Best credit cards for paying utility bills in Singapore

Paying utility bills and mobile phone bills forms the standard fixture of our monthly expenditure – which you can use to your advantage.

Since you already know how much you expect to spend every month, you can plan ahead to maximise cashback or rewards every time you charge a bill to a credit card.

Think of it as money going out, but you’re earning something in return each time.

Here are six credit cards in Singapore that help you maximise your spend on monthly utility and telco bills at the same time.  

1. OCBC 365 Credit Card

The OCBC 365 Credit Card gives you a decent 3 per cent rebate which covers multiple telcos – Singtel, StarHub, M1, Circles.Life and MyRepublic – as well as power service providers such as Senoko Energy, Sembcorp Power, and Geneco. 

But you’ll need to charge a minimum of $800 per month on your card to qualify.

Otherwise, the cashback rate falls to a measly 0.3 per cent. $800 a month is achievable by consolidating all your utility and telco bills on this card.

Note the rebate is capped at $80 a month but this still comes up to a hefty $960 per year.

Besides monthly utility bills, also earn 6 per cent rebates on dining and online delivery, 3 per cent on grocery shopping and online groceries and 5 per cent on fuel charges (both local and overseas spending apply for dining, grocery shopping, and fuel charges).

2. UOB One Card

The UOB One Card gives you one of the highest utility rebate at 3.3 per cent, with a relatively low minimum spend of $500 per month.

But note that the rebates are only awarded quarterly and you’ll have to clock a minimum of five transactions for each statement month.

You will also get an additional 1 per cent rebate (up to 6 per cent rebate) on your Singapore Power Utilities bills when you qualify for your quarterly cash rebate.

You could gun for the next minimum spending tiers of $1,000 and $2,000 per month to wrench higher cashback cap of $100 and $300 respectively.

For example, you earn yourself 5 per cent rebate when you spend at least $2,000 a month.

Enjoy an additional 5 per cent rebate on Dairy Farm Group Singapore merchants (e.g. Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven), Grab (excludes mobile wallet top-ups) and UOB Travel transactions when you qualify for your quarterly cash rebate.

3. HSBC Advance Credit Card

An all-purpose cashback credit card, the HSBC Advance grants 1.5 per cent on recurring utility bills if your monthly spend is below $2,000. If you hit above $2,000, it goes up to 2.5 per cent.

With no restrictions on which telcos or Internet Service Providers to subscribe to in Singapore, the HSBC Advance Credit Card gives you lots of flexibility.

On top of that, existing Advance banking customers enjoy an additional 1 per cent in cashback rate, and an increased cashback cap of $120 per month, up from $70 for the regulars.

4. POSB Everyday Card

The POSB Everyday Card earns you 1 per cent rebate on recurring utility bills from StarHub, Geneco, iSwitch, and Union Power, as well as the SP Group (Best Electricity, Ohm Energy and Tuas Power are engaging SP Group for its billing services).

Starhub users will also get 1 per cent cash rebate on your recurring mobile/ digital cable/ broadband bills and in-store purchases.

The big plus about this card? No minimum monthly spend required.

But take note no cash rebates will be awarded beyond the maximum spend of $100 per month.

5. Maybank Family & Friends Card

5per cent cashback for $500 minimum monthly spend — that’s how low a hurdle you’d have to cross for such rates.

This versatile card can go even higher: 8 per cent cashback for $800 minimum monthly spend.

One thing that sets this card apart from the others is that you enjoy it on online TV streaming on top of the usual internet and telco bills.

You won’t do your family and friends wrong if they, too, want to cut back on utilities while Netflix-ing in peace.

From now till August 31, 2020, when you apply via SingSaver, you get rewarded with $30 via PayNow and $100 in cashback.

6. Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card

Like its slogan, “the card that lets you live without limits”, the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card truly lives up to its name.

This card certainly makes life simpler (and cheaper): earn 1.5 per cent rebate on all expenditure, period. No minimum spend required. No restriction on telco or power service provider you’re signed up to.

Other perks include generous discounts on a wide range of dining, travel, hotel bookings and entertainment. We also wrote about this card as being a simple, fuss-free cash back card.

Standard Chartered’s instant credit card approval is also a great perk – receive your digital card instantly when you apply with MyInfo.

Bottom line

When choosing the right credit card for you, be holistic. Don’t just consider the card’s rebate rate – also ask yourself questions like:

• Can you meet the minimum monthly spend?
• How likely are you to hit the rebate cap?
• Does the card provide access to other retail perks and discounts?

For example, if you’re splitting your expenses between cards and are unlikely to reach the minimum $800/month spend for the OCBC 365 Credit Card, you may be better off with the Maybank Family & Friends Card or the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card, despite their lower rebate rates.

Similarly, the high 3.3 per cent rebate for the UOB One Card is only good till its $50 cap per quarter.

This means you’ll have to be prepared to spend a much higher amount each month to earn up to $300 per quarter.

Compare the best credit cards for a variety of needs with SingSaver and enjoy exclusive sign-up bonuses worth up to $250 (and that’s on top of the banks’ own bonuses!).

This article was first published in SingSaver.com.sg.