With schools and workplaces set to close, the prevailing wisdom now is that everyone should stay home as much as possible.
That said, there’ll still be groceries to buy, subscriptions to pay for, and food to order. Given that the vast majority of your transactions will soon be done online, it just makes sense to ensure you get the biggest return on that spending.
Here’s how to do it.
tl;dr version
If you have a Citi Rewards, DBS Woman’s World Card, OCBC Titanium Rewards or UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, you’re more or less set to earn 4 mpd on all your online transactions.
I say “more or less”, because certain exceptions apply (e.g the OCBC Titanium Rewards does not give bonus points for supermarket spending, RedMart aside). In a pinch, however, the cards below should suit most of your online expenditure needs. I’m calling this the “standard loadout”, and have arranged them from least strict (fewest category restrictions) to most strict.
| Standard Loadout | |||
| Income Req. | Annual Fee^ | 4 mpd cap* | |
 DBS Woman’s World Card | S$80K (not strict) | S$192.60 (FYF) | S$2K per c. month |
 Citi Rewards# | S$30K | S$192.60 (FYF) | S$1K per s. month |
 UOB Pref. Plat Visa | S$30K | S$192.60 (FYF) | S$1.1K per c. month |
 OCBC Titanium Rewards | S$30K | S$192.60 (F2YF) | S$12K per m. year |
| ^FYF= First Year Free | F2YF= First 2 Years Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month | M. Year= Membership Year #Exercise caution with the Mastercard version of the Citi Rewards; some people have reported not earning 10X on transactions which ought to | |||
| Eligible Online Transactions* | |
| DBS Woman’s World Card | All online spending (T&C) |
| Citi Rewards | All online spending except travel (T&C) |
| UOB Pref. Plat Visa | MCC 4816, 5306, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732-5735, 5912, 5942, 5944-5949, 5964-5970, 5992, 5999, 5811, 5812, 5814, 5333, 5411, 5441, 5462, 5499, 8012, 9751, 7278, 7832, 7841, 7922, 7991, 7996, 7998-7999 (T&C) |
| OCBC Titanium Rewards | MCC 5311, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5661, 5691, 5045, 5732, 5699 (T&C) |
| *General exclusions for categories like insurance, mobile wallet, government, education and charities apply. To look up what individual MCCs mean, refer to this guide | |
All of the above cards will earn 4 mpd on your usual e-commerce merchants like Amazon, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, and Taobao.
| Update: An earlier version of this post said that RedMart transactions do not earn 10X with the OCBC Titanium Rewards. OCBC has clarified that these will earn 10X |
| Want to know how to track your points and ensure you’re getting the right bonuses? Here’s how to work it out |
Do take note of the caps, however, and how they’re applied. Some caps are based on the calendar month, others on the statement month (check your online banking to see what your statement period is).
If you’re close to exhausting your cap, you can always get another online spending card, or a different version of the same card (e.g Citi Rewards Visa cardholders can apply for a Citi Rewards Mastercard, OCBC Titanium Rewards Blue cardholders can apply for an OCBC Titanium Rewards Pink).
Read on if you want to get a bit more detailed…
Online Groceries
For online grocery purchases, you can use any of the Standard Loadout, with the exception of the OCBC Titanium Rewards card (it works for RedMart only).
Alternatively, you could use the UOB Lady’s Card or Lady’s Solitaire, provided you’ve declared “Family” as your quarterly 10X category.
The UOB PRVI Miles AMEX is also offering a temporary bonus on online grocery transactions, but only up to 3 mpd. This is subject to a minimum spend of S$2,500, and capped at S$5,000.
| Annual Fee | Earn Rate | Conditions* | |
| DBS Woman’s World Card | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$2K per c. month |
| Citi Rewards | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$1K per s. month |
| UOB Pref. Plat Visa | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$1.1K per c. month |
 UOB Lady’s Card | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$1K per c. month |
 UOB Lady’s Solitaire | S$406.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$3K per c. month |
 OCBC Titanium Rewards | S$192.60 (F2YF) | 8 mpd | ≤S$500 of eligible trxns from 15/4-31/5. Reg required. Deliveroo & Foodpanda |
 UOB PRVI Miles AMEX | S$256.80 (FYF) | 3 mpd | ≥ S$2.5K on eligible trxns from 1/4-30/6, capped at S$5K |
 UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard & Visa | S$256.80 (FYF) | 3 mpd | ≥S$2K on eligible trxns from 17/4-31/7, capped at S$3.5K. Reg required |
 DBS Altitude AMEX & Visa | S$192.60 (FYF) | 2.4 mpd | Min spend & cap varies by user. From 3/3-30/6. Reg required |
| ^FYF= First Year Free | F2YF= First 2 Years Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month | M. Year= Membership Year | |||
| Protip | ||
| Aside from the usual RedMart, FairPrice On and Cold Storage, you can also get groceries delivered from the following merchants. Buy what you need. Don’t be an idiot. | ||
| Groceries | Fresh Produce | Specialty Grocers |
Food Delivery (Deliveroo, foodpanda, GrabFood etc)
For food delivery, the Standard Loadout works again, with the exception of the OCBC Titanium Rewards card.
Alternatively, you could use the UOB Lady’s Card or Lady’s Solitaire, provided you’ve declared “Dining” as your quarterly 10X category.
The UOB PRVI Miles AMEX is also offering a temporary bonus on food delivery transactions, but only up to 3 mpd. This is subject to a minimum spend of S$2,500, and capped at S$5,000.
Finally, a shout out to the KrisFlyer UOB credit card, which gives 3 mpd provided you spend at least S$500 on SIA-related transactions (which may be a bit tough, given the current climate). Moreover, you’ll need to wait up to 14 months for the bonus miles to be credited.
| Annual Fee | Earn Rate | Conditions* | |
| DBS Woman’s World Card | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$2K per c. month |
| Citi Rewards | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$1K per s. month |
| UOB Pref. Plat Visa | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$1.1K per c. month |
| UOB Lady’s Card | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$1K per c. month |
| UOB Lady’s Solitaire | S$406.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$3K per c. month |
 KrisFlyer UOB |  S$192.60 (FYF) | 3 mpd | ≥S$500 on SIA-group trxns in a m. year |
| UOB PRVI AMEX | S$256.80 (FYF) | 3 mpd | ≥ S$2.5K on eligible trxns from 1/4-30/6, capped at S$5K |
| ^FYF= First Year Free | F2YF= First 2 Years Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month | M. Year= Membership Year | |||
Online subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify etc.)
For online subscriptions, I know for sure the OCBC Titanium Rewards card won’t get you 4 mpd. I’ve taken out the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa because I’m not 100% sure whether Netflix & Spotify’s MCCs fall within its permitted range.
The following cards are safe bets:
| Annual Fee | Earn Rate | Conditions* | |
| DBS Woman’s World Card | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$2K per c. month |
| Citi Rewards | S$192.60 (FYF) | 4 mpd | ≤S$1K per s. month |
| UOB PRVI AMEX | S$256.80 (FYF) | 3 mpd | Netflix & Spotify only. ≥ S$2.5K on eligible trxns from 1/4-30/6, capped at S$5K |
| ^FYF= First Year Free | F2YF= First 2 Years Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month | M. Year= Membership Year | |||
Note: Some online subscriptions may be billed in foreign currency (e.g Zoom). If so, you can also use the following cards.
| Annual Fee^ | Earn Rate | Conditions* | |
 UOB Visa Signature | S$214 (FYF) | 4 mpd | Spend S$1-2K per s. month |
 BOC Elite Miles | S$190 (FYF) | 3 mpd | |
 SCB Visa Infinite | S$588.50 | 3 mpd | ≥S$2K per s. month |
 SCB X Card | S$695.50 | 3 mpd | Until 30/6, ≥S$2K per c. month |
| ^FYF= First Year Free | F2YF= First 2 Years Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month | M. Year= Membership Year | |||
Conclusion
The good news is that online spending is a relatively more straightforward affair, and you could just settle for a one-and-done strategy here (e.g with the DBS Woman’s World Card).
When doing your online shopping, be sure to stack it with a rebates portal like ShopBack or RebateMango for maximum value.
Be safe, everyone!
“RedMart purchases code as supermarket spend and will not earn 4 mpd with the OCBC Titanium Rewards” , is this recent? I have always been getting 10X for my Redmart orders since it became part of Lazada. OCBC has clarified multiple times on HWZ that Redmart is eligible for 10X, but alas the last time they did that was August last year.
On a different note, Grabfood orders are registered under Limousine and Taxi, so those with UOB Lady’s need to be careful here.
I’m double checking with Ocbc, will update the post when I get a confirmed response.
update: Redmart is ok for 10X with Titanium Rewards