5 Best Family-Friendly Credit Cards

Having a family adds expenses to daily living. However, you can find family-friendly credit cards that reward you on purchases and pays you back on categories that you use frequently, such as everyday expenses, grocery stores, restaurant meals, travel, and shopping. Here is our recommended list of family-friendly credit cards with rewards that are easy to earn and redeem.

family credit card

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BOC Family Card

The BOC Family Card has always been renowned for one of the best cashback credit cards for a Singaporean family. You can enjoy a cash rebate of up to S$1,200 a year. Currently, you can earn 10% cash back on dining and movies, 3% cash back on online purchases, groceries stores, Telco bills, and transport. All other purchases earn 0.3% cash back. Furthermore, you can earn 5% cash back on select merchants, such as at Watsons and Unity Pharmacy. One criticism of the card is that individual categories have a cash rebate cap. Therefore, once you fulfill that rebate maximum, your cash back is negligible.

Citi Cash Back Card

The Citi Cash Back Card is thought to rival the BOC Family Card. It offers up to 8% cash back on daily purchases for total massive savings. For example, cardholders earn 8% cash back on dining worldwide, 8% cash back in supermarkets worldwide, 8% cashback on Grab rides, and up to 20.88% cash back at Shell and Esso while all other petrol stations earn 8% cash back and 0.25% cashback on all other purchases. The cash back is capped at S$25 per category per month. However, the 0.25% cash back category has no earning cap. The fine print is that you need to spend a minimum of S$888 per statement month to get the maximum 8% earn rate.

To qualify for this card, the principal applicant must be at least 21 years old. Singaporeans and Permanent Residents must have a minimum annual income of S$30,000. Foreigners must have a minimum annual income of S$42,000. The annual fee is S$192.60, with the first year waived. Citibank claims that this is the “best cash back card in town.” It is true that it does offer one of the highest cashback earn rates. What's better is that these purchases are not just restricted to local spending but all worldwide transactions are applicable! Unfortunately, Citibank is not as transparent with what their supplementary cardholders can earn and the cost of their annual fee. Citibank does claim that supplementary cardholders earn rewards too and share all your card privileges. Additionally, I really like the Citi Mobile App. One feature is the ability to track your cash back. Perhaps it is simply to build morale, but it feels good to see how much I have earned in free money!

Maybank Family and Friends Card

The Maybank Family and Friends Card earns 8% cashback, similar to the Citi Cash Bank Card, on groceries, transport, and selected merchants. All other purchases earn an unlimited 0.3% cash back. However, these rebates are only earned on transactions in Singapore and Malaysia. There is a minimum spending requirement of S$1,000 per calendar month to earn the 8% rate. Otherwise, the minimum spending of S$500 per calendar month drops the earn rate to 5%. Unlike the other family-friendly credit cards, currently, there is no monthly cash rebate cap on individual categories. This means that if you spend a lot on groceries, transport, and the selected merchants such as Toys R Us or Watsons, you can really take advantage of the 8% cash back rate.

To qualify for this card, the principal applicant must be at least 21 years old. Singaporeans and Permanent Residents must have a minimum annual income of S$30,000. Malaysian citizens in employment for at least one year must have a minimum income of S$45,000. Foreigners in employment for at least one year must have a minimum annual income of S$60,000. The annual fee is S$180, with the first three years waived if you spend a minimum of S$12,000 p.a. For most families, you probably want a supplemental card for your spouse or perhaps adult children, which has no annual fee!

POSB Everyday Credit Card

The POSB Everyday Credit Card is great for families who spend on a variety of daily essentials, such as beauty and personal care, dining, and transport. One of the most remarkable things about this card is its 15% rate on online food delivery! This is perfect for my family! Subsequently, all other dining earns 5% cash back. Sheng Siong groceries earn a 5% cash back rebate, overseas spending earns 10% rebate, personal care at Watsons earns 3% cash back, and recurring bills earn 1% cash back, though that is capped at S$1 per month. There are also fuel savings and taxi ride savings. All other retail spending earns a low base rate of 0.3% cash back, which seems pretty standard for these types of cards. Unfortunately, there is a S$800 monthly spending minimum required to earn these rates above 0.3%.

To qualify for this card, the principal applicant must be at least 21 years old. Singaporeans and Permanent Residents must have a minimum annual income of S$30,000. Foreigners must have a minimum annual income of S$45,000. The annual fee is S$192.60, which is waived for the first year. For most families, you probably want a supplemental card for your spouse or perhaps adult children. The annual fee for each supplementary card is S$96.30. I love the convenience of the POSB Everyday Card Rewards Program. Every $1 cash back is equal to S$1. The cashback is credited to the cardholder’s account monthly. That’s it!

OCBC 365 Card

We would be remiss if we did not mention the OCBC 365 Card. This is a no-fee cash back card with solid cash back earn rates on food purchases, utilities, and online travel bookings. The cash back percentage varies in the spending category. Cardholders earn 6% cash back on dining, 3% on groceries, bills, transport, and online travel, and up to 24% on petrol. Like most cash back cards, the amount you can earn is capped at S$80 per calendar month. Keep in mind that this cap is the maximum amount of cashback on one account, which includes the principal and all supplementary cardholders together.

In order to be eligible for this card, you must be 21 years old. Singaporeans and Permanent Residents are required to have a minimum annual income of S$30,000. Foreigners are required to have a minimum annual income of S$45,000. The card fee is $192.60 a year, which is waived for the first two years. Subsequently, with each S$10,000 annual spend, OCBC will continue to waive your fee, essentially making it a no-fee cash back credit card. For most families, you probably want a supplemental card for your spouse or perhaps adult children. The annual fee for supplementary cards is $96.30 per year, with the first two years waived and is also subject to the minimum spending requirement of S$10,000 to receive the automatic fee waiver. The OCBC 365 Card is better for consumers who have higher utilities and do a lot of online travel booking, as the card earn rate is higher than most other cards. On the other hand, it offers lower rates for groceries and transport and does not reward personal care. As a result, your choice of credit card should revolve around the category that you spend the most on.

Final Thoughts

“Mom brain” is a state where a mother is easily forgetful and sleep-deprived. I can attest that this is real! Parenting can be difficult, but your credit card does not have to be. These family-friendly credit cards are no-fuss high return cash back options to help alleviate some of the expenses that come with having a family. Many of these cards offer cash rebates instead of points or miles. I personally prefer this because I can earn and use my rewards on things that I actually spend more on. The cards in our recommended list have very specific cashback categories and earn caps. Be sure to analyze what category you spend the most on, your average monthly spending, and how you feel about annual fees before choosing the card that is best for your family.