Mari Credit Card Review: Shopee-pi-pi-pi-pi

While the digital banking trinity of GXS, MariBank and Trust have been taking deposits for some time now, they’ve been considerably slower in branching out into the credit card space.

Of the three, Trust was the only one to offer a credit card at the time of launch– though that was as much down to the fact that it was the only digital bank with a full bank license. GXS customers had to make do with a debit card (whose biggest accomplishment to date is hastening the demise of the GrabPay Card), while MariBank customers have had to…wait patiently and hope that the team was actually working on something more than vapour. 

Well, MariBank has now unveiled the imaginatively-named Mari Credit Card, which it claims is Singapore’s “highest unlimited cashback card” with 5% rebates at Shopee, and 1.7% cashback everywhere else.

I may not be the best person to comment on the virtues and vices of a cashback card, but seeing as how I’ve run out of things to write about, here’s my take on the Shopee Mari Credit Card (and if it gives you palpitations that I’m devoting precious column space to cashback, you might not want to rummage around the archives, where similar missives on the AMEX True Cashback Card, DBS yuu, HSBC Live+, OCBC Infinity, Trust Card, UOB EVOL, and UOB Absolute are lurking).

Details: Mari Credit Card

Mari Credit Card
Card T&Cs
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Earn Rate	5% Shopee Coins on Shopee, 1.7% cashback elsewhere
Annual Fee	None	FCY Fee	3.77%

The new Mari Credit Card has a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 per annum, and no annual fee. At the moment, the card is available on an invite-only basis. If you’re eligible to apply, you’ll see a widget on the home page of your MariBank app.

The card’s design is, um, let’s just say I hope they didn’t pay someone a lot of money for this. It looks like something made in MS Paint, and come to think of it, there’s some serious Joker energy going on here. I can’t look at it and not think of this:

Given the less-than-appealing aesthetic, it’s probably good news that the MariCard is, by default, a digital card. You can get a free physical card if you enjoy being an affront to good taste, but you’ll need to place an order via the MariBank app. 

The Mari Credit Card currently does not have a debit card mode, and as such does not support ATM withdrawals either in Singapore or overseas. That’s a shame, because one way MariBank could take the fight to Trust is by offering no-fee ATM withdrawals overseas, useful in countries where cash is king. 

In terms of rewards, the Mari Credit Card earns: 

• 5% rebates (in the form of Shopee Coins) on Shopee transactions
• 1.7% cashback on everything else

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

5% rebates on Shopee

Mari Credit Cardholders will earn the equivalent of a 5% rebate on all Shopee transactions (excluding products under the Digital Products catalogue), in the form of Shopee Coins. No minimum spend is required, and there’s no cap on the maximum rebate that can be earned. 

To receive this reward, they must use Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout and select the Pay In Full option on Shopee. If they choose to pay via instalments, Google Pay or Apple Pay, they will not receive the 5% rebate.

If a cardholder uses Google Pay/Apple Pay, manually enters the number of their Mari Credit Card, or selects a Mari Credit Card stored under the credit/debit card tab to make the purchase, they’ll earn a lower reward of 1.7% cashback (see the next section). The whole idea is that MariBank wants to avoid the interchange they’d have to pay if the transaction were processed via the Mastercard network.

In my opinion, a 5% rebate on Shopee probably won’t beat the 4 mpd you can earn with miles cards (unless your valuation of a mile is below 1.25 cents), or the 8% you can earn with the HSBC Live+ Card (albeit with a minimum spend requirement). However, that picture could change if Shopee chooses to offer special promo codes to Mari Credit Cardholders, the way they do for those who pay with their MariBank account. 

It’s worth remembering that Shopee Coins are a captive currency only good within the Shopee ecosystem, and can’t be compared to cashback on a 1:1 basis as such. But given how ubiquitous Shopee has become to everyday life, you should be able to find something to spend them on. 

This 5% rebate is positioned as a limited-time promotion, and is currently set to end on 30 September 2024.  You can find the T&Cs for this promotion here. 

When is this credited?

Shopee Coins will be credited once your order is completed, i.e. when you confirm via the Shopee app that the good you purchased have been received or when the payment is released to the Shopee seller. 

Shopee Coins expire at the end of the third month after they were earned. For example, coins earned from 1-30 June 2024 expire on 31 August 2024. You’ll have anywhere from 2-3 months to use them, so don’t wait too long. 

As a reminder, 100 Shopee Coins = S$1.

1.7% cashback everywhere else

Outside of Shopee, Mari Credit Cardholders will earn a flat 1.7% cashback on all other spend, whether local or overseas (you don’t want to be using this for the latter- more on that in a bit).

MariBank calls this the “highest unlimited cashback card”, and they’re technically correct, though in the neighbourhood are the DCS Ultimate Platinum Card (2% cashback, but capped at S$200 per month- not nearly enough for a Kate Spade bag) and the UOB Absolute Card (1.7% cashback, but less widely accepted on account of being an AMEX).

Here’s how 1.7% cashback measures up to the competition. 

💳 General Spending Cashback Cards (without minimum spends)
	Annual Fee	Cashback*
DCS Ultimate Platinum Card Apply	S$196.20 (FYF)	2% (capped at S$200 per month)
Mari Credit Card	N/A	1.7%
UOB Absolute Cashback Apply	S$196.20 (FYF)	1.7%
BOC Visa Infinite Apply	S$381.50 (FYF)	1.6%
Citi Cash Back+ Card Apply	S$196.20 (FYF)	1.6%
OCBC Infinity Cashback Apply	S$196.20 (FYF)	1.6%
ICBC Chinese Zodiac Card Apply	S$150 (F3YF)	1.6%
Maybank FC Barcelona Card Apply	S$130.80 (F2YF)	1.6%
AMEX True Cashback Card Apply	S$174.40 (FYF)	1.5%
SC Simply Cash Card Apply	S$196.20 (FYF)	1.5%
FYF= First Year Free, F2YF= First 2 Years Free, F3YF= First 3 Years Free *For local SGD transactions

1.7% unlimited cashback combined with the near universal acceptance of Mastercard strongly positions the Mari Credit Card, though I’m not sure how much of a difference an incremental 0.1-0.2% makes in practice (if you spent S$10,000 on your card over a year, you’d only be S$10-20 better off). I guess it’s psychological, if nothing else. Given the low cost of switching between cashback cards, why wouldn’t you take 1.7% cashback over 1.6% or 1.5% ?

For avoidance of doubt, this 1.7% cashback does not stack with the 5% Shopee coin rebates on Shopee. You’ll earn one or the other, depending on your payment method.

When is this credited?

All cashback earned will be reflected on the MariBank app within five business days of completing the transaction, and will be automatically utilised to offset your outstanding due amount in the following statement cycle. 

Cashback cannot be withdrawn to your MariBank account.

3.77% FCY fee? Really?

I’ve always found it remarkable that in a market with more and more alternatives for overseas spending like Amaze, Revolut, Trust and YouTrip, banks are insistent on pushing their foreign currency (FCY) transaction fees higher and higher.

Five years ago, the average FCY fee was around 2.5-2.8%. Today, it’s 3.25% across most banks, with Standard Chartered the “market leader” at 3.5%. 

Not anymore. They’ve now been dethroned by the Mari Credit Card, which ups the stakes to a whopping 3.77%. 

All foreign currency transactions (including overseas and online transactions) charged to the Card will be subject to: (i) a prevailing charge of 1% of the converted Singapore Dollar amount representing the charge imposed by MasterCard on the transaction; and (ii) a prevailing fee of  2.77% of the converted Singapore Dollars amount.

-T&Cs

Now, there’s absolutely no reason why you should be using a general spending cashback card for overseas spend in the first place. Even with the industry-standard 3.25% FCY fee, you’d still be on the losing end with 1.5-1.7% cashback. 

But unfortunately, there’s bound to be someone who misses the memo and starts waving their Mari Credit Card around when on holiday. It’s your job to (1) warn them and (2) disown them if they don’t listen.

Given how Trust and GXS are trying to position their cards as zero FCY options for overseas spend, it’s surprising how MariBank is going in the opposite direction- and then some. Where they found the stones to do 3.77%, I’d certainly like to know.

Rewards exclusions

The Mari Credit Card’s rewards exclusion list reads like any other bank’s. You can expect the standard exclusion clauses, such as charitable donations, education, insurance premiums, hospitals, prepaid account top-ups (including ShopeePay, incidentally), and utilities. 

Amaze transactions are also excluded from earning cashback, though given Amaze’s implicit FCY fee of ~2%, there’s no reason why you’d pair it with the Mari Credit Card in the first place.

The full list of exclusions can be found below.

Conclusion

The Mari Credit Card is now open for applications, offering 5% rebates at Shopee and 1.7% cashback on everything else. Unlike the yuu Card, however, these rebates aren’t high enough for a committed miles chaser to switch camps, and what’s more, the 5% Shopee rebate is till the end of September 2024 only. 

But if cashback is all you care about, then a 1.7% cashback rate with Mastercard acceptance is compelling enough- though my first port of call would still be the DCS Ultimate Platinum Mastercard for 2% cashback on up to S$10,000 of spend each month.

Will you be using the Mari Credit Card?