Ranked: Best Cards to Maximise Cashback/Miles (July 2020)

Half of 2020 is over and the credit card landscape has seen some changes. Let’s get into it:

Tiers

Tier	Cashback	Miles	Winner
1	UOB One (8.33% to 10%) Maybank FnF (8%)	–	Cashback
2a	OCBC FRANK (6%)	CitiRewards + GrabPay MC (4+0.4 mpd)	Cashback
2b	UOB One (5%) DBS LiveFresh (5%)	All 4 mpd: DBS Woman’s World CitiRewards UOB Preferred Platinum OCBC Titanium Rewards HSBC Revolution	Draw
3	UOB One (3.33%) Amex True Cashback (3%+0.8%)¹	UOB KrisFlyer (3mpd)	Draw
4	SC Spree + GrabPay MC (2%+0.8%)	–	Cashback
5	Citi Cash Back+ SC Unlimited Cashback	1.2 to 1.5 mpd	Miles

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The logic of the tiers are simple: if you are a cashback person, you’d obviously put all your spending on Tier 1 cards, followed by Tier 2 when your Tier 1 cards are fully maximised. A miles person would focus on the Miles column, and someone who is Team Value like me would see whether miles or cashback wins in the specific tier.

Cashback cards got a good boost over the past month or two and easily take the top couple of tiers.

Tier 1

Maybank FnF ruled the roost with relatively easy 8% cashback after UOB One’s 10% for Grab top-up was unceremoniously removed. UOB One’s fantastic double-digit cashback rate makes a return of sorts, with Diary Farm merchants getting an additional 5% cashback.

There really isn’t a 6 to 8 mpd card to fill the Tier 1 position for miles cards. During Circuit Breaker, OCBC and Citi were offering limited 8 mpd, but like our lockdown that has come and gone, they have all reverted to their usual 4 mpd rates which fill Tier 2.

Tier 2A

Previously called Tier 1.5, Tier 2A now houses the excellent OCBC FRANK which basically clones DBS LiveFresh but adds an additional percentile point to its cashback rate for a handsome 6% cashback rate on contactless and online spend, plus increases monthly cashback cap a little.

CitiRewards Visa has survived the Grab top-up game till now (knocks on wood) and represents the best mile earn rate now with 4 mpd on its top up and 4 Grab points per dollar spent (which translates into 0.8% cashback or 0.4 miles).

Tier 2B

Tier 2B is largely unchanged, with DBS LiveFresh at 5% – replaced by OCBC FRANK but still makes a good supplement card if your FRANK is maxed – and UOB One at 5% if you are a big spender who can hit $2,000 monthly.

As usual, there are a plethora of 4 mpd cards you can use for miles.

Tiers 3 to 5

Nothing much has changed here, and these are cards you go to if your Tier 1 and 2 cards have been maxed or don’t qualify.

Promos affect tiers

Noteworthy is that banks run promos from time to time that can drastically change the position of a card. For instance, for July and August, DBS is giving an additional 8% in cashback or vouchers for hitting a certain spend goal. OCBC is celebrating the revamp of FRANK by giving additional 4% cashback for those who qualify. Maybank is giving 7% rebate for certain retail spend.

Questions?

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