If you’re an avid cook, a health fanatic, or simply prefer to eat at home, one of the biggest expenses in your budget is likely your grocery bill. You may benefit from a credit card that rewards a higher percentage on groceries rather than on local dining. Having a personalized credit card that is best for what you actually spend on, is the best way to save the most money. Here is our recommended list of the best credit cards for purchasing groceries.
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CIMB Visa Signature Card
When I learned about this card, I was absolutely blown out of the water. This card offers a whopping 10% cash back on groceries at any supermarket. What is even more impressive is that if you choose not to cook, you also get 10% cash back on wine and dining. In addition, for the shopper in the family, you also get 10% cash back for everything you purchase online. Everything else earns 0.2% cash back with no spending minimum and no cash back. With this card, there is a minimum monthly spending condition of S$600. All the categories that earn 10% cash back each have an earning cap of S$50 a month. Together, the maximum total rebate is S$100. Although the caps really put a damper on things, this is the best credit card that does not restrict you to shop in only one place and has no annual membership fee.
Citi Cash Back Visa Signature Card
A nice runner up to the CIMB Visa Signature Card is the Citi Cash Back Visa Signature Card. This card offers 8% cash back on dining, groceries, petrol, and Grab. This applies to groceries in-store and online grocery delivery if that is more up your alley. Everything else receives 0.25% cash back. The annual fee is S$192.60, with the first year waived. The drawback on this card is the monthly minimum spending requirement of S$888 in order to unlock the full cash back earn rate. Furthermore, cash back is capped at S$25 per category per month. Together, the maximum total rebate is S$100. Although the minimum spending and monthly category caps are a bit restrictive, the card makes up for it by allowing you to shop anywhere with no restrictions.
Both the CIMB Visa Signature Card and the Citi Cash Back Visa Signature Card reward the cardholder for groceries and dining, with a slight percentage variation. The main difference between the cards is that the CIMB card offers additional rewards for online shopping while the Citi card offers additional rewards for petrol and Grab transactions.
Citibank SMRT Visa Platinum Card
This is one of the first credit cards in our list that starts to specialize in specific supermarkets. You can get up to 5% savings at FairPrice, FairPrice Xtra Kallang Wave, Giant, and Sheng Siong. If you spend at least S$300 per month, you earn 5% on groceries, 5% on coffee, movies, and fast food at participating merchants, 3% on online shopping, excluding travel bookings, 2% on health and beauty at participating merchants, and 2% on EZ-Reload auto top-up transactions. All other retail transactions earn 0.3% cash back. You’ve probably noticed that this card is pretty prohibitive with their “participating merchants” condition. This is along the same lines as if you were to get a store co-branded credit card. Fortunately, this card is useful at quite a few different vendors across a variety of categories. Be sure to check the list of participating merchants on the Citibank website to see how much you would save. The annual fee is S$192.60, with the first two years waived.
OCBC Plus! Visa Credit Card
The OCBC Plus! Visa Credit Card is designed for consumers who enjoy shopping at FairPrice stores. If you spend a monthly minimum of S$500 outside of FairPrice on your card, you unlock a 7% cash back rebate at all FairPrice Stores, Unity, and Warehouse Club, as well as a 3% cash back rebate at FairPrice On. One additional benefit is your card gets you free delivery at www.fairprice.com.sg as well as 0.22% LinkPoints rewards on all Visa spending. The annual fee is S$107, with the first year waived. To earn subsequent fee waivers, you need to spend at least S$2,500 in one year. This isn’t hard to do if you are spending your monthly minimum to unlock the 7% cash back. As a result, I can only recommend this card if you are an exclusive FairPrice shopper and don’t mind using the same credit card on other purchases as well.
BOC Sheng Siong Card
If you prefer shopping at Sheng Siong, there is a card for you. Unlike the OCBC Plus! Visa Credit Card, you do not have a minimum spending requirement to unlock the 7% cash back. If you choose to also use your card for other purchases, say at least S$400 outside of Sheng Siong, you unlock their highest rebate tier of 12% cash back! At 7% cash back, you have an earning cap of S$70 per billing cycle. At 12% cash back, your earning cap is S$90 per billing cycle. You can also earn 5% on all taxi rides in Singapore, 1% on overseas spending, and 0.3% on all other retail purchases. The annual fee is a reasonable S$30 per annum. With the low annual fee and no minimum spending requirement, this card would make a great addition to your wallet, even if you don’t exclusively shop at Sheng Siong.
UOB Delight Visa Platinum Card
If your favorite supermarket is Giant, Cold Storage, or Market Place, the UOB Delight Visa Platinum Card is perfect for you. The earn rates for this card are organized into tiers based on your monthly spending. You can earn an 8% rebate at Cold Storage, Market Place, Jasons, Giant, and Guardian if you spend at least S$800. Your rebate drops to 3% if you spend between S$400 and S$799. Finally, your rebate is 0.3% if you spend less than S$400 a month. Fortunately, you can also receive 10% savings if you purchase house brands at Cold Storage, Giant, and Guardian. That’s a potential discount of 18%! With a minimum of S$400 monthly spending, all your contactless transactions and selected recurring bills earn 3% cash back. Everything else earns 0.3% cash back with no minimum spending requirement. Unfortunately, there is a monthly cap of S$50 on rebates with an annual fee of S$85.6, which is waived for the first year. This card is one of the best cards for maximizing savings at this family of supermarkets.
POSB Everyday MasterCard
While the UOB Delight Visa Platinum Card may be nicknamed “Mom Card” by some for its rebates on groceries and recurring bills, the POSB Everyday MasterCard has also been renowned as a great card for moms and families who spend across a variety of categories. This card rewards 5% for groceries, but exclusively at Sheng Siong. On the other hand, this card also offers 15% on online food delivery, 5% on restaurants, 10% on overseas transactions, 10% on ComfortDelGro taxi rides, 3% on personal care, 1% on recurring bills, and 0.3% on other spending. Dining, groceries, overseas transactions, and travel each have a monthly cap of $50 per month. Recurring bills are capped at S$1 per month. Unfortunately, this card also has an S$800 monthly minimum spending requirement to unlock the cash back earn rates. The annual fee is S192.60, which is waived the first year.
A few differences between the POSB Everyday MasterCard and the UOB Delight Visa Platinum Card are the supermarket choice and that the POSB Everyday card rewards you for personal care. On the other hand, the UOB Delight card offers a higher rebate for recurring bills and has a lower annual fee. Ultimately, you can decide which “Mom Card” is best for you.
Final Thoughts
Knowing the category that you spend the most on will help you maximize your rewards by specializing your credit cards. Moreover, knowing what stores you shop at can earn even higher cashback rates. The CIMB Visa Signature Card and the Citi Cash Back Visa Signature Card are best for diverse grocery shoppers. While the other credit cards are similar to store co-branded credit cards where are you restricted to shopping at one grocery store. Unfortunately, there may be minimum spending requirements to unlock these generous savings. While you’re at the supermarket, pick up some chips for me!
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