Millennials have distinctive spending habits and tastes. Here are the best credit cards for young professionals and millennials.
Credit cards are a great tool to help you get the best bang for the buck when used responsibly. Millennials have distinctive spending habits and tastes, and the best credit cards must reward these discerning credit card users for their expenses across shopping, dining out, travelling, rides, groceries and then some. Plus, they mustn't sport overly complicated rewards mechanics.
Which trusty credit cards do millennials at SingSaver use for their day to day expenses, online shopping sprees, in-store shopping treats and travel bookings? Find out more below.
Table of contents
- Best credit cards for easy unlimited flat-rate cashback
- Best credit cards for easy, flexible 10x rewards points
- Best credit cards for high cashback & interest rate on savings
- Best for millennials for expiry-free miles & free airport lounge access
- Best for Takashimaya shopping sprees
Best credit cards for millennials looking for easy unlimited flat rate cashback
#1 American Express True Cashback Card
The American Express True Cashback Card is a no-brainer for those who want to earn easy cashback on anything and everything they spend on, including frequently excluded categories like utilities and telco bills, healthcare, insurance premiums and education fees.
This card lets you earn a flat 1.5% cashback on all eligible spend and 3% cashback on the first S$5,000 spent within the first six months of card approval.
If you use Grab frequently, consider following Calista’s footsteps: Pair the American Express True Cashback Card with the GrabPay Card to double-dip on rewards.
All you have to do is top up your GrabPay account with the American Express True Cashback Card to earn the 1.5% cashback. When using your GrabPay Card, you can earn up to 6x GrabRewards points for each dollar spent. This is a fantastic trick, don’t you think?
On a side note, Dawn and I appreciate all the great partnership deals available within the American Express mobile app. Simply save the card offers to your American Express True Cashback Card to enjoy the deals.
#2 Citi Cash Back+ Card
Citi Cash Back+ is a fuss-free credit card that offers unlimited cashback with no minimum spend. This cashback credit card gives you a marginally higher cashback of 1.6% on all eligible purchases charged to the card, compared to the 1.5% that American Express True Cashback Card offers.
As a sweet bonus for new cardmembers, one can expect to earn 4.5% cashback on the first S$5,000 spent within their first three months of card approval.
#3 Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card
Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card is Citi Cash Back+ Card’s (almost) identical twin from another bank.
It lets you earn 1.5% cashback on all eligible spend, with no minimum spend and no cap. How is it different from Citi Cash Back+ Card, then?
It is trickier to earn extra cashback using the Standard Chartered Unlimited Credit Card. To earn up to 3% total cashback, you have to deposit a substantial sum in your Unlimited$aver account.
Keen to know all the nitty-gritty details about all three popular credit cards for millennials? Read more about the Amex True Cashback vs Citi Cash Back+ vs SCB Unlimited comparison guide here.
Tip from Deborah: To up the total amount of cashback you can potentially earn, consider pairing the Citi Cash Back+ Card or Standard Chartered Unlimited Credit Card with Instarem’s amaze card to earn additional cashback on your expenses.
Best credit cards for millennials looking for easy, flexible 10x rewards points
#4 HSBC Revolution Credit Card
HSBC Revolution Credit Card is great for millennials as it lets you load up on 10X rewards points on online and contactless spending—no minimum spend required— on the first S$1,000 spent each month.
Regardless of what you tend to spend more on online, such as shopping, food delivery or travel bookings, you can earn 10x Rewards Points (4mpd). In this day and age where secure, contactless payments in-store are the rage, all payments made through Visa payWave, Apple Pay and Google Pay will earn you 10x rewards (4mpd).
The best part? There’s no annual fee for life with this credit card either! Plus, you will also enjoy a free ENTERTAINER membership with HSBC access. Say hello to more than 1,000 offers and 1-for-1 deals across dining, lifestyle and hotel categories.
It is no wonder why the HSBC Revolution Credit Card is a go-to for Deborah, Clement and myself.
#5 Citi Rewards Card
Citi Rewards Card is a solid contender for online shoppers and hardcore shopaholics alike. Like HSBC Revolution Credit Card, there’s no minimum spend you need to meet to start racking up flexible rewards points with the Citi Rewards Card.
You get to earn 10x Rewards Points (4mpd) on online and shopping purchases, excluding travel, from the get-go.
As the online category is pretty broad, rest assured the 10x rewards apply to things like online food delivery, online groceries, rides with Grab, Gojek and more — the attractive 10x Rewards Points don’t just apply to traditional shopping transactions.
Keep in mind the maximum 10x Rewards Points you can earn applies to the first S$1,000 spent per month on eligible purchases.
If you’re curious, Citi ThankYou Points expire after three years, counted from your card approval date. Your rewards points can be redeemed for air miles, instant cash rebates and more!
#6 DBS Woman’s World Card
Even though the DBS Woman’s World Card was designed with ladies in mind, there’s no stopping savvy guys from applying for this credit card that lets you earn 10X DBS points (20 miles) per S$5 spent (i.e. 4mpd) on the first S$2,000 spent on local online purchases each statement month.
Best part? There’s no minimum monthly spend required to start earning those DBS points. Plus, you enjoy complimentary e-Commerce Protection for your online purchases and a whole array of shopping, dining, beauty, and wellness offers year-round.
You’ll also earn 3X DBS Point (or 6 miles) per S$5 spent (i.e. 1.2mpd) on overseas purchases for foreign currency spend. For all other purchases, you’ll earn 1X DBS Point (or 2 miles) per S$5 spent (i.e. 0.4 mpd).
Best credit cards for millennials looking for high cashback & interest rate on savings
#7 UOB One Card
Want to earn potentially high cashback and high-interest rate on your hard-earned savings? The UOB One Card is a great option that comes highly recommended by Daryl and myself.
Apart from earning up to a whopping 2.5% p.a. interest on your UOB One savings account funds—leaps and bounds higher than the standard meagre 0.05% p.a.— new cardmembers can look forward to earning up to 15% cash rebate on all eligible spend.
This includes an extra up to 6.67% cash rebate on Dairy Farm Singapore, Grab, Shopee Singapore and UOB Travel transactions when you qualify for your quarterly cash rebate, capped at S$100 per month.
The quarterly UOB One cash rebate that you can earn is tiered.
You’ll earn a quarterly cash rebate if you can hit the minimum spend of S$500, S$1,000 or S$2,000 spread over at least 5 transactions per statement month for each qualifying quarter.
Do note that this enhanced 15% cash rebate rate is only appluicab
An important thing to remember: you’re required to make a minimum of five transactions each statement month to qualify for those cash rebates. It shouldn’t be too challenging if you make UOB One your go-to credit card for daily transactions, such as groceries, Grab rides, or coffee runs.
#8 OCBC 365 Credit Card
Suppose your savings are parked in an OCBC 360 account because you’d like to earn an effective interest rate of up to 2.38% a year and more on your first S$75,000. In that case, you’d most definitely want to get your hands on the OCBC 365 Credit Card to make each dollar you spend on everyday purchases, and bill payments go further.
The OCBC 365 Credit Card is their go-to cashback credit card for John and Melody.
The OCBC 365 Credit Card offers 6% cashback on dining and online food delivery, 3% cashback on groceries, land transport (Grab, Gojek, TADA, taxi rides), utilities and online travel, up to 22.1% fuel savings at Caltex, up to 20.2% fuel savings at Esso, 5% cashback on fuel spend at all petrol service stations, and 0.3% cashback on everything else.
To enjoy the attractive cashback of up to S$80 each calendar month, you’ll need to spend a minimum of S$800 on your OCBC 365 Credit Card based on posted transactions in a calendar month. It is doable if you make the OCBC 365 Credit Card your main credit card for all your adulting needs (read: telco and electricity bills, petrol, groceries, dining).
Best for millennials looking for expiry-free miles & free airport lounge access
#9 DBS Altitude Visa Credit Card
Can’t wait to start on your miles chasing journey? John and I recommend adding a credit card like DBS Altitude Visa that lets you earn expiry-free miles and enjoy extra perks like complimentary travel accident insurance coverage and free Priority Pass airport lounge visits.
If you’re a travel buff, the DBS Altitude Visa Credit Card is a reliable one you can count on. It lets you earn 1.2mpd on local spend, 2mpd on foreign currency spend, 3mpd on online flight & hotel transactions, capped at S$5,000 per month.
That’s not all; you can expect to earn up to 10mpd on hotel transactions on Kaligo and 6mpd on flight and hotel transactions on Expedia! Additionally, you will receive 10,000 bonus miles (in the form of 5,000 DBS Points) simply by paying the annual fee.
The only thing you need to take note of? Miles are awarded in the form of DBS Points for every S$5 spent (1 DBS Point = 2 miles) on a per-transaction basis.
Best for Takashimaya shopping sprees
#10 DBS Takashimaya American Express Card
Do you do your shopping frequently at Takashimaya Department Store and Takashimaya Shopping Centre? If so, it’s high time you add the DBS Takashimaya American Express Card to your wallet.
Apart from enjoying an extra 10% off during selected sale events at Takashimaya Department Store and parking privileges, this credit card lets you earn 6% voucher rebates in Takashimaya Department Store and 2% voucher rebates in Takashimaya Shopping Centre when you spend at participating specialty stores such as Genki Sushi, Cupping Room Coffee Roasters, Guardian, Watsons, Books Kinokuniya Aesop, Lululemon, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., etc.
There’s no limit to how much Takashimaya voucher rebates you can earn — this is awesome for millennials who enjoy one-stop shopping at Takashimaya Department Store for all their home, children, beauty and lifestyle needs, as well as those who regularly patronise the many specialty stores within the shopping centre.
In case you’re wondering, every 100 Takashimaya Bonus Points translates into S$30 worth of Takashimaya Gift Vouchers.
Read these next:
5 Credit Cards That Will Help You Save The Most Money in 2022
Best Cashback Credit Cards In Singapore
Cashback vs Miles vs Rewards: Which Is The Best Type Of Credit Card For You?
4 Types Of Credit Cards With Lifetime Annual Fee Waivers
Top Credit Card Promotions And Deals On SingSaver
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