Best credit card for grocery shopping!

This question has been bugging many people for quite some time. Now, I shall reveal to you, the best credit card for grocery shopping!

I browsed through all the credit cards offered by different banks with benefits for grocery shopping and tabulated the results in a table.

I included most of the credit cards that are offering rebates on grocery shopping except HSBC Visa Platinum which I find ridiculous as you need to fulfill minimum spending per month for a QUARTER before you are entitled to the cash rebate. Most cards do have minimum spending to fulfil but that is on a MONTHLY basis. So I do not know what HSBS is trying to do here.

There are also a few that are offering 3% cash rebate and yet require minimum spend  monthly while other banks are offering 5% for the same minimum amount. These are DBS Safra and OCBC 365. Don't they know that there are better cards out there that are better than theirs?

Compilation of credit cards for grocery shopping

As you can see from the table above, the best credit card for grocery shopping at Cold Storage, Giant, Jasons, Market Place is the UOB Delight credit card. However, that is if you can hit $1000 and above with the card every month. (up to 10%)

Best credit card for grocery shopping at Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong will be Citibank SMRT credit card with 5% SMRT$ + 2% CitiRebates with minimum of $50 per transaction and minimum of $600 spent on card per month. Even if you spent less than $600 a month, you still get up to 4.7% SMRT$ + up to 2% CitiRebate with minimum of $50 per transaction.

Otherwise, Standard Chartered Singpost credit card will be the best credit card for grocery shopping at Cold Storage, Giant and NTUC.(up to 6% with minimum of $500 spent on card per month)

And the best credit card for grocery shopping at Sheng Siong will be the POSB Everyday credit card as it is fuss free with no minimum spending to meet per transaction or per month. (5% cash back)

Just to add on, if you happen to stay near or  if you frequent Kallang Wave, Citibank SMRT credit card will be the best for grocery shopping with minimum of $50 per transaction. (7.33%)


Personally, I like to use Citibank Dividend CC for NTUC and POSB Everyday for Sheng Siong as they are fuss free with no minimum spent required per month, though the Citibank Dividend requires minimum of $50 per transaction. Cold Storage and Giant, I would use Citibank SMRT, though I rarely do my grocery shopping there.



Tags: best, credit card, grocery, shopping, BOC, Citibank, DBS, Diners, Maybank, OCBC, POSB, Standard Chartered, UOB, Cold Storage, Four Seasons, Giant, Jasons, Market Place, NTUC, Sheng Siong, Kallang Wave

Best credit card(s) for overseas!

FOR THE LATES UPDATE, click the link below:

Best Credt Card(s) for Overseas 2015

I have numerous requests asking for the best credit card for overseas use and after considerable time spent on close examination of different credit cards offered by different banks, I tabulated the results and came up with this table, giving you an overall view of the benefits of recommended credit cards. Also, based on this table, I rocommend the best credit card for overseas use depending on different situations.

I must say there is no 1 card that offers the best deal for overseas spending in my opinion. It all depends on where you are going to and what you are swiping your card for.

Anyway, for your information. And do let me know if you spot any mistakes or if I had missed out any cards.

As I have mentioned earlier, there is no 1 card that is best for overseas use.

If you are travelling to AUS/NZ, the best card is ANZ Travel Visa Signature.

Any other countries, UOB Visa Signature will be your best card, but do remember to spend more than S$1000.00 in foreign currency during your statement period of the maximum rewards.

If you are a small spender or going on a short getaway, and you know your expenses oversea will definitely to less than S$1000.00, bring along your CITI Rewards CC and charged to it at department stores, shops that sell bags, clothes, shoes. Then charge the rest to your ANZ Travel Signature.

Hope this table is useful to those who are travelling in this holiday season!

PS. The table does not take into account of special promotions which may happen from time to time. I also did not take into account of conversion rates, cross border charges etc.



Tags: overseas, spending, credit card, ANZ Travel Visa Signature, Citibank Clear Platinum, Premiermiles, Rewards, DBS Altitude, Maybank Horizon, OCBC Titanium, Standard Chartered Manhattan, UOB PRVI Platinum, Visa Signature, VISA, MASTER, AMEX, cash rebate, miles, shopping, holiday, vacation, getaway

Debit card and the risks of using it!

I have heard and seen a few cases of fraudulent charges made on debit cards. Amounts charged ranged from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars! But luckily, almost all the cases ended on a happy note with the money returned to the owner after investigations by the bank.

Personally I have never used a debit card before (used cash before I had a credit card) but I know the risks faced by debit card users, are the same with credit card users.

Let me give you a few tips to protect your money.

Before that, you must know how a debit card works.
A debit card works exactly like credit card and NETS combined. The parts that are identical to credit card: the card goes through the card terminal, signature may be required and there is a charged slip for the purchase. The part that is identical to NETS: the money is deducted right away! Hence, you need to have money in your account before the transaction is approved.



So how can you prevent or minimise your loss?

1) Never use a debit card at all.

Giving your debit card to the waiter/waitress at the restaurant while you wait at your table is akin to giving your ATM card + your pin number to a stranger. You never know what can happen in between the wait.

2) Never use a debit card for online transaction

Using a debit card for online transaction is as unsecured as using a credit card for online transaction. Your card details may be stolen and you may get fraudulent charges on your card.

3) If you really need to use a debit card, keep the money in your account low like S$500.00 or S$1000.00

Or, keep it low at all times. Transfer the money only when you need to make the purchase.

4) Never use a debit card that is linked to your main savings account

You are giving thieves out there to access your entire piggy bank if you use a debit card linked to your main savings account!

For points (1) and (2), you may argue that the risks faced by debit card and credit card users are the same, then why is using credit cards encouraged but using debit cards is not encouraged?

Firstly, credit cards offer perks which are usually much better than those offered by debit cards. Some debit cards do not offer any perks for some purchases at all. Weighing the pros and cons, the benefit of using a credit card is there but debit cards may not give you much benefit for the same exposed risk!

Secondly, if you get a fraud charge on your credit card, you do not need to pay for it while investigations are ongoing. BUT if your entire kitty has been wiped out due to fraud charge to your debit card, you may not get any cent back until investigations are completed and this may take weeks! Worse if your main account is being wiped out. You will be broke for the duration investigations are ongoing! (Of course, you may seek redress from the bank and they may return the money to you first, but there is no guarantee on this)

The point to take home is, try not to use your debit card and if you really need to, link it to an account with small amount of money.



Tags: debit card, credit card, fraud, fraudulent charge, risk, loss