What credit cards should you use for the Christmas sales?

The annual Christmas sales are just around the corner, and while there are far too many deals out there to possibly summarise, what I want to focus on is your credit card strategy.

Using the right credit card can give you a nice rebate on your spending, on top of whatever discounts you’re already snagging. Naturally, you’ll want to ensure you’re using the card that offers the highest possible earn rate, to avoid leaving value on the table!

I’m going to assume that a lot of your Christmas shopping will be done online, and if so, then you definitely want to get either the Citi Rewards Card or DBS Woman’s World Card.

Like the Citi Rewards Card, the DBS Woman’s World Card also earns 4 mpd on any transactions processed online, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month.

Even better, it does not suffer from the same pitfalls as the Citi Rewards Card- you can use it for travel-related or mobile wallet spending and still earn 4 mpd.

However, it’s worth noting that points earned on the DBS Woman’s World Card expire after 12 months, whereas points earned on the Citi Rewards Card are valid for up to five years. Moreover, Citi offers a much wider range of points transfer partners, including British Airways, EVA Air and Turkish Airlines. DBS cardholders are limited to just Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

If you’re more traditional and planning to do your shopping in-store, then the following cards will earn up to 4 mpd. 

Now, the tricky thing here is that each card has its own definition of shopping (though they will overlap to a great degree). You’ll want to refer to the terms and conditions for the exact list of eligible Merchant Category Codes (MCCs), but for ease of reference, I’ve compiled it below.

This list can look overwhelming, but don’t worry! You can look up what each of these MCCs refers to in this guide.

The MCCs which are common to all five cards are:

• MCC 5311 Department Stores

• MCC 5621 Women’s Ready to Wear Stores

• MCC 5631 Women’s Accessory and Specialty Stores

• MCC 5651 Family Clothing Stores

• MCC 5661 Shoe Stores

• MCC 5691 Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores

• MCC 5699 Misc. Apparel and Accessory Shops

Therefore, if you’re shopping at Takashimaya, TANGS, Isetan or Marks & Spencer, or buying clothes or shoes at fashion boutiques, any of these cards should work. 

Moreover, these cards are not just limited to offline shopping. Generally speaking, transactions made at major e-commerce platforms should also qualify under the shopping category:

• Amazon

• Ezbuy

• Shopee

• Taobao

• TikTok Shop

• Lazada

I want to caveat that the MCCs of these platforms aren’t fixed, and there could be unlucky situations where the transaction does not fall under the bonus whitelist for your card.

If you want to avoid this altogether, consider buying gift cards through HeyMax, which code as MCC 5311. HeyMax currently sells gift cards for:

• Amazon

• Best Denki

• Courts

• IKEA

• Sephora

• SHEIN

• TANGS

• Zalora

If you plan to do your Christmas shopping online, with websites that charge in foreign currency, you can also make use of the following cards.

The Maybank World Mastercard and Maybank Visa Infinite are particularly useful, since there is no cap on their earn rates. If you’re planning to make a big ticket purchase, then these would be the ones to choose.

Some websites may offer you the option of paying in SGD instead of foreign currency- don’t take it! This is known as dynamic currency conversion, and entails a significant mark-up from the rate your bank would otherwise charge. Furthermore, you will not earn any foreign currency spending bonuses on a foreign currency transaction that has been charged in SGD.