Fuss-Free Cards With Almost No Requirements Nor Minimum Spend

💳 This is part of the “The Best Cards to Use” series. Tap here for more great cards to use in other areas of spend!

Don’t want to micromanage your credit card spending, or fulfil troublesome requirements? That doesn’t mean we should just settle for a paltry 1.5% cashback rate, or a poor 1.2 miles per dollar earn rate on our spend.

Here are some cards that would give you at least 2% or more in rebates on most types of spends without requiring you to jump through hoops to get your card rewards. Just in time too, since GrabPay Mastercard no longer gives a fuss-free 2.9% in rebates like it used to.

HSBC Advance

HSBC Advance gives 1.5% cashback if you spend less than S$2,000 within a month without any minimum spend. Sounds just like any other 1.5% cashback card out there, but spend at least S$2,000 and you will get a more decent 2.5% cashback rate.

There is a maximum cashback of S$70 per month, which means you shouldn’t put more than S$2,800 of spending on this card in a single month. That should be roomy enough unless you are a very big spender.

On top of that, if you are able to meet the requirements of HSBC Everyday+ programme, you get an additional 1% cashback, making it possible to get 3.5% cashback from this card. To qualify for this, you will need an HSBC EGA account and fulfil the requirements, basically depositing S$2,000 of fresh funds and performing at least 5 eligible transactions with your card each month.

HSBC Revolution

Another HSBC Card that would get you a decent earn rate without minimum spend is the HSBC Revolution. The HSBC Revolution gives you 10 points per dollar spent on eligible transactions, and that is equivalent to 4 miles per dollar – about the highest miles earn rate you can get these days. Since points can also be converted into cash rebate, 10 points per dollar also represents a 2.5% cashback earn rate.

You shouldn’t spend more than S$1,000 per month on this card because anything beyond this figure earns only 1 point per dollar spend. That’s a tiny 0.25% cashback equivalent.

Like the HSBC Advance, the HSBC Revolution is also eligible for the HSBC Everyday+ programme which gives additional 1% cashback.

Citi Rewards + Instarem Amaze

Citi Rewards is typically an online spend card, but paired with the Instarem Amaze, it can be used for offline purchases to also get its 10 points per dollar earn rate. All you have to do is to add your Citi Rewards card to the Instarem app and use your Amaze card in retail stores.

Just like HSBC Revolution, 10 points can be converted into 4 miles, or into cash rebate. Converting Citi’s ThankYou points into cash rebate results in a 2.27% cashback earn rate, but if you opt for vouchers it can become around 3% in rebates. You can check out the review for more details.

Like the HSBC Revolution, the maximum amount you should put on this card per month to get its high earn rate is S$1,000.

StanChart Spree

StanChart Spree gives 2% cashback on Paywave and online transactions – covering practically most areas of spend. It also directly credits the cashback to your next statement, and unlike HSBC Revolution or Citi Rewards does not need an additional step of redeeming your points for cash rebate.

UOB Absolute + GrabPay Mastercard

Update: UOB absolute reduced cashback on Grab top-ups to 0.3% from 15th January 2023

Despite the nerf, GrabPay Mastercard might not be totally dead yet, at least for people who really want fuss-free cashback. Topping up your GrabPay Mastercard with your UOB Absolute for 1.7% cashback (or Amex True Cashback for 1.5%) is perhaps the easiest way to get your rewards… although at 1.7% cashback it is little better than 1.5% cashback cards.

Nevertheless, this combo gives you a few advantages: one, you sidestep the issue of having fewer merchants that accept American Express cards in Singapore since GrabPay Mastercard, as the name suggests, is a Mastercard with relatively more widespread acceptance.

Two, there is no doubt that you would get your cashback when you top up your Grab wallet with the UOB Absolute. While 1.5% cashback cards should give their rewards on a wide range of expenditure, there are still many common exclusions that do not even get the low 1.5% cashback rate. Insurance, for instance, is excluded by almost every credit card in the market.

Cards to top up Grab

Get 1.5% cashback on Grab top-ups with the Amex True Cashback Card.

Conclusion

The earn rates on these cards are not terribly exciting, but there is a price for convenience. For cards with better rewards, do check out my tier list of cards with the highest earn rates.

Any cards you think should have made this list? Let us know in the comments below, or in the Telegram!

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