Head-to-head: Citi Rewards Card vs DBS Woman’s World Card

When it comes to the best card for online spending, there are two names that always pop up: the Citi Rewards Card and DBS Woman’s World Card.

Both cards offer 4 mpd on online spending, but that’s where the similarities end. Each has its own set of rules, limitations and quirks, and because of this, they’re not perfect substitutes. 

So if you’re deciding which of the two to use, here are the important differences to know about.

💳 Summary: Citi Rewards vs DBS Woman’s World Card
	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Min. Income	S$30K p.a.	S$80K p.a.
Annual Fee	S$196.20 (first year free)	S$196.20 (first year free)
Min. Spend for AF Waiver	N/A	S$25K
Online Bonus	4 mpd (ex. travel, mobile wallet)	4 mpd
Other Bonuses	4 mpd (department stores & shopping)	1.2 mpd (FCY spend)
Bonus Cap	S$1K per s. month	S$1.5K per c. month
Points Expiry	Up to 5 years	1 year
Points Pooling	No	Yes
Transfer Partners	11	4
Conversion Cost	S$27.25	S$27.25
Points Posting	Base and bonus together	Base and bonus separate
Points for Amaze	Yes	No

I’ve also written detailed reviews of both cards, which you can refer to in the links below.

Review: Citi Rewards Credit Card

Review: DBS Woman’s World Card

Income requirement & annual fee

	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Min. Income	S$30K p.a.	S$80K p.a.
Annual Fee	S$196.20 (first year free)	S$196.20 (first year free)
Min. Spend for AF Waiver	N/A	S$25K

The Citi Rewards Card has a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 per annum, with an annual fee of S$196.20. This fee is waived for the first year.

The DBS Woman’s World Card has a higher minimum income requirement of S$80,000 per annum, with an annual fee of S$196.20. This is also waived for the first year.

That said, it’s an open secret that DBS does not enforce the S$80,000 income requirement. So long as you earn at least S$30,000 per year, you have a very good chance of being approved for the DBS Woman’s World Card. 

As for annual fee waivers, the DBS Woman’s World Card requires a minimum spend of S$25,000 in a membership year for an automatic fee waiver. There is no similar concession for the Citi Rewards Card, at least publicly. But in practice, however, I’ve been able to easily waive the annual fee on both cards year after year. 

Online bonuses and bonus cap

	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Online Spending	4 mpd	4 mpd
Exclusions	Travel In-app or online mobile wallet payments General exclusions	General exclusions
Cap	S$1,000 per s. month	S$1,500 per c. month

Both the Citi Rewards Card and DBS Woman’s World Card earn 4 mpd on online spending, with no minimum spend necessary. This covers a wide range of transactions, such as food delivery, groceries, Grab/gojek rides, movie tickets, streaming entertainment and e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Shopee. 

However, the Citi Rewards Card does not award 4 mpd on travel-related transactions, defined as the following.

The Citi Rewards Card also does not earn 4 mpd on in-app or online mobile wallet payments, so if an app or website offers the option to pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay, it’s better to use a “naked” Citi Rewards Card instead. In-person mobile wallet transactions (where you tap your phone to pay at the counter) are fine, however, provided the transaction falls under the bonus whitelist (see below). 

The DBS Woman’s World Card has no such restrictions, and also has a more generous 4 mpd cap of S$1,500 per calendar month, versus S$1,000 per statement month for the Citi Rewards Card.

Other bonus categories

Department stores, bags, shoes and clothes

	Citi Rewards Card
Earn Rate for Department Stores, Bags, Shoes and Clothes	4 mpd
Cap	S$1,000 per s. month

The Citi Rewards Card earns 4 mpd on transactions made at department stores, or stores that sell bags, shoes and clothes, capped at S$1,000 per statement month. 

These are defined by the following MCCs.

Do note that this bonus cap is shared with online spending. For example, if you’ve already earned 4 mpd on S$600 of online spend, you’ll only be able to earn 4 mpd on S$400 of department store, bags, shoes or clothes shopping for the rest of the statement month.

Points expiry and pooling

	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Points Expiry	Up to 5 years	1 year
Pooling	No	Yes

The Citi Rewards Card has an advantage in terms of points expiry—points are valid for up to five years (though some may expire sooner, depending on when they’re earned).

In contrast, DBS Woman’s World Card points expire after just one year, so you’ll need to transfer them out more frequently.

That said, Citi does not pool points across its cards, even if they earn the same currency. For instance, you can’t combine ThankYou points from the Citi Prestige and Citi Rewards Cards for a single redemption.

On the other hand, DBS does pool points, allowing you to combine rewards earned across all your DBS cards in a single redemption.

Transfer partners

	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Transfer Partners	11	4
Full List	KrisFlyer Asia Miles British Airways Etihad Guest EVA Air  Flying Blue IHG Rewards Club Qantas Frequent Flyer Qatar Privilege Club THAI Royal Orchid Plus Turkish Miles & Smiles	KrisFlyer Asia Miles Qantas Frequent Flyer Air Asia Rewards

The Citi Rewards Card wins this category, with 11 different airline and hotel transfer partners. This includes EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, Qatar Privilege Club, and Air France-KLM Flying Blue, all of which have lucrative redemption sweet spots.

The DBS Woman’s World Card offers far fewer options, with just four frequent flyer programmes. Realistically speaking though, it’s more like two because Air Asia Rewards and Qantas Frequent Flyer are not very useful for someone based in Singapore. 

Conversion costs

	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Conversion Cost	S$27.25	S$27.25

Both the Citi Rewards Card and DBS Woman’s World Card charge a S$27.25 admin fee for points transfers.

Alternatively, you can transfer Citi ThankYou Points or DBS Points via Kris+ instantly and without admin fees, though you will suffer a 15% haircut.

Points posting

	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Base Points	When trxn posts	When trxn posts
Bonus Points	When trxn posts	Following month (usually 16th)

The Citi Rewards Card awards both base (0.4 mpd) and bonus (3.6 mpd) miles together, at the time the transaction posts.

In contrast, the DBS Woman’s World Card only awards base points (0.4 mpd for local online spend, 1.2 mpd for FCY online spend) when the transaction posts. The remaining bonus points (3.6 mpd for local online spend, 2.8 mpd for FCY online spend) will be credited by the end of the following calendar month, usually on the 16th.

Amaze pairing

	Citi Rewards Card	DBS Woman’s World Card
Earns Points with Amaze?	Yes	No
Remarks	1% admin fee (min. S$0.50) for SGD transactions	N/A

While DBS excluded Amaze transactions back in June 2022, Citi has yet to do so. You can pair the Citi Rewards Card with Amaze to earn 4 mpd on almost all transactions, since Amaze converts offline spend into online.

However, it should be noted that Amaze now charges a 1% admin fee (with a minimum fee of S$0.50) for any transactions in SGD. There are no admin fees for foreign currency transactions. 

Which is better?

➕ 11 transfer partners ➕ Points valid up to 5 years ➕ Can be paired with Amaze ➕ Base and bonus points post together	➕ Higher monthly bonus cap ➕ 4 mpd for all online spend ➕ Points pool with other DBS cards
➖ Points don’t pool with other Citi cards ➖ Lower monthly bonus cap ➖ Excludes travel and in-app/online mobile wallet	➖ Points expire after 12 months ➖ Limited transfer partners ➖ No points for Amaze ➖ Base and bonus points post separately

The way I see it, the Citi Rewards Card is the one to use if you want to earn “exotic” points currencies (i.e. anything other than KrisFlyer or Asia Miles), or if you’re looking to minimise the cost of overseas transactions while still earning 4 mpd. 

But if you’re a KrisFlyer-only type of person, or if you don’t want to deal with the finicky travel exclusion, then the DBS Woman’s World Card would be the better option. Just keep in mind its points have an unusually short validity of 12 months, so you’ll need to transfer them out at least once a year.

Conclusion

The Citi Rewards Card and DBS Woman’s World Card are both excellent options for maximising online spending, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t keep both.

The Citi Rewards Card has the advantage of more transfer partners, longer points validity, and compatibility with Amaze—making it ideal for those who value flexibility. On the other hand, the DBS Woman’s World Card offers a higher monthly cap, fewer bonus restrictions, and pooled points across DBS cards, which is better for those who want simplicity.

Which of the two cards do you prefer?