facebookCurrently using DBS Live Fresh, and i'm thinking of changing to another cashback card. What do you guys think? - Seedly

Janice

13 Apr 2020

Credit Cards

Currently using DBS Live Fresh, and i'm thinking of changing to another cashback card. What do you guys think?

Currently my monthly spending on the card averages $1200. I use it for all expenses (ezlink, paywave, online shopping). I'm able to get the max $20 for both Paywave and Online Spend every month.

Should i consider looking at other CCs to fully make use of my CCs?
I currently have Citi Cashback and SCB Unlimited Cashback, but it's not used as i dont think there's a need for them now.

Discussion (2)

What are your thoughts?

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Carrie Rose

13 Apr 2020

Senior Research Analyst at ValueChampion

Hi Janice! Based on your spending habits (S$1.2k/month, mostly online & payWave transactions) DBS Live Fresh might still be the best card for you. With a focus on online shopping rewards, here are a few reasons why:

  • Most points/miles-earning shopping cards offer 4 miles per S$1, up to 4k miles/month. This can be maxed out by S$1k spend (below your budget), and is equal to roughly S$40 in value-to-consumer (lower than the cap with DBS Live Fresh). You'd also need to pay to redeem your points, which would cut into your earnings. In this case, cashback might be a better match for you

  • Other cashback cards that reward online shopping with boosted rates–OCBC Frank and UOB YOLO–are more restrictive and primarily reward weekend spending (weekday spending earns at lower rates). Rewards are capped at about the same level as DBS Live Fresh (OCBC Frank is slightly higher, at S$80/month instead of S$60/month) so you ultimately wouldn't earn much more if you made the switch

  • Finally, other credit cards have 'weird caps' in place that you should look out for. For example, CIMB Visa Signature offers 10% rebate on online spend–but this is capped at just S$20 in earnings (maxed out with S$200 spend). It's worth mentioning that Citi Cash Back (which you already have) also has an odd cap structure, where dining, groceries, and petrol are each capped at S$25, so if you don't have evenly distributed spending, you won't maximise rewards

It sounds like with DBS Live Fresh, you've been able to consistently max out your rewards–that adds up to S$720/year (though the annual fee does cut into this total). This is a pretty competitive amount.

That being said, I'll like to bring up that you can earn even more–at your current budget level–if you opt to consolidate all your purchases onto one card and lessen the focus on online purchases (if that's what you've currently been focusing on). I'd say the absolute best option would be Maybank Family & Friends Mastercard. If you spend S$1k/month (fits your budget), you'll earn 8% rebate on dining, groceries, transport, petrol, online TV streaming while simultaneously maxing out the S$80/month rewards cap. That means you'll earn S$960/year–substantially more than you can right now with DBS Live Fresh. Even better, at S$1k/month you earn a fee-waiver, so you won't have to worry about extra costs cutting into your earnings.
On a final note, I wouldn't recommend any unlimited cashback cards. Those cards are best suited to consumers with budgets of S$6k-8k+ – we've done the math – as you can earn more with capped cashback cards below that level.

If you want to learn more about online shopping cards or Maybank Family & Friends, here are a few links below. I hope this helps!

Online Shopping Cards: https://www.valuechampion.sg/best-credit-cards-...

Maybank Family & Friends Review: https://www.valuechampion.sg/maybank-family-fri...

Pang Zhe Liang

11 Apr 2020

Fee-Based Financial Advisory Manager at Financial Alliance Pte Ltd (IFA Firm)

It depends on your spending habit.

For dining, you may wish consider Maybank Family and Friends credit card. If you spend $800 or above, you get 8% cashback. Alternatively, you may consider Citi Cash Back card - 8% cashback for dining when you spend $888 or more in a statement month. Otherwise, you may consider POSB Everyday card where you will receive 5% cash rebate.

For online food delivery, you may consider POSB Everyday card. In return you get 15% cash rebate.

For general spending, you may wish to consider UOB One credit card. If you spend $2,000 consistently every month for a billing quarter, you will receive 5% cashback. Alternatively, you may consider Citi Cash Back Plus at 1.6% cash back on all spend or Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback card at 1.5% on all spend.

For online spending, you may wish to consider Standard Chartered Spree credit card. In return, you earn 2% cashback for all online spend in local currency or 3% cashback for all online spend in foreign currency.

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