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Debit card rewards and ATM

Discuss the different banking options, rates, offers and perks.
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zzm9980
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Post by zzm9980 » Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:39 am

aster wrote:Many thanks, is it really thick and bulky or does it feel quite streamlined?

Did you pick it up locally, is there a store where I can go and check it out?
It adds about 50% thickness to the iPhone, mostly due to the credit-card slot. I've seen the non-credit card version at a few places locally (random Apple retailers in malls), but never the card version. I ordered mine via Amazon. They shipped to SG.

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Post by aster » Tue, 17 Jan 2012 7:19 pm

I found them at the Epicentre at Ion earlier today priced at 45 bucks, but they didn't have the one I wanted (white+sea green). Will keep looking, or order from Amazon like you did. :)

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Post by Pilieich » Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:09 pm

Thanks everyone for the info. I think there is a network called 5 south that shares several ATMs, but it's tricky to identify where to use this or that card.
I noticed noone speaks about amex. In Europe most of the stores do NOT take Amex. How is the case in Singapore ?

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 19 Jan 2012 3:44 am

A lot do, but most stores (at least the smaller ones that do) will ask you if you have VISA when you try to use AMEX or Diners Club. It's because the percentages that AMEX & Diners charge is at least double that of Visa & Mastercard.
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Post by BillyB » Thu, 19 Jan 2012 9:57 am

I never have any issues using AMEX in SG. Abroad, yes, but locally everywhere bar a handful of places seem to accept it.

Stanchart do a half decent cashback scheme on their debit cards btw - I usually get between 200-300 sgd a month back.

Aster; for better miles conversion, I've just switched to an AMEX rewards card. I've been given all sorts of bonus points and am going to convert my points into AVIOS miles at a rate of 1.6. It works out much more efficient than the DBS altitude.

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Post by aster » Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:31 pm

BillyB wrote:Aster; for better miles conversion, I've just switched to an AMEX rewards card. I've been given all sorts of bonus points and am going to convert my points into AVIOS miles at a rate of 1.6. It works out much more efficient than the DBS altitude.
Interesting. So they give 1 point per $, but really it's 1.5 points/$ because you are going to spend $5k in a calendar year.

Add to that a 50% bonus on the first 5k spent at your fav 5 places, so 2 pts/$ there which is sweet.

Just curious if the fav 5 apply to both main and supplementary cards, or can each cardholder choose their own places?

Also, since I cannot find info on converting to miles, do you happen to know the ratio for converting to KrisFlyer miles? And AVIOS is 1.6 points to 1 mile?

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Post by Mi Amigo » Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:38 pm

I'd be interested to know more about the Amex card of which Billy speaks. Currently I have the KF Gold Amex and have been considering switching to DBS Altitude. But if there is a better option I'd appreciate some more details (issueing bank, etc.). Thanks.
Be careful what you wish for

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Post by aster » Thu, 19 Jan 2012 2:16 pm

Just looking at the numbers I think I'll stick to the Altitude card.

Altitude gives you 1,200 miles for the first $1,000 spent and 1,600 miles for every subsequent $1,000.

This Rewards card gives you 937 miles for every $1,000 spent (and that's already including the 50% bonus for spending over 5k in a calendar year!). And 1,250 miles per $1,000 at your "Fav 5" merchants.

The Rewards card might give some nice bonuses to start off with (lump sum miles, 100% bonus for first 90 days, etc.), but in the long run the Altitude card still rules. :)

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Post by the lynx » Wed, 14 Mar 2012 8:38 pm

zzm9980 wrote:I also have the Citi Platinum SMRT card. I got a nice iPhone case that holds a credit card, and just tap my phone everywhere that takes Visa PayWave and for MRT. Who needs NFC? :Dl
Hey zzm, how long have you been using this card? And how did you find it?

Actually, I'm looking into getting one but swinging around and I've already read the T&C's and rebate plan so I'm just curious on your personal experience with it...

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Post by zzm9980 » Wed, 14 Mar 2012 8:55 pm

the lynx wrote:
zzm9980 wrote:I also have the Citi Platinum SMRT card. I got a nice iPhone case that holds a credit card, and just tap my phone everywhere that takes Visa PayWave and for MRT. Who needs NFC? :Dl
Hey zzm, how long have you been using this card? And how did you find it?

Actually, I'm looking into getting one but swinging around and I've already read the T&C's and rebate plan so I'm just curious on your personal experience with it...
It works great for me. I pretty much only use it for auto-refilling ez-link, at Starbucks for the 10% discount (I go there 4-5 times a week, so it adds up), and sometimes at Cold Storage. (3-5% rebate). Anything else or larger, I put on the Premier Miles card. I also realized tonight I have some $170 SMRT bonus point/dollars. I have no idea what they're for, but was going to head to the Citi site to figure out :D

I found it because when I signed up for a Citibank bank acct, they up-sold me on it :P Totally worth it though.

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Post by the lynx » Thu, 15 Mar 2012 8:52 am

zzm9980 wrote:
the lynx wrote:
zzm9980 wrote:I also have the Citi Platinum SMRT card. I got a nice iPhone case that holds a credit card, and just tap my phone everywhere that takes Visa PayWave and for MRT. Who needs NFC? :Dl
Hey zzm, how long have you been using this card? And how did you find it?

Actually, I'm looking into getting one but swinging around and I've already read the T&C's and rebate plan so I'm just curious on your personal experience with it...
It works great for me. I pretty much only use it for auto-refilling ez-link, at Starbucks for the 10% discount (I go there 4-5 times a week, so it adds up), and sometimes at Cold Storage. (3-5% rebate). Anything else or larger, I put on the Premier Miles card. I also realized tonight I have some $170 SMRT bonus point/dollars. I have no idea what they're for, but was going to head to the Citi site to figure out :D

I found it because when I signed up for a Citibank bank acct, they up-sold me on it :P Totally worth it though.
Ah sounds like a good recommendation.

About the SMRT auto-reload, did you set your amount to auto-reload or you leave it at $30 per time? Because I noticed that there's a clause stating $0.25 transaction fee for each time but as usual, banks T&C are always vague on the exact details so I'm just wondering.

Pretty great to have a card that doubles as EZ Link card eh?

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Post by zzm9980 » Thu, 15 Mar 2012 9:19 am

I left it at the default $30 and have never thought about it since. It's worth the 25 cents to have to wait in line at an MRT station behind someone who takes 15 minutes at the machine anyway.

I also just realized the car is stamped with "ERP", does that mean I can pop it into my car now instead of those cash-cards?

For thatr SMRT$... from what I'm gathering, there are two sets of rebates. Those explicitly advertised at the cashiers, that they prompt me to use or not use, and also the separate SMRT$ on the statement. Their website and statement advertises different sets of rebates than what you see at the points of sale anyway... for example, Starbucks and Coffee Bean are both 5% on the statement and website, but never on the receipts. When I go to a Starbucks, I get 10% on the receipt, and nothing at Coffee Bean.

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Post by the lynx » Thu, 15 Mar 2012 9:43 am

zzm9980 wrote:I also just realized the car is stamped with "ERP", does that mean I can pop it into my car now instead of those cash-cards?
For that, your IU must be the Dual Mode IU. Better check with your car supplier now that you have considered purchasing your car. It depends on your car's age though.

http://app.lta.gov.sg/corp_press_content.asp?start=2152
zzm9980 wrote:For thatr SMRT$... from what I'm gathering, there are two sets of rebates. Those explicitly advertised at the cashiers, that they prompt me to use or not use, and also the separate SMRT$ on the statement. Their website and statement advertises different sets of rebates than what you see at the points of sale anyway... for example, Starbucks and Coffee Bean are both 5% on the statement and website, but never on the receipts. When I go to a Starbucks, I get 10% on the receipt, and nothing at Coffee Bean.
I don't understand. Does it mean that they have already deducted in your purchase prior to printing of receipt or both the merchant and Citibank do not tally?

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Post by zzm9980 » Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:22 am

the lynx wrote:
zzm9980 wrote:I also just realized the car is stamped with "ERP", does that mean I can pop it into my car now instead of those cash-cards?
For that, your IU must be the Dual Mode IU. Better check with your car supplier now that you have considered purchasing your car. It depends on your car's age though.

http://app.lta.gov.sg/corp_press_content.asp?start=2152
zzm9980 wrote:For thatr SMRT$... from what I'm gathering, there are two sets of rebates. Those explicitly advertised at the cashiers, that they prompt me to use or not use, and also the separate SMRT$ on the statement. Their website and statement advertises different sets of rebates than what you see at the points of sale anyway... for example, Starbucks and Coffee Bean are both 5% on the statement and website, but never on the receipts. When I go to a Starbucks, I get 10% on the receipt, and nothing at Coffee Bean.
I don't understand. Does it mean that they have already deducted in your purchase prior to printing of receipt or both the merchant and Citibank do not tally?
So certain terminals (I use Starbucks as thats the example I see every day) advertise a 10% rebate with citibank cards. This rebate is explicitly listed on the receipt. And every time I go to a merchant Citibank terminal, I am (usually) prompted if I want to use my rebate towards the purchase.

On top of that, I apparently collect SMRT$ based on a chart of percentages listed on Citibank's site. The chart on their site lists a lot more merchants than I usually see with Citibank terminals. I'm not quite sure how to redeem this SMRT$, but I haven't really tried yet.

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Post by zzm9980 » Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:24 am

Looks like the car I bought it is slightly too old. I was also just advised by a coworker that most parking garages don't take the new card yet. He said the only one he was aware of was at Paragon.

If I find a lot of them, I'll probably pay to upgrade mine.

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