We study the best credit card picks to help you save on what you might already be spending on in your student life.

Read this: Students are eligible for credit cards too! Sure, most of your expenses will be on food, fashion, entertainment, transportation, and telco bills. But why shouldn’t students be able to reap benefits and savings on those expenditures?

Some banks in Singapore have credit cards specially tailored to students. Unlike regular credit cards, student credit cards have no minimum income requirement, low annual fees, and a low credit limit (usually $500).

To successfully apply for one, you’ll be required to be an enrolled student or an NSF waiting to enter a tertiary institution. There are a handful of pocket-friendly cards that are available for those who decide to enter the workforce straight away, but they’re the exception rather than the rule. 

Here is a summary of the best credit cards for students in 2021.

Best for overall cashback: Maybank eVibes Card

Best for dining: Citibank Clear Card

Best for unlimited cashback: CIMB AWSM

Best for disciplined spending: SCB Manhattan $500 Card

Best for entertainment: DBS Live Fresh Student Card

Best for overall cashback: Maybank eVibes

The Maybank eVibes Card gets top marks among tertiary students and NSFs between 18 and 30 years of age. 

Its biggest draw is the 1 per cent cash rebate on everything you buy, without any minimum spend requirements or cashback cap. You’ll also get deals and discounts on all the best parts of a student’s life: travel, dining, entertainment and online shopping.

Other fringe benefits students and NSFs enjoy are discounts on Agoda bookings and the tap-and-go convenience of Samsung Pay. The typical annual fee that credit cards have is replaced by a $5 quarterly service fee. This can be waived as long as you use the card at least once every three months.

Best for dining: Citibank Clear Card

If you’re spending your lectures daydreaming about where and what to chow down on after, the Citibank Clear Card might be right for you.

Students earn 1X Rewards points for every $1 spent, which can be redeemed to pay for or offset any purchase. The Citibank Clear Card gives you access to Citibank’s signature World Privileges program, where you get to enjoy exclusive dining offers at selected restaurants. Outside of the World Privileges, you’ll also find seasonal promotions on online shopping, e-commerce, and food delivery services. 

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There’s no minimum spend requirement and no cap on your Rewards points earnings per month. Additionally, there is an annual fee of $29.96 but you receive a first-year waiver.

The downside of this card is that several key spending categories are excluded from earning rewards. For example, bill payments and school fees on educational institutions and daily transport are not eligible to earn points. Finally, you need to be at least 18 years old to apply and no minimum income is required.

Best for unlimited cashback: CIMB AWSM

A great cashback option for students trying to save as they spend is the CIMB AWSM Card. 

Short for ‘Awesome’, CIMB AWSM cardholders earn an unlimited 1 per cent cash rebate on dining, entertainment, online shopping, and ‘all things’ telco, with no minimum spend required. You read that right—there’s no limit on how much cashback you can earn!

But before you go unhinged on the card to chalk up as much cashback as possible, you might want to read about how it affects your credit score if you have trouble paying off your bills.

This being a CIMB credit card, one standout feature to know about is that it comes without an annual fee for life. Students can also access CIMB Deals & Discounts on travel, dining and regional promotions across Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The downside for this card is that groceries, petrol and offline retail spend will not earn rebates. If you prefer a card which earns you a flat 1 per cent cashback rate across all spend, check out an alternative like Maybank eVibes Card.

Best for disciplined spending: Standard Chartered MANHATTAN $500 

If you don’t think you can trust yourself with a credit card, but need it to enjoy savings or pre-empt emergencies, getting the Standard Chartered’s MANHATTAN $500 card should be a textbook move.

As stated so explicitly in the name, your monthly spending will strictly be capped to $500 — you can almost be sure you won’t fall into a rabbit hole of overspending. Cardholders earn a fuss-free 0.25 per cent cashback on all spends and is great for students and low income working adults. It comes with a modest annual fee of $32.10, which can be waived for the first year. 

While it’s a great card to earn cashback across everything you spend, the 0.25 per cent cashback rate is, frankly, rather low. And with a monthly maximum spend of $500, the most you’ll be receiving in cashback is $1.25 every month. As a comparison, the CIMB AWSM card earns 1 per cent cashback for dining, entertainment, online shopping and telco spend.

Best for entertainment: DBS Live Fresh Student Card

Ask any student on his/her best ‘mugging’ companions and you’ll hear replies around Spotify, Netflix, and fast food. Coincidentally (or not), the DBS Live Fresh Student Card grants a high 5 per cent cashback on Spotify, Netflix, McDonald’s, and more. Keep in mind that this 5 per cent is merchant-specific rather than being category-specific.

Speaking about 5 per cent cashback, you also stand to earn the same level of cash rebates from eco-friendly merchants. These include eco-friendly eateries, eco-friendly retailers, and eco-friendly transport services. Several familiar names across the categories include Noka, Scoop Wholefoods, and BlueSG.

All other spends outside of DBS’ listed qualifying merchants earn you 0.3 per cent, including your daily commute via SimplyGo. The latter is a great touch of convenience as you won’t have to contend with snaking queues at EZ-Link top-up machines. The precious time saved could really be channelled into watching the next Netflix episode preparing for that mid-term quiz.

Despite the high cashback rate as compared to other cards, there is a slight catch: the maximum cashback you can earn is capped at $15 for qualifying merchants, $15 for sustainable spending, and $20 on all other spends. That means a $50 cashback cap per month, which isn’t too bad for a student-level credit card.

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