Here are the Credit Cards I Use A Lot

Lots of changes and nerfs have happened over the last year, but the world of credit cards remain as rewarding as ever… as long as you use the right cards. Here are my credit cards of choice this year, most of which have dodged or survived nerfs mostly *knocks on wood*

A brief note on cashback vs miles (again)

For the benefit of those who are new to my credit card philosophy, I’m not someone beholden to either cashback or miles. If someone asks you whether you want money SGD or USD, the correct response is: “how much?”

Getting S$10 beats getting US$5, but US$5 beats S$3. This is my approach when it comes to credit card rewards – if I can get 6% cashback, 4 miles per dollar isn’t that attractive. But if something only gets me 1.5% cashback, 4 miles per dollar is a pretty decent offer. Generally, picking the larger number tends to be correct in my books to derive more value.

Check out lists of Best Cards for areas of spend

Of course, my card choices may differ from yours since we probably have very different spending habits. Check out the Best Cards to use for different situations. Don’t forget also that you can join the Telegram for discussion on credit cards and all things personal finance related.

Primary Card: UOB EVOL

UOB EVOL has so far dodged nerfs while its once-close siblings like OCBC FRANK and DBS LiveFresh have been changed drastically. While disingenuous marketing claims an 8% cashback rate, the UOB EVOL gives at best around 6.7% when used optimally.

It’s still a decently high earn rate, enough to use over 4 miles per dollar cards. The card is also simple enough to use with a relatively low minimum spend of S$600 per month, and all I need to do is to make sure that my online and Paywave transactions are roughly half of this S$600 figure each month to get a pretty good cashback rate.

Being one of the UOB One account’s cards also makes this card a must-use each month for higher interest on my savings. Giving a high cashback rate and unlocking more interest makes the value proposition of this card too high to ignore.

Grocery Card: DBS yuu

DBS yuu was my Cashback Card of the Year for 2023, and with a super aggressive 17.5% rebate rate, it’s not hard to see why.

The card isn’t as versatile as UOB EVOL since it’s not useful for eateries, Shopee purchases or anything outside its list of yuu merchants, but I do spend enough on Singtel, Giant/Cold Storage, and foodpanda for DBS yuu to be an indispensable part of my card library. Things like Singtel bill payment and Giant/Cold Storage voucher purchases still work, so it is a very easy to use card.

Even if you don’t spend S$600 on groceries per month, you can buy S$600 worth of vouchers in a single month, get your 17.5% rebate in form of yuu points, then ration out those vouchers over the next few months.

Really not into Dairy Farm supermarkets like Giant or Cold Storage? Check out other grocery cards to use.

Alternate Primary Cards

While UOB EVOL’s S$600 limit is usually sufficient for my monthly expenses, there are times where I fall onto 4 miles per dollar cards to soak up excess spending. The following are great for such purposes:

• Citi Rewards (paired with Instarem Amaze)
• UOB Preferred Platinum Visa
• HSBC Revolution

While HSBC Revolution’s utility has diminished quite a bit with its recent nerfs, Citi Rewards with Instarem Amaze continues to be a great way to get 4 miles per dollar on most retail spend (aside from travel-related expenses). UOB Preferred Platinum Visa works pretty similarly, giving 4 miles per dollar on anywhere you can pay with contactless.

Situational Cards: Big Expenses

Every now and then, a big expense comes along that blows past most of the monthly caps of other cards. In such a scenario, cards without monthly caps are particularly useful.

Citi SMRT card is one such option which has an annual limit of S$12,000 for its decent 5% cashback instead of a monthly cap. The requirements are pretty simple too: the transaction needs to be online, and at least S$500 needs to be spent within the month.

S$10,000 of furniture or S$3,000 laptop? Get 5% cashback as long as you buy them online.

Another option I turn to sometimes is KrisFlyer UOB credit card which is useful for miles and expenses that are even bigger than the S$12,000 cap of Citi SMRT. KrisFlyer UOB gives 3 miles per dollar on things like dining, food delivery, online shopping and travel-related expenses provided there is a minimum spend of S$800 on Singapore Airlines, Scoot or KrisShop.

There is no upper cap to this 3 miles per dollar earn rate too which is particularly useful for really large transactions. KrisFlyer UOB card is uniquely able to give its earn rate on however much I can charge to the card as long as they are online and one of the many Merchant Category Codes listed in the card’s terms and conditions. I have to be mindful to spend S$800 on Singapore Airlines or Scoot tickets, which isn’t too difficult since these are the two airlines I use the most.

Bill Payments

Another big area of spend that I have is bill payments, and while many credit cards have excluded things like insurance, utilities, income tax payments etc. from their card rewards, there are still ways to squeeze some returns from the bills we pay.

For bills that accept American Express, I have been using UOB Absolute, but recent nerfs have brought Amex True Cashback back into relevancy again. 1.5% is better than nothing (and also better than the paltry 0.3% rate UOB Absolute will give from 6th May 2024 onwards).

For other things that don’t accept American Express or even credit cards at all, I use DBS Vantage for CardUp/ipaymy, or Citi Prestige for Citi PayAll depending on which service has a good promo.

These services allow me to buy miles cheaply, and it can be a very good way to rack up lots of miles in a short period of time.

Lifestyle Cards

Finally, there are also “lifestyle cards” that I use for their perks. Such cards are used for the benefits and card features instead of their earn rates. Citi Prestige, for instance, is one of my favourite cards not because it has a high earn rate, but because it provides things like complimentary hotel nights, airport transfers, and unlimited airport lounge access.

Check out the resources I’ve compiled based on my experience using the card.

Another card I’ve been keeping for the benefits would be Amex Platinum Charge. The card comes with a laundry list of features, and I think the accelerated status match to Hilton’s gold tier is one of the more notable ones. That gets me free breakfast at Hilton’s properties and I don’t have to climb their loyalty programme for it.

Of course, I also get a bunch of statement credits and those signing up get a nice sign-up bonus on top of the card perks. These can greatly offset the price of admission which is the S$1,744 annual fee.

There are too many things to go through for this card and the last time I did so was more than a year ago, so stay subscribed for a more updated version coming soon.

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Credit cards have always been a core interest for this site, and it is unlikely to change so stay subscribed for more credit card deals, updates and resources to maximise cashback and/or miles!

Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.

He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.

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