look for better deals in 2023. In this article, we’ll be discussing single credit card strategies for cashback users.
Citi Rewards Plus Amaze
The Citi Rewards card is known for earning 10x points per dollar spent on every online transaction, excluding travel and hotel-related merchants, which are excluded from 10x points. Restaurants that are housed inside hotels are also excluded. When pairing Citi Rewards with Amaze, all physical spend is converted into online spending, even if you use a normal pay wave or Google pay. This is the beauty of Amaze, and it also reduces your foreign currency fees, making it perfect for foreign currency transactions. Although the foreign currency fee spread is alarming at 1.5 per cent, compared to competitors like YouTrip or Trust Card, Amaze will give you back one per centin terms of Insta points, so your net outlay is only 0.5 percent.
To use Citi Rewards for cashback, remember that it will give you 10x points per dollarspent on your first one thousand dollars eligible spend, and ineligible spend terms refer to online spend. Since Amaze converts that to online spend, your first one thousand dollars spent on Amaze link with Citi Rewards will get you 10x points. If you exchange 4,400 points for ten dollars, you will need 440 dollars to spend. Your effective cashback is ten divided by 440 dollars, 2.27 percent. However, you can hack this for better rewards by exchanging your Citi rewards points for vouchers, such as the Maple Tree VivoCity voucher, in which you can exchange 14,262 points for fifty dollars. To earn 14.2k points, all you need to spend is 1.4k. If you divide fifty dollars by that 1.4k, you get an effective cashback rate of 3.5 per cent. This is a no-minimum spend strategy.
HSBC Revolution Visa Card
The HSBC Revolution Visa card gives 10x points per dollar spent, which can be converted to four more per dollar or redeemed for 2.5 percent cashback. The card works on an allowlistbasis, so there is a list of eligible merchants, but the list is quite extensive, and you will only get 10x points for your first one thousand dollars of eligible spend. Above one thousand dollars, you also cannot earn that 10x points anymore. You can use the Nyx HSBC Advanced Visa card for larger ticket item purchases. With HSBC Advanced Visa, you get a base of 1.5 percent if you spend below two thousand dollars. If your monthly spend is above two thousand dollars, you get an additional one percent, which makes it 2.5 per centfor spending above two thousand dollars. If you sign up for HSBC’s every day Global account and qualify for the every dayplus rewards, you get an additional one percent. This gives you an auto-effective cashback of 3.5 percent if you hit a minimum of two thousand dollars spent on HSBC Advance and qualify for the simple plus rewards program.
High-Interest Savings Account Credit Card Strategy
If you’re using high-interest savings accounts, such as UOB One and OCBC 360, you mustspend at least 500 dollars of minimum spending. If you’re already on your way to hitting that high interest tier, it’s best to focus your spending on these cards. For example, the UOB EVOL card requires a minimum spend of 600 dollars to qualify for up to eight percent cashback on mobile contactless and online purchases. The effective cashback rate is only 6.67 percent. If you don’t like that, you can look at the UOB One card, where the minimum spend criteria is 500 dollars per month. If you do that for your three qualifying months, you get 3.33 percent cashback, coupled with five percent additional cashback if you spend it on their ACB merchants, such as Grab, Shopee, Giant, and all those Dairy Farm International merchants.
The same strategy works for OCBC 360 accounts. Specific cards like your OCBC Titanium Rewards, your NTUC Plus, your 90, and your 365 require a minimum spend of five hundred dollars. You won’t get that high interest if you don’t hit that 500 dollars. If you’re into high-interest savings accounts, use the card required for the high-interest account.
Credit Card Cashback Rate Eligibility Citi Rewards Plus Amaze Up to 3.5% No minimum spend HSBC Revolution Visa Card Up to 3.5% Whitelist basis UOB EVOL Card Up to 6.67% Minimum spend of $600 UOB One Card Up to 8.33% Minimum spend of $500 for three qualifying months OCBC Titanium Rewards Up to 4.4% Minimum spend of $500 NTUC Plus Up to 4.4% Minimum spend of $500 OCBC 90 Up to 4.4% Minimum spend of $500 OCBC 365 Up to 4.4% Minimum spend of $500
Summary: In 2023, single credit card strategies for cashback users are recommended. The Citi Rewards Plus Amaze and HSBC, Revolution Visa Card,offer up to 3.5% cashback rates, while high-interest savings accounts such as UOB EVOL Card and UOB One Card offer up to 8.33% cashback rates. For OCBC savings accounts, specific cards with a minimum spend of $500 are recommended.
