Limited time: Earn up to SS$490 cashback with the OCBC 365 Card (including insurance premiums)

While it used to be possible to earn credit card rewards on insurance premium payments,  those days are all but gone. One by one, banks have excluded this category to the point where there’s virtually no options left.

But here’s a pleasant surprise: For a limited time, OCBC is offering a rare opportunity to earn up to S$120 cashback on recurring insurance premiums charged to the OCBC 365 Credit Card. 

What’s more, new OCBC cardholders can also receive up to S$250 cashback when they’re approved for an OCBC 365 Credit Card and spend at least S$1,000 per month in the first two months of approval. And should they spend the entire amount on dining/online food delivery, they’ll receive a further S$60 cashback per month, for a total haul of up to S$490.

Read on for the details. 

S$120 cashback on recurring insurance premiums

Apply for the OCBC 365 Card

From 10 April to 31 July 2021, cardholders who charge recurring insurance premiums to their OCBC 365 Credit Card will receive up to S$120 cashback as follows: 

Registration is required, and can be done by sending the following SMS to 72377:

Registration is capped at the first 5,000 customers, and you’ll know at the point of registration with OCBC whether or not you qualify for the offer. 

It’s possible to combine different insurance premiums to make up the minimum spend. For example, I could charge a S$250 Great Eastern recurring premium and a S$300 Aviva recurring premium to unlock the S$80 cashback tier. There’s also no requirement that the premiums be in my name; I’m perfectly at liberty to make payments for my family members’ policies. 

What’s important is that the payments must be recurring; making two ad-hoc payments won’t count. For example, if a cardholder buys an AIA policy in Month 1 and a Great Eastern policy in Month 2, and charges the annual premium to his/her card upfront, he/she won’t qualify for the cashback offer because the recurring requirement has not been met. 

Also note that the cashback you receive is based on the lower of the two months; if you charge a recurring premium payment of S$1,000 in one month but S$500 in another, you’ll qualify for the lower tier of cashback (i.e S$80). 

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of insurers which accept recurring Visa payments (remember, the OCBC 365 Credit Card is on the Visa network). If you don’t see your insurer listed below, contact your agent or customer service to see if card payments are possible.

Some insurers allow you to change your payment method online, but most require you to print and fill a manual form- try and get this done ASAP so you can at least meet the spending criteria in June and July. 

Cashback for the insurance campaign will be awarded by 31 August 2021, and is on top of the regular S$80 per month you can earn from the OCBC 365 Credit Card by spending on dining, groceries, petrol and other bonus categories. 

The full T&C of this offer can be found here.

Get up to S$250 cashback with an OCBC 365 Credit Card

Apply for the OCBC 365 Card

If you don’t have an OCBC 365 Credit Card yet, OCBC has launched a special acquisition offer that runs till 31 July 2021. New OCBC cardholders who spend at least S$1,000 per month for the first two consecutive months will receive up to S$250 cashback. 

You can meet the minimum spend in one or both months to get S$125 or S$250 respectively. This offer is capped at the first 800 eligible cardholders per month, so you’ll want to apply and meet the minimum spend as soon as possible. 

Qualifying spend refers to any retail transaction, and excludes any transaction listed at point 5 (c) or (d) in the T&Cs. The main exclusions to highlight are:

• Charitable donations
• Educational organizations (schools, universities etc.)
• Government transactions
• Hospitals
• Insurance premiums
• Prepaid account top-ups

Do note in particular the exclusion of insurance premiums. Spending for the purposes of the insurance cashback offer in the previous section won’t count towards the S$1,000 qualifying spend for the acquisition offer. 

The bonus cashback will be credited according to the following schedule:

I’d recommend meeting the qualifying spend by transacting on the following categories, which earn bonus cashback with the 365 Credit Card (subject to an overall cap of S$80 per calendar month and a minimum spend of S$800):

• 6% cashback on dining and online food delivery
• 5% on petrol
• 3% on groceries
• 3% on taxis, Grab, Gojek and TADA
• 3% on recurring telco and utility bills

To illustrate, if you spent all S$1,000 on dining and online food delivery, you’d get a bonus S$60 cashback per month. Stack it with the insurance premium promotion, and after two months, you’d have:

• S$120 cashback from paying insurance premiums
• S$120 cashback from dining and online food delivery (S$60 x 2)
• S$250 cashback from the new acquisition offer (S$125 x 2)

That’s a total of S$490 cashback, a very tidy return.

Conclusion

Apply for the OCBC 365 Card

It’s virtually impossible to earn credit card rewards for insurance, so this is a rare opportunity to rack up some rewards while paying your premiums. If you already have an OCBC 365 Credit Card, be sure to register and switch your insurance payment method as soon as possible.

Otherwise, don’t miss this change to earn up to S$250 (plus a further S$120 if you spend on the right categories) as a new OCBC 365 Credit Card member.