ANZ Optimum World Mastercard

ANZ has recently introduced a new credit card.

ANZ Optimum World Mastercard

Q: What is the so special about this card?
A: This card allows you to earn up to 5% in cash rebate for the category that you choose and 1% for all other spends. And you can change the category every quarter (Jan - Mar, Apr - Jun, Jul - Sep, Oct - Dec)!

Q: What are the categories that I can choose?
A: There are 4 categories that you can choose from:

5% Category for Selection	Merchants with main business activity classified as follows:
Groceries	Groceries and Supermarkets
Travel	Airlines and Travel Agencies
Shopping	Clothing, Shoes and Bags (Departmental Stores excluded)
Dining & Leisure*	Dining & Bars, Hotels and Movies

* For the avoidance of doubt, spend incurred for wedding banquets are not eligible for Optimum$.


Q: Any catch with this 5% cash rebate?
A: There is indeed.

You earn 0.1 Optimum$ for every $10 spent outside the category that you choose and 0.5 Optimum$ for every $10 spent within the category that you choose. This means if you charged $19 for a purchase in the category that you have chosen, you still get 0.5 Optimum$! You only get 1 Optimum$ if you charged $20!

1 Optimum$ = $1 cash rebate

There is a maximum of $30, equivalent to 30 Optimum$ or $600 charged, for a retail spend (I interpret it as in a transaction). However, there is no limit on the amount Optimum$ that you can earn.

Optimum$ are computed based on posting date and will be rounded down to the nearest 0.1 Optimum$.

Hence, if you charge $9 to the card, you get 0. If you charged $19 to the card at your chosen category, you only get 0.5 Optimum$ (or $0.50), or 2.63%, which is still quite decent in my opinion.

Amount charged at chosen category (0.5 Optimum$ for every $10 spent	% in cash rebate
$11	4.55%
$12	4.17%
$13	3.85%
$14	3.57%
$15	3.33%
$16	3.13%
$17	2.94%
$18	2.78%
$19	2.63%

Note: The % increases as the amount charged increase in $10s. E.g. for $25 charged you get 1 Optimum$ which is 4%, for $45 charged you get 2 Optimum$ which is 4.44%. In other words, you "lose" lesser if the charged amount (which is not multiple of 10) is higher.

Q: So which is the best catugory for this ANZ Optimum World Mastercard?
A: Let me show you some analysis:

1) You have to know that the Optimum$ earned has a validity of 3 years.
2) You have to know that the Optimum$ can only be redeemed in multiples of $50, minimum $50.
Hence, my advice is: Redeem everytime you hit $50.

5% Category for Selection	Merchants with main business activity classified as follows:	Current cards & % in cash rebate (General)
Groceries	Groceries and Supermarkets	5%   Maybank F&F (Min $600/mth) Citibank Dividend (Min $50/trans) Citibank SMRT (Min $600/mth) POSB Everyday BOC Family (Min $500/mth) 6% SC Singpost (Min $600/mth)
Travel	Airlines and Travel Agencies	6% OCBC Frank (if online) BOC SHOP! (if online) 7% SC Singpost (if online)
Shopping	Clothing, Shoes and Bags (Departmental Stores excluded)	2.56% ANZ Travel VS 2.78% Citi Rewards
Dining & Leisure*	Dining & Bars, Hotels and Movies	3% (weekdays) 6% (Weekends) OCBC 365 (Min $600/mth)

* For the avoidance of doubt, spend incurred for wedding banquets are not eligible for Optimum$.

First of all, let's use the elimination method.

It does not make sense to choose Travel because you typically charge more than $600/transaction for travel packages with agencies. However, if the agency allows you to make payment of $600/transaction, then go for it! For online purchases for hotels and air tickets, you are better off with using OCBC Frank and BOC SHOP which give you 6%! Unless, you have max out the rebates for both Frank and SHOP!.

For those who frequent supermarkets, but cannot meet the monthly minimum requirement for most of the cards up listed or you frequently make purchases below $50, it may be viable to choose this category. But do note that you probably will get closer to 4% than 5% using the ANZ Optimum World MC because it is very unlike to hit exactly in multiples of $10s in supermarkets based on my experience. So it may be better to purchase vouchers using these cards to meet the monthly requirement for 5% or 6%. Or simply use the Citibank Dividend for grocery purchases above $50.


From the table above, it makes MUCH sense to choose Shopping because of the lower % you can get now with ANZ Travel VS and Citibank Rewards. However, if you do not shop frequently (especially for men), you should give this category a miss. Perhaps you can activate this category for your CNY shopping next year!

The most probable category to choose is Dining and Leisure. This is probably the category that I would choose as well. Let me tell you why.

First of all, I do not use the OCBC 365 because
1) The minimum $600/month requirement for maximum benefits.
2) I use Citibank Dividend for my petrol at Esso.
3) I pay my Telco bills online for 6% (recurring for OCBC 365 only gives me 3%)

Hence, I do not use the OCBC 365 for dining. This is why I would apply for the ANZ Optimum World Mastercard and choose Dining and Leisure as my preferred category! It is a godsend for me since I usually use the ANZ Travel VS for my dining expenses unless there are discount/promotions with other credit cards.

The ANZ Optimum World Mastercard will give me the highest % in terms of cash rebate for my expense in dining and leisure!

This is only my opinion and I am sure you will figure out which category suits you best!

Memory short-cuts:
1) Up to 5% cash rebate in either Dining & Leisure, Travel, Shopping or Groceries, 1% for the rest.
2) Points awarded for spendings in multiple of $10, expires in 3 years.
3) Redemption of points in multiples of $50.

And apply now to get $88 if you are new ANZ credit cardmembers!

Click here to apply for the ANZ Optimum World Mastercard.


Click here for more terms and conditions pertaining to the ANZ Optimum World Mastercard.


Latest Update on 17 March 2015

Ok, there are many netizens lamenting about the redemption in blocks of S$50.00.

Let me teach you how to get around this. My method requires diligent monitoring of your Optimum$ earned.

First of all, let me bring your attention to this clause in the T&C:

Optimum$ will be computed and accumulated daily. Optimum$ will be computed based on transaction posting date and will be rounded down to the nearest 0.1 Optimum$.

This clause is very important to consumers and we should make use of this clause to our advantage.

Lets say after 3 quarters, and you have accumulated 27.5 Optimum$ which is 22.5 Optimum$ short of the redemption. So what do you do?

As we all know by now, $10 will earn you 0.5 Optimum$ in the category that you have chosen. Hence, before the start of the last quarter, be sure to select the category that allows you to buy vouchers. For instance, you can choose Shopping and buy vouchers from some retail outlets like Mphosis. Or you can choose Grocery and buy vouchers from supermarkets.

For the example above, you will need to buy $450 worth of vouchers to earn 22.5 Optimum$. Then in a few days time, quickly redeem the $50 in order to offset your next statement of $450.
NOTE: I do not know how long it will take for the Optimum$ redemption, but I am assuming it to be as fast as the redemption of Travel$ which typically took 1 day from the day I redeemed to be reflected in my statement.

After that, keep the card until ANZ decides to bill you for the annual fee. If they refused to waive the annual fee, simply cancel the card and use other cards. If they decided to waive the annual fee for you, you are in luck! repeat the process and earn your rebates!




Tags: ANZ Optimum World Mastercard, 5% cash rebate, 1% cash rebate, Dining and Leisure, Travel, Shopping, Groceries, Optimum$