My Credit Card Strategy for 2021

Update 30/06/2021: Major changes have made me update my strategy significantly.

Incredibly, a quarter of 2021 has passed, and nothing can attest to my incredible productivity than laying out my credit card strategy for the year almost after 3 months have passed.

Incidentally, a major change has happened to one of my most used cards which means that I have to update my strategy come 1st April anyway. Here’s what my go-to cards look like for the rest of the year (until something major happens).

Overall theme: going for value with a preference for cashback

My attitude towards cashback versus miles hasn’t changed much. I go for value rather than be beholden to either camp, although my valuation of miles and the nature of the circumstances we are in now mean that cashback would usually be preferred.

A quick and easy way to calculate would just be to pick the bigger number if I find myself in a dilemma between 4 mpd or 5% cashback.

Every time you choose 4 mpd over 6% cashback, you are essentially forgoing 1.5 cents per mile you get. That means that a return trip business class trip to Tokyo which costs 94,000 miles essentially costs $1,410… even more when you include the taxes you have to pay. There are definitely people who’d pay that, but it’s a little too pricey for my taste.

I’ll still collect miles, of course, when my cashback cards are exhausted for the month, or if there are spending that far exceeds the capacity of my cashback cards.

Main for contactless and online: OCBC FRANK and DBS LiveFresh

The two stalwarts of Team Cashback now take the crown with Maybank FnF taking a huge hit to its usefulness.

OCBC FRANK has a handsome rate of 6%, but its limited capacity for Paywave (maxing out at only $416) means that the 5% cashback DBS LiveFresh still sees use. The same $416 applies to its online category, and combined it means I have $816 for in-person Paywave spending and $816 of online spend – as long as I can meet the minimum spend of $600 for each card.

It is also worth noting that DBS has been giving extra 8% for many months now. They seemed to have stopped recently, but I would hold my LiveFresh just because of the usually generous promos DBS tends to dole out from time to time.

OCBC
FRANK

No current promo

DBS LiveFresh

Promo code: 150CASH

🔥 👍🏼

New to bank

  1. Apply and use promo code 150CASH by 30th June 2023
  2. Charge a minimum of S$800 within the first 60 days from card approval date
  3. Get S$150 cashback!

Consider the DBS Yuu Card as your first DBS card for a better promo

Get 5% cashback on contactless and online transactions with S$600 minimum spend per month. Tap here for a review (I’ll update this soon™)

Back-up for contactless: UOB PPV (or HSBC Revolution)

UOB PPV or HSBC Revolution comes in handy when I need more Paywave capacity than the combined $816 OCBC FRANK and DBS LiveFresh offer.

One can also switch PPV out for HSBC Revolution which also gives 4 mpd on contactless transactions.

Back-up for online: DBS Woman’s World Card

When online spend exceeds the combined $816 of FRANK and LiveFresh, DBS Woman’s World Card offers 4 mpd on a roomy $2,000 limit. Excellent when a sizeable purchase needs to be done online.

HSBC Revolution

🔥 👍🏼

New HSBC Cardholder
Choose:

  • Receive a Samsonite Prestige 69cm Spinner Exp with built-in scale (worth S$670)¹ or
  • S$150 cashback¹
  • Bonus S$30 cash² (for HSBC Revolution)

Existing HSBC Cardholder
Existing cardmembers receive S$50 cashback² instead

⚠️ Important – complete all the following steps to be eligible for rewards:

  1. Provide HSBC consent to receive marketing/promotional materials during application
  2. Submit SingSaver Rewards Redemption Form in email
  3. For HSBC Revolution: email your card approval email to info@singsaver.com.sg
  4. Make a min spend of S$1,000 by end of the following calendar month from the card account opening to be eligible for the reward

Valid till 31st May 2023

For quick reference only; refer to terms and conditions for exact terms:

  1. HSBC terms and conditions
  2. SingSaver terms and conditions

Get 10X points on eligible Paywave and online transactions. Annual fee waived for life. Tap here for the review

DBS Woman’s World Mastercard

Promo code: 150CASH

👍🏼

New to bank

  1. Apply and use promo code 150CASH by 30th June 2023
  2. Charge a minimum of S$800 within the first 60 days from card approval date
  3. Get S$150 cashback!

Consider the DBS Yuu Card as your first DBS card for a better promo

Get 4 miles per dollar on online transactions. Men can apply too! Tap here for review

Situational: Amex True Cashback Card + GrabPay MasterCard

In the rare occasion where a place doesn’t accept contactless payment, or if a particular transaction doesn’t seem like it’ll generate rewards on other cards (utility bills, government bills, insurance etc), using the Amex True Cashback to top up my Grab guarantees me 1.5% cashback at least.

Depending on the transaction, Grab may or may not award a further 6 points per dollar, which is equivalent to 1.2% rebate. This combo thus gives a combined 2.7% earn rate.

Situational for groceries: Citi Cash Back

With the fall of Maybank FnF, Citi Cash Back is going to be my replacement card for groceries. My grocery expenditure is irregular, and definitely does not reach $800 a month, but it is easy to just buy $1,000 worth of supermarket vouchers to max out the $80 monthly cashback, and then ration the spend over a few months. It also conserves my FRANK/LiveFresh Paywave quota for other retail spend.

Citi Cash Back

Please note there are two different promos and select carefully:

🔥 👍🏼

Citi Promo:

  • Citi PremierMiles: 30,000 miles
  • Citi Prestige: 120,000 points and more
  • Citi Rewards: 40,000 points
  • Citi Cash Back: S$300 cashback
  • Citi SMRT: S$300 cashback
  • Tap here to see Citi promos

Until 30th June 2023


Get 8% cashback on groceries and petrol, as well as 6% on dining! Read the review here

Situational for CapitaLand Vouchers: Amex CapitaCard

After quite a while of sleeping on this card, I discovered its usefulness as a highly situational card. Recently I managed to snag a few hundred dollars in highly discounted eCapitaVouchers, and at the time of writing there is a 2,500 STAR$ rebate for purchasing $50 eCapitaVoucher.

Its earn rate is pretty average, but when you pair it with GreenUP it starts to be pretty good especially when you buy eCapitaVouchers.

Situational for electronics: OCBC Titanium Rewards

Titanium Rewards continues to be the card I use once or twice a year to great effect when buying big-ticket items like electronics or furniture as it has a high cap of $12,000 per year (rather than a monthly cap). 4 mpd on big purchases = a lot of miles.

Amex
True Cashback

 New to Amex

Receive*

3% cashback on first $5,000 of spend (Grab top ups get 1.5% instead)

Amex
CapitaCard

New to Amex

Receive up to 150,000 STAR$® (worth S$150 eCapitaVouchers) when you make a min. spend of S$1,500 within the first 3 months of card approval. T&Cs apply.

OCBC Titanium Rewards

🔥 👍🏼

New OCBC Cardholders

Choose:

Option 1: Free Samsonite 28” luggage

Charge at least S$500 within 30 days upon approval of your eligible card

Option 2: S$250 in cashback​

Charge at least S$1,000 within each 30-day period (in a 60-day period) upon approval of your eligible card

Until 30th June 2023

Terms and conditions:

  1. OCBC: tap here

Save a copy for your own reference.

Get 4 miles per dollar or 2.78% cash rebate on up to S$13,330 of eligible spend per membership year! No monthly cap so it is perfect for big transactions. Eligible spend includes things like electronics, Shopee, Lazada, IKEA, clothing etc.

Keep up to date on the best cashback/mile cards, financial products, attractive deals, and more tips to maximise your financial wellbeing by subscribing to my Telegram channel.

Subscribe to the channel, then join the group chat. You would often benefit from the tips shared exclusively in the group chat!

Disclaimer: I may receive an affiliate/referral fee when you sign up for services/products on this site, and such fees keep the site running. I would only recommend services/products I would personally use or recommend to my own friends and family, but I do not provide any warranty or guarantee for the quality of these services/products. Thank you for supporting my site!

Please exercise due diligence when signing up for any service/product as I will not be liable for any personal loss, financial or otherwise. Content published here are my sole views and personal opnion, and none of the information here constitutes personal financial advice nor represents the views of my employer(s).

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: