Best online shopping credit cards in Singapore (2021)

With so many online shopping and e-commerce sites that cover everything from food, fashion, travel, cosmetics, gadgets and even groceries, everything you could ever want is at the touch of your fingertips. However, to shop online like a pro, make sure you’re using the right credit card to really maximise your online spending.

You could be missing out on some big cash rebates, rewards or even bonus miles! Here are the best credit cards for online shopping right now.

Best for online spending: Citibank Rewards
Best for mobile payments: UOB One
Best for millennials: UOB YOLO
Best for e-Commerce: OCBC Titanium
Best for highest cashback rate: CIMB Visa Signature
Best for online food delivery: OCBC 365
Best for online (and offline) fashion buys: DBS Live Fresh
Best for unlimited cashback: StanChart Bank Unlimited

Best for shopping rewards redemption: Citibank Rewards

If your ideal kind of day is spent shopping online at home, then the Citibank Rewards Card is for you. 

This is one of the cards that gives the highest reward points: 10 Rewards points (4 miles for every $1) for online spend, both overseas and locally. The best part? No minimum spend is required.

Your Rewards points can either be used to offset payment for purchases or to redeem from a catalogue of Citi ThankYou rewards that include various merchandises and travel. 

The monthly cap is set at 10,000 Rewards points per statement month (equivalent to $1,000 per month for online shopping). However, if you’re an online shopping fiend and spend over $1,000 per month, you earn only 1 Reward point for every $1 spent after the cap is reached.

Also, take note, Rewards points aren’t offered on travel-related transactions so don’t book your flight tickets and hotel stays using this card. Check out the full exclusions here.

Best for millennials: UOB YOLO

If your weekends are all about unwinding with the squad and well, YOLO-ing, then the UOB YOLO Card is your BFF. 

The main highlight of this credit card is that on weekends, you enjoy a high 8 per cent cashback on dining spend as well as 1-for-1 deals at popular venues including OverEasy, Tanjong Beach Club, The White Rabbit and more.

But since we’re on retail therapy, the 8 per cent also applies for online shopping; on top of it, under the catalogue of online shopping deals, you’ll find attractive offers across the likes of Zalora, Sephora, Lazada, Under Armour, Shopee, Taobao and more.

The minimum requirement of $600 per statement month to earn the maximum cash back is decently achievable. As there is a cap of $60 per statement month, you may need to track your spending. On weekdays, the cashback rate drops to 3 per cent and outside of the mentioned categories the cash back rate is a low 0.3 per cent.

Best for serious online shoppers: Standard Chartered Bank Unlimited  

If you just want a simple, hassle-free cashback card that has no lid on how much you can get back, the Standard Chartered Bank Unlimited Credit Card is the card to get. 

It offers the most straightforward cashback rate: 1.5 per cent cashback on everything! If you think 1.5 per cent sounds low, keep in mind there is no minimum spending requirements or cashback caps.

This is ideal for those who don’t have time to keep track and split expenses across multiple cards (who does?).

With the unlimited cashback in mind, the best time to get hold of this credit card is when you’re anticipating a big-ticket online purchase, such as household appliances, furniture or electronic gadgets. 

If you pair it with the Unlimited$aver account, you will even earn an upgraded 5per cent cashback on all spend. On top of that, you enjoy 1-for-1 dining privileges at selected restaurants with The Good Life®.

Some spending categories, like insurance payments and AXS transactions, are not included. Take note of the exclusions here.

Best for high cashback rate: CIMB Visa Signature

While the Standard Chartered Bank Unlimited credit card offers limitless cashback with a relatively low 1.5 per cent, the CIMB Visa Signature card is quite the opposite: it accelerates your online shopping gains with the highest cashback at 10 per cent.

But online shopping itself is a wide spectrum, and it includes groceries; if this category takes up a significant portion of your monthly expenditure, it is highly recommended that you charge it to this card too. 

Another major benefit of the CIMB Visa Signature Card is that principal cardholders enjoy a  lifetime fee waiver of annual fees.

Be sure to spend a minimum of $800 per month to qualify for the 10per cent cashback, which is capped at $100 per statement month.

As stated in the exclusions, the cashback applies strictly to online shopping, which means your brick-and-mortar retail spends only get you 0.2 per cent.

CIMB Sign-up Promotion: Get $100 cash credit when you apply as a new CIMB credit cardmember from now till 28 February 2021.

You will have to make a minimum spend of $350 per month for 2 months from card approval to be eligible. CIMB is also running a lucky draw where you stand to get 6 months’ worth of credit card bills paid for, just by spending on your CIMB card!

A monthly cash prize of $1,000 will also be given out. Valid till 28 February 2021.

Best for online (and offline) fashion: DBS Live Fresh

Fashionistas, you can do no wrong if you carry DBS Live Fresh into your online shopping spree. Whether you’re shopping for your next great #OOTD ensemble, the latest sneaker release or beauty/grooming products, you enjoy 5per cent cashback on all qualifying online purchases. 

But that’s just one of the twin engines of cashback earning; all your Visa contactless (PayWave) payments during physical shopping (not limited to retail) also gets you 5per cent cashback.

All other spending earns 0.3per cent. In a month, assuming you hit the minimum qualifying spend of $600, you could earn up to a total of $60 cashback.

DBS has the occasional credit card promotion whereby you earn higher cashback rate on selected categories of spending, or when you hit certain spending goals. So keep a lookout for that.

Other than cashback, you might be glad to know that you’re entitled to deals at ASOS, Sephora online and more.

DBS Promotion: Get $300 cashback when you apply and spend on one of these participating DBS/POSB credit cards.

Simply enter promo code FLASH300 in your application to qualify. Promotion is valid till 10 January 2021.

You’ll have to be a new DBS/POSB credit cardholder and make one spend (no min. amount) within 30 days of card approval to be eligible. Terms and conditions apply.

If you’re not a new DBS/POSB credit cardmember, consider these promotions instead.

Best for e-commerce shopping: OCBC Titanium

If online shopping and travelling are high on your agenda, then the OCBC Titanium Card is the card to shop with.

It gives the highest reward points, 10 OCBC$ per dollar, on a wide range of categories including clothes, shoes and bags, electronics, personal care, and babies and children’s wear. You can also earn an additional 2 per cent cash rebate if you are shopping at BEST Denki.

If you shop online at Amazon, Lazada and Taobao, the card safeguards you against non-delivery or defective goods. 

Make sure you are aware of the coverage inclusions. The complimentary e-commerce protection will only kick in if you’re purchasing from one of these categories: clothes, shoes and bags, electronics and gadgets, babies and children’s wear and personal care.

In case you fail to find an offer that tickles your fancy under the OCBC Rewards catalogue, you might want to take advantage of the option to convert those points to miles. (10 OCBC$ = 4 miles). 

Best for online food delivery: OCBC 365

If your idea of online shopping involves ordering a feast from your favourite delivery platforms, the OCBC 365 Credit Card rewards you for that with 6 per cent cashback on the likes of Deliveroo, GrabFood and foodpanda. 

It is one of the few cashback credit cards out there that recognises online food deliveries as qualifying spend. The icing on the cake is that it offers a slightly higher than average cashback cap of $80 per month, assuming you spend at least $800 per calendar month. 

Besides the 6 per cent cashback on online food deliveries (dining in general too), you’ll get to enjoy an array of cashback privileges on other online spending categories, most notably the 3 per cent on online travel bookings, private hire rides and recurring telco and electricity bills.

Best for mobile payments: UOB One

If you like the convenience of using mobile wallets like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and UOB Mighty, then you should sync them with the UOB One Card. 

With this card, you enjoy the same rebates for mobile payment as you would with their physical card. You’ll get a 5 per cent cash rebate on all retail spend and 10 per cent SMART$ rebate at over 300 participating merchants across dining, groceries and shopping spend. 

Take note, however, the cash rebate for the UOB One Card is based on 3 tiers of minimum spending per quarter. To qualify for the maximum 5 per cent cash rebate (equal to $300 cashback per quarter), you’ll need to spend a minimum of $2,000 per month for three straight months.

If not, you’ll get 3.33 per cent cash rebate for anything below it, although selected spends such as Grab rides and UOB Travel are marked for bonus cash rebates.

The other downside is you won’t get instantly rewarded. You’ll have to wait till the end of each quarter to get your cash rebate.

Also, your monthly spend has to be spread out across a minimum of 5 transactions per month; so if you’re planning to spend $2,000 on a luxury handbag, that ‘hack’ isn’t going to fly.