Review: Citi SMRT Card (2026)
A collaboration between Citibank and SMRT Corporation, Citi SMRT is an interesting card whose name undersells its usefulness. While the card does indeed give 5% cashback on public transportation rides, it also has a relatively unique ability to deal with large transactions as long as payment is done online.
It’s a compelling card that even miles chasers should take a look at if they have big purchases to make online.
Card features
| Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Earn Rate | – 5% cashback on groceries, public transport, taxis – 5% cashback on onine transactions – 5% on Malaysian ringgit spend (until 28th February 2027) – 0.3% for spend outside of selected categories |
| Min. Spend | S$500 within statement month |
| Limits | S$600 cashback in a membership year |
| Tracking | Statement month |
| Apply | Here |
Citi SMRT offers its 5% cashback earn rate on the following when the S$500 minimum spend is met within the statement month:
- Groceries
- Public Transport
- Taxis and Ride-hailing
- Online transactions
- Malaysian Ringgit (until 28th February 2027)
When it comes to things like groceries, public transport, and taxis, 5% cashback is decent but not particularly high. A quick look at the best cards to use for these categories will reveal cards with higher earn rates for things like groceries or public transport.
The online category, however, makes Citi SMRT compelling especially when you consider that the card has no monthly cap.
No monthly cap for 5% cashback
Instead of having a monthly cap, the Citi SMRT Card caps the cashback to a yearly S$600. This one feature, coupled with the online transaction category, is extremely significant: it is the only high earn rate cashback card I know of that does not have a monthly cap. Even many miles cards struggle with large purchases these days, with monthly caps falling to around S$1,000 or less.
Buying a S$3,000 computer online? Get 5% cashback on the entire sum! Buying a few iPhones? No issue, still 5%, as long as it’s ordered online. Renovating your home and need to buy thousands of dollars worth of furniture online? 5% cashback.
As long as you don’t cross S$600 worth cashback within a 12 month-period, you can get 5% cashback for large online purchases. That’s S$12,000 of spend and you can do it all at one go if needed.
This is also why you should absolutely sign up for the card right now, even if you don’t have immediate large transactions in the horizon. By applying earlier, your card refreshes its cap earlier, which may come in useful at least in the first couple of years of owning this card. For instance, if your large purchase comes 10 months later, you can make good use of the S$12,000 cap, and have only 2 months before that cap is refreshed.
Most other high-earn cards come with monthly caps
In older versions of this review, I compared the Citi SMRT with close competitors that are also good with large transactions. This list is very, very tiny now, with cards like OCBC Rewards having a S$1,110 monthly cap now (changed from an annual cap of S$13,330).
KrisFlyer UOB could be the miles alternative to Citi SMRT, but you will need to spend at least S$1,000 on Singapore Airlines, Scoot, or KrisShop transactions to unlock the card’s 2.4 miles per dollar earn rate. Also, giving up 5% cashback to earn 2.4 miles per dollar is basically buying each mile at 2.08 cents, a cost higher than just paying a S$196.20 annual fee for 10,000 miles that many cards come with.
This makes the Citi SMRT perhaps the best card when it comes to big online purchases.
5% cashback for Malaysian Ringgit spend extended until 28th February 2027
Originally ending on 28th February 2026, the card’s 5% cashback will now apply on Malaysian Ringgit spend until 28th February 2027. There is a foreign currency fee of 3.25% for such transactions, though the 5% cashback more than offsets the fee with some earnings to spare.
This makes the card good for purchases in Malaysia, especially bigger transactions given its lack of a monthly cap.
Sign-up
Sign up below for welcome gifts:
Mobile wallets and travel-related transactions are excluded
Do take note that Citi SMRT Card does not give 5% on the online category for mobile wallets or travel-related transactions, so you won’t have to wonder whether topping up your Grab or ShopeePay wallet would work with this card.
What’s not as clear, however, is whether you can add the card to your Apple Pay or Google Pay wallet and make transactions via apps like Kris+ or ShopBack Pay to earn 5% cashback. According to reports on the Telegram, the answer is yes, suggesting that the card works differently from Citi Rewards (which does not give its bonus earn rate on such transactions).
You also can’t get 5% off your travel packages, airfare, or hotel spend which is a big downside considering how these tend to be the bigger purchases one might make.
Manual redemption of cashback
Citi, annoyingly, continues its habit of being decidedly odd with how it handles cashback. While other bank credits your month’s earned cashback to offset your spend automatically, Citi insists that you SMS them or use the app to manually redeem the cashback. This can only be done in in blocks of S$10 up to a maximum of S$50 each redemption. Making multiple redemptions doesn’t take long by any means, but it’s still an unneeded annoyance.
Also take note that the cashback can expire if not redeemed, so make sure you cash out your earned SMRT$ in a timely manner.
The good
- Annual cap of S$600 cashback (S$12,000 spend) instead of monthly cap makes this card good for large online purchases
- Decent 5% cashback for groceries, transportation, and online purchases
- 5% cashback on Malaysian Ringgit spend extended until 28th February 2027
- Relatively low S$500 min. spend per month
The bad
- Travel-related expenses are excluded
- Cashback needs to be manually redeemed
The Verdict
Little annoyances aside, the Citi SMRT Card is extremely compelling with its unique feature of having no monthly cap, and its high earn rate on online spending.
The card is a must-have in anyone’s arsenal of cards, unless you are absolutely sure you will never buy anything online that is more than a few hundred dollars. It does have its oddities and imperfections, but it is definitely the best card to use now when you find yourself needing to buy something expensive online.
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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