2024 Edition: Best Credit Cards for Food Delivery

Food delivery will probably be a significant expense item for most people in Singapore, but the good news is that there’s plenty of cards which will reward this category with up to 4 mpd or 18% rebates.

As always, the best card depends on where you’re ordering from, and how you’re ordering.

What MCC does food delivery come under?

Ordering via restaurant

If you’re ordering through the restaurant directly (e.g. on their website or calling them up by phone), the MCC could be any of the following:

Ordering via food delivery platform

If you’re ordering through one of the major food delivery platforms, food delivery typically codes as MCC 5812, 5814 or 5499.

In case you’re uncertain about the MCC, there’s three ways of looking it up before making a purchase:

In any case, the exact MCC does not really matter if you’re using a card that offers a blanket bonus on all online transactions.

Is the transaction processed offline or online?

With food delivery platforms, your order will be processed online, end of story.

It can be slightly more confusing with restaurants. Most of the time, restaurants with website ordering systems should be processing the transaction online. However, you can’t rule out the possibility that they may capture the card details online and manually process the transaction offline.

A good rule of thumb is that if you have to enter an OTP, the transaction is processed online. That said, the absence of an OTP is inconclusive- I’ve encountered situations where transactions were processed online despite the lack of an OTP.

Again, the distinction is important because certain cards (e.g. DBS Woman’s World Card, Citi Rewards) award 4 mpd on online transactions only.

What cards should I use for food delivery?

Blacklist cards

The simplest cards to use for food delivery are the ones which offer 4 mpd on all online transactions. This way, you don’t need to worry about specific MCCs. 

🥡 Best Cards for Food Delivery (all MCCs)
Card	Earn Rate	Cap
DBS WWMC Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1.5K per c. month Review
Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per s. month Review
C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month

Whitelist cards

Alternatively, you can use the following cards for 4 mpd where the MCC falls under the whitelist.

🥡 Best Cards for Food Delivery (specific MCCs)
Card	Earn Rate	Cap
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd1	S$1K per c. month. Must choose dining as bonus category Review
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd1	S$2K per c. month. Must choose dining as bonus category Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd2	S$1K per c. month Review
UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply	4 mpd3	S$1.1K per c. month Review
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Apply	3.2 mpd4	S$200 per c. month Review
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card Apply	3.1 mpd4	S$200 per c. month Review
KrisFlyer UOB Card Apply	3 mpd5	No cap. Min S$800 spend on SIA Group in m. year Review
StanChart Journey Card Apply	3 mpd6	S$1K per s. month Review
C. Month= Calendar Month |  S. Month= Statement Month | M. Year= Membership Year 1. MCC 5811, 5812, 5814, 5499 2. MCC 5441, 5462, 5811, 5812, 5813, 3. MCC 5811, 5812, 5814, 5499, 5441, 5462 4. GrabFood only 5. Deliveroo, foodpanda, GrabFood 6. MCC 5811, 5812, 5814

In general, you should have no concerns about using all of the above cards for your food delivery needs, with two exceptions.

First, you need to exercise more caution with the HSBC Revolution, since MCC 5814 is no longer on the bonus whitelist. Given that food delivery platforms switch between 5812/5814, you’re basically playing roulette unless you want to take the effort to check the MCC every time. I would avoid using this, for the sake of sanity. 

Second, the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend and AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card only earn bonuses with GrabFood, so your options will be more limited. 

DBS yuu Card alternative

foodpanda x yuu

Even though we’re focusing on miles in this article, it’d be strangely amiss not to give a shout out to the DBS yuu Card and its 36 yuu points per S$1 spent on foodpanda, equivalent to an 18% rebate. 

This requires a minimum spend of S$600 (which can be on any retail transactions, not just foodpanda), and the 18% rebate is capped at S$108 per calendar month.

Now, for 4 mpd to trump 18% rebates, you’d need to value a mile at 4.5 cents each. My valuation certainly isn’t that high, so assuming the minimum spend isn’t an issue, then this would be the better card for foodpanda.

Extra stacking

If you really want to eke out every cent from your spending, consider buying Deliveroo and foodpanda vouchers on the ShopBack mobile app. This can code as MCC 5814 Fast Food or MCC 7299 Other Services Not Elsewhere Classified, so it’s safest to use an online spending card like the Citi Rewards or DBS Woman’s World Card. 

ShopBack will give you 3-9% cashback (the rates frequently change; check the app for the latest). It’s particularly useful for Deliveroo, because you can stack account credit with bank vouchers and Deliveroo Plus free delivery when making an order. 

Alternatively, you can buy Deliveroo, foodpanda or GrabGift vouchers via HeyMax, earning 2.5-5.5 Max Miles in the process (again, the rates are subject to change).

Voucher purchases from HeyMax are processed by FavePay and code as MCC 5311 Department Stores, which means you can even utilise the bonus caps of the OCBC Rewards Card (useful, considering how restricted its bonus whitelist is to begin with).

Conclusion

If you’re looking to order food delivery, the good news is that you can easily earn up to 4 mpd or 18% rebates, with further stacking via ShopBack or HeyMax also possible.

Since this is a common bonus category, my advice is that you don’t use your Citi Rewards or DBS Woman’s World Card here. Save their more flexible caps for other types of transactions instead.