Three best credit cards for online shopping in Singapore

By SingSaver.com.sg

Don’t click the ‘checkout’ button without these credit cards for online shopping!

Updated as of 1 November 2016

When it comes to online shopping, Singaporeans are spoilt for choice. And since we’re big fans of avoiding crowds and saving money, we want to share the three best credit cards for online shopping in Singapore.

These cards are quite special because of the discounts and rewards they give when you shop at your favourite online brands. Without further ado:

1. Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum Card

Vying for top place is the Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum Visa Card.

This card was built with online shoppers in mind, with 7% cashback for online purchases and 2% cashback at supermarkets (with a minimum spend of S$600 a month). Don’t get too excited, though – cashback is capped at S$60 per month.

It would be great if the cap were set a little higher, or if there were separate caps for online and supermarket spend. Still, S$60 is quite a lot, so we’ll gladly accept the savings.

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% refund of the price difference through the card’s Online Price Guarantee feature.

And with the card’s CardSafe Guarantee, you never have to worry about strangers getting ahold 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. New customers get 30% off their first shipment, while you get 20% off for subsequent shipments.

Qualifying Criteria & Costs

Check your eligibility before applying for the Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum Visa Card.

What We Like:

• 7% cashback on online purchases
• Online Price Guarantee feature, which refunds 50% of the price difference if you find a cheaper price elsewhere
• CardSafe Guarantee, which protects you from unauthorised online transactions on your card
• vPost shipment discounts
• 2% cashback on supermarket purchases

What We Don’t Like:

• S$60 cashback cap limits your savings
• 2% cashback on everything else

Get This Card If You…

• Make a lot of overseas online purchases that require a US address. The vPost discounts save you quite a bit on shipping costs!
• Also do the groceries. 2% cashback isn’t much, but you might as well take advantage of it and use this card for groceries to help you reach the minimum spend.

2. ANZ Optimum World Mastercard Card

The ANZ Optimum World Mastercard Card gives you up to 5% cashback for your online shopping sprees.

What sets this card apart from the others: No minimum monthly spend, and no monthly cap on cashback earned.

You’ll start earning 5% cashback for every transaction over S$10. However, the maximum cashback you can earn per transaction is S$30, so the best way to use this card is to keep your purchases between S$10 and S$600 each time.

There’s one more caveat – the 5% cashback is applied to transactions belonging to 1 of 4 categories, which you can select every quarter (the cutoff date is on the 25th every December, March, June and September).

You’ll need to figure out your spending pattern throughout the year so as to make the most out of this mechanic, but you’ll have greater flexibility on how you can earn cashback.

If you forget to set the correct category, you’ll earn only 1% cashback for the quarter. However, with the ability to earn unlimited cashback, it’s worth the slight inconvenience to log in and make your selection every 3 months.

Qualifying Criteria & Costs

Check your eligibility before applying for the ANZ Optimum World Mastercard Card.

What We Like:

• Unlimited cashback
• 5% cashback on eligible online transactions, including fashion and travel

What We Don’t Like:

• 5% cashback awarded on 1 of 4 categories only (Dining &Leisure, Shopping, Groceries or Travel)
• High minimum annual income requirement of S$80,000

Get This Card If You…

• Make small, but frequent purchases.As long as you select the correct category, and keep your transactions under S$600, you’ll be enjoying one of the highest cashback rates on the market.
• Love unlimited cashback. With unlimited cashback, this card gives you the best potential savings.

3. DBS Live Fresh Card

The DBS Live Fresh Card is a great all-in-one card that also happens to offer reward points and rebates for online purchases.

By default, this credit card offers 3 DBS Points per S$5 spent online or with Visa PayWave purchases, as well as for Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Android Pay transactions. There’s no minimum spend required and no cap on the number of points you can earn.

From now till 31 December 2016, you can also earn 5% cashback on your online purchases if you spend at least S$700 that month (capped at S$70 per month).However, you need to meet a couple of criteria first.

If you don’t own a DBS Live Fresh card yet, you need to apply for the card before 31 December 2016. You must also not have a canceled card account within the last 12 months.

If you’re an existing DBS Live Fresh cardmember, you need to register for the promotion online. Note that you have to be among the first 10,000 registrants to qualify.

One other thing worth noting is the sheer convenience brought by the Live Fresh card. Thanks to the EZ-Reload feature, you can use it as your EZ-Link Card and never have to queue to top up.

If you have a DBS savings account, you can also link your card to it and use it as your ATM card.

Outside of online shopping and PayWave purchases, however, the DBS Live Fresh Card only earns you 1 DBS point for every S$5 spent. You’re better off using a different credit card for groceries or non-online retail.

Qualifying Criteria & Costs

Check your eligibility before applying for the DBS Live Fresh Card.

What We Like:

• 3 DBS Points per S$5 spent online and on PayWave purchases
• Additional 5% cashback online and on PayWave, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay purchases
• All-in-one EZ-Link and ATM Card

What We Don’t Like:

• 1 DBS Point per S$5 spent on non-online or non-PayWave purchases
• No cashback earned from non-online or non-PayWave purchases

Get This Card If You…

• Have a DBS Savings Account. It’s incredibly convenient to have your credit card linked to your ATM account, especially when you can use it as your EZ-Link card too.
• Want a separate credit card just for online shopping. If you’d rather compartmentalize your online purchases to a single credit card, this is a good choice. Of the three, the DBS Live Fresh Card has the lowest annual fee, if you decide to renew it after the first two years.

Also Consider: OCBC Frank Card

At first glance, the OCBC Frank Card looks like a great choice for online shopping. With an attractive 6% rebate on online purchases (including flights and hotels) and a decent S$60 monthly cap, it seems like a no-brainer to pick this card.

The OCBC Frank Card also comes with a 5% weekend rebate and 3% weekday rebate on cafes, cinemas, and bars – giving you more ways to save money on fun.

However, you can only start earning online shopping rebates after you’ve spent S$400 offline. This makes it really useful if you’re having a night out in town, but not so much if you spend a lot on online shopping.

Qualifying Criteria & Costs

Check your eligibility before applying for the OCBC Frank Card.

What We Like:

• Up to 5% cashback on entertainment
• 6% cashback on online spend
• Over 120 awesome card designs
• Low annual fee

What We Don’t Like:

• S$400 offline spend required to earn rebates on online shopping

Get This Card If You…

Spend a lot on cocktails, coffee, and movies. While the OCBC Frank Card does have generous rebates on online shopping, the S$400 offline spend requirement makes it a better choice if you spend on entertainment more than you shop online.

Singsaver.com.sg, Singapore’s go-to personal finance comparison platform, guides consumers on the best money habits with its credit card comparison tool and allows real-time personal loans product comparison.