Credit Card Review

ANZ Optimum World MasterCard – Latest Cash Rebates Darling on the Market
ANZ Bank has launched a rebate card, and its got consumers buzzing with excitement. So what’s new with this card, given the myriad of cash rebate cards in the market? ANZ’s new Optimum World MasterCard aims to encourage customers to maximise their card rebates by allowing them to choose the 5% rebate on the category they want. The four main categories are:

• Dining & Leisure – restaurants, bars, hotels and cinema
• Travel – airlines, travel agencies and online travel portals
• Shopping – fashion boutiques and online fashion stores
• Groceries – supermarkets

Key Features:

• choose a category to receive 5% rebate
• get 1% rebate on everything you spend on
• redemption only in S$50 denominations
• rebate credit will expire after 3 years

You will not need to stress about how much you are spending on your card as you can easily accumulate these purchases to earn your rebates every quarter. The only thing you need to remember (you can can always set an alert in your calendar!) is that you will need to choose the rebates category every quarter on the 25^th day of March, June, September and December. If you forget to submit on time or do not make any requests for a preferred category, then you will only earn 1% for that quarter.
In terms of redemption of your rebates, you will need to accumulate at least $50 worth in order to quality for redemption. Our advice is to apply for your redemption together on the 25^th of every quarter as well so you do not forget or let the points go to expiry. Or if you prefer a bigger one-time rebate, you can of course keep it for 3 years before you use them.
All in all, we think the new Optimum card is a great product for all-seasons spending – Chinese new year grocery shopping in the first quarter, holiday spending in spring, a bit of leisure and entertainment in fall and Christmas gifting in December. What’s not to like with all that flexibility? Another tip we have here – spending on your supplementary card will qualify for the same rebates as the principal card holder!
In terms of eligibility, the minimum income of $80,000 is a lot higher than the average cards of the market but card fees of $180 per year will be waived for the first year.