Review: Standard Chartered Smart Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the Standard Chartered Smart Card, launched in October 2021 and proudly showcased as the bank’s first carbon-neutral card. What that meant is that the carbon footprint involved in the card’s production had been calculated and offset to zero, so cardholders could feel virtuous every time they bought more stuff they didn’t need.

Gratuitous corporate greenwashing aside, the card itself was pretty decent. Cardholders enjoyed a permanent annual fee waiver, and up to 5.6 mpd on fast food, streaming subscriptions, and public transport, with no minimum spend necessary. Orphan points could be cashed out for an equivalent of 6% cashback. 

But a lot has changed since then. Standard Chartered has culled their transfer partner list, leaving just KrisFlyer and Asia Miles. Points pooling with Visa Infinite cards is no longer possible. An annual fee has been added. And even though the earn rate has been updated to an impressive-sounding 9.28 mpd or 10% cashback — without cap — the minimum spend requirement makes it very difficult to achieve in practice. 

So unless you really love your fast food, and I mean Morgan Spurlock-level love (if you’re too young to get that reference, I hate you), then this could very well be a junk card— in more ways than one.

Standard Chartered Smart Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☐ Take It  Take It Or Leave It ☑ Leave It
What do these ratings mean?
The new minimum spend requirements make the StanChart Smart Card’s impressive-sounding 9.28 mpd or 10% cashback difficult to achieve— at least, not without endangering your health.
👍 The good	👎 The bad
Up to 9.28 mpd or 10% cashback on bonus categories-, without any cap The only card with EV charging as a bonus category	Only certain fast food restaurants and streaming services qualify for bonuses Requires S$1,500 minimum spend to unlock highest bonus rates
💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: Standard Chartered Smart Card

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the StanChart Smart Card.

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Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	Up to 3 years
Annual Fee	S$99.19 (FYF)	Min. Transfer	34,500 points (10,000 miles)
FCY Fee	3.5%	Transfer Fee	S$27.25
Local Earn	0.46 mpd	Points Pool?	No
FCY Earn	0.46 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	Up to 9.28 mpd on fast food, streaming, SimplyGo & EV charging	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

How much must I earn to qualify for a Standard Chartered Smart Card?

The StanChart Smart Card has a S$30,000 p.a. income requirement, the MAS-mandated minimum for a credit card.

If you do not meet the minimum income requirement, you can try to open a secured version instead, backed by a fixed deposit. Visit a Standard Chartered branch for details.

How much is the Standard Chartered Smart Card’s annual fee?

The StanChart Smart Card used to have no annual fee for either principal or supplementary cards.

However, this policy changed in December 2024:

• New StanChart Smart Cardholders will receive a first year fee waiver, after which they will pay S$99.19 per year
• Existing StanChart Smart Cardholders as of 6 December 2024 will be charged an annual fee of S$99.19 per year from 6 December 2025 onwards

Up to four supplementary cards remain free for life.

An annual fee waiver will be granted if you spend at least S$10,000 in a membership year. I would hope that a waiver would still be possible even if you don’t meet this threshold, but recent experience (with the Journey card in particular) suggests that Standard Chartered is getting stricter with its fee-waiver policy, even for entry-level cards.

What welcome gifts are available?

Apply

New-to-bank customers who apply for a StanChart Smart Card through the links in this article can enjoy welcome gifts from SingSaver, including:

• Apple iPad 9th Gen 10.2″ WiFi 64GB
• Xiaomi Truclean W20 Wet Dry Vacuum
• Hinomi H1 Classic V3 Ergonomic Office Chair
• S$200 cash

A minimum spend of S$500 within 30 days of approval is required. Gifts are often rotated, so be sure to refer to the T&Cs for the latest selection.

New-to-bank customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal StanChart credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months. Do note that holding a Trust Bank card has absolutely no impact on your new-to-bank status for Standard Chartered, as the two are completely separate entities.

How many miles do I earn?

SGD/FCY Spend

StanChart Smart Cardholders normally earn:

• 1.6 points for every S$1 spent in Singapore Dollars
• 1.6 points for every S$1 spent in foreign currency (FCY)

That’s an equivalent earn rate of 0.46 mpd for local and overseas spend. 

Overseas transactions come with a hefty 3.5% FCY fee, the highest in the market. Needless to say, this isn’t a card you should be using for general spending!

Bonus Spend

The StanChart Smart Card offers up to 32 points per S$1 (9.28 mpd) on transactions made in SGD at the following merchants:

There’s three important points to highlight:

• With the exception of EV charging, bonuses are not awarded by MCC. Instead, fast food, streaming entertainment and public transportation are limited to the specifically named merchants, so you won’t earn any bonuses at MOS Burger or Jollibee, for example
• Bonuses only apply if the transaction is charged in SGD. This means that overseas Burger King, Subway etc. transactions will not earn bonuses
• Out of the EV charging providers currently operating in Singapore, only ChargEco, CDG Engie and SP Group code as 5522. Other providers, like Juice+ and Shell Recharge, use different MCCs and will not earn bonuses. Refer to the article below for more details

2025 Edition: Best Credit Cards for EV Charging

Transactions at bonus-eligible merchants earn:

• the regular base rate of 1.6 points per S$1 (0.46 mpd), and
• a bonus of 11.2-30.4 points per S$1 (3.25-8.82 mpd), depending on monthly spend

Cardholders can also convert 3,200 points into a S$10 statement credit if they so wish.

Now, here’s where it gets complicated. The StanChart Smart Card has three different earning tiers, based on total spend within a statement month.

When spending on bonus categories:

• Cardholders with a minimum spend of less than S$800 per statement month will earn 4% cashback or 3.71 mpd until 31 March 2025, after which the earn rate drops to 0.5% cashback or 0.46 mpd
• Cardholders who spend at least S$800 but less than S$1,500 per statement month will earn 8% cashback or 7.42 mpd
• Cardholders who spend at least S$1,500 per statement month will earn 10% cashback or 9.28 mpd

There is no cap on the miles that can be earned, which sounds fantastic on first glance- who wouldn’t want an uncapped 9.28 mpd?

But in practice, you might find that hard to attain because of the minimum spend requirements. It’s very difficult to see anyone spending more than S$800 at these bonus merchants, let alone S$1,500.

Think about it. Let’s say you have a Disney+ (S$15.98), Netflix (S$25.98) and Spotify (S$17.98) subscription (the most expensive plans for all three services), and let’s say you have an EV and charge your vehicle once a week (S$200). That only comes up to S$260, so you’d need to spend at least S$540 on the fast food category.

I mean, everyone gripes about how much McDonald’s and Starbucks costs these days, but that’s still a lot of junk to be eating. And if you want to hit the top rebates tier of 10% cashback or 9.28 mpd, I hope you enjoy your S$1,240 feast (now, if only there were a card that offered bonus miles for medical treatment…).

That’s not to say it’s impossible, mind you. Volt sells prepaid credits that code as MCC 5522, so you could buy S$800 or S$1,500 of credits in a month (each account only allows a maximum limit of S$1,000 though) and then spend them slowly (I don’t drive an EV, so I don’t know how long it’d take you to spend all that).

Of course, you could always transact on non-bonus categories to meet the minimum spend, but with an earn rate of just 0.46 mpd, your weighted average will be dragged down very quickly.

When are 360° Rewards Points credited?

Base and bonus points will be credited together at the start of the following statement cycle.

How are 360° Rewards Points calculated?

Here’s how you can work out the 360° Rewards Points earned on your StanChart Smart Card:

General spend

Bonus transactions (SGD only)

If you’re an Excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate points: 

General spend

Bonus transactions (SGD only)

For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:

• General Spending Cards
• Specialised Spending Cards

What transactions aren’t eligible for 360° Rewards Points?

A full list of transactions that do not earn points can be found in the T&Cs at point 15.

I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:

• Charitable donations
• Education
• Government services 
• GrabPay and YouTrip top-ups
• Hospitals
• Insurance premiums
• Utilities

While CardUp transactions do earn points with Standard Chartered credit cards, this wouldn’t be the right card to use anyway.

What do I need to know about 360° Rewards Points?

Expiry

360° Rewards Points earned on the StanChart Smart Card are valid for up to three years. 

Note how that’s “up to three years” and not “three years”. Like Citibank, Standard Chartered points have a fixed expiry date, based on when you opened your card. 

 In other words, when you open an SCB card account, a three year countdown timer starts. All the points you earn during that initial three year period will expire on the same date, regardless of when they were actually earned. In an extreme example, your points can be valid for as little as one day!

Pooling

Standard Chartered’s rewards system is rather odd. 

1. Points earned on the Beyond Card, Visa Infinite and the Journey card pool
2. Points earned on non-Visa Infinite cards pool

Cards under group (1) enjoy a preferential conversion rate of 25,000 points = 10,000 miles, versus 34,500 points = 10,000 miles for group (2). 

Back when Standard Chartered pooled points, a cardmember with a group (1) card could “enhance” the value of his group (2) points by redeeming them at the more favourable ratio. That is no longer possible, and the two groups of points do not co-mingle.

Transfer Partners & Fees

Standard Chartered used to have 10 different airline and hotel transfer partners, one of the widest ranges in Singapore.

Unfortunately, that all changed in March 2024, when nine of them were unceremoniously dumped. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles was added, but the overall lineup is a lot thinner than before. 

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (SC Points: Partner)
	VI, Journey, Beyond	All others
	25,000 : 10,000	34,500 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000	34,500 : 10,000

Transfers cost S$27.25 each, regardless of the number of points transferred.

Transfer Time

Conversions to KrisFlyer miles are generally completed within three working days. 

Other card perks

Visa SmartDelay

The StanChart Smart Card offers a feature called SmartDelay, which offers complimentary lounge access in the event of a flight delay. 

Here’s how it works:

1. Register your flight here and provide your Smart Card number
2. If your flight is delayed by more than one hour, you will receive a digital LoungeKey Pass

A maximum of two LoungeKey Passes (for the cardholder and one guest) can be received. There is no need to charge your travel fare to the Smart Card to be eligible for this benefit. 

Supplementary cardholders are eligible for SmartDelay, but not if the principal cardholder has registered for the same flight. 

Terms & Conditions

• Standard Chartered Smart Card T&Cs

Summary Review: Standard Chartered Smart Card

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🦁 MileLion Verdict

☐ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☑ Leave It

With its new minimum spend requirement and stiflingly narrow whitelist, the StanChart Smart Card is only going to appeal to those nichest of niche cases. 

Maybe if you owned a fleet of EV cars. Maybe if you were in charge of ordering office lunches or coffee. Maybe if you were a train otaku who did nothing but ride the MRT all day. Whatever your case, if you feel like you can meet the S$800 (or even S$1,500) minimum spend required for the higher earn rates without dipping into non-bonus categories, then by all means go ahead and get a Smart Card.

But most people won’t, and for that reason, the StanChart Smart Card feels decidedly non-essential for the general public.