From The Straits Times    |

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If you’re going to spend several hundred dollars buying new clothes, electronics, or furniture, why not earn extra rewards while you’re at it?

In Singapore, it certainly pays to use the right credit card for shopping. With generous rewards for every dollar you spend, credit cards can make your money work hard and shower you with gifts – assuming you pay your bill in full and on time, of course!

We came up with a list of the best shopping credit cards from our partners and the market. Whether it’s more flexibility paying for big purchases or earning air miles from your shopping, we hope you’ll find the perfect card for you below:

Best for Large Purchases: OCBC CashFlo MasterCard

Credit card instalment plans make big purchases more affordable, but they come with a couple of drawbacks too. However, there is one credit card that brings the best of both worlds.

The OCBC CashFlo MasterCard is the only credit card in Singapore that automatically splits payments into zero per cent instalment plans, and rewards you for them. With a minimum spend of S$100, all purchases below S$1,000 get split into an interest-free 3-month instalment plan. When you spend on an item worth S$1,000 or more, payments get split over 6 months.

Unlike other credit cards, which don’t give rewards for purchases on instalment, the OCBC Cashflo MasterCard awards you with rebates. Earn a one per cent rebate with a monthly bill higher than S$1,000, or 0.5 per cent rebate with a monthly bill lower than S$1,000.

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What We Like

Hassle-free instalment plans. No need to check with the bank or apply for an instalment plan when you make a purchase.

Cash rebates. While a one per cent rebate doesn’t seem so impressive, S$10 cashback is still S$10 saved!

What We Don’t Like

Limited use. There are no other rewards beyond the auto-instalment plans and access to OCBC buffet promotions.

Best for Online Shopping: Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum Card

This card was built with online shoppers in mind, with seven per cent cashback for online purchases – including travel bookings, food deliveries, and retail! Do note that you must spend at least S$600 per billing cycle to earn rebates on online shopping. Rebates are capped at S$60 per month.

The SingPost Platinum Visa comes equipped with great safety features to keep online shoppers protected. If within 30 days after making an online purchase, you find the same item on a different website at a much lower price, you can claim a 50 per cent refund of the price difference through the card’s Online Price Guarantee feature. With the card’s CardSafe Guarantee, you never have to worry about strangers getting hold of your card number and charging thousands of dollars worth of transactions on it.

If you do the bulk of your online shopping on Amazon and other US-based stores, you might like the fact that it comes with vPost shipment discounts – a generous 20 per cent off your shipments to Singapore.

Finally, this card also gives you discounts on your Uber rides until 30 September 2017, and a choice of S$150 in Uber credits as a welcome gift!

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What We Like

High cashback for online shopping. Of all the online shopping credit cards in Singapore, the Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum has the highest cashback.

Consumer protection. The Online Price Guarantee feature and CardSafe Guarantee ensures you get the best deal and safest shopping experience.

Flexible welcome gifts. We love the fact that you have a choice of three different welcome offers.

What We Don’t Like

Limited cashback earned. It’d be too good to be true to get seven per cent cash rebate off all online purchases, but S$60 is still a lot of savings each month!

Best Card for Travel Rewards: Citi Rewards Visa Signature Card

Many credit cards let you trade rewards points for air miles, but the Citi Rewards Visa Signature Card is the most efficient one at doing so.

You earn 10 Citi Dollars or 4 miles for every S$1 you spend on shoes, bags, and clothes at online or offline retail stores and department stores. No other card, not even the most premium air miles credit card, gives you this many miles per dollar!

Occasionally, the Citi Rewards Card gives 20 Citi Dollars or 8 miles at certain stores. At the moment, you can enjoy this accelerated earn rate at Qoo10 until 30 April 2017. Do note that the rewards are capped at 20,000 Citi Dollars per calendar month (around S$100 worth of purchases).

Outside of buying shoes, clothes, and bags, this credit card gives you 1 Citi Dollar per S$1 spent.

Finally, the Citi Rewards Card gives exclusive discounts to the most popular online shopping destinations in Singapore, including Lazada, Zalora, and Airbnb. And because it’s a Citi credit card, you can also use it to get access to Citibank’s buffet promotions.

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What We Like

Earn air miles when you shop. Generous rewards await when you spend on the right items at the right stores. At 4 miles per S$1, this is one of the highest miles-per-dollar rate in the market.

What We Don’t Like

S$25 fee to transfer points to miles. Unfortunately, miles are credited as points or Citi Dollars, and you’ll be charged a S$25 Points Transfer fee every time you convert them to miles. We suggest saving up several thousand miles and converting them in one go to save on the Points Transfer fee.

Only 1 point per S$1 on non-fashion items. If you don’t spend much on shoes, bags, or clothes, this card may not be right for you.

 

This story was originally published in SingSaver.sg.