Bettytlopez

All ABout Credit Cards in Singapore

July 3, 2007

It was only tonight that I took stock of how many credit cards I have in my wallet. I never realized I have twelve of them since effectively I was only using about 3 or 4 of them every month.

 

To date, I have the following cards:

DBS (3) - 1 Visa Platinum,1 Masteracrd Platinum and 1 American Express

Citibank(1) Gold Card

OCBC (1) Robinson Visa card

UOB(2)- 1 Tiger Visa card, 1 UOB Visa Signature

HSBC (2)- 1 Visa and 1 Mastercard Gold

1 Diners Card

1 Standard Chartered Platinum

1 ABN Amro Platinum Card

 

I am doing a summary now because I just got my recent DBS Bill and its charging me annual fees for

 

American Express (150 + 75 for supplmentary=$225)

DBS Visa Platinum (180 + 90 for supplementary=$270)

DBS Mastercard Platinum($180 + 90=$270)

Citibank= $142.86 for main cardholder

 

 

I already told hubby to call the bank and cancel our cards because we dont want to pay the annual fees. Yesterday Citibank already told me they will waive my annual fee when I told them to cancel my card since I dont want to pay the annual fee. So that is one card down.

(UPDATE 07/08/2007- Hubby was able to renew the DBS cards and waive the annual fees when he told the Bank officer he would like to cancel if they will charge us the renewal fee.)

 There are advantages and disadvantages of having many cards but most of the time I use my cards to my advantage. Here are some of my favorite credit cards and why I use them:

 

1) UOB   Tiger Visa card- I buy my clients Tiger tickets using this card . I get an instant rebate and free vouchers to allow me to use for free flights.

2) DBS POS Bank Everyday Card- I buy Jetstar tickets with this card since it gives me automatic 5% discount on flights. I use this for my business.

3) OCBC Robinson Card- I often shop at RObinsons and John Little and with this card I get automatic 5-10% rebate and card member sales of up to 25% on top of current sale prices.They offer free spa and massage vouchers.

4) ABN Amro- Of all the credit cards, ABN provides the best rewards programme and their choice of items are wide ranged.

5) HSBC- During sale period they offer $1 items provided you buy a minimum of $50. They also offer free movie nights to card holders.

6) Citibank- This is my favorite card since it is the longest card I have in possession. My first credit card was a CItibank Card.It also provides the best cash withdrawal /funds transfer(as low as a flat fee of $20 for as much as $10,000 loan spread over 6 months or about 1.99% interest). It also provides the longest 24 months interest free installments for appliances and furnitures.

The latest survey /comparison of credit cards was done by CASE SIngapore in Oct 2006  click here .

 

However,if you want to make a most recent comparison of credit cards in Singapore you can search for it here.

 

One good advice, its not the number of cards that you use, its how you use them. Make sure you pay all your balances on time. DONT pay only the minimum sum. A credit card is not cash. DONT be tempted to buy something beyond your budget.

 

 

    


Posted by bettytlopez at 11:20 pm | permalink

Previous Comments

12? That’s too many.

I’m now maintaining 1 card - BPI Gold Mastercard. Every renewal, I’m requesting for the waiver of the annual fee. Without re-applying, EPCI gave me an American Express Card for free - no annual fee for 5 years. I seldom use it though.

Posted by Tom at July 4, 2007, 5:17 pm

Tom: Yah I know its a lot but I am ot using it and its free and besides I get freebies from them so why not…the more the merrier.

I am not the person anyway who is tempted to buy anything if I dont need it. If its free why not take advantage di ba.

For me the cards are more of an advantage, i get deferred payment on my purchases,5% rebates in my groceries, discounts on my store buys, free spa vouchers and instant cash when I am overseas and run out of cash.

Sometimes credit cards even charge lower than when you exchange your US$ when u are overseas.

You must know how to maximize ur cards use to ur advantage and not the otherway around.

Posted by betty at July 4, 2007, 8:25 pm

Thanks for the advice! I’m going to ask Metrobank to waive my annual fee. I don’t use the card anyway.

Posted by virg at July 9, 2007, 1:54 am

Virg:
If you dont use your card, they might not give in to your request for a fee waiver.You have to show that u are using it and paying ur cards on time…meaning maintain a good credit history.

Posted by betty at July 9, 2007, 10:02 am

for those of you who are either PR or E-pass holders in singapore, and need Diners Club credit card with free membership for 2 years and a whole lot of benefits, pls email me your name and contact number, i will help you get at least one card… and then use it/them wisely. no cost for application. thanks and mabuhay. - hovstad@yahoo.com

Posted by hovstad at October 8, 2009, 10:15 am

All comments are moderated. Your comments will not appear here unless approved by the blog owner. Thank you.