NSF applying credit cards. Yay or nay? Which?

Hey Nikki, it's a yay for me and I'd recommend the Maybank eVibes card!

1) Maybank eVibes

• 1% unlimited rebate on all spend

• No minimum spending required

• Fee waiver for the first 2 years, waivable with 1 transaction every 3 months from the 3rd year onwards

• Signup gift (Adidas watch)

2) CIMB AWSM

• 1% unlimited rebate on dining & entertainment, online shopping, and telecommunication

• No minimum spending required

• No annual fee

3) DBS SAFRA Debit Card

• 2% rebate for physical Mastercard transactions, 1% rebate for online transactions & 0.3% on others

• Rebates are in the form of SAFRA$, capped at $50 per month

• Minimum spending of $400 per month (N/A for NSFs)

• No annual fee, but you'll have to pay the SAFRA membership fee

In my opinion, the DBS SAFRA debit card isn't attractive as you'll have to pay for the SAFRA membership fee in order to get the card. According to their website, it's $80 for a 2-year membership, $155 for a 5-year membership, and $270 for a 10-year membership. Unless you visit and use the facilities at SAFRA very often, it doesn't make sense to sign up for the membership.

The reason why I recommend the Maybank eVibes card over the CIMB AWSM is that the latter is basically a subset of the Maybank eVibes card as it offers 1% rebate on all categories, which includes all those offered by the CIMB AWSM card. Although there's a quarterly service fee of $5 after the first 2 years, it is easily waivable by simply charging at least 1 transaction to your card every 3 months. Additionally, it offers a signup gift, which you can sell it away for cash (I sold it for $50 on Carousell).

Personally, I've used the CIMB AWSM before, back when I was serving my NS. But I switched over to the Maybank eVibes last year since it offers cashback on all categories whereas the CIMB AWSM limits to 3.​​​

Hi, I will recommend using the SAFRA Debit Card. 2% cashback rebate on all contactless with no minimum amount.

https://youtu.be/tSEHirFwlWs