What’s the best priority banking credit card?

Priority banking opens the door to all sorts of otherworldly delights, like free drinks and angbaos, the ego-boosting ability to skip the branch queues, and that all-familiar rite of passage: being hard sold dodgy financial products by RMs of better-than-average attractiveness.

But what I really want to focus on are the credit cards. Many banks offer exclusive credit cards to their priority banking customers, and in this post, we’ll look at what perks they offer.

For the purposes of this discussion, I’ll be defining priority banking (also called privilege or premier banking) as a relationship with a minimum AUM in the six-digit range. Needless to say, there exists an entire strata of banking relationships above this, such as HSBC Premier Elite (S$1.2M AUM) or Standard Chartered Priority Private (S$1.5M AUM) — but we’ll save that for another time.

What credit cards are available to priority banking customers?

Here’s a rundown of the various credit cards offered to priority banking customers.

💳 Priority Banking Credit Cards (Sorted Alphabetically)
Card	Annual Fee	Min. AUM
DBS Treasures AMEX No longer available for application	None	S$350K
HSBC Premier Mastercard Apply	None	S$200K
Maybank Premier World Mastercard Apply	None	S$300K
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite Apply	None	S$350K
StanChart Priority Visa Infinite Apply	None	S$200K
UOB Privilege Banking Card Apply	None	S$350K

All these cards have a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 p.a., though those aged above 55 may be able to apply with a lower income of S$15,000, net personal assets or a guarantor.

Also, some cards technically have annual fees, but they’re waived so long as you maintain your priority banking relationship — for example, the HSBC Premier Mastercard waives its S$708.50 annual fee for qualified HSBC Premier customers.

I should probably highlight that there are two more credit cards that priority banking customers can apply for: the StanChart Beyond Card and OCBC Premier VOYAGE. 

Card	Annual Fee	Min. AUM
StanChart Beyond Card (Priority Banking) Apply	S$1,635	S$200K
OCBC Premier VOYAGE Apply	S$488 Waivable with min. S$30K annual spend	S$350K

However, these come with three or four-digit annual fees, and it wouldn’t be fair to compare them to fee-free cards.

You can read separate reviews on these in the links below:

• Review: StanChart Beyond Card
• Review: OCBC VOYAGE

Earn rates

💳 Priority Banking Credit Cards: Earn Rates (Sorted by Sum of Local + FCY General Spend)
Card	Local	FCY
HSBC Premier Mastercard Apply	1.68 mpd	2.76 mpd
DBS Treasures AMEX No longer available for application	1.2 mpd	2.4 mpd
Maybank Premier World Mastercard Apply	0.4 mpd	Up to 3.2 mpd
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite Apply	1.28 mpd	2.24 mpd
UOB Privilege Banking Card Apply	1.2 mpd	1.2 mpd
StanChart Priority Visa Infinite Apply	1 mpd	1 mpd

There’s little doubt the HSBC Premier Mastercard reigns supreme when it comes to earn rates, with 1.68 mpd on local and 2.76 mpd on FCY spend. Sure, those rates drop to 1.4 mpd and 2.3 mpd respectively if you opt to earn KrisFlyer miles, but even then it’s still the leader.

The only card that can beat it is the Maybank Premier World Mastercard, which earns an uncapped 3.2 mpd on FCY spend with a minimum monthly spend of S$4,000 (or 2.8 mpd with a minimum monthly spend of S$800). However, this same benefit is also available to regular Maybank World Mastercard customers.

While the table above addresses general spending rates, a couple of cards also offer bonuses for selected categories of spending.

💳 Priority Banking Credit Cards: Earn Rates (Specialised Spending)
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Maybank Premier World Mastercard Apply	4 mpd	Imperial Treasure, Les Amis Group, Valiram Group, Luxury Galleria at RWS, selected golf boutiques, Singapore petrol
UOB Privilege Banking Card Apply	2 mpd	Local luxury spend, overseas dining and shopping

Lounge access

💳 Priority Banking Credit Cards: Lounge Access (Sorted by Most to Least Visits Per Year)
Card	Principal	Supplementary
HSBC Premier Mastercard Apply	Unlimited	Unlimited (max. 3x cards)
StanChart Priority Visa Infinite Apply	6 MY Share	None
Maybank Premier World Mastercard Apply	2 CY Share	None
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite Apply	2 MY No Share	None
UOB Privilege Banking Card Apply	None	None
DBS Treasures AMEX No longer available for application	None	None
Legend
Whether visits are tracked by calendar year CY or membership year MY Whether lounge visits can or can’t be shared with guests Share No Share

The HSBC Premier Mastercard wipes the floor with the competition again, offering unlimited Priority Pass visits for the principal and up to three supplementary cardholders. This even includes non-lounge experiences like airport restaurants and spas.

The StanChart Priority Visa Infinite, its closest competitor — if you can even call it close — recently slashed its lounge benefit for Priority Banking members from 12 to six visits. It can fall to as little as two visits if you do not maintain the S$200,000 AUM.

The Maybank Premier World Mastercard and OCBC Premier Visa Infinite offer just a couple of lounge visits, and the remaining cards offer none.

Airport limo rides

💳 Priority Banking Credit Cards: Airport Limo (Sorted by Lowest Spend Per Ride)
Card	Min. Spend	Max Rides
Maybank Premier World Mastercard Apply	S$3,000 within three months for 2 rides	2 rides per year
HSBC Premier Mastercard Apply	S$12,000 per quarter for 2 rides	8 rides per year
DBS Treasures AMEX No longer available for application	N/A	N/A
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite Apply	N/A	N/A
StanChart Priority Visa Infinite Apply	N/A	N/A
UOB Privilege Banking Card Apply	N/A	N/A

Complimentary airport limo transfers aren’t really a feature of priority banking cards, but the Maybank Premier World Mastercard offers the best deal: spending S$3,000 within a three-month period unlocks two airport transfers.

Unfortunately, two rides a year is all you can earn. If you need more than that, the only remaining option is the HSBC Premier Mastercard, which awards two rides to cardholders who spend S$12,000 in a calendar quarter, capped at eight rides per year.

Truth be told, if no-spend limo rides are what you’re after, then you’ll need to look at the tier above priority banking.

Other perks

Card	Other Perks
HSBC Premier Mastercard Apply	Complimentary GP consults and flu vaccination with Premier Health & Wellness 1-for-1 dining deals at Como Group restaurants and Shangri-La Singapore 5% cashback at Apple Store for HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard benefits
StanChart Priority Visa Infinite Apply	Reimbursement for APEC Business Travel Card application fee Visa Infinite benefits
Maybank Premier World Mastercard Apply	Regional golf programme
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite Apply	Visa Infinite benefits
UOB Privilege Banking Card Apply	Up to 20% off dining at The Fullerton Hotel, Fullerton Bay Hotel, Pan Pacific Hotels Group Complimentary home and vehicle assistance Visa Infinite benefits
DBS Treasures AMEX No longer available for application

HSBC Premier Mastercard customers enjoy a range of miscellaneous benefits, including two complimentary GP consults and a flu vaccination each year at Parkway Shenton clinics and 1-for-1 set meals at the Como Group restaurants and Shangri-La Singapore.

StanChart Priority Visa Infinite customers enjoy a reimbursement of the S$100 application fee for an APEC Business Travel Card, which is probably the best S$100 you’ll ever spend. 

UOB Privilege Banking Card customers will be reimbursed for repair bills of up to S$100 per visit, twice per year, for electrical, plumbing and locksmith assistance. They will also be covered for roadside repair and towing of up to S$100 per event, twice per year.

Otherwise, there isn’t much to talk about here, apart from generic World Elite or Visa Infinite benefits.

Conclusion

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most priority banking credit cards are rather underwhelming, with the notable exception of the HSBC Premier Mastercard. At the end of the day, there’s only so much banks can offer for cards with perpetual annual fee waivers, and if it’s benefits you’re after, you should look at something in the S$120K segment.

The good news is that you don’t need any of these to rack up miles quickly. In fact, most of the cards that I recommend are available at the S$30,000 income mark, no AUM necessary. 

Any other priority banking cards worth mentioning?