Here’s a question: When you arrive at our website, the first thing you see are the featured big-name premium credit cards that attract high-earners and world travellers. But what if you’re after a card with a low annual fee? Are they worth taking out?
Let’s answer that question by reviewing a couple of current credit card offerings with more modest fees.
Firstly, let’s take a look at the POSB Bank Everyday Credit Card. It weighs in with a modest $38.52 annual fee, and comes with more than modest benefits, including double cash rebates at SPC and free movie tickets. It’s also one of the first cards on the island to come with the EMV smart chip built in for extra security.
POSB says this card comes with the added benefit of acting POSB Everyday Card works like an ez-link card, meaning the card holder can charge items such as insurance and recurring bills to the card without losing track. They must be doing something right with this card, as it has won the Best Credit Card Award at the Peoples Choice awards five years in a row.
That being the case, the POSB Everyday Card genuinely is the island’s favourite card, and is certainly worth holding.
Secondly, the Standard Chartered Manhattan Card has a $30 annual fee. Apply for this card by the end of January, and you will be automatically credited with $80, so that’s free money already!
The Manhattan card offers a respectable 3% cashback on purchases up to an annual limit of $800; as well as up to 1,000 deals islandwide on Standard Chartered’s Good Life scheme.
As usual, a credit card’s value is only as good as the offers you use, but there’s more than enough on the Manhattan card to more than justify the modest annual fee. If you pay off your balance every month, the cashback alone will more than pay for the outlay.
From what we’ve seen, even credit cards at the mass market end of the market offer substantial deals and incentives to make them worthwhile. The Singapore credit card market is so buoyant, it means that everybody benefits.
Article by Jason Taylor – [email protected]
