Best credit card for online purchases!

Now, this is another question that has been frequently asked.

So which credit card do I use for online purchases?

I use the OCBC Frank credit card

Image credit: OCBC Singapore

What benefits does the Frank credit card offer?

1) 6% cash rebates for online purchases and NETS Flashpay Auto Top Up

• Minimum spending of S$500 (online and offline purchases) to get 6% cash rebate
• Transaction must be recognised as online transaction
• Capped at S$60.00 per calendar month. (Meaning max S$1000.00 for online purchases and NETS Flashpay ATU)

You will get unlimited 0.5% cash rebates for all other purchases that do not qualify for 6% cash rebate.

2) You get to choose a design for your Frank credit card!

Disclaimer by OCBC:
Online retail transactions are defined as goods or services you buy via the internet and pay with your FRANK Credit Card. These transactions are excluded from the calculation of cash rebates: purchases made via telephone or mail order; bill payments (online mobile bill payment to Singtel, Starhub and M1 are eligible); recurring payments for mobile, telephone, cable, insurance, utility bills or income tax; donations; payment of funds to prepaid accounts, payments using internet banking; annual card fees; Instalment Payment Plans; Cashwise facility, Cash Advances and Balance Transfers; Goods and Services tax; fees and charges such as interest and late payment charges or any other transactions determined by OCBC from time to time.

You may wish to click here to find out which merchants are deemed as online by OCBC.

Apply for the OCBC Frank credit card



Once I maxed out the S$60.00 rebates for online purchases, I use the Bank of China SHOP! credit card.

1) 0.5% or 1% cash rebate on all purchases

• 0.5% cash rebates if your monthly spending (based on statement date) is S$1000.00 or less
• 1% cash rebates if your monthly spending (based on statement date) is more than S$1000.00

This is the base cash rebates for BOC SHOP! credit card. Then there is another component for online purchases.

2) Additional 5% cash rebates for online purchases and selected departmental stores

• Min spending of S$500 (online purchases and departmental store purchases) to get additional 5%
• Spending eligible for additional 5% capped at S$1000.00
• meaning rebates for online spending capped at S$50.00

3) Total rebates capped at S$100.00


Selected local departmental stores:
BHG, Isetan, John Little, Marks & Spencer, OG, Robinsons, Takashimaya & TANGS

Apply for the BOC SHOP! credit card


As you can see, the calculation for BOC SHOP! card is a little complicated.

Now let's look at a few examples and scenarios, comparing the BOC SHOP! and OCBC Frank.

If you were to spend S$600 on online purchases using BOC SHOP!, you will get:
1) 0.5% x S$600 = S$3.00
2) 5% x S$600 = S$30.00
Total: S$33.00

If you were to spend S$600 on online purchases using OCBC Frank, you will get:
1) 6% x S$600 = S$36.00
Total: S$36.00


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If you were to spend S$400 on online purchases, S$200 on normal purchases using BOC SHOP!, you will get:
1) 0.5% x S$600 = S$3.00
2) Nil because online purchase is less than S$500. You will need more than S$500 online purchases to qualify for additional 5%
Total: S$3.00

If you were to spend S$400 on online purchases, S$200 on normal purchases using OCBC Frank, you will get:
1) 0.5% x S$200 = S$1.00
2) 6% x S$400 = S$24.00
Total: S$25.00

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If you were to spend S$1001 on online purchases using BOC SHOP!, you will get:
1) 1% x S$1001 = S$10.01
2) 5% x S$1000 = S$50.00 <<< rebate for online spending capped at S$1000.00
Total: S$60.01

If you were to spend S$1001 on online purchases using OCBC Frank, you will get:
1) 0.5% x S$1 = S$0.01 (round up)
2) 6% x S$1000 = S$60.00 <<< rebate for online spending capped at S$1000.00
Total: S$60.01

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Based on online purchase of S$1002.00
	BOC		Frank
1.0%	S$10.02	0.5%	S$0.01
5.0%	S$50.00	6.0%	S$60.00
	S$60.02		S$60.01

As you can see, if you need to spend more than S$1001 online, BOC SHOP! is your choice of card as you get a base of unlimited 1% for all purchases, which is higher than OCBC Frank's 0.5%. Anything less than S$1001 online, OCBC Frank is your choice.

Moreover, if your online spending is less than S$500, you may "top-up" using normal purchases to S$500 and still qualify for 6% cash rebates for your online spending (so long total spending is more than S$500, you qualify for 6% on online purchases for OCBC Frank). You cannot do the same for BOC SHOP! card which requires your online spending to exceed S$500.

My personal view is the rebates for BOC SHOP! card is a little complicated and requires tracking if you have mutiples small online purchases.OCBC Frank credit card on the otherhand is simpler as you just need to ensure your overall spending is more than S$500 to get 6% cash rebates. Furthermore, if you have access to OCBC internet banking, you may check your transaction details online. Furthermore, spending thousands online is a little risky!


Tags: best, credit card, OCBC Frank, BOC SHOP!, online purchases, departmental stores