How to get S$1,400 Free Money from Credit Card per year?

[Dennis Ng]

if we learn to use our Credit Card wisely, we can actually save money, for instance, when you use different credit cards at different restaurants and merchants, sometimes you can get Extra Discount (save money, provided you already have this expenditure).

I actually ask my wife to get more cards (she has about 7 cards) becos sometimes different cards are entitled to discounts at different restaurants and places.

Credit card if used wisely can actually save money, provided one has discipline in spending. For instance, imagine by using UOB One Card, I get cash back for paying my utility bill, mobile phone bill, grocery, which are necessary expenditure, not extra expenditure.

Below seminar graduate Serene Loong shares how she get S$1,400 Free money every year from her credit cards!

Cheers!

Dennis Ng

Hello! Want to learn how I get $1400 free money every year from my credit cards? Here's how:

i. Standard Chartered Manhatten Card:
I use this for bigger purchases. Abv $3000/mth, you get 5%. (You get lower amts back for smaller sums spent.) The rebate is given quarterly and capped at $200 per quarter. Caveat being that you must make at least 1 transaction a mth. So in a quarter, typically for two of the months, I will hardly use the card (but still at least one transaction/mth), and then for one of the months, I charge a big ticket item (say car repairs / buying a holiday package / investing in my personal learning i.e. seminars like Dennis') to clock around $4K to get the max benefit of $200 per quarter. That makes $800 per year!

ii. UOB One Card
This I would use on the other two months when I am not using my Manhattan Card. WIth teh rate of inflation these days, hitting these amts isn't too difficult unfortunately. I just charge almost everything to any merchant that has a credit card facility so I hardly use/carry cash. The good thing abt this is at the end of the mth, I get an itemized blow-by-blow acct of my spending with the mthly credit card bill.

Here's the deal:
$300 to $799 per month for 3 consecutive months ($30 rebate per quarter)
$800 and above per month for 3 consecutive months ($80 rebate per quarter)
$1500 and above per month for 3 consecutive months ($150 rebate per quarter)
Equivalent to maximum 3.33% rebate, capped at $150 per quarter so that $600 per annum.

The tricky bit is consistently maintaining the charges every month i.e. you must spend eg. at least $800 per month for 3 months to qualify for $80 back. So if you spend $1500 one moth and $300 for the other 2 months, you only get back $30 that quarter. So in a quarter, if I have a month where I hv a low spend that month, I would switch to charge to my Manhattan card instead...after a while, the behavior is quite second nature. U dun need some crazy excel spread sheet or anything like that to track yr credit card spending. Just be roughly correct (rather than precisely wrong like what Dennis says) or else this "coffee money" might be too much trouble...

In total, if these cards are used "correctly", I get $800 (Manhattan card) + $600 (ONE card) = $1400 per year from Stan Chartered and UOB! It's silly but I feel happy when I can "make money" from the banks!

Of course you must have discipline and pay off your credit card bills at the end of every month or else the interest will wipe out any money you get back.
Plus I always call them to avoid paying the annual fee. They have almost always relented except Americian Express which is tough (a few years ago; dunno if still true) so I stopped carrying Amex.

This is on top of the petrol and grocery rebates (Maybank Family & Friends and POSB Everyday Card are not bad: about 5%) for specific stores/cards. So depending what and where you spend your moolah, you could pick specific cards. I also have friends who big on travel and would put all spending on one card eg. DBS Altitude for max air miles... for me I prefer cash so I like cash-back cards!

Here's a good summary of cashback choices out there but do note this was written in 2010 so abit outdated but generally still accurate:
http://www.singwealth.com/portal/index. ... sh-rebates

And for other cards (not all there tho'):
http://www.moneyline.sg/creditcards
http://www.compare.sg/credit-cards/best ... -cards.php

[wemakebread]

Good sharing by Serene!

I also like UOB One Card.
Useful for big-ticket items that can be put on instalment by merchant.
Because the monthly instalments count towards the monthly spend.
Once I have run up $300 for that month, I will usually delay all big purchases.
This has actually helped me to control spending.
Sometimes, after delaying the purchase, I forgo it altogether because the need/urge is no longer there.

Like Serene, I always pay monthly credit card bills in full.
And that is also because I only buy things that I can afford, and I am able to pay in full.
Credit card is merely a convenient way of payment, and to squeeze some rebates out of necessary purchases.
Even when I put a purchase on 12-month instalment, I make sure to set aside that amount of money to prevent over-spend.

The Manhatten Card is good for high rebate of 5%.
I also use Citibank SMRT cad for taking bus/MRT and grocery shopping at Dairy Farm outlets (eg. Giant, Guardian, Cold Storage). There is a small rebate that makes it better than using cash.

[DavidisFinanciallyFree]

Here's another way how I got $160 for free! I believe many already know but just in case some don't and can benefit from this.

Standchart has a $80 cashback promotion (ending 30 June) for your first 2 approved principle cards. In other words you will get a total $160 cashback for applying 2 different cards with them. I was skeptical at first so I called them up to verify on the conditions before I went ahead to get my Manhattan and the platinum visa. Apparently there are none but do take note that the cashback promo will end on 30 June.

http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/car ... index.html

By the way I do not work for standchart or have any relationship with them other than being their cardholder

[Albert]

I think there a agreement that the card cannot be cancelled within the 3 months of application.

[idyll]

hi Davidisfinanciallyfree

how much are the annual fees for the 2 stanchart cards?
Thanks

Idyll

[Dennis Ng]

hi Davidisfinanciallyfree

how much are the annual fees for the 2 stanchart cards?
Thanks

Idyll

no need to worry about annual fees on credit card.

Even if you don't use your card, my experience is the bank would waive the annual fees if you call them and request them to do so. It always work for me.

[DavidisFinanciallyFree]

hi Davidisfinanciallyfree

how much are the annual fees for the 2 stanchart cards?
Thanks

Idyll

no need to worry about annual fees on credit card.

Even if you don't use your card, my experience is the bank would waive the annual fees if you call them and request them to do so. It always work for me.

ya didn't bother about the annual fee.. I always call them to waive off.. if for whatever reason they refuse, I'll just cancel my card haha

[Ms Tan]

I have signed up these cards about a month ago when I was approached by a young man on his first day of internship so I supported him.

The application process was unbelievably efficient - just access to CPF or Income Tax online and they will print out the statement (delete browsing history with your presence), fill in the details with your IC, and is DONE!!!

If you sign up for VISA & MASTER cards that they proposed for $160 cash back, they give standard 3 years waivers;

if you choose other cards, could be 1 - 3 years wavier, you can go to below link for details, select VIEW DETAIL, go to DETAILs tab for FEE WAIVERS duration:

http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/per ... -cards/en/

You can of-course choose to discontinue or request for annual fees to be waived after the waiver period.

[candy_chia]

4 Credit Card Sign-Up Rewards to Grab on Sight
By Ryan Ong, Sep 6, 2012

I’m not talking about extra points, or 0% interest, or piddly crap like that. I’m talking about rewards that make it worth immediately sending an application. Banks budget for give-aways all year round; but only one or two such promos are big ones. But with over a dozen banks in Singapore, there’s should be one going on right now. Try to get these sign-up rewards as and when you see them:

Credit cards

Think hard now: What did you apply for these two for? Then we’ll start on the other 230 cards.

Why are Sign-Up Rewards More Awesome Than Rewards?

Because they don’t take time to accumulate, and they’re immediately applicable.

Reward points require you to spend the annual income of the Royal Family before you see the smallest perk. You get something pathetic, like free movie tickets, after blowing $10,000. But a sign-up reward kicks in the minute you send the application. And because few credit cards have a cancellation fee, you can hit-and-run with impunity.

You can sign up, grab the rewards, then cancel the card when you’re finished. The next time you walk past a credit card promotion, keep an eye out for these freebies:


1. Immediate Cashback

I know at least five people who trawl bank sites weekly, looking for instant cashback. They’ll also stop at every promo stand they see, hoping to get some free money.

How instant cashback works is pretty straightforward: You apply for the card, then activate it. Once it’s processed, there’s $30 or $80 credit in the account. And you can spend that money any way you like. The last one to feature this was the Standard Chartered Visa cards.

cash back.png (121.1 KiB) Viewed 97126 times

Jonathan Sim, who might be the closest thing to a professional freeloader, confesses:

“I don’t want the card, I just apply for the instant cashback. After I spend it, I’ll cancel the card. Most of them are not applicable to me anyway, I don’t really use their discounts. But if you give me $80, I’ll take it.”

If you’re too lazy to check banks sites for promos, try using card comparison sites like SmartCredit.sg.


2. Sign-Up Reward Vouchers

There are two types of sign-up reward vouchers:

The first kind arrives with the card. These tend to work only if you make purchases with that specific card (e.g. 50% off at Fish Pit if you pay with your XYZ card). These aren’t as good, because they’re loaded with terms and conditions.

credit cards.png (100.17 KiB) Viewed 97126 times

The second type of voucher is handed out at promo counters, like a door prize. The moment you hand in your application, you get free movie tickets, a $10 voucher, etc. These don’t have to be used with the card in question, and they’re light on terms and conditions.

Whenever you see a credit card promo booth, ask the sales staff for the latter. Gerald Koon, who used to promote credit cards, says:

“Even if you change your mind later, you can still use the voucher. Quite often, we already gave out the voucher, then we found out the person was not qualified for some reason, or that he cancelled. We never asked for the voucher back.“


3. Immediate Event Promos


Most of us want credit cards that meet long term needs. So we’re thinking about a card for petrol, a card for travel, etc. But don’t forget one-off events.

Sometimes, banks link sign-up rewards with big events. This is when a sign-up reward includes discounts on event tickets, or on items sold at the event. And if you need event tickets, the rewards usually include priority booking.

For example, UOB recently did a credit card tie-in with COMEX 2012. Their card holders had access to special deals during the expo. Other typical events include culinary festivals, the Great Singapore Sale, or concerts.

Freeloader Jonathan does this fairly often:

“Just Google the event, see if there are any immediate promos. Usually if it’s a big event, you’ll find three or four credit cards that tie-in to it. Just get those cards for the event. Later, to avoid temptation or annual fees, cancel the cards when it’s over.“


4. Referral Rewards

Look out for referral rewards, where you get money for having friends sign up. Banks tend to do these once or twice a year, when they’re on a recruitment drive for cardholders.

I usually team up with friends on this. Whenever one of us would get a reward, the rest of us will sign up for the card. Sometimes, the rewards are cumulative: For example, you might get a $10 voucher for every friend who signs up. Since we form a network of about a dozen people, we can make a decent bit of money this way.

Again, there’s no cost to apply for the card, and usually no cancellation fee. So do your friends a favour, and they’ll return it when you need them to sign up.


Don’t Keep All Those Cards

If you keep all these cards, your house is going to fill up with more plastic than a Jurong landfill. So get the rewards, then call and cancel them.

Credit card addict.png (44.06 KiB) Viewed 97126 times

If that makes you feel bad (the banks count on it), then use the card two or three times. That’ll give the bank some money. Then pay it off and get rid of it. Avoid using multiple credit cards, because you’ll start missing due dates.

http://www.moneysmart.sg/credit-cards/4 ... #more-9571