OCBC Frank Card - Has it lost its edge ?

The OCBC Frank Card was one of my favourite Credit Cards! It allowed me to stretch my dollar from all my online spending. Giving me up to 6% on my online spending and an unlimited cash back of 0.5% on all other spend. It even made it to the list of the best cash back credit cards !

Until this happened. 

A Frank SMS

Tsk, Tsk. So sneaky. 

Similar to the changes made to the UOB One Card, OCBC has revised some of the cash back rate, sadly it made the card less competitive. 

Let us break down the changes from 1st October.

Frank Cashback Changes

1) The main point to note is the removal of the "No Cap on 0.5% rebates". 

This essentially means that once you've hit the S$60 spending rebate from any of the criteria, you will no longer be eligible for more rebates! 

2) Weekend/Weekday Dining, Entertainment rebates, increased to 5% and 3% respectively.

With all due respect, there is already a card for that. Its call the OCBC365. Incorporating this aspect into a pure spending/cashback card simply diminishes the function of the Frank Card. 

3) Minimum spend to earn rebates, reduced to S$400. 

Well its great that they reduce the minimum spend amount. But if you are a financially savvy customer, you would have an OCBC360 account and one of the terms for the OCBC360 additional interest criteria is to spend S$500 on your OCBC credit cards. Reducing the min. spend to earn rebates does not really do much in this case.

4) Minimum spend to exclude Online and Nets Flashpay ATUs spending

This is perhaps the nail-in-the-coffin for this card! If it was already hard to achieve the min. spend amount, especially if the bulk of your spending are from online shopping, then it would be impossible to qualify for the rebates at all!

With this 'hidden' criteria, you would need to spend S$400 from "KTVs, Cinemas, Bars and some cafes" and "everything else" each month, to qualify for rebates.

A Frank Summary

I guess all good things must come to an end. The revision of the terms really makes this card lose out to its cashback peers, like the UOB One Card and the SCB Manhattan card. The only saving grace for the Frank Card is that many holders are also OCBC360 account holders. In any case, i would expect quite an exodus of users from the Frank Card - i myself would be looking at other OCBC rebate Cards (OCBC Cashflo).

Stay tuned for a shoot-out of the latest cash back cards available!

UOB One Card, Changes You Need To Know

So here's the deal, UOB One Card will be revising their rebate structure from the 1st October 2015. Before we get into the details, lets take a look at what the UOB One Card rebates used to be, before the impending changes.

The UOB One card would give you tiered rebates based on the minimum spending over 3 months. The rebates are listed as S$30, S$80 and S$150, earned quarterly. What this means is that to hit each of the rebate tiers, one must spend at least S$300, S$800 and S$1,500 consistently over 3 months. 

In my opinion, this card is decent for those who consistently charge a fixed amount to their card each month. The penalty for failing to hit the minimum spend on any of the 3 months would cause you to fall to a lower rebate tier or in the worse case, not earn any rebate at all.

So if you had trouble trying to hit any of the 3 tiers, then the bad news is that from 1st October, it is going to be even harder!

However, if you are able to meet the requirement consistently, you will be rewarded with a nice 3.33% cash back. At 3.33%, this is one of the best cash back cards available on the market at the moment. 

Let's take a look at the revised rebate structure for the UOB One Card:

The Changes

From the 1st October, the minimum tiers are increased to S$500, S$1000 and S$2000 respectively. The payout amount is tweaked slightly at S$50, S$100 and S$300 - effectively rewarding those who spend upwards of S$2000 for each month.

Also, one additional point to note, the 2% overseas cash rebate promotion will no longer apply from October. 

Summary

With the new requirements, those who have no trouble spending S$2000 per month on their One Card will be rewarded with a generous 5% rebate. However if you are like me, finding it hard to hit the S$500 monthly spending tier, it would be an even more uphill task trying to monitor your monthly spending to ensure you qualify for the rebate.

Although the One Card gives one of the highest cash backs in the market, there are still many options available from other banks that have easier requirements and give relatively decent rebates. 

Some food for thought: From a consumer standpoint, making it harder to achieve the rebate amounts simply discourages use of the credit card. 

You can read more about the UOB One Card changes here.

eBates Singapore - Getting Paid for Your US Shopping

eBates has come to Singapore! 

I have been a long time user of eBates.com for all my U.S Shopping. This website has given me a total of USD$65 in cashback from my online shopping and i have recommended the U.S site of eBates in one of my previous post.

As you can imagine, i am more than happy to recommend eBates.sg ! It seems that both eBates websites are mutually exclusive to each other. This basically means that you can only use one or the other. 

Between the two, i would suggest to use the newer eBates.sg. One of the added advantage of the Singapore eBates site is the availability of the Cheque payment option. Selecting this option means that you will get paid via a cheque, delivered to your own address. Also, it is catered more for the local shoppers!

eBates Singapore works the same as most other eCommerce Enablers - example: Shopback. You get a small % of the commission from referral given on your spending, in the form of a cashback. This cashback is absolutely free, without caveats, as long as you purchase via a referral link from the eBates website (Do read my other post on how this works).

Example of the cashback i have accumulated from shopping via eBates in July:

My Cashback thus far!

Selecting the Cheque (Cashback method)

Selecting the Paypal or Credit Card (Cashback method)

eBates will pay out your posted cashbacks on the following schedules.

There is a reasonably large variety of U.S merchants that participate with eBates and most of them will accept Singapore / International credit cards. Even if they do not ship directly to Singapore, you could still buy and send them via a freight forwarder like ComGateWay or Borderlinx.

Awesome Cash Back!

If you are an avid online shopper and love buying stuff from U.S sites like Ralph Lauren, GILT or even Agoda. eBates will give you the best cashback possible on your spending.  I would highly recommend to make your money's worth at absolutely no cost!

Sign-up to eBates here!

OCBC360 - Earn 2.25% Interest on Your Savings

I had previously discussed the changes to the OCBC360 account and did a mini summary on the differences between the new and old criteria. I also mentioned that it would not be difficult to achieve a 2.25% interest rate that you will earn on your first S$60,000 in the 360 account.

Well, here's how my 360 account fared on the first month of the new criteria. 

As you can see, the interest credit amounts are broken down into the various components of each posting - so that it is clear and transparent.

360 Save Bonus

360 CC Spend Bonus

360 Payment Bonus

360 Salary Bonus 

If you haven't already opened an OCBC360 account, i would recommend that you do. In my opinion, it is the best savings account in the market right now for your first S$60,000. 

For those who have difficulties meeting the criterias above, you can look at some of the savings account offerings from Standard Chartered and UOB. These banks do give a relatively decent interest rate of about 0.9-1.5%* on your savings without any caveats.

*(Depending on your deposit amount)

FAQ on the 360 Account:

When will my special interest be credited to my account ?

OCBC credits the special interest amounts on the 7th working day.

Will i still get my special interest if the money is transferred out of the account before the 7th ?

Yes, the interest accrued is based on the previous month's daily balances.

Does payments of 2 different credit cards to the same bank count?

Yes, each credit card payment will count as a unique payment and will contribute to fulfilling the "Payment Bonus" requirements.

Does the "Save Bonus" apply to my total balance or only on the increment?

The 1% Save Bonus will only be applied on the incremental balance, which is the difference between the current month average daily balance and previous month. (up to $1,000,000.)

Why don't i qualify for the "Salary Bonus" ?

Only salary credits with the transaction reference "GIRO-SALARY" and amounts more than S$2000 will qualify.

Shopback, Cashback For Your Online Shopping

Shopback.sg is an eCommerce enabler, similar to eBates. The primary objective of an eCommerce enabler is to direct traffic to online merchants and retailers. By doing so, they will earn a commission for a sale or conversion. A portion of this commission is then shared with the consumer as a form of cash back.

For the online shopper like myself, who frequently buys from online merchants like Luxola, Zalora and ASOS, it is silly not to make use of this cash back opportunity. So let me share with you how it works.

1. Create an account with Shopback

Follow the link to Shopback.sg, create your Shopback account.

2. Update your address and account details

Updating your personal details gives you USD$5 cash back.

Select your payment method (Bank account or Paypal).

3. Search for an online retailer

Use the search bar to find the retailer or sort by the categories. Example: "Fashion".

For our guide, we selected "Luxola", a great portal for beauty products.

4. Click on the Promotion, Coupon or Discount code

Shopback provides a variety of promotional codes or discounts that can be used with the retailer. 

To ensure that you can receive any cash back, it is important to follow some of the rules that allow them to track your 'conversion'. They are listed as follows:

- Always ensure that cookies on your web browser is enabled 
- Use the same browser window that was launched by Shopback to complete the purchase
- Try not to use other eCommerce Enablers for the same merchant (as this may result in disputes)

From our luxola shopping, we will be eligible for a 6.0% cash back !

5. Make your purchase

Select your purchase, add to cart and check-out from your favourite online merchant.

6. Collect and redeem your cash back

Shopback will credit the cash back within the specified period. Once your cash back has been credited, you will be able to view the balance from your account.

You will be able to redeem your cash back once it reaches more than SG$10.01. However, some merchants may take up to 60 days to confirm the commission, so this will vary depending on the speed of confirmation.

Unlike eBates, whereby cashback is paid out every quarter, Shopback will credit all eligible cash back to your specified bank account within 7 working days of redemption!

Summary

As an avid online shopper, it makes absolute sense to make our money go the extra mile. eCommerce enablers like eBates and Shopback are great mechanisms that allows shoppers like you and I to earn that additional discount (via cashback). Do give it a try the next time you shop online and i am sure you would be pleasantly surprised!

Read more from the FAQ here. Happy Shopping!