Standard Chartered launched the Smart Card in Singapore in October 2021. Leaving aside its somewhat unimaginative name, the value proposition was surprisingly solid: up to 7.7 mpd on public transport, selected fast food restaurants and streaming services, with no minimum spend.
In December 2024, the earn rate was further boosted to an uncapped 9.3 mpd, and EV charging was added as a bonus category. The catch was a new, onerous minimum spend requirement, which put the headline rate out of reach for most people.
Still, it’s hard not to love a card that rewards you so generously for clogging your arteries at McDonald’s and Burger King, and I do know of a handful of people who swear by it, since they’re the ones in charge of the office lunch orders and coffee runs.
Unfortunately, the Smart Card could now be living on borrowed time.
Standard Chartered Smart Card suspends applications
Standard Chartered has updated the Smart Card’s landing page with a notification that applications have now been suspended.
Thank you for your interest. We are no longer accepting new applications for the Smart Credit Card.
-Standard Chartered
This usually spells the death knell for a card — but not always. You may remember that the StanChart Visa Infinite stopped accepting applications in February 2020…only to be resurrected a year later in January 2021. The StanChart X Card also suspended applications for a period, but that was because of overwhelming demand, so not quite the same situation.
Existing StanChart Smart Cardholders have not received any communications regarding their card, so it should be assumed they can continue using their cards until further notice.
What does the StanChart Smart Card offer?
The StanChart Smart Card is a niche offering, to say the least.
It earns an uncapped 9.28 mpd on transactions made in SGD with the following merchants.
| Category | Merchants |
| 🍔 Fast Food |
|
| 📺 Streaming |
|
| 🚆 Transport |
|
| *Until 31 December 2026 | |
There are 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
- While most EV charging providers use MCC 5552, some platforms have yet to switch to this MCC
But here’s where it gets complicated. The StanChart Smart Card has three different earning tiers, based on total spend within a statement month.
| Card Spend (per statement month) |
Bonus Categories | Non-Bonus Categories |
| Less than S$800 Tier 0 |
1.6 pts/S$1 0.5% 0.46 mpd |
1.6 pts/S$1 0.5% 0.46 mpd |
| S$800 to S$1,499 Tier 1 |
25.6 pts/S$1 8% 7.42 mpd |
1.6 pts/S$1 0.5% 0.46 mpd |
| S$1,500 or more Tier 2 |
32 pts/S$1 10% 9.28 mpd |
3.2 pts/S$1 1% 0.93 mpd |
| Cashback percentages based on conversion rate of 3,200 points = S$10 statement credit | ||
So in practice, the 9.28 mpd rate is very difficult to attain.
Suppose you have a Disney+ (S$22.98), Netflix (S$29.98) and Spotify (S$20.98) subscriptions (the most expensive plans for all three services), and let’s say you have an EV and charge your vehicle four times a month (S$200). That only comes up to S$274, so you’d need to spend at least S$526 on the fast food category.
True, the minimum spend need not consist of just bonus-eligible merchants. You can also spend at non-bonus merchants, but it drags down the weighted average. The tables below show the calculations.
| Tier 1 (Min. Spend= S$800) |
|||
| Bonus Spend | Non-Bonus Spend | Total Miles | Weighted Avg. |
| S$400 7.42 mpd |
S$400 0.46 mpd |
3,152 | 3.94 mpd |
| S$500 7.42 mpd |
S$300 0.46 mpd |
3,848 | 4.81 mpd |
| S$600 7.42 mpd |
S$200 0.46 mpd |
4,544 | 5.68 mpd |
| S$700 7.42 mpd |
S$100 0.46 mpd |
5,240 | 6.55 mpd |
| Tier 2 (Min. Spend= S$1,500) |
|||
| Bonus Spend | Non-Bonus Spend | Total Miles | Weighted Avg. |
| S$500 9.28 mpd |
S$1,000 0.93 mpd |
5,570 | 3.71 mpd |
| S$600 9.28 mpd |
S$900 0.93 mpd |
6,405 | 4.27 mpd |
| S$700 9.28 mpd |
S$800 0.93 mpd |
7,240 | 4.83 mpd |
| S$800 9.28 mpd |
S$700 0.93 mpd |
8,075 | 5.38 mpd |
| S$900 9.28 mpd |
S$600 0.93 mpd |
8,910 | 5.94 mpd |
| S$1,000 9.28 mpd |
S$500 0.93 mpd |
9,745 | 6.50 mpd |
| S$1,100 9.28 mpd |
S$400 0.93 mpd |
10,580 | 7.05 mpd |
| S$1,200 9.28 mpd |
S$300 0.93 mpd |
11,415 | 7.61 mpd |
| S$1,300 9.28 mpd |
S$200 0.93 mpd |
12,250 | 8.17 mpd |
| S$1,400 9.28 mpd |
S$100 0.93 mpd |
13,085 | 8.72 mpd |
The StanChart Smart Card is also the only card in Singapore to participate in Visa’s SmartDelay programme, which offers complimentary lounge access for the cardholder and a guest in the event of a flight delay.
Cardholders simply need to register their flight. If their flight is delayed by more than one hour, an email containing a LoungeKey QR code will be automatically generated. This can be redeemed at any LoungeKey-accepting airport lounge worldwide (LoungeKey and Priority Pass are basically the same).
Interestingly, there is no requirement that you pay for your flight with the card you use to register. That’s a good thing, because the StanChart Smart Card earns just as little as 0.46 mpd on air ticket bookings — hardly the right card to use!
A full review of the card can be found below.
Conclusion
Standard Chartered has suspended new applications for the Smart Card, which may or may not point to its impending demise.
That’s unfortunate, in my opinion. While its 9.28 mpd earn rate was largely theoretical for most cardholders, the lucky few who managed to make it work must have really been minting miles. It’s also the only card which explicitly rewards the EV charging MCC (its closest competitor, the DBS yuu Visa, offers bonuses with Charge+ only).
There’s no word on what will happen to existing cards, so until then, make hay.
