The branding of DBS Woman’s and Woman’s World Card might have seemed progressive a few decades ago when women were rarely seen outside of the kitchen.

These days, the card’s marketing strategy seems to be suggesting that most women are shopaholics, but hey, at least you don’t actually have to be female (or be defined as such by the law) to apply.

In any case, we’re not here to debate gender politics but to see if this card is worth getting. Let’s go!

DBS Woman’s Card & Woman’s World Card terms & conditions

DBS Woman’s vs Woman’s World Card: What’s the difference?

The Woman’s Card is the entry-level version of this card for people with an annual income of $30,000 and above.

Meanwhile, the Woman’s World Card is a posher, higher tier card with more attractive benefits. To qualify, you’ll need to have an annual income of $80,000 and above.

As you can guess, the higher tier Woman’s World Card offers more generous benefits in the form of a higher rewards points earn rate, which we’ll cover in the next section.

How the DBS Woman’s Card works

Both the DBS Woman’s Card and Woman’s World Card dole out rewards points when you shop online or make other purchases. There is no minimum spending requirement.

These rewards can be exchanged for vouchers and gifts in the DBS rewards catalogue. They can also be converted to air miles, which are about as useful as a hole in the head right now.

The Woman’s Card offers 5X DBS Points (or 10 miles) for every $5 spent when you shop online and 1X DBS Point (or two miles) on offline purchases.

The 5X earn rate is limited to $1,000 worth of online spending each calendar month. Pace yourself and spread out your purchases over more than one month if you think you’ll exceed the limit.

Let’s say you decide to buy a $500 SecretLab gaming chair online. You would receive 500 DBS Points (equivalent to 1,000 miles) if you paid with the DBS Woman’s Card, or about 2 miles per $1 spent.

How the DBS Woman’s World Card works

The DBS Woman’s World Card is an amped-up version of the DBS Woman’s Card. If your income is high enough to qualify for this card, then it’s definitely the better one.

It gets you a cool 10X DBS Points (or 20 miles) for every $5 spent when you shop online, double the earn rate of the DBS Woman’s Card.

So if you paid for that Secret Lab chair with your DBS Woman’s World Card, you get 1,000 DBS points (equivalent to 2,000 miles). That’s 4 miles per dollar.

The 10X earn rate is applicable for your first $2,000 worth of online spending in a calendar month — double the cap of the Woman’s Card.

You also earn 3X DBS Points (or 6 miles) on overseas purchases and 1X DBS Point (or 2 miles) on local offline purchases.

Things to note about the DBS Woman’s Card

I mentioned this in the beginning, but it’s worth repeating: you don’t have to be a woman to get either card. So if you’re a high-earning man, there’s nothing stopping you from chalking up points or miles on a DBS Woman’s World Card.

For both cards, the points are only valid for one year. It takes time to accumulate enough points to exchange for something meaningful. So, you won’t get much out of your card if you rarely use it.

You also need to spend at least $15,000 (Woman’s Card) or $25,000 (Woman’s World Card) in a year if you want to get your annual fee waived after the first year.

If you only shop online once in a blue moon, a cashback card might be more worthwhile.

From time to time, DBS also dangles some privileges like beauty, dining, fashion and travel discounts. For instance, they’re currently offering discounted facial and hair treatments at quite a few places like Bioskin and Jean Yip. Just what you need to turn on your Zoom camera with pride, perhaps?

DBS Woman’s Card vs UOB Lady’s Card: Which is better?

The UOB Lady’s Card is the most well-known women’s card in Singapore, thanks to aggressive advertising and that catchy “the men don’t get it” slogan.

Unlike the DBS Woman’s Card, the UOB Lady’s Card is only open to people whose NRICs read “female”.

As for the benefits, the UOB Lady’s Card offers 10X rewards on every $5 spent in one category of your choice, changeable every quarter — travel, dining, beauty/wellness, fashion, transport and entertainment, with the 10X earn rate capped at $1,000 worth of spending each month. All other spending earns 1X point per $5 spent.

The card is thus more generous than the DBS Woman’s Card and on par with the DBS Woman’s World card in terms of maximum rewards points earn rate. The DBS Woman’s World Card does have a higher cap at $2,000 worth of spending, though.

So, which to choose? For shopping purposes, it really depends on whether you’d rather be rewarded for online purchases or “family” and “fashion” purchases.

For instance, if you buy lots of clothes and prefer being able to try them on in person, the UOB Lady’s Card might be more useful as it rewards you for fashion purchases both online and off, while the DBS Woman’s Card only rewards you for online purchases.

Other than that, the two cards don’t really overlap so there’s nothing stopping you from using both.

Other rewards credit cards to consider

Not a woman or looking for a different shopping rewards card? Here are our recommendations:

Citi Rewards Card – Earn 10X rewards (Four miles) on online and shopping purchases, ride hailing apps and online food delivery.

Standard Chartered Rewards+ Credit Card – 10X rewards points on overseas retail/dining/travel, 5X rewards points on local dining transactions

HSBC Revolution Credit Card – 10X rewards points (Four miles or 2.5 per cent cashback) on online and contactless spending.

This article was first published in MoneySmart.